Based in New York City, Robert is Lonely Planet's USA Travel Editor. He has written two dozen guidebooks (including USA & Canada, Europe & Southeast Asia) and articles for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and ESPN. Recently we had a chance to ask him several questions about his career, travels and travel advice. Q. Tell us a little about yourself and how you first became interested in travel writing/editing? I grew up in … [Read more...]
Moon Maya 2012
Moon Maya 2012 by Joshua Berman In time for the end of the 5125 year cycle started by the Mayans in 3114 BC - Moon has released "Maya 2012" a guide to celebrations in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize & Honduras. This region is often referred to as the "mundo maya" - where most of the world's 10 million Mayans still live today. While some of the guide is geared towards touring in 2012, much is not and the book offers helpful advice in general on … [Read more...]
Spotlight on Raleigh North Carolina
Raleigh, the capital city of North Carolina is named after Sir Walter Raleigh - despite his never setting foot in the city. However he did encourage the settlement of North Carolina and established the first British colony in North America on North Carolina's Roanoke Island. Raleigh is one of the few planned cities in the USA and was also created specifically to be the state's capital. It was planned in 1788 and officially established in … [Read more...]
Water For People and Crowdrise.com Launch Campaign to Raise $2 Million for Safe Water
"Donate to Drink" campaign offers participants chance to win an once-in-a-lifetime trip to experience Water For People's Work in Rwanda, Africa Denver, CO - On September 1, Water For People, an international nonprofit organization that aims to create a world where everyone has access to safe drinking water and sanitation, launched a Crowdrise.com campaign in an effort to raise $2 million through the crowd-sourced, online fundraising … [Read more...]
Once in a Lifetime
What did I know about birds? Enough to feed spinach greens, not stale muffins, to the domestic ducks at Recreation Park in my hometown of Long Beach, CA. Enough to avoid annoying the thirty-pound swans in London's Hyde Park. Enough to understand that silence was golden while trailing knowledgeable birdwatchers in the woods near The House of the Doves at Uxmal. And once, at my grandmother's house in Los Angeles when I was ten, I learned the hard … [Read more...]
SpaFinder Announces 2010 Readers’ Choice Award Winners, Identifying the Top Spas around the World
Most Votes Cast, across More Countries and Categories, in Program's Eight-Year History - with Many New 'Faces' Taking Top Honors NEW YORK, NY October 22, 2010 - SpaFinder, Inc., the global spa and wellness resource, today unveiled the winners of its 2010 Readers' Choice Awards, honoring spa-goers' favorite spas across the globe on six continents and in 35 countries/regions, along with their top ten picks in 31 unique categories. The 2010 … [Read more...]
Moon Nicaragua
Moon Nicaragua by Joshua Berman and Randall Wood This in depth guide book is an excellent resource for travelers to Nicaragua, central America's largest and least populated country. Travel in Nicaragua is generally for Independent travelers - and getting off the tourist beaten path is extremely easy (we know, we've been here before)! Nicaragua is certainly not neighboring Costa Rica in terms of tourist development - but there is just as much … [Read more...]
Maya Roads
Maya Roads by Jo McConahay Author Mary Jo McConahay was first inspired to explore the rainforests in Central America during a vacation with her sister in Mexico City when she saw an exhibit about the Lacandon Maya Indians. After visiting the Lacandon Rainforest her life turned to journalistic activities for twenty years and it wasn't until the 1990's that her mind began to wander back to the rainforest. Her "ticket" back was through an … [Read more...]
Polish People-to-People Partnership Celebrates American Roots and a 20-Year Run
(MAY 2010) - Over 2,600 American volunteers are credited for helping write a prosperous new chapter for Polish students through an innovative English teaching program. Working in service teams of 10 to 15, for two or three weeks at a time, volunteers from states across the nation lent their conversational skills to rural classrooms in central and southern Poland out of friendship. Siedlce Governor Zygmunt Wielogorski wants the country to know … [Read more...]
Pollo Campero
We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest. ~ Oscar Romero Pollo Campero Jackie, Trout, Molly, and I were on our way back from spending the week in Honduras and were physically and emotionally exhausted from our trip. We had … [Read more...]