International Travel News

Far Horizons

August 2019 issue | Appears on page 40

Morocco in depth (Second of three parts)

By Randy Keck

This is part two of a three part series. Read part one here. Read part three here.

On my 18-day, April 2019, hosted group tour to Morocco with the small-group adventure-tour operator (and ITN advertiser) ElderTreks, we simply covered a lot more ground than most shorter itineraries do.

My travel writer/tour leader/tour operator genes compel me to automatically assess a tour in terms of what I thought was good to great and also what might be improved or changed.

What I...

July 2019 issue | Appears on page 43

Morocco in depth (First of three parts)

By Randy Keck

This is part one of a three part series. Read part two here. Read part three here.

In April 2019 I ventured to exotic Morocco with the hope of finding a balance between discovering its historic, cultural and natural world attractions and finding the on-the-ground pulse of the country today.

I found a land of contradictions, often difficult if not impossible to define. Moroccans today appear to live with a tug-of-war of values between the often polar-opposite, if not...

May 2019 issue | Appears on page 47

Winter self-drive - Portugal’s Algarve (Third of three parts)

By Randy Keck

A colorful pedestrian bridge connects Tavira’s two historic districts — the Algarve, Portugal. Photo by Gail Minoff-Keck

From our 6-night home-base apartment on the Quarteira seafront in the central Algarve of southern Portugal, my wife, Gail, and I planned self-drive day trips to Tavira and Faro.

Both cities are unique in that they are removed from the main tourist grid, positioned on inland estuaries and without easy or immediate access to the Algarve’s famed beaches. Easy beach access is an absolute requirement for the vast majority of visitors who migrate annually to the region for the lengthy...

April 2019 issue | Appears on page 46

Winter self-drive - Portugal’s Algarve (Second of three parts)

By Randy Keck

The 2-night stop that my wife, Gail, and I made in the tiny village of Salema in southernmost Portugal revealed something unexpected: just how closed down certain parts of the Algarve region can be during the winter off-season.

Dinnertime at the only restaurant open on a Tuesday night in Salema in late November 2018 revealed a spattering of British expats who have occupied parts of the Algarve coast as both part-time and full-time residents.

Among the Brits, mostly seniors,...

March 2019 issue | Appears on page 50

Winter self-drive - Portugal’s Algarve (First of three parts)

By Randy Keck

From late November to early December 2018, my wife, Gail, and I did an 8-day, self-drive exploration of Portugal's sun-blessed Algarve holiday playground.

The enviable mild winter climate makes the region a highly popular part-time and full-time retirement destination for thousands of British expats and other Europeans. We were there to discover the off-season heart, soul and pulse of this desirable stretch of gorgeous Atlantic coast some 280 kilometers south of the Portuguese...

October 2018 issue | Appears on page 54

Bentley’s 4WD cross-Australia adventure (Part three)

By Randy Keck

Wave Rock, near Hyden, Western Australia, is 110 meters long. Photos by David Bentley

An Aussie friend, David Bentley, recently completed a coast-to-coast journey solo from northeastern Australia to the far southwest in his faithful Troopy (78 Series Toyota Land Cruiser). This article is edited from his daily reports. — Randy Keck

Day 9 (May 15, 2018) — Having departed Kalgoorlie, I'm currently about halfway down the Holland Track, which runs from Coolgardie to Hyden in the southwest of Western Australia. It's another iconic 4WD track which has been...

September 2018 issue | Appears on page 50

Bentley’s 4WD cross-Australia adventure (Part two)

By Randy Keck

David’s selfie and caption: “Big rock, big hat, big chin — David Bentley at Ayers Rock.” Photos by David Bentley

An Aussie friend, David Bentley, recently completed a coast-to-coast journey solo from northeastern Australia to the far southwest in his faithful Troopy (78 Series Toyota Land Cruiser). This 3-part article is edited from his daily reports. — Randy Keck

Day 4 (May 10, 2018) — I'm now at the famous Aussie Red Centre and Northern Territory landmark of Ayers Rock, officially known as Uluru. I had a nice, easy drive on well-graded gravel road all the way from Mt. Dare to...

August 2018 issue | Appears on page 46

Bentley’s 4WD cross-Australia adventure (Part one)

By Randy Keck

Hats and caps cover the rafters in the Birdsville Hotel pub, a welcome watering hole for visitors and locals — Birdsville, Queensland. Photos by David Bentley

David Bentley, an Aussie friend who my wife, Gail, and I knew all the way back in the early 1970s when we were living in Tasmania, is a resident of Queensland and a 4WD freak. He recently completed an arduous, coast-to-coast journey solo from northeastern Australia to the far southwest in his faithful Troopy, a rather rare, long-wheelbase, diesel-engine, 78 Series Toyota Land Cruiser known as a Troop Carrier.

As David’s colorful, slang- and wit-filled reports from the road...

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Randy Keck has been a Contributing Editor for ITN since 1983, when he started writing a column titled "Oceania," which later became "Far Horizons." Randy and his wife, Gail, have owned and operated the travel company ASI Tours since the 1980s and have conducted group tours to Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific islands and Southern Africa. Today, they still operate tours to Australia. Randy also continues to work actively as a tour director for other companies, leading groups primarily to Australia and Cuba. He also remains involved in multiple facets of the tourism industry, including consulting.