There are now five luxury hotels in Bora Bora and a sixth under construction. Each offers something distinctive to its guests. How to choose the best hotel for you? Begin with this question: What kind of experience do you want to have in Bora Bora? If you want to stay right on the best beach in […]

For those interested in such things, this is a photograph of the new Four Seasons Bora Bora currently under construction. (The picture was taken on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2007.) Locals think that the hotel will be ready for occupancy in 2008. What can be seen here are a number of overwater bungalows in the process […]

I’m writing this article from Bora Bora, in the middle of the South Pacific, thousands of miles from the nearest land mass. I’m looking through the window of my overwater bungalow at the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort. What I see is the very scene pictured here (straight from my digital camera to my blog). I […]

Perhaps the greatest perk that comes with being a travel consultant is having the opportunity to visit exotic destinations all around the world … and consider it part of your job! I’ll be leaving for Tahiti on Saturday afternoon, a 7 1/2 hour flight on Air Tahiti Nui from Los Angeles. After two nights in […]

If you are making plans to visit Provence, Aix-en-Provence is a great place to make your base. A student town, Aix is easily reached by the TGV train from Paris and is a destination well worth a visit. If you’re there on a Saturday, you’ll enjoy the street market, but no matter what day you […]

Are you planning to visit Italy for at least seven days sometime in the coming year? Would you like to stay in five-star hotels? Are you convinced you can’t afford them? Well, this is an opportunity well worth considering. Starwood Hotels’ Welcome to Italy promotion includes some of the finest hotels in Italy. The rates are extremely attractive. They […]

This column is adapted from a piece written by my colleague Ellen LeCompte, CTA, an independent associate of Sterling Brownell and a Virtuoso agent. She has been recognized by Travel + Leisure as the top London travel specialist in the nation three years running. It is presented here with her permission. I am frequently asked, “What […]

Google the phrase “become a travel agent” and see how many links come up. Judging from the number of websites that offer you a travel agency in a box and promise amazing lifestyle perks and free travel benefits, there’s obviously a real market and interest in selling travel. The promises are incredible. What’s the truth […]

A dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets, but on the twelfth floor of the Acme Building one man is still trying to find the answers to life’s persistent questions — Guy Noir, Private Eye. The phone rang. It was 9 o’clock in the morning. “Is this David’s Travel?” asked the […]

… and other business class bargains! While there are some remarkable international economy fares available right now, this is an ideal time to consider the comforts of business class. If you are used to coach, the experience of flying in a premium cabin is remarkable. Do you hate it when the seat back in front of […]

How does an airport-closing snowstorm in Colorado affect me when I live in California and have no plans to travel east for the holidays? Well, I’m a travel consultant (actually quite new in the industry … just seven months now), and I have clients whose travel plans included Denver. The phone call came at 7 p.m. […]

As I wrote two weeks ago, travel can be stressful. Nearly everyone experiences travel stress, but the fact is that different things stress out different people. Today’s column concerns the stress of coping with the unfamiliar. Travel is exciting! It is exhilarating to step off the plane after a long international flight and find yourself in […]

I participated in an online forum last week on the subject of booking luxury hotel rooms online. My assertion: you can usually get much better value booking from a travel agent specializing in luxury travel, especially an agent who is a Virtuoso member. My assertion was challenged by another forum participant who urged readers to […]

A young woman was talking with me the other day about the honeymoon she wants to plan. Something was worrying her. She has noticed that when she and her fiance have traveled together, STRESS makes him angry. His anger makes the trip less satisfying for her. How could they plan the perfect honeymoon together? Even though […]

Jerry and Judy Stone are lifetime travellers who have just returned from Egypt. With his permission, I am reprinting the following travelogue that Jerry sent me. Our Egypt trip was perhaps the single most impressive of all our journeys. We were overwhelmed by the antiquity of the place. Standing in front of the Sphinx with […]

This is a story about Hazel, an 87 year-old widow; Hazel has always dreamed of going to Hawaii but has never made the journey. It’s also a story about those unexpected moments of human love that surprise all of us and touch our hearts. The phone call came from Angel, Hazel’s granddaughter. Everyone in the family […]

In last week’s column, I wrote about the kinds of magical experiences that can be had at the upscale hotels of Paris. But admittedly, this option is not for everyone, either for reasons of cost (such hotels are beyond the reach of most travelers) or choice (many affluent travelers have different priorities). But not to […]

Paris is my favorite city in the world, and part of the wonder of Paris is that it can be savored at any budget level. Next week we’ll take a look at some economical options for staying in Paris … but today’s Travel Horizon is about upscale Paris. For those who want a real treat and […]

My partner and I had the recent opportunity, in exchange for 280,000 Alaska Air miles, to experience British Airways First Class flying round trip from SFO to Italy. Two questions piqued my curiosity. (1) What is the difference between First Class and Club World? and (2) Is it worth it? Both First and Club World have […]

photograph © 2006 David J. Ourisman. May not be reproduced without permission. You’ve seen the ads featuring British Airways completely flat business class seats. What is life really like up front? I’m happy to report that BA Club World transatlantic service is the best business-class product that I’ve ever experienced. I recently flew a roundtrip from San […]

Homer writes of the “rosy-fingered dawn” numerous times in the Odyssey, describing the beginning of each new day in the epic journey of Odysseus. During a recent trip to Italy, I saw a beautiful rosy-fingered dawn from high in the hills above Capri. We stayed in a beautiful hotel, the Caesar Augustus, and I captured […]

My biggest thrill during a recent trip to Italy was seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s classic fresco The Last Supper. This is one of the great works of Renaissance art, and it is a high moment for an art lover to see in person the original of an image previously viewed only in art history text […]

This was a lesson learned by taking a chance. The Vatican Museums open everyday at 9 a.m. We figured that by showing up thirty minutes early, we’d be at the front of any queues. Wrong! At 8:30 a.m, the queue already stretched all the way down the block, around the corner, and down the next […]

This is a new blog about travel. I am calling it Travel Horizons. One of the wonderful things about travel is that it expands our horizons, literally. A horizon is defined as “the circular boundary of the part of the earth’s surface visible from a particular point.” When we stay in one place, we see the same […]

As readers of this blog may be able to discern, one of my avocations is photography. I was a teenager when I got my first “serious” camera, a 35mm rangefinder film camera with totally manual controls–no auto focus, no auto exposure, not even an in-the-camera lightmeter. I had to use a handheld Gossen lightmeter. Nobody […]

A prospective traveler recently posted the following question on a travel forum: I’ll arrive in Paris on a Saturday at 10 in the morning, so what do you suggest we do over the weekend. And when is it that stores are closed? Is it the weekend, or what? I must admit to rolling my eyes for a […]

Silversea calls itself a six-star cruise line. There are at most 382 passengers per sailing. Everyone travels in luxury. You will not get stuck in a claustrophia-inducing inside cabin without a view, because there are no inside cabins. Everyone gets a suite. Everyone gets an ocean view. Fully 80% of the cabins have private teak […]

Mathieu has started a list of favorite travel blogs that he is calling the T-List (which stands for Tourism/Travel list). This is a great idea, but I found the instructions slightly confusing … so I have attempted to clarify. Instructions Create a new post. Copy/paste the following list of links here into your own post. Add your own favorite […]

Thanks to the internet, it is now possible to be your own travel agent! All the major hotel chains have booking engines on their websites. If you know what brand of hotel you want to stay in, just surf to their site, plug in your dates, choose your room type and rate, enter your credit […]

The pleasure of travel begins the moment I begin dreaming about my next trip. It begins with my fantasies, my imagination. Where do I want to go? What do I want to see? What experiences do I want to have? What cultures I do I want to explore? The possibilities are endless. There’s a whole world […]