Features

June 2015 issue | Appears on page 30

Impressed by the personal attention and dramatic sights on a cruise along Australia’s Kimberley coast
By Bill Reed

Bill Reed continues his account of traveling with his wife, Betty, through Australia’s Kimberley region.

The sheer red and black faces of the sandstone walls, rising up to 100 meters above the sea, dwarfed our ship, True North, as we glided silently up to a waterfall. As the narrow channel in which we were traveling constricted to about twice the width of the ship, the top of the rock face became difficult to see. 

A deckhand signaled as the captain edged the ship...

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June 2015 issue | Appears on page 40

Listening to the locals adds interest to an independent tour of Canada’s Vancouver Island
By Marv & Carole Feldman
The freighter Frances Barkley in the little port town of Bamfield.

British Columbia in September 2014.

We arrived on the island by ferry at the charming little port town of Sidney. In beautiful weather, we enjoyed delicious cappuccinos in one of Sidney’s many sidewalk cafés, strolled to the end of the town pier and stopped to chat with locals before heading to our cozy digs in Victoria, British Columbia’s provincial capital.

Victoria

What a beautiful city! Victoria, situated on the water, was sparkling. We were so...

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May 2015 issue | Appears on page 6

Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan – touring the Himalayas
By Lynn Remly

A journey on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway had been on my “to do” list since the rail line was completed in 2006, so when a brochure that included not only the train trip but visits to Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan arrived from Worldwide Quest (WQ) in Toronto (800/387-1483, www.worldwidequest.com), I was on the phone within minutes. 

Making plans

This “President’s Tour” (Oct. 19-Nov. 6, 2014), led by WQ’s President Lewie Gonsalves, himself...

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May 2015 issue | Appears on page 20

Discovering Australia’s Arnhem Land
By Bill Reed

I had never heard of Arnhem Land until, quite out of the blue, Karolyn Wrightson of Essential DownUnder Travel (Asheville, NC; 877/977-4505, www.essentialdownunder.com) called and said, “I have a trip you can’t pass up!” 

Karolyn had set up previous trips to Australia and New Zealand for my wife, Betty, and me, so we were well acquainted with what she was able to assemble.

Arnhem Land 

To me, the name Arnhem Land did not mean much. It...

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May 2015 issue | Appears on page 32

A Black Sea cruise during troubled times
By Carol Probst

In May 2014 I received an email with a “two for one” offer for an upcoming 18-day mega-yacht excursion to the six countries that border the Black Sea: Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria. With little possibility of ever coordinating such an ambitious journey on our own, this small-ship tour from Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston, MA; 888/514-1845, www.vantagetravel.com) seemed like a good option for my husband, Lynn, and me. The topper? Free air travel from...

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May 2015 issue | Appears on page 42

Driving Iceland’s Ring Road

It was enough to give a visitor pause: blind curves; blind crests; no central road markings; no shoulders; single-lane bridges; single-lane tunnels (!); livestock on the road, including reindeer; severe winds, and dense mists. Such was the list of possible obstacles for drivers outlined in the “Have a Safe Journey” brochure I downloaded from the Icelandic Road & Coastal Administration’s website (www.vegagerdin.is). 

Adding to that, the Bárðarbunga volcano...

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April 2015 issue | Appears on page 6

A walking safari for two in Zambia
By Anne Taylor

“We saw wild dogs, lions, leopards, elephants, Thornicroft’s giraffes and honey badgers, all with their young and all on the first three days of our 11-day safari in South and North Luangwa National Park. And I planned it all with just a few emails to Jessica “Jess” Salmon at Flatdogs Camp. No tour company or travel agent was involved.” 

That is the way I brag about the trip to Zambia that my coworker Mary Anne Scott and I took in September-October...

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April 2015 issue | Appears on page 18

A family of four tours the Netherlands with just a pack apiece
By Claudia Dantoin

The family that travels together, stays together. Such is the motto of the Dantoin family. Each summer, Mom and the four kids attempt a different international expedition. 

In preparation for each trip, we create a self-made itinerary, weaving in elements that include all of our interests while trying to live like locals in whatever country we happen to visit. Whether staying in a nunnery in Rome or enjoying breakfast with locals in a Paris boulangerie, we try to become natives...

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