Features

August 2004 issue

Renting a home away from home
Our 4-bedroom, 4-bath rental — Cherbourg, France.
From apartments to villas, renting a property abroad can be a great 
way to familiarize yourself with a destination
January 2009 issue

Peru — Exploring Machu Picchu and beyond

by Paul Burke, Harpers Ferry, WV. Photos by JoAnn Koppany, San Diego, CA

Machu Picchu has a beautiful setting. While the ruins themselves are simple rock walls, you can look both up and down at precipitous granite mountains and forests. However, if you want sculpture or carvings, this is not the place; it has nothing like the extensive carvings found in Mexico, Asia and the Mediterranean.

Revisiting the site

It had been 30 years since I last visited Machu Picchu, and on this July-August ’08 trip I found it had grown a lot. Staff said that about 40% of what visitors...

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April 2009 issue

Ecuador — Birding below the equator

by Dennis Sherwood, Gig Harbor, WA

Spontaneous applause erupted from the Ecuadorian passengers as we landed, through intermittent fog and rain, at Quito’s international airport. Were they just glad to be home or was it sincere gratitude for our safe passage through the mountains on this dark and cloudy night?

Days later we learned that another flight had overshot the cramped runway during similar weather and damaged the airport’s radar system, so perhaps the ovation was well deserved.

Indeed, why were we going to Ecuador in the first place? Great beaches? Exotic food...

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August 2009 issue

Peru and Bolivia — Encountering good food, friendly locals, amazing archaeological ruins and a few bumps along the way

by Marvin Herman & Judy Licata, Delavan, WI

Deciding on a travel destination where the buying power of the dollar is in your favor, the people genuinely like visitors from the US and there is minimal time difference, reducing jet lag, is easier than one might imagine. Think South America. And one of the countries on that continent that has a large population of indigenous people plus a compelling history, reflected in its major physical attractions, is Peru.

Making plans

My wife, Judy, and I spent a fascinating 23 days in October-November ’08 in Peru,...

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June 2011 issue

Images of Morocco – capturing a sense of place
What is a sense of place, and how might I capture it in the photographs I take on a trip? These questions were uppermost in my mind on a trip to Morocco with Insight Vacations, June 3-12, 2010. Finding a sense of place through my camera lens was more difficult than I imagined. Nevertheless, I think I succeeded in ultimately creating my own very personal visual record of the trip with my small digital camera.
November 2009 issue

Vietnam and Cambodia – Plying the waterways of the Mekong Delta

by Mary Beltran, ITN

I stood on deck, feeling the cool breeze of our passage and realized, again, that river cruising is one of my favorite ways to travel.

I love being aboard a ship and watching the flow of the river and the changing view of the banks as we move by; joining the small group of travelers who form that bond of shared interests; exchanging travel stories at the dining tables, and being welcomed upon my return to the ship at the end of a day’s excursions. I particularly adore the fact that I have to unpack just once during my trip, no matter how many miles the...

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October 2011 issue

Slovenia — discovering this tiny treasure
The road leading toward Mt. Vršič Pass offers dramatic alpine scenery.
Not to be confused with Slovakia, Slovenia is one of six countries formed out of the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. A microcosm of all the best features of Europe, Slovenia packs within its borders castles, vineyards, caves, quaint medieval towns, the Julian Alps and 29 miles of coastline.
February 2010 issue

Exposing the next generation to the wonders of Africa on a Zambian safari

by Herb Phillipson; Dowagiac, MI

Long ago I fell in love with Africa.

Many years ago the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations sponsored a trip to Kenya and Tanzania for $495. My first wife and I decided to go, taking my two teenage boys and an exchange student.

Since then, Eve, my present wife of 28 years, and I have driven ourselves around South Africa; we have twice taken the “Ultimate Africa” trip with Overseas Adventure Travel (Cambridge, MA; www.oattravel.com), which we heartily recommend, and we have undertaken a camping trip to Namibia, Botswana and Zambia with...

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