Sherman's Travel

The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Bogotá was how new, clean and organized its international airport is (I wish JFK were as pleasant). Around the capital city there are new buildings going up alongside gleaming office and apartment towers. Colombia is showing off a new face to the world – one that has left behind the constant fear of drug dealers and domestic terrorists. Nowadays, a democratic, free-market-focused central government is making progress, and a rising middle class is supporting a boom in restaurants, nightclubs, and retail. As people exude optimism about their future, Colombia is on the rise, much like its more noticed neighbor, Brazil. Read more

With spring breaks and warmer temperatures ahead (we hope), April and May make perfect months for quick weekend jaunts. Whether you live on the East Coast, the West Coast, or somewhere in between, we’ve rounded up a number of great hotel deals – from New England to California – that make it easy for you to escape and relax, even for just a few days. Read more

From the east coast to the west coast and the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. boasts miles of diverse shorelines that provide picturesque backdrops to many of our favorite destinations. Head to one of our great coastal cities and spend less of your tax return on hotel stays. This week, we’ve rounded up a batch of hotel deals, all with nightly rates under $180 for stays April through June. Read more

With spring break right around the corner, now is the perfect time to plan your next adventure. Even upscale hotels are offering great rates for March and April travel, so you can stay at those luxe hotels you used to think you couldn’t afford, even during this prime travel period. From a boutique hotel in Denver to a brand-new 5-star resort in Goa, you can treat yourself to a spring break without breaking the bank. Read more

If you’ve got some wiggle room in your travel dates this year, consider this: Many U.S. cities’s hotel rates vary hundreds of dollars depending on the weeks and months that you book them in.

After analyzing historical booking data, here’s what Hotwire.com found when it came to finding great rates in some of the most popular U.S. cities. Read more

Move over, margaritas: Wine is poised to take center stage at an upcoming culinary series of gourmet culinary events at an award-winning property in the Mexican Riviera.

In further proof that the world has not, in fact, ended, Karisma Hotels & Resorts has unveiled its Jackson Family Wines Culinary Series, a brand-new offering for 2013. Held at the adults-only El Dorado Royale and El Dorado Casitas each month, the weeklong program will highlight a different chef and winemaker from the Northern California winery, who will work together to create wine and dine experiences such as tasting and cooking classes, beachside wine parties, and a multi-course winemaker dinner prepared in a thatched roof “culinary theater.”

Sounds like a perfect backdrop for a Valentine’s Day getaway – or a reason to toast a trip to Mexico any other time of year. Read more

If you don’t know what Bulgaria, London, Milwaukee, Montana, and New Zealand have in common, it’s my pleasure to remind you that they’re all places some of my well-traveled colleagues identified as worthy family vacation destinations for 2012.

Given that a new year is upon us and my friends are still well traveled, I called on them again to identify destinations that family travelers might want to add to their short lists in 2013.

Kangaroo Island: Yes, Things Are Hopping There

If Hobbit tourism catches on the way John E. DiScala (aka the very frequent flier better known as Johnny Jet) predicted last year, the New Zealand town of Matamata will still be a destination to watch for 2013. If Tolkien travel is not your family’s thing, but you’re still intrigued by the Southern Hemisphere, DiScala has another nomination for you: Kangaroo Island. “It’s in south Australia, just a 15 minute flight from Adelaide,” he points out, “and it’s known as Australia’s ‘zoo without fences.’” As you might expect, you’ll get an eyeful of kangaroos and wallabies there, as well as koalas, seals, and the whimsical-looking echidnas (spiny anteaters). DiScala also says the island’s Southern Ocean Lodge is one of the world’s best places to stay.

Perhaps the best news is that Kangaroo Island is not yet on the radar of U.S. family travelers. “I was there in October, so no U.S. families were traveling,” DiScala says, “but they will be there, as it’s just now getting known. It’s the new Tasmania.” Read more

In the world of luxury travel, few providers hold a candle to Abercrombie & Kent. A&K travel conjures up images  of elegant, five-star accommodations, customized itineraries with expert guides, the finest of Michelin-rated dining, and cushy modes of transportation. And, of course, the hefty price tag that comes with all of those extravagances.

Looking for all that glitz on a budget? Consider A&K Connections, a new line of luxurious journeys for small groups of 24-28 guests that offers 17 itineraries from six continents. Some of the available destinations include Australia, France, India, Morocco, and Peru. I recently joined A&K on a preview of their “Spain: Seven Cities tour” to see firsthand what Connections is all about.

The cities that make up the title include Barcelona, Granada, Marbella, Gibraltar, Seville, Cordoba, and Madrid. Tally up the day-trips to Malaga, Ronda, and Jerez, however, and you’re looking at a whopping ten cities packed into a ten-day tour. The preview trip was condensed into seven-days. Needless to say, at times, this felt like a break-neck pace, even with Gibraltar sliced off the itinerary. I’d imagine the ten-day version to be just slightly less speedy.

Despite the pace, it’s hard to say which part of the trip I would eliminate to slow things down.  In retrospect, it’s easy to see why Simon Butler-Madden, an A&K vet who built many of the Connections itineraries, included all the sights we saw; the trip provides a cohesive overview of Spain’s diverse history, and how that history affected all aspects of modern Spanish and Catalonian culture. Read more

Given that bags really haven’t changed much over the last century, Dutch entrepreneur Marijn Berk’s charmingly absolute Jedi Mind Trick suggestion that bags, “no longer meet our needs,” makes me want to respond, “Bags no longer meet my needs, please tell me more, Marijn.” He does, in his video for the Phorce Smart Bag, a computer bag with an integrated battery pack slated to ship in May 2013.

While I can wax enthusiastically about the marketing, I can’t gush about a bag that doesn’t yet exist – the product is still in the functional prototype stage. But what’s promised are two versions of the bag. One will juice up to three gadgets at once – tablets, smartphones, laptops, and countless other devices, too, as long as they have USB ports. A second bag will have the same three USB charging ports, but will also be able to extend your MacBook’s battery life (not recharge its battery, a technical limitation) for up to seven additional hours.

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Instead of battling Black Friday madness in the stores on Friday, how about bombing down the slopes? Several ski resorts in California, including Mammoth Mountain and Squaw, are welcoming skiers and boarders with several feet of snow and some great deals to boot.

Mammoth Mountain is offering a package that includes a fourth night free, available for arrivals through Nov. 24, while Squaw Valley announced on Tuesday that it’s opening 13 lifts for Thanksgiving weekend, including seven on the upper mountain, thanks to impressive early-season snowfall of about 7 feet and the resort’s improved snowmaking capabilities.

Can’t get away on such short notice? No worries: Black Friday and Black Monday are beckoning with plenty of other adventure-heavy deals, including up to $2,000 off trips with operator Abercrombie & Kent, and a massive pre-Black Friday sale on Liftopia, the largest online marketplace for discounted lift tickets.

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