Gadling http://www.gadling.com Gadling http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.gadling.com/media/feedlogo.gif Gadling http://www.gadling.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Travel Writing Legend Jan Morris To Appear Onstage In New York May 8]]>http://www.gadling.com/2013/05/07/travel-writing-legend-jan-morris-to-appear-onstage-in-new-york-m/http://www.gadling.com/2013/05/07/travel-writing-legend-jan-morris-to-appear-onstage-in-new-york-m/http://www.gadling.com/2013/05/07/travel-writing-legend-jan-morris-to-appear-onstage-in-new-york-m/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Legendary travel writer Jan Morris is making a very rare visit to the U.S. next week to appear in an onstage conversation with me in New York City on Wednesday, May 8. The Wales-based author of more than 30 books, ranging from the masterful essay collections "Journeys," "Destinations," and "Among the Cities" to such classics as "Pax Britannica," "The World of Venice," and "The Matter of Wales," Morris is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She is also the last surviving member of the expedition team that made the first successful ascent of Mount Everest 60 years ago this month. As fate would have it, Morris's dispatch announcing the team's success appeared in the London Times on the same day as Queen Elizabeth's coronation, a life-changing tale she recounts in her book "Coronation Everest."

Morris will be discussing that historic expedition in our conversation. For me the meeting is also an opportunity to honor and celebrate the entire life and work of one of the most engaging and influential travel prose stylists of our time. From her magisterial "Pax Britannica" trilogy to her groundbreaking on-the-road dispatches for Rolling Stone magazine to her poignant recent book "Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere," Morris has profoundly inspired and affected me and virtually every other travel writer I know. As I once wrote for Salon, "Rereading her works, I remember how much I love her attention to offbeat details, her eye for emblematic characters, her gentle humor and pointed wit, her encyclopedic knowledge of history and art and the ongoing dance of research and apprehension, description and analysis that whirls through her writing. And, too, I love the way she approaches the world with a genuine sympathy, with an openness of mind and heart that allows her to penetrate past prejudices and preconceptions, to see the soul and spirit of a place."

Continue reading Travel Writing Legend Jan Morris To Appear Onstage In New York May 8

Travel Writing Legend Jan Morris To Appear Onstage In New York May 8 originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 07 May 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Tue, 07 May 2013 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[An Enchanted Expedition In Kyoto]]>http://www.gadling.com/2013/04/30/an-enchanted-expedition-in-kyoto/http://www.gadling.com/2013/04/30/an-enchanted-expedition-in-kyoto/http://www.gadling.com/2013/04/30/an-enchanted-expedition-in-kyoto/#commentsFiled under: , ,



I have just returned from two and a half wonderful weeks in Japan, leading an intrepid, engaged and enriching group of eight travelers through Kyoto and Shikoku. The trip turned out to be full of magic and delight, but as I began the journey, before I knew how it would turn out, I had turned for inspiration and encouragement to the memory of an earlier journey - my very first time as a tour leader, when I had led two American travelers on an autumn tour of Tokyo, Kyoto and rural Honshu. Here is a tale from that initial tour:

On our first full day in Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto, we began with visits to three back-alley shops where traditional tofu delicacies, delicate fans and tatami mats are made. Then, when the husband of the couple I was accompanying mentioned that his mother used to love lacquerware and had a considerable collection in California, our local guide perked up. ''Oh, then I know just where we must go,'' she said, hailing a cab. ''Zohiko!''

From the moment we walked into its hushed confines, Zohiko seemed more a museum than a retail store. Three men and a woman in crisp dark suits greeted us with bows. The ground floor consisted of two spacious rooms elegantly arranged with wooden shelves and mounted display cases showcasing an extraordinary assemblage of lacquerware. There were exquisite soup bowls and small plates, flower containers, round boxes, square boxes, sake sets, green tea cup saucers, large serving trays and small personal trays, multi-layered boxes and decorative plates, all in sleek black, red and gold, adorned with intricate flowers, rolling waves, fluttering butterflies and bending grasses.

I lingered for a long time studying a set of five black soup bowls, each with a different gorgeous rendering of pine, bamboo, apricot, chrysanthemum and orchid. A strikingly simple pure red tray with two soaring gold cranes in one corner held my eye. And if I'd had enough money, I would have bought a spectacular rectangular black container with layer upon layer of gold depicting a glittering seascape with a single, pine-crowned island in the distance and thin-winged birds flocking on the horizon.

