Themes Archives - Page 7 of 18 - Traveling with MJTraveling with MJ

Category Archive: Themes

Romantic Travel: A Blog Roundup

For some people, February is the most romantic month of the year. For others, romance is a year round event. Travelers find the beauty of romance is a variety of ways. And locations. Just take a look — and if you have a romantic travel post that would fit our theme, please add it to our link round up below. Loading InLinkz … Photo credit: shutterstock

This Week in Travel: Dreamliner Declared too Young to Smoke (#131)

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to be a guest on This Week in Travel. It was an opportunity to dish about some of the latest in travel news with a few bloggers that I’ve grown to have the utmost respect for – Gary Arndt, of Everything Everywhere, Chris Christensen of the Amateur Traveler, and Jen Leo of Best Kids Apps. The program was recorded using Google Hangouts. Clearly I have to master the art of best camera angles and staying in the shot, as well as dressing for the fish eye on my computer, but cut me a little slack on that, and instead enjoy an informative, and often irreverent take, on the week’s travel news. This Week in Travel is available in iTunes.

Postcard from Fort Vancouver

Located in the southern part of Washington state, Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost for the Hudson Bay Company. Today it is part of the National Park System, with living history events and a world-class archaeology collection. In the blacksmith shop, a top-notch nail maker could make one in 12 seconds flat.

Postcard: Cypress of Big Sur

Along the Pacific Coast, south of Monterey and north of Carmel, you’ll find these iconic Cypress trees on a point near the Pebble Beach Golf Course and Resort. Make time for this gorgeous scenic drive.

A Month of Sonoma Winery Visits

Any time is a good time for a visit to country. While many people first think of Napa Valley wineries, don’t forget to think of the other side of the bay, and the wonderful wineries in Sonoma County. Wine related travel is a popular part of a visit to Sonoma County. With 13 American Viticultural areas, each with distinctive characteristics, the Pacific coastline, redwood forests, fertile valleys, and mountains, all add to a success mix that creates outstanding wines. It’s a beautiful spot for a weekend of wine tasting or an easy day trip from Oakland, San Francisco, or Sacramento. Everyone has their personal wine preferences, and with over 250 Sonoma-area wineries to choose from, coming in all sizes and flavors, the task of choosing where to visit and what to taste can be overwhelming. To simplify the process, I’ve […]

Jersey Shore: Lucy the Elephant

I love offbeat and quirky kinds of places – for just the reasons that they are offbeat and quirky. I’ve been known to drive out of my way to see the “biggest,” “smallest,” “world’s only,” “oldest” thing or place or whatever. Why not?! Although the Hurricane Sandy did a lot of damage on the Jersey shore, it didn’t harm one of the shore’s iconically quirky attractions – Lucy the Elephant. Lucy is a six story, 90 ton elephant made of wood and tin sheeting. She was put up 1881 to attract tourism and development to the south Atlantic City area, and while she was architecturally unique at the time, she soon became merely the first of several zoomorphic (animal-shaped) buildings. Did you even know there was such a thing a zoomorphic architecture? Since she was originally constructed, Lucy has been a […]

Finnair Flight Attendants: Tales from a Thousand and One Flights

Finnair Flight Attendants have published a collection of stories from their lives in the skies aptly titled Airborne: Tales From A Thousand And One Flights, Drawing on decades of flight attendant history and experiences, Airborne is a collection of true stories written by the professionals who’ve seen it all. You think they make this stuff up, huh? Not a chance! There are too many crazy true stories, you just don’t have to make it up. The book is available in English and Finnish, with profits from the sale donated to the Finnish Central Association for Mental Health to be used in the prevention of mental health issues among children and adolescents. Finnair won the World Airline Award for Best Airline Northern Europe for the past three years running. Photo credit: Atar Publishing

Updated Map of Where I’ve Been

Now that I’m back from TBEX in Spain, it’s time to update my map of how much of the world I’ve visited. I still have lots (and lots!) of countries to visit, but plan on checking another one off this coming week. Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

My Favorite Paris Museum

In a city as full of museums as Paris, you might think think it tough to choose a favorite. After a whirlwind week soaking up as much as I possible could, and visiting more than a few museums, there were only a few Paris museums that made a lasting impression. The Louvre was vast and covered an extensive period of time. But while I enjoyed it, the art on display – with a few notable exceptions – wasn’t really my cup of tea. The Rodin displayed statuary that was lovely, but it didn’t offer the depth to really captivate me. Although this museum would score a solid second on my list of favorites in large part because of the gardens that surround it. The Centre Pompidou made me smile with its architecture and exhibits, the Delacroix was nice, the Quai […]

What’s a Hotel Fail for You?

Just as first impressions are important in business and personal relationships, so are they important in setting the tone for a hotel stay. That impression starts the minute you walk into the lobby, if not before, and just like with your interpersonal relationships, first impressions are usually spot on. Throughout a stay, however, a hotel has numerous opportunities to impress or fail and often this is what separates the so-so hotels from the really great ones. Here are a few things that I think are hotel fails – do you agree? Lines. Lines are a fact of life. But when there’s a line all the time, or the line moves so slowly that people start to get restless (in a not so happy way), it’s a sign of a larger problem. If the lobby is always full of lines, it’s […]