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February – March 2023
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1. In a new study, visiting Australia is #1 on the wish list of Americans of every age demographic (if money were no object). We recommend a small ship cruise specialist that is introducing adventurers to Australia’s most remote coastlines like never before.
2. We introduce travelers to Portugal’s Alentejo region east and south of Lisbon where cork oak forests, wine making, a rich horse history, and more than 2,000 years of settlement by different cultures influencing today’s cuisine and architecture.
3. Spain’s Camino de Santiago season is coming up, and as usual many of our readers are considering whether to walk or cycle a segment of one of the routes or perhaps go all the way. We offer an encouraging spotlight on a Camino planner based in the ultimate destination of all caminos, Santiago de Compostela, that is also a specialist in the surrounding region of Galicia still largely unfamiliar to travelers.
4. The Globetrotters Club founded in 1945, is still going very strong, with a proven track record of enabling travel dreams to come true for all ages!
5. Being able to sleep away an airplane flight, especially in economy class, is an elusive dream for many travelers. Here is a new travel pillow with five options to suit your sleep style and increase the odds that you will arrive well rested at your destination.
We invite you to check out our Feature Link of the Month and our latest Travel Product Reviews.
New Explorations by Small Ship of Australia’s Most Remote Coastlines
Premier small-ship company, AdventureSmith Explorations, adventuresmithexplorations.com, has created a new portfolio of cruises along Australia’s largely uninhabited, 16,000-mile coastline where small ships with shallow drafts have exclusive access. These regions include remote areas of the Kimberley outback (northern Australia), the Great Barrier Reef and the coastline of the country’s southeast island state of Tasmania.
“Don’t shortchange this great destination by trying to do too much,” advises Todd Smith, visionary founder and president of AdventureSmith Explorations. “We pair our cruises with knowledgeable guides, local insight and comfortable small ships that utilize the vast coastline for unique access where we can go deeper into the backcountry.”
Following are cruise itineraries that reflect Todd’s philosophy…
The 11-day “Kimberley- Cruising to the Australian Outback” opens up a world that is to Australians as Alaska is to Americans. Australians consider The Kimberley in Australia’s northern territory to be their last frontier. This is the least densely populated region of Australia.
Here guests witness a coastal topography with tides that rise and fall sometimes 33 feet. They view aboriginal cave art of indigenous populations and enjoy world-class birding on an island that harbors 18,000 breeding pairs of brown boobies as well as Roseate terns and is a significant breeding area for green sea turtles.
Activities may include hiking, scenic helicopter flights (added cost), kayaking, inflatable boat/skiff excursions, land treks, wildlife observation, cultural and village visits and participating in conservation efforts. Cruises depart either Darwin or Broome from March through October on any of three small adventure ships for 46 to 120 passengers.
“Pristine Tasmania” is an eight-day cruise on the 72-guest Coral Discoverer that has set a benchmark for luxury small ship cruising around Australia and in the South Pacific. This is an authentic expedition voyage with a flexible itinerary that enables the captain to respond to weather forecasts to ensure access to the best parts of Tasmania in the best possible conditions. For example, if conditions allow, guests spend two days exploring the untouched Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area at Port Davey and Bathurst Harbour. Normally only accessible by a seven-day hike or by light aircraft, this region is among the most pristine and beautiful landscapes on Earth. In the spirit of adventure, guests are advised the day prior where their next adventure lies — perhaps an oyster farm, an undiscovered track or even a seal colony basking in the sun.
In Tasmania, national parks are the star, some featuring gorges with nearly 1,000-foot-high-cliffs. Seals, dolphins and albatross make exciting guest appearances throughout the cruise. Guests hike with an expedition team including a guest Parks and Wildlife Ranger, kayak and cruise in an inflatable skiff, on a glass-bottom boat and on the ship’s special Xplorer tender. Departures roundtrip from Hobart (accessed from gateway cities in Australia) in January, February and March.
Departing from the gateway town of Cairns, “Great Barrier Reef Cruises” are four-, five- and eight-day year-round cruises that see past the world of day-boat visitors, while staying aboard two small adventure ships for 42 or 46 guests. These cruises reveal an underwater world that transmits magic to the eyes as a symphony does to the ears. The Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef, parallels much of Australia’s eastern coast.
These cruises allow more time to explore healthy, thriving and complex reef structures without competing for space with all the other snorkel and dive boats. The longer eight-day tour beginning in Cairns visits Cooktown where the world explorer, Captain James Cook in 1770 claimed Australia as a British colony. Guests are introduced to indigenous culture at a cultural park and in botanic gardens and may glimpse the antics of native Australian wildlife including kangaroos and wallabies.
Slowly moving down Australia’s eastern coast, individual coral cays become centers of attention. Guests board glass-bottomed boats at the first stop. A marine biologist introduces sea turtles, giant clams, rays, over 200 species of native birds and at some cays over 1,500 species of fish that inhabit this World Heritage-listed wonder of nature. Marine life in one region thrives in a mangrove eco-system: crocodiles, dolphins, turtles and dugongs all feeding on plentiful sea grasses. On Dunk Island a rainforest walk reveals the blue-winged Ulysses butterfly, yellow-bellied sunbird, emerald dove and orange-footed scrub fowl.
Founded in 2003, AdventureSmith Explorations is a recognized leader in small ship cruising with itineraries worldwide. In 2012 owner Todd Smith first joined the ranks of Condé Nast Traveler’s prestigious world’s Top Travel Specialists list as the leading expert on small ship expeditions. For two feature articles in our Travel Article Library where AdventureSmith’s small-ship cruise expertise is clearly demonstrated, we invite you to check out “The World’s Most Rewarding Bird Viewing Cruises,” and “Five Top Spots to Watch for Whales on Small Ship Expeditions.” The wildlife photography is pretty amazing!
Discover Portugal’s Alentejo Region
The Alentejo region, www.visitalentejo.pt/en/, is the heartland of Portugal, stretching from the Tejo River north of Lisbon to the mountains that surround the Algarve in the extreme south, to the border with Spain in the east, and the Atlantic shore in the west. It has inspired countless epic tales and adventures featuring Moors, Romans, Phoenicians and Celts, each leaving their mark on the unique local culture. A land with intense flavors of wine and a local cuisine that is unlike anything else, and as fresh and as local as the land it comes from. A place of plains and mountains, blue rivers, pristine beaches, fortified towns and villages painted in white and blue.
Making up 20% of Portugal, it has just 500,000 inhabitants, living in and around white-washed towns set on green plains, or amid vineyards and olive groves. The Portuguese call the Alentejo, with its own way of speaking, singing and seeing the world, its own nation.
The Alentejo has become Portugal’s new premier wine region. In recent decades, the region’s winemakers have ushered in many of the modern advancements, earning critical acclaim for some full-bodied, fruity reds and light, oaky whites.
The rolling plains are covered with large vineyards, dotted with whitewashed homes and cork trees. Both the wines and cuisine of the Alentejo have been influenced by Greek, Roman and Arab visitors.
Alentejo is also a region with a long horse history, celebrated to this day in colorful festivals and a new Equestrian resort set in 800 hectares/2,000 acres of rolling countryside. Dedicated to the Lusitanian horse breed, the state-owned Royal Horse Farm was founded in 1748. The property now includes the second hotel in Portugal to open under the Revive Program that rehabilitates national historic heritage in the country. Unveiled a year ago, the Vila Galé Collection Alter Real is a mix of luxury accommodations and guest facilities with equestrian tourism, offering guided farm tours, horse riding, carriage rides and even horse riding lessons for all levels.
The ancient land of Alentejo produces more than half of the world’s total cork from beautiful cork oak forests that are one of the most common tree species in Portugal. They are also a haven for dozens of bird species, butterflies and plants. The process of removal, done once every 9 years, involves removing the outer bark. You can see the stripping of the bark in the Alentejo, and a red tee indicates it has had its bark recently removed. The hardy cork oak then grows a new layer of bark.
The protection of Alentejo’s cork trees by law has resulted in thousands of acres of protected forests and a deep cultural respect for their preservation. Ever since the 17th century, when a certain Benedictine monk, Dom Perignon, selected the bark of the cork oak as the perfect sealant for that legendary champagne, it has been something very special. Today there is enough cork in the forests of Portugal to last more than a century.
Food for Thought“Travel far enough and you meet yourself.” David Mitchell
How Many “Ways” Are There to Do a Spanish Camino?
The answer is: a lot of them! Walking or cycling, there are different pilgrim-worn routes of a Camino de Santiago with different names and adventures to be had. Most international travelers wisely engage the expertise of a specialist to ensure the success of their chosen camino which might be the French Way, Portuguese Way, Finisterre & Muxía Way, Northern Way, Primitive Way, Portuguese Coastal Way, Lebaniego Way and Winter Way, and a few others too. With its company name Galiwonders, one such specialist declares its local expertise of the Galicia region of northwestern Spain with tour planner headquarters in the ultimate pilgrim destination, the medieval city of Santiago de Compostela. No matter which Way you tread, here is where your journey ends.
Galiwonders organizes guided and self-guided itineraries for an international clientele mainly from the U.S, Canada, Australia, the U.K. and Ireland. In addition to helping pilgrims from all over the world to experience the best “Ways” to do their own Camino, the company also plans itineraries of the fascinating Galicia region of northwestern Spain, introducing clients to the local wines, culinary and cultural treasures, and distinctive natural highlights of this less-traveled region.
Do you want to go all the way? You have two choices: walk the full Northern Way, hugging the coastline of northern Spain for most of the route before slicing inland to Santiago de Compostela, or take the French Way, from the French/Spanish foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains along a purely inland route through Basque Country heading west across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela.
By way of example, Galiwonders books for clients 37 nights of accommodation on the Northern Way or 35 nights accommodation on the French Way, both routes including two meals a day (half board), luggage transfer, 24/7 phone support, the essential pilgrim passport and walking notes for each particular route. Each day you set out only carrying a daypack. Of course, shorter segments of all routes may be taken with the pace customized in consultation with the client. No matter your choice of route or segment, Galiwonders website maps and elevation change graphs are presented clearly on each route web page, to assist in realistic decision-making about what you can manage.
Few travelers realize that Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the Galicia autonomous region, a geographically and historically-rich northwest corner of Spain rarely explored by vacationers beyond visiting Santiago itself. Why not take time after your pilgrim walk to do so with some day tours, drawing on the broad local expertise of Santiago-based Galiwonders ? See the Galicia feature article in our Travel Article Library and learn a little about the region. It is a documented home to early ancestral Neanderthal ancient humans until they died out tens of thousands of years ago and to our earliest Modern Human ancestors as well as many colorful occupiers and settlers during the prehistoric and historic periods including a strong Celtic heritage.
Images courtesy of Galiwonders.com.
Join the Globetrotters Club to Travel in Budget Style
In 1970 I was introduced to the Globetrotters Club globetrotters.co.uk, based in the U.K., when my friend, Helen, was retiring at age 65 from her job as a university librarian. Life had been hard for this always-optimistic, encouraging lady, widowed and penniless in her mid-thirties with three young sons under eight to raise. Head down for decades with no money for luxuries like travel, her health was failing and she had been told by several doctors that she would not live long at all after retirement. Best if she just put her feet up and did as much resting as she could. Not Helen …
She had somewhere discovered the Globetrotters Club (in an era way before the Internet), and joined up. When a fellow member put together a budget trip itinerary and cast about for candidates, Helen signed up instantly despite cautions from alarmed friends and family members. I remember that first group trip she did with about a dozen other members of all ages was from London to New Dehli overland by rickety rented bus, mostly sleeping in hostels across Europe and on the bus in places like eastern Turkey and Afghanistan, eating from food markets.
Helen’s journey was priced at 50 days for 50 British pounds. She was hooked, and spent the next 20 years in bonny health with bright eyes flashing and masses of white hair piled haphazardly on top of her head. She saw the world on a tight budget, stayed in people’s home in places like China and Israel or in hostels before older people considered such things, always with a heavy backpack as her suitcase, and always scribbling notes about all she experienced. Many of her great adventures were with fellow Globetrotters, including one trip across the entire Sahara Desert by jeep. Helen lived a healthy and grateful life into her nineties.
What is the Globetrotters Club? The aim of the club is simple: to encourage people to travel and see new things. Started in 1945, this is the oldest travel network in existence offering an opportunity to make new friends who share an interest in travel.
Club membership fees are £12 a year (roughly US$16) for every member wherever they live in the world. Once a member, you will receive a copy of Globe Magazine, access to the website’s members area so as to be able to contact other club members around the world to hear about firsthand experiences, and even stay with some of them or offer to put up fellow Globetrotters yourself as they are passing through your area! Anyone can join as long as they pay the membership fee. Some travel clubs require that members spend a minimum period traveling. GT does not, and it welcomes all ages.
Upgrade to Sleeping Class!
For those of us confined to economy class on long airplane flights, anything that encourages comfort and even a little sleep is a mission of mercy. A new product invented in Australia is making its way around the world as we speak.
FaceCradle Travel Pillow™ , www.facecradle.com, provides 5 Modes of Comfort including the conventional neck pillow function we call Dozing Mode (1). Wrap-around neck pillows are designed to provide comfort when your head is vertical but that’s not how we naturally sleep.
FaceCradle Travel Pillow is designed for the total environment that is economy class travel. It allows you to utilize the complete 180 degrees of space in and in front of your seat, to find you the optimum comfort position. The 5 comfort modes access many new positions that allow your head to get to horizontal, closer to replicating the feeling of being in bed. The hammock style support of modes 4 & 5 plus the “breath easy” position which replicates resting face down in a massage table takes comfort to a whole new level. Bottom line is that you have five different modes with FaceCradle which is four more positions than a traditional neck pillow.
Once you become familiar with the adjustability of this travel pillow you can switch between positions a little like tossing around in your bed before you settle on your final sleeping position.
Modes 4 & 5 in particular, enable the person in front, to put their seat all the way back without bothering you and because your seat is upright you don’t bother the person behind you. The quick adjust mechanism allows you to instantly pack the FaceCradle back to its default neck pillow position (Mode 1) to allow those next to you to get out or for you to receive your meal/drink service.
This new travel pillow allows you to Upgrade to Sleeping Class™ and have every chance to arrive better rested at your final destination. When you have a long journey in a car, the FaceCradle can also be a lifesaver. Try it out!
Available in grey, black, royal blue and violet, covers are machine washable. Price is US$59 on the FaceCradle website, presently with free shipping. Average shipping time is 7 to 12 days. It weighs .72kg (1.61lbs) and is not considered to be part of your carry on weight allowance on flights. It comes with a strap so you may sling it across your upper body like a purse. The FaceCradle is guaranteed for life against manufacturing fault and any failure caused by such fault.
Images courtesy of Hairy Turtle Pty Ltd.