Continue reading An Enchanted Expedition In Kyoto

An Enchanted Expedition In Kyoto originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>don georgeDonGeorgejapankyotoTue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Lonely Planet's 'Travel Writing,' Edition 3.0: Soliciting Your Input]]>http://www.gadling.com/2013/03/12/lonely-planet-s-travel-writing-edition-3-0-soliciting-your-i/http://www.gadling.com/2013/03/12/lonely-planet-s-travel-writing-edition-3-0-soliciting-your-i/http://www.gadling.com/2013/03/12/lonely-planet-s-travel-writing-edition-3-0-soliciting-your-i/#commentsFiled under:



I'm in the process of updating Lonely Planet's Guide to Travel Writing. The second edition was published in 2009 and, as you well know, a few things have changed in the world of travel writing and publishing since then!

As I'm trying to shape my focus and hone in on the most essential evolutions and updates, I've realized that I should seek the advice of a vast team of informed and impassioned experts: all of you who care about travel writing and travel content!

So, if you've read my book - and if you have, thank you very much! - I would be very grateful to hear any suggestions you might have for the most essential material to include and areas to cover in the new edition. And if you haven't (well, you don't know what you're missing!), I'd still value hearing from you too.

It's clear to me that in addition to covering changes in the world of print publishing, I need to focus more broadly and in depth on the explosive evolution of online publishing - the limitless proliferation of websites and blogs as well as the advent of tablet magazines - and of social media as a platform for both editorial communication and entrepreneurial promotion.

As part of this, I need to address at least briefly the marketization of travel writing and the evolution of the traditional journalist-industry relationship, with sweeping new variations in sponsorships, partnerships and press trips. In this regard I also want to try to present a balanced perspective on new (and old, and everlasting) ethical issues and considerations - and of course, consistent with the framework of the entire book, to put all this in the context of creating quality travel writing and content.

I need to address changes in book publishing as well, and the rise (in number and in credibility) of self-publishing options.

And I need to cover changes in technology and tools, and how travel writers - content producers - are using and adapting technological innovations to create compelling content.

If you are engaged in the world of travel writing/content, do you agree or disagree with the above assessments? What subjects would you add? What areas should I be sure to focus on? What examples should I be sure to include?

Thank you for considering these questions. I very much welcome any input you may have.

[Photo Credit: S. Lee]

Lonely Planet's 'Travel Writing,' Edition 3.0: Soliciting Your Input originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 12 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Tue, 12 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[A Long Lesson From A Short Walk On The Karakoram Highway]]>http://www.gadling.com/2013/02/28/a-long-lesson-from-a-short-walk-on-the-karakoram-highway/http://www.gadling.com/2013/02/28/a-long-lesson-from-a-short-walk-on-the-karakoram-highway/http://www.gadling.com/2013/02/28/a-long-lesson-from-a-short-walk-on-the-karakoram-highway/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



I've just come home from a whirlwind week in D.C. and L.A. Both trips were wonderful. In D.C. I had energizing meetings at National Geographic Traveler and hosted an exhilarating onstage conversation with the amazing Alexandra Fuller, author of (among other books) Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, an extraordinarily evocative and moving memoir of growing up in Rhodesia. In L.A. I gave a talk about Gadling at the Los Angeles Times Travel Show and shared memorable moments with Arthur Frommer, Rick Steves, Andrew McCarthy, and the Times' terrific travel editor, Catharine Hamm, among many other notables of the travel world. I got back to the Bay Area just in time to emcee the February event in the wonderful new Weekday Wanderlust travel reading series in San Francisco, and then to teach a wanderful travel writing workshop at Book Passage in Corte Madera.

I'm not complaining. I'm grateful beyond words for these opportunities -- but now that they're over, I realize that I'm also exhausted beyond words. (And yes, I know I probably shouldn't have stayed up until closing time at the rooftop bar of the Standard Hotel in L.A. - but that was research!) And when I survey the Kilimanjaro of emails that need my slogging-up-the-scree responses and the queue of articles lined up like planes at O'Hare awaiting the fuel of my words for take-off - well, if the state of my metaphors is any metaphor for the state of my mind, I'm in big trouble.

At a moment like this, I know just what I need to do: take some deep breaths and transport myself back to an adventure I took three decades ago in northern Pakistan -- specifically, to one afternoon on a stretch of the wild, gritty, avalanche-threatened, pothole-punctured Karakoram Highway between Hunza and Gulmit, not far from the Chinese border.

My tour group had been bumping by van along the Karakoram for a few hours when we came to a road-closing avalanche about 15 minutes from Gulmit. Our guide set out to walk to Gulmit to get another van to pick us up, and told us to wait in the van.

We waited, and waited.

Continue reading A Long Lesson From A Short Walk On The Karakoram Highway

A Long Lesson From A Short Walk On The Karakoram Highway originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adventure-travelAlexandra FullerArthur Frommerbudget-travelchinadon georgeDonGeorgeEntertainmentGulmitKarakoramKarakoram HighwayMarc van der ChijsO'Hare International AirportpakistanRick StevesThu, 28 Feb 2013 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[­­Waiting In The Pythion Of Time]]>http://www.gadling.com/2013/01/30/waiting-in-the-pythion-of-time/http://www.gadling.com/2013/01/30/waiting-in-the-pythion-of-time/http://www.gadling.com/2013/01/30/waiting-in-the-pythion-of-time/#commentsFiled under:

­­

One of my prime New Year's resolutions for this year is to put together an anthology of selected pieces from my own writing career. With 30 years of narrative stories and reflective essays to sift through, I figure there must be enough material for at least a very slim volume.

As part of this process - or perhaps just as a very clever way of procrastinating the hard work of getting started on this process - I've been reading through old journals and letters recently. This can be a dangerously detouring pastime, of course, but sometimes it turns up one of those little seeds that blossom into a whole world I had forgotten.

So it is with a letter I have just come across, written in the winter of 1976 to my parents from a Greek border town called Pythion, where I was waiting for a train to Istanbul. Sometimes it is just such global synapses - way stations - that unencumber and inspire us.

Here is part of what I wrote:

Continue reading ­­Waiting In The Pythion Of Time

­­Waiting In The Pythion Of Time originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 30 Jan 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adventure-travelAthensEntertainmentGreekHagia SophiaIstanbulpythionThessalonikiThraceWed, 30 Jan 2013 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Magical Moments Of 2012: A Personal Review]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/12/31/magical-moments-of-2012-a-personal-review/http://www.gadling.com/2012/12/31/magical-moments-of-2012-a-personal-review/http://www.gadling.com/2012/12/31/magical-moments-of-2012-a-personal-review/#commentsFiled under: ,



As the end of each year approaches, I try to take stock of the preceding 12 months, to absorb and assess the adventures, inner and outer. Reviewing this year, I've been filled with gratitude and wonder to realize that this has been one of the most enriching, exhilarating years I've had in a long time, especially the past six months, when I managed to squeeze six special trips into an overcrowded schedule. I hope you'll indulge me in sharing some of my most magical travel moments, and meanings, from 2012.

Festive in France

The Cote d'Azur has been one of my favorite places in the world since I first landed there in the mid-1970s. This year I was lucky to be able to savor the region for two weeks in June, visiting four places I'd never been before - Marseille, Montpelier, Sainte-Maxime, and Cagnes sur Mer - and revisiting two I'd fallen deeply in love with decades ago: Nice and St Paul de Vence.

I've already written about Nice and St Paul for Gadling. Among other riches of the trip, I had the best bouillabaisse of my life at the harbor-front Miramar restaurant in Marseille and was enchanted by the ambiance of student-spangled Montpelier, where a perfect cobbled square with a perfect café under a perfect canopying tree seemed to magically appear around every corner (and where the streets flowed with wine and song on the marvelous night of the Fete de la Musique). One of the most memorable highlights was spending one precious night at the Hotel Negresco two weeks before that legendary institution celebrated its 100th birthday. What an extraordinary hotel! Part priceless art collection, part history museum, part culinary temple, the Negresco - still owned by the feisty and fabulous 89-year-old Madame Augier - is emblematic of the intelligence, elegance, and artfulness that define the Cote d'Azur for me.

Continue reading Magical Moments Of 2012: A Personal Review

Magical Moments Of 2012: A Personal Review originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 31 Dec 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>AthensBaliCagnes-sur-MerCaliforniaChileConnecticutEaster IslandFranceFrench RivieraHawaiiMarseilleMauiMediterranean SeaMolokaiNew EnglandNiceNorth BeachSan Francisco BayThanksgivingUbudMon, 31 Dec 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Unexpected Offerings On A Return To Bali]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/11/22/unexpected-offerings-on-a-return-to-bali/http://www.gadling.com/2012/11/22/unexpected-offerings-on-a-return-to-bali/http://www.gadling.com/2012/11/22/unexpected-offerings-on-a-return-to-bali/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,


Last month, I spent a week on the Indonesian island of Bali as a guest of the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. This was my first visit to that blessed place since I'd fallen in love with it 34 years ago.

Like me, the island had lost some of its innocence in the intervening years. Unlike my earlier trip, when the Balinese I met had simply welcomed me with wide eyes and hearts, this time most immediately asked me if I'd been there before. When I answered, "Yes, 34 years ago," their eyes opened wide for a different reason and they smiled and shook their heads. "Oh, Bali has changed much since then!" they'd laugh, though many of them couldn't say exactly how because they hadn't even been born 34 years before.

Of course, to my eyes too, Bali had changed. The streets were much busier, clogged with trucks and motor scooters, than I remembered, and the towns were more built up; the road from Denpasar to Ubud was lined with many more buildings and fewer rice paddies than I recalled.

But in a deeper sense, the spirit of the place seemed hardly changed at all. During a few free days of wandering, I passed a number of festival processions flowing through the streets. Every day I was enchanted as I had been three decades before by the sweet, simple canangsari offerings - hand-sized compositions of colorful flowers on green coconut leaves, some graced with a cracker - that were meticulously placed outside my door and on bustling sidewalks, off-the-beaten-path foot trails, temple thresholds and business entrances alike. And while I realize I know nothing about the difficulties of being Balinese - the need to scrupulously follow rigorous traditions, for example, or the unpredictabilities of relying on a tourism economy - the people I met exuded a gentleness, tranquility, contentment and sense of sanctity in the everyday that was as exemplary, expanding and restorative for me as it was 34 years before.

But it wasn't until my last day in Ubud that Bali's soul-binding offerings really came to life for me.

Gallery: Bali, Indonesia

Continue reading Unexpected Offerings On A Return To Bali

Unexpected Offerings On A Return To Bali originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 22 Nov 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adventure-travelbalidon georgeDonGeorgeindonesiastoriesThu, 22 Nov 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Being And Nothingness: Questing For Indolence In Ubud]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/10/23/being-and-nothingness-questing-for-indolence-in-ubud/http://www.gadling.com/2012/10/23/being-and-nothingness-questing-for-indolence-in-ubud/http://www.gadling.com/2012/10/23/being-and-nothingness-questing-for-indolence-in-ubud/#commentsFiled under: , ,




OCTOBER 5, 10:30 a.m. -- I'm sitting by my private villa's footprint-shaped infinity pool at the Royal Pita Maha resort in northern Ubud, Bali. I've been on Bali for five days now as an invited guest at the gloriously cornucopic and chaotic Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, a five-day literary love-fest that brings together 130 writers from more than 20 countries with hundreds of literature enthusiasts to celebrate words and humanity. We're in day three of the festival and I'm totally loving it. I've already had stimulating conversations with dozens of wonderful worldly people and I feel that my personal planet is broadening and broadening with each encounter.

And that's in addition to the sublime joy of being in Ubud itself, which - once you get away from the main drag, which is clogged with motor scooters, taxis, touts, trucks and tourists - bestows still a little piece, and peace, of heaven.

I taught an all-day travel writing workshop (with students from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, England and the U.S. - we were a world-girdling odyssey without going anywhere!) two days ago and pontificated on a panel about travel writing yesterday. Tomorrow I have a full day of back-to-back panels on travel writing, the intersection of food and culture, and the future of publishing - but today, my schedule is enticingly, exhilaratingly, panel-free.

I have been thinking that I should spend the day exploring the less-touristed northern and western corners of Bali, or paying homage to some of the island's renowned temples, or re-visiting the villages I wrote about on my first journey here 34 years before....

But sometimes as a travel writer you have to do things that just don't come naturally, that take you way out of your comfort zone. And today, I've just impetuously decided, is one of those days. Sitting on my terrace under the batik blue sky, contemplating a day that stretches as infinite as the pool before me, I've resolved to try to do something that I haven't done in a very, very long time: nothing.

That's right, I'm immersing myself in indolence.

Continue reading Being And Nothingness: Questing For Indolence In Ubud

Being And Nothingness: Questing For Indolence In Ubud originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adventure-travelbalidon georgeDonGeorgeindonesiaubudTue, 23 Oct 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Appreciating Arab Cuisine: A Conversation With May Bsisu]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/09/30/appreciating-arab-cuisine-a-conversation-with-may-bsisu/http://www.gadling.com/2012/09/30/appreciating-arab-cuisine-a-conversation-with-may-bsisu/http://www.gadling.com/2012/09/30/appreciating-arab-cuisine-a-conversation-with-may-bsisu/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of hosting an event at National Geographic Auditorium in Washington, DC, with the lovely, learned and gracious cuisine expert May Bsisu. Our event focused on the tastes and traditions of cuisine throughout the Arab world, based on Bsisu's exquisite book, The Arab Table. As part of my preparation, I spoke with Bsisu about her book and about the role of food in her life and in Arab culture. Like her life and work, our conversation proved a fascinating introduction to a rich and complex culinary tradition about which I knew almost nothing. I heartily recommend her book, and as a small sample of its riches, present here some excerpts from our talk.

DG: You started your book with the word "Tafadalo." What does that mean?

MB: Tafadalo is one of my favorite words.

It is used in many different ways: When you open your home door to receive a guest, you say, "Tafadalo." When you offer a guest a cup of coffee or juice, you say, "Tafadalo." Tafadalo means welcome and indicates a long tradition of Arab hospitality. For many it particularly means delicious food is on the table and it is time to eat!

In Arabic, Tafadalo also means "do me the honor." It is an offering and an invitation. In Arab and Arab-American homes, welcoming others, especially guests, is an essential courtesy and an expression of hospitality.

Why did you write The Arab Table?

Continue reading Appreciating Arab Cuisine: A Conversation With May Bsisu

Appreciating Arab Cuisine: A Conversation With May Bsisu originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>arabfoodmay bsisuMayBsisuSun, 30 Sep 2012 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Book Passage 2012: How I Lost My Voice And Found My Vision]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/08/23/book-passage-recap-how-i-lost-my-voice-and-found-my-vision/http://www.gadling.com/2012/08/23/book-passage-recap-how-i-lost-my-voice-and-found-my-vision/http://www.gadling.com/2012/08/23/book-passage-recap-how-i-lost-my-voice-and-found-my-vision/#commentsFiled under: , ,



It's 4 p.m. on a Sunday in mid-August. I'm standing in a Northern California bookstore surrounded by about 100 people ranging in age from 20 to 70, drinking champagne, downing brownies, and hugging and crying and laughing all at the same time. It's the fourth and final day of the annual Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference, and while the conference has officially ended, no one wants to leave. The room crackles with emotional electricity, expands with newfound dreams.

As the chairman and co-founder of this conference-cum-summer camp, I look on this scene with a mixture of wonder, exhilaration, exhaustion and gratitude. Somehow, four days at a benevolent bookstore in a San Francisco suburb have infused me, have infused us, with the belief that everything we do, as travelers and travel creators, matters, that we go into the world with a joyful duty to live as fully and deeply as we can and the accompanying joyful potential to truly transform the planet.

Here's how I lost my voice and found my vision at Book Passage this year.

It all began for me on Wednesday, Aug. 14, when I gathered at the Marin County bookstore with 11 intrepid adventurers for an all-day pre-conference workshop: a day in the life of a travel writer exploring San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. We took the ferry from Larkspur to the Ferry Building - a glorious way to begin any day - and then wandered through San Francisco's old Italian neighborhood, now Italy-meets-China-meets-Vietnam, past cathedrals and cafes, parks and pastry shops.

As we walked, I talked about what a travel story tries to do and how as a travel writer I try to get a place, paying attention to defining details - see that shop sign written in Italian, Chinese and Vietnamese; inhale the Old World essence of Molinari's deli - and asking myself what are the glimpses, sensual details and encounters that matter the most to me, that begin to compose my portrait of North Beach. Then we separated so that everyone could try to find their own scenes, the first pieces in their portraits.

Continue reading Book Passage 2012: How I Lost My Voice And Found My Vision

Book Passage 2012: How I Lost My Voice And Found My Vision originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Andrew McCarthyAndrewMccarthybook passageBookPassageconferencedon goergeDonGoergetravel writersTravelWritersThu, 23 Aug 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Postcard From France: Now And Then In Nice]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/07/30/postcard-from-france-now-and-then-in-nice/http://www.gadling.com/2012/07/30/postcard-from-france-now-and-then-in-nice/http://www.gadling.com/2012/07/30/postcard-from-france-now-and-then-in-nice/#commentsFiled under: ,


June 27, Cours Saleya, Nice, France:

It's my last day in Nice, this vibrant capital of pleasure and art and ease on the Cote d'Azur, and I'm sitting in the Cours Saleya, site of the fruit and flower market where I was 11 days ago, at the start of this glorious re-immersion in the riches of the Riviera. There's a cold glass of vin rosé du Provence on my table, the sand-colored awning of La Storia restaurant on my left, the mustard-colored house where Matisse lived in front of me, and an archway framing palm fronds and the incomparably blue Mediterranean on my right.

This is the same centuries-old square where I sat and wrote 20 years before, on my second visit to the Cote d'Azur, and I am thinking about how things change and how they stay the same.

Back then I wrote:

I'm having a café crème and a croissant at a Cours Saleya cafe that looks right onto stalls selling a colorful collage of flowers, fruits and vegetables. As I sip and scribble in my journal, elegant older women with well-coiffed dogs smell melons and prod glistening red and yellow peppers. A trio of breezy, baguette-bearing beauties in floppy T-shirts and espadrilles buys peaches and peonies; housewives in sun hats and long-sleeved dresses stuff garlic and grapes and guavas into woven baskets. 'Bonjour!' and 'Merci!' peal through the morning air, past the graceful shutters and grillwork balconies on the salmon- and peach- and wheat-colored apartments that overlook the stony square.

I could have penned those same words today.

Gallery: Nice, France

Continue reading Postcard From France: Now And Then In Nice

Postcard From France: Now And Then In Nice originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 30 Jul 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cote dazurCoteDazurfranceniceMon, 30 Jul 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Previewing The 2012 Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/07/24/previewing-the-2012-book-passage-travel-writers-and-photographers/http://www.gadling.com/2012/07/24/previewing-the-2012-book-passage-travel-writers-and-photographers/http://www.gadling.com/2012/07/24/previewing-the-2012-book-passage-travel-writers-and-photographers/#commentsFiled under:

Every year peoples' lives are changed utterly by the Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference. I know because they tell me. Every year I get a dozen emails from people who say their careers have taken off, or they've been inspired to travel around the world, or they've gotten a photo or a story published, or they've landed a magazine assignment or a book contract because of something they learned, someone they met, some connection they made, at Book Passage.

As co-founder and chairman of the conference, I leap - well, my heart leaps - when I get these emails. Because that's why Book Passage owner Elaine Petrocelli and I founded this conference 21 summers ago: to share our passion for great travel writing and photography, to inspire people by presenting the very best practitioners of these crafts, and to change peoples' lives.

It's astonishing to me that the conference is once again right around the corner: This year the dates are Aug. 9-12. The location is the same as always, Book Passage bookstore in Corte Madera, CA, about 15 minutes north of San Francisco. And there are still spaces open for participants.

Who will be there this year? I'm tremendously excited that the great Susan Orlean will be gracing the conference, along with award-winning actor-turned-travel-writer Andrew McCarthy, bestselling Wall Street Journal veteran Julia Flynn Siler, and travel icon Pauline Frommer. Among the stellar faculty will be photographers Robert Holmes and Andrea Johnson, writers David Farley, Pam Mandel and Chris Gray Faust, and editors Julia Cosgrove of Afar, Loren Mooney of Sunset, Jim Benning of WorldHum, Spud Hilton of the San Francisco Chronicle, David Lytle of Frommers.com, Robert Reid of Lonely Planet, and Larry Habegger of Travelers Tales - and rumor has it that Gadling editor in chief Grant Martin is flying in for a special appearance as well. You can find a full list of the faculty here.

What's the conference like? It's a four-day fest of morning workshops, afternoon panels, and evening readings and on-stage conversations, of passion and expertise leavened with a big helping of laidback camaraderie (and spiced with a dash of karaoke), where just about everyone mingles easily and learning happens in myriad planned and unplanned ways. For me, it's like summer camp for travel writers and photographers. But to give you a better idea, I'll just direct you to Lavinia Spalding's wonderful write-up after last year's conference. To my mind, she captures the spirit of this singular, soaring celebration that has truly become one of the highlights of my year.

If you have any questions about the conference, I'd be very happy to answer them. And if you love travel writing and photography, I hope to see you there!

To get more information and to register for the conference, click here.

[Flickr image via Stephanie O]

Previewing The 2012 Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>book passageBookPassagedon georgeDonGeorgeTue, 24 Jul 2012 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Paradise Regained: Revisiting La Colombe d'Or In St.-Paul-de-Vence, France]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/06/30/paradise-regained-revisiting-la-colombe-d-or-in-st-paul-de-ven/http://www.gadling.com/2012/06/30/paradise-regained-revisiting-la-colombe-d-or-in-st-paul-de-ven/http://www.gadling.com/2012/06/30/paradise-regained-revisiting-la-colombe-d-or-in-st-paul-de-ven/#commentsFiled under: , ,

June 28, 2012; at La Colombe d'Or, St.-Paul-de-Vence:

Conjunction of memory and moment: Nineteen summers ago I sat in this limestone-terraced restaurant in the medieval marvel of St.-Paul-de-Vence, experiencing a time-stopping, life-enlarging afternoon that has become iconic for me. Now I am back, my journal opened to a page as white as the brilliant sunlight that splashes over everything here, and then to a much earlier page, all blue scribbles and a fading blush of Provencal wine.

I am ensconced under a white parasol at a red bouquet-brightened table, looking out on a somnolent scene of green hills and straw-colored houses with terra-cotta roofs.

I have just finished a truffle salad - so redolent I felt transported before taking even a bite - and now I'm sipping a chilled vin rosé, eating buttery bites of crusty-tender baguette, and sliding ineluctably into heaven once again.

I feel like I'm in a Matisse canvas - bright white flagstones and sun umbrellas, green hills, red roofs, blue sea and sky. Then the sun dapples and it's an Impressionist scene, a Renoir moment as the maitre d' ceremoniously ushers diners to their tables and they exclaim at seeing old friends - "You're here! Yes, you too!" - kiss-kiss, take their seats, and sigh. The rosé flows, and time slows.

The waiter appears and - just as nineteen years before - places before me with a flourish an artful platter of grilled sea bream, dauraude royale.

"Bon appétit, monsieur," he kindly purrs, and pours some more wine.

Around me is a symphony of sounds: the clink of silverware on china, the splash of wine into glasses, the mellifluous laughter and multilingual chatter of diners in summery clothes.

An American family of three sits at the table in front of me, and I lean forward to recommend the truffle salad. They are from Napa Valley, it turns out, an hour's drive from my home, and we exclaim at the wonder of meeting people so close so far away - and the sheer joy of sharing such a singular place on such a singular day.

The family to my left joins the conversation. They are from Newport Beach, in southern California, and have made the pilgrimage here from a cruise ship docked in Monaco for the day. Soon a woman appears at my shoulder, smiling. "Ojai," she says, and then from the table behind me, a voice trills, "San Francisco!"

Continue reading Paradise Regained: Revisiting La Colombe d'Or In St.-Paul-de-Vence, France

Paradise Regained: Revisiting La Colombe d'Or In St.-Paul-de-Vence, France originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 30 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Cote DAzurCoteDazurdon georgeDonGeorgefoodfranceLa Colombe dOrLaColombeDorSat, 30 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Encountering Monet At The Musee d'Orsay]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/21/encountering-monet-at-the-musee-d-orsay/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/21/encountering-monet-at-the-musee-d-orsay/http://www.gadling.com/2012/05/21/encountering-monet-at-the-musee-d-orsay/#commentsFiled under: , ,



Reading Gadling's marvelous Museum Month posts has reminded me of a trip I made two decades ago to Paris. I had fallen in love with that exhilarating city in the mid-1970s, when I lived there for two successive summers, first after my junior year in college and then after graduation. I returned in 1988 to celebrate the city, and as part of that celebration, I wanted to write an essay about the poignancy and power of the artworks I had discovered at the Louvre, the Musee Rodin, the Musee de Cluny, the Petit Palais, the Musee d'Orsay, and many other museums and galleries.

First I thought I would write about all the showplaces for art that I liked in Paris, but I quickly realized that I couldn't possibly do justice to so many places in a compact piece. I had to focus. I considered describing my favorite three museums, then just one museum, then three rooms in that museum, then three favorite pieces of art there. But though I narrowed my focus more and more, every one of these subjects still seemed too broad.

Finally I decided to focus on one painting in one museum, my favorite painting in all of Paris. I installed myself near that painting for about an hour, and scribbled in my journal. I have that journal before me now. Here's what I wrote.

Continue reading Encountering Monet At The Musee d'Orsay

Encountering Monet At The Musee d'Orsay originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 21 May 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>don georgeDonGeorgefrancemonetmusee dorsayMuseeDorsaymuseumpaintingparisMon, 21 May 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Love Among the Ruins: Once Upon A Spring In Greece]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/30/love-among-the-ruins-once-upon-a-spring-in-greece/http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/30/love-among-the-ruins-once-upon-a-spring-in-greece/http://www.gadling.com/2012/04/30/love-among-the-ruins-once-upon-a-spring-in-greece/#commentsFiled under: , ,



I was sifting through the multiple layers of my travel journals, letters, and photos this past weekend when, like an archaeologist happening upon delicate shards of Hellenic pottery, I discovered these handwritten notes on fraying sheets of lined, curling notebook paper. I don't remember exactly when I wrote these words, but they vividly brought back the long-ago springtime they describe, the end of a year when I was living on a teaching fellowship in Athens, fresh out of college, trying to chart the course of my life's path. And especially they conjured the woman whose memory remains a precious shard of Attic magic among the runes and ruins of my life.

It happens at some point every spring: I will be driving innocently along some rural route, and suddenly a certain slant of sunlight will recall the way the light filtered through the pine trees along the road that wound up the coast from Athens to the little taverna no one seemed to know about -- no one except Gisela, the beautiful and mysterious woman with whom I had fallen ineluctably in love that spring of 1976.

We would install ourselves in peeling white wooden chairs around a stolid wooden table on the beach, under the pines, and the kindly taverna owner would bring us huge chunks of hard, delicious bread, a salad of feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers and black olives, and glasses of retsina.

We would eat and sip, but mostly we would watch the shimmering sea and listen to the sighing pines, censing the air with their tangy perfume.

I re-create this scene, and suddenly that whole mind-opening, life-transforming Grecian year revives in a sun-flooded succession of images:

I recall the breath-stopping, time-skipping beauty of just-blossomed scarlet poppies against white marble ruins at Olympia.

I recall the Peloponnese mountain family who insisted on sharing their meager Easter feast with my parents and me.

I recall the ethereal geometry and bony patina of the Acropolis at dawn, before the tourists arrived; and the soul-stirring rite of reading Plato, Socrates and Aristotle as Apollo's first rays illumined the site.

I recall unfathomable connections on the island of Crete -- the magical frescoes and sere splendors of Knossos, and the painter from Chania who showed me the island's harbors and meadows, churches and town squares through his eyes.

I recall the craggy monasteries and worldly monks of sacred Mount Athos, and the sensual abandon of the long, embracing beach at Lindos, on Rhodes, where I communed for a week with a ragtag band of European pilgrims who were all seeking some sort of Aegean answer.

Continue reading Love Among the Ruins: Once Upon A Spring In Greece

Love Among the Ruins: Once Upon A Spring In Greece originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>don georgeDonGeorgegreeceMon, 30 Apr 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Delos Diary]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/03/23/delos-diary/http://www.gadling.com/2012/03/23/delos-diary/http://www.gadling.com/2012/03/23/delos-diary/#commentsFiled under: , ,

As reported earlier this week on Gadling, the Greek government recently announced that it has earmarked $2 million for the restoration of an ancient theater on the sacred