As Baby Boomers become empty nesters and/or retire, more of them want to return to the big city. So more of them in my area of the world are opting for high-rise luxury condos. In fact, according to Forsight Analytics, up to 30,000 condos are being built or planned in downtown San Francisco, with about…
A skier heads down the slopes. Photo by Sue Frause. Ski season is just a flip of the calendar away, and British Columbia’s Whistler has again been touted by Conde Nast Traveler in its November 2006 issue. A trio of Whistler hotels swept the top three spots in the annual readers’ choice awards for the…
Travel videos appear to be the hottest thing on Travel 2.0 websites! This really hit me when, in two days I received announcement of new travel videos from the discount travel agency, Travelzoo.com and from the social travel site Tripmates.com. Travel Zoo Unleashed Travel Videos currently has three 20-minute long videos up: Washington DC, Atlantic…
This is our 1,500th article! We thank you for reading our online magazine about fashionable travel, upscale food, fine wine and stylish shopping. We love reading your comments. And we vow to keep on keeping on with even more content that’s even more upscale. In fact, very soon, we’ll be launching a new skin for…
Clarins Canada Skin Spa, which opened a little more than a year ago in Toronto, is a sleek red-and-white emporium where treatments given in luxe comfort can painlessly turn back the clock. Forget those excruciating extractions associated with most facials, the face (and body) treatments here are marked simply by a feathery, light, signature massage,…
Cavalia, the spectacular equestrian odyssey, is heading to Las Vegas as part of its North American tour. Now on the road for three years, the spectacular show will be presented under its familiar White Big Top at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. The show opens November 16, 2006 for a multi-week engagement. I saw…
One in ten people in King County, Seattle’s westernmost county in Washington State, claim Nordic heritage. That means their roots come from one of the five Scandanavian countries: Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland and Denmark. The Seattle neighborhood of Ballard, north of downtown across Salmon Bay, was first settled largely by Scandanavians who founded the Seattle…
If you really want to see San Francisco in a unique and way upscale way, the only choice is The Urban Safari’s new Total Tour. It is available starting Friday, November 24 and is normally a 9 am – 4pm tour, but it can be customized to your group’s schedule. It includes pick-up and drop-off…
Recently named the #1 Top Family Resort in Hawaii by Travel + Leisure Family Magazine, the Hilton Waikoloa Village is a unique extremely upscale resort. Where else can you take part in an interactive dolphin program, cruise on mahogany canal boats, explore an oceanfront hotel by trams with AC, experience breathtaking tropical gardens, or take…
Children of Chief Mukuni’s Village. Photo by Sue Frause. Author’s Note: My family and I recently returned from Africa. The three of us visited South Africa, Zambia and Botswana and I’ll be sharing some of my stories and photographs from the road with Vagablond readers. It was an amazing adventure! VICTORIA FALLS, ZAMBIA — Yasim…
The elections may be over, but you still have a chance to vote! American Style Magazine, an upscale arts lifestyle publication, is giving art lovers the opportunity to vote for their favorite arts destinations. The magazine is selecting the Top 25 Arts Destinations in a readers’ poll. Last year, New York City won top honors…
About 15 years ago, I was living in NYC and was obsessed with trying to get a permit to visit Assam, India — a newly opened area of India with fascinating sounding tribal people. I kept being told that the area was not issuing permits to solo travelers, so I finally acquiesced and joined a…