Teetotal Travel: Hospitality Industry Responds to Growing Sober Movement

Culture, Travel

Who are all these people who turn down wine in Italy, sake in Japan, cerveza in Mexico and ouzo in Greece? According to Expedia’s research, one out of every four travelers hopes to decrease alcohol use while on vacation. This increased emphasis on nondrinking is starting to influence the sorts of cocktails bartenders are pouring, the nature of hotel wellness activities and the growth of the entire travel industry. Indeed, in one recent study half of respondents said they wanted to stay in hotels that offered easily accessible alcohol-free options like mocktails and nonalcoholic beer. Read More

To Lhasa and Beyond On the Road to Shangri-La

Asia, Culture, Dispatch, History, Travel

In Lhasa’s Barkhor Square, the weathered Tibetan woman softly intoning a Buddhist mantra fell to her knees, looked fervently skyward and then lunged face down on the pavement, oblivious to the commercial life surrounding her. After a few seconds of prayer, she rose stiffly, moved two steps forward and repeated the process. Shoppers flowed around her with scarcely a sideways glance because Lhasa residents are used to prostrate pilgrims

Doorways decorated for Dia de Muertos. Picture by Ramaa Reddy

Spain’s Colonial Heart Beats Seductively in Mexico’s San Miguel de Allende

Culture, History, North America, Travel

San Miguel de Allende lies in the Eastern part of Mexico’s State of Guanajuato, about a three-hour journey from Mexico City. It’s a cobblestoned colonial town with pastel-colored buildings that has changed a lot over the past century yet remained remarkably the same. The city’s main square, or Jardin Principal, is canopied by trees. It’s a popular local hangout where Mariachi bands roam about awaiting paying customers. On the Northern corner stands the majestic Catholic church, Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel.

There’s More to Romania than Transylvania, Dracula and Ghostly Carpathian Forests

Culture, Europe, History, Travel

Romania conjures mysterious and sinister images of Count Dracula and the Transylvanian forests. The foreboding Bran Castle high in the Carpathian Mountains certainly looks like the location of Irish writer Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Stoker’s story of vampires rising from their coffins is an invented tale. But in autumn when twilight comes early it’s easy to imagine ghostly spirits of the undead lurking in the shadows.

Yet the Bucharest I saw was a bustling metropolis with museums and traffic jams, wide boulevards and cobblestone streets, good restaurants and late-night clubs. And a handful of lakes and gardens.