Heading to Los Angeles? I was just there last week and have some new discoveries. First stop: I checked into the Hotel Shangri-La in Santa Monica, which is undergoing a huge $30 million renovation. Not to be confused with the brand of the same name, this is a family-owned...
Last fall, starting in September, I traveled and wrote a story about affordable European destinations for Condé Nast Traveler’s February issue. By October, with the economy tanking, it was clear that the piece would have even more relevance, and how all of us–...
Between November and April I tend to live a pretty nomadic lifestyle, traveling both for work and to visit friends and family. On a recent trip to the Mayan Riviera (as I mentioned in my last entry), I stayed in numerous places, both high-end and low-key, so I thought a l...
I’ve just completed a jaunt along Mexico’s Mayan Riviera (more on that soon), and although I still have another month or so on the road, word of new openings in my adopted country, Italy, has been tempting me home. If you are heading that way this year, here a...
It’s the New Year, a time of resolution and change for all of us. Of course, nothing will exemplify the new hope and direction of 2009 more than the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President in Washington, D.C., on January 20. Before the huge and challengin...
In my last post I wrote about some of my favorite things of 2008; now it’s time for my 2009 wish list. This is not supposed to be definitive, but it is, as I look onto a snowy Times Square, a sampling of where I might go if I had unlimited time and more sizable ... ...
As we head toward the holidays, I thought I would take the opportunity to highlight some of my favorite discoveries of 2008. They’re not all new, but they are certainly still buzzworthy. Destinations: * Ecuador blew me away with its natural beauty and crazy topograp...
The winter after my mother and I moved to the United States, one of the first places we visited outside of New York City was Manchester, Vermont. The whole town was covered in perfect layers of snow; we skied at nearby Stratton mountain and drank hot chocolate in front of...
When I really want to go on holiday I like to book a beach getaway where my main activities include lounging, eating, swimming a ton (preferably in bath-like temperatures), and doing yoga. When I arrive I unpack completely and prefer not to have to drive anywhere–bi...
Because of my work as a travel writer, people always ask me what my favorite trip has been. It’s almost impossible to answer the question, but I try to name a few choices by category: best beach retreat, most life-altering culinary experience, most thrilling adventu...
