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A Travel Blog from the Editors of T+L
Posts by
Sarah Khan
After arriving Monterosso, Italy, last month for a daylong hike through the five seaside villages of Cinque Terre, one of my friends had that sinking realization: left behind on one of the three trains we’d taken to get there was her wallet. With all her money, credit cards, and, worst of all, her passport inside.
If two’s company, three’s a crowd, and four’s too many, what does that make five? A really awkward number of people to travel with, is what my friends and I quickly realized when we were planning a trip to Italy. Five girls are too many for one hotel room, but it’s really expensive to book two. So, what to do?
Enterprising travelers that were are, we opted to rent an apartment in Rome, thinking it would be the most cost-effective way to experience the city. Wow, were we right.
Travelers to Morocco usually check out the typical attractions: the ancient alleys of Fez, the snake charmers of Marrakesh, the dunes of the Sahara. But on my visit, my friends and I were fortunate enough to discover a relatively little-known escape: the charming, blue-tinged village of Chefchaouen in the Rif Mountains about four hours from Fez.
After a few hectic days getting lost in Casablanca and dodging donkeys in Fez, this relaxing retreat was just what we were looking for. The tiny town is known for its stunning medina, bathed in breathtaking shades of blue. It’s the kind of magical place you plan as a 12-hour detour and wind up staying for three days.
My friends have been known to call me "Danny Tanner"—the super-organized-to-the-point-of-annoying dad from Full House—when it comes to my travel style. Think typed-up itineraries, folders filled with all necessary phone numbers, addresses, and confirmation codes, and even maps with directions (both to and from all major locations), just in case the GPS doesn’t work.
But things have been pretty hectic lately, which means I haven’t been able to dedicate enough time to being so anal while planning my upcoming trip to Italy. Luckily for me, Tripit.com came into my life to save the day.
The holy month of Ramadan began Aug. 22, and over 1 billion Muslims around the globe will be observing it by fasting from sunrise to sunset for 30 days. They’ll be waking up early for a hearty suhoor meal before dawn and an iftar dinner after sunset. Sound hard? Well, it is, but different cultures have found unique ways to celebrate this sacred time.
-The first day of Ramadan is greeted with fireworks and celebrations in the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
-In Dubai, a loud canon booms when it’s time to stop eating in the morning and to break fast at sunset.
Muslims in Cairo keep things festive at night, reveling by staying up late after evening prayers to eat and smoke sheesha till the early hours of the morning.
Has the recession forced you to sell your Gulfstream? If you love to fly private, but the current economic crisis is cramping your jet-set lifestyle, there’s a unique new option in the skies. The Greenjets shared-ride service lets you buy a seat on a private jet at a fraction of the cost normally associated with such a luxury. Flights from New York to Florida are as low as $1,100 each way, a bargain compared to owning or renting your own plane—and you avoid the lines and regular security headaches at the airport. Not to mention the added good karma you get from reducing the number of jets in the air when you “jetpool,” if you will.
I was pretty sure it was 2009 when I hopped in my friend Lisa’s Volvo in Boston, but when we parked in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, two hours later, I felt like we’d driven back in time into the 1950’s. Our intended beach getaway had magically transported us to the midst of classic Americana in all its kitschy, fun glory—think neon lights, vintage diners, old-school motels, and waterfront amusement park, not to mention the slow-pace of a much simpler era….
It’s not every day that a New York Times best-selling author shows up at your book club. When one of my friends suggested How the World Makes Love by Franz Wisner for our next read, I was definitely on board. Wisner’s Honeymoon with My Brother chronicled the unexpected way his life unfolded after his fiancée left him at the altar—as you might guess from the title, he took his brother on his pre-paid honeymoon; from there they quit their jobs and embarked on a two-year world tour.
We've heard of people doing all sorts of crazy things for love, but author Eve Brown-Waite might just have them all beat. Thought moving across the country to be closer to your girlfriend was bold?Try packing up your cushy New York life to join the Peace Corps, all in the hopes of winning over your dreamy, do-gooder recruiter. That's precisely how Brown-Waite, who is decidedly more Banana Republic than Birkenstock, finds herself heading to Ecuador for a year-thousands of miles away from the charmer who'd inspired her to give up her cappuccino-filled lifestyle in the first place.
When Simon Majumdar found himself in the throes of a midlife crisis, he didn’t surrender himself to trite clichés—no sports car or twentysomething girlfriend for him. Instead, the fanatical foodie quit his job and embarked on an expedition designed around one tasty mission: “Go everywhere, eat everything.”
The results of this 12-month, 30-nation gastronomic escapade are delectably chronicled in Eat My Globe: One Year to Go Everywhere and Eat Everything (Free Press, $26), out May 19. Half Welsh and half Bengali, Majumdar grew up in a household where diverse flavors were the norm and food reigned supreme. “To say that our family was obsessed with what we ate would be like saying J.K. Rowling is comfortably well off,” he writes. “Food was not just fuel to keep the plump bodies of the Majumdar clan going. It was the very essence of who we were.”
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