Sometimes an adventure shifts your perspective and uproots your priorities. For me, that adventure was a road trip through Portugal and Spain in September. The story begins in Lisbon, Portugal: My friends picked up me …

My third trip to Patagonia was tremendous, great weather for all but one day and my best survey of the acclaimed mountain hostels that now number 15 in all. Once sleepy <a hreEl Bolson, fabled …

Portugal has a long, rich history that colors everything from its language, food and architecture. It was settled by homo sapiens 35,000 years ago and retains traces of a non–Indo European language and even DNA. …

A relatively short distance from San Diego (just a few small countries south of Mexico) lies Panama, the final Central American nation before you hit South America. Yet, for a tiny country, the capital, Panama …

I first became aware of this enormous peninsula years ago when I heard about the burgeoning whale-watching attraction there. A thousand miles south of Buenos Aires on the south Atlantic coast, this region lies at …

I visited Wroclaw, Poland, during an interesting time in history: it was the 100th anniversary of Poland’s independence, the 100th anniversary of the Armistice and the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht. As for Wroclaw itself, it …

Colombia: cartels and cocaine... rebel groups and terrorism... violent gangs and kidnappings. Those are some of the stereotypes, right? Well, although these problems haven't completely vanished, things have definitely improved to the point where most …

Though it was not my first time in Iceland, it was my first time single and, for most of the time, without any travel companion. It turned out to be a fine thing. You can …

There may well be other places like this, a scruffy village of dwellings on a cape which seems like it’s from another time, but I haven’t seen any. Most locations remind you of some other …

After a couple cups of vino and an 11-hour flight, we land just outside Paris. Yael and I head out to catch the RER Train into the city center. It's about 10 euros each, and …

After months of continuous Olympic coverage two years ago, the questions still being asked about Rio de Janeiro likely include: "Wow! Rio looks incredible - is it really that beautiful?" And: "Wow! Is Rio really …

Salento is an historic colonial town high in the mountains of the department of Quindio, situated 250 kilometers due south of Medellin. It used to be on the main route between Bogota and Popoyan even …

A convenient weekend break from the noise and bustle of Taipei is a one-hour flight to the island of Kinmen. Although Kinmen is controlled by Taiwan, it lies only eight kilometers from the Chinese mainland …

It’s not the kind of place that comes to mind when thinking about Colombia, but a little mountain village called Minca gets my vote for best of honors. A slow 17 kilometers up and out …

Marseille has never gotten its due as a vacation destination. Most people traveling to southern France pass through Marseille’s airport and move directly on to the more pristine and tony Provencal destinations, such as Aix-en-Provence …