Visiting Orlando’s parks like the One Percent

Visiting Orlando’s parks like the One Percent

No waiting for buses, navigating crowded parking lots or walking more than you or your kids can take. Hall whisks you around Walt Disney World in a private car that he parks exactly where you want to be.

Bushwhacking through the Willows in Denali National Park

Bushwhacking through the Willows in Denali National Park

What people also don’t realize is that hiking here is far different than hiking in Yosemite or Yellowstone or most other places. There are no defined trails, and no trail signs. You either need to be experienced in the backcountry and know how to use a compass and map or be fortunate enough to be hiking with someone like Brian McCormick who has been guiding visitors for years.

Camp Denali: fascinating tales from three generations

Camp Denali: fascinating tales from three generations

Wood showed us a film after dinner of the building of “Camp” as they call it—hauling logs with a World War II surplus jeep, sawing huge trees with hand saws, giving climbers who successfully summited the largest mountain in North America (20,320 feet!) a free spaghetti dinner.

A “moderate/strenuous” hike on the Denali permafrost

A “moderate/strenuous” hike on the Denali permafrost

They said the views from the ridge at the top of the Tiga Trail are spectacular. We ask can we do a “moderate-slash-strenuous” hike (translation: slower). Everyone laughs and the six of us in our family—three nursing bad knees—head off with the naturalists

Lots to do in the mountains and farms of Vermont in summer

Lots to do in the mountains and farms of Vermont in summer

The kids have already petted a chicken (and learned they’ll eat cantaloupe, as well as worms) met the baby calves Fiona and Danika and the draft horses Joe and Jim. Certain days of the summer, kids, ages 10 to 15, can become a farm vet for a day…

To the Caribbean and savings in summer

To the Caribbean and savings in summer

Come here in summer and you may be able to afford to vacation like the 1 percenters. Like everywhere in the Caribbean, you can save significant bucks on airfare, as well as lodging.

Remembering a friends getaway to Puerto Rico

Remembering a friends getaway to Puerto Rico

I’m here with two old friends for a girlfriends’ getaway too and we decide Puerto Rico is a good bet—easy to reach, no passports required and plenty to do (even a big outlet mall, if you are so inclined.)

Discovering the beauty of the California Coastal region

Discovering the beauty of the California Coastal region

During our five-mile hike, we see plump yellow banana slugs, the tiny Calypso orchid and blooming trillium, a member of the lily family. But the best part is the conversations with my daughter, Reg, who lives across the country from us in San Francisco. I’d forgotten how conducive hiking is to catching up!