Monthly Archives: December 2014

1.GREAT SMOKEY MOUNTAINS America’s most popular national park, it draws nine million annual visitors. Most enter through a jumble of go-kart tracks and outlet stores along Tennessee’s neon-bright Gatlinburg–Pigeon Forge gateway corridor. But for those who know where to look, … Continue reading →

1. FLORICA KEYS The 113-mile (181-kilometer) drive on Highway 1 from mainland Florida to Key West induces sensory overload. Besides the natural beauty along the route—tidal flats, teal waters dotted by distant islands — the so-called Overseas Highway awes you … Continue reading →

1. CAPE COD, Massachusetts This 160-mile (257-kilometer) circuit around Massachusetts’ vintage Cape Cod serves up miles of beaches and the quiet villages along the bay side, the beautifully desolate dunelands of the outer Cape’s national seashore, lively Provincetown, and the … Continue reading →

TOP HOSTEL RULES – The don’ts of staying in a dorm room. When traveling, I almost always stay in hostels. And, in dorm rooms in those hostels. Besides cost, they are the best way to meet other travellers. I enjoy … Continue reading →

I spent eight weeks total in Eastern China from October 11 to December 15 (I had the other week in North Korea). With my intensive traveling style, I traveled through or slept in 20 of the 25 provinces in the … Continue reading →

FUJIAN PROVINCE (pop 37 million) Fujian is north of Hong Kong and Guangdong Province on the South China Sea. If you talk to Chinese descendants in SE Asia or Taiwan, many have roots that go back several centuries to Fujian. … Continue reading →

SHANGHAI (pop 23 million) One of the world’s largest and most vibrant cities, Shanghai profiles modern China in a way unlike anywhere else in the country. This is a city of action, not ideas, with non-stop shopping and skyscrapers. History. … Continue reading →

1. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia With its salt-tanged fishing villages and mountainous interior cloaked in dense woods, Cape Breton is the prize of Nova Scotia, a green getaway splashed with lakes and lapped by the blue waters of the Gulf … Continue reading →

1. Hana Coast, Maui Unspooling along 52 sinuous miles (84 kilometers) of Maui’s eastern coast, this route runs from Kahului to the town of Hana. On your left will be the azure ocean; on your right, rushing waterfalls, limpid pools, … Continue reading →

1. Great Ocean Road This isn’t just one of the world’s most exhilarating drives – it’s also the largest war memorial on the planet. Built by returning soldiers from 1919 – 1932, this 243km coastal route is dedicated to Australian … Continue reading →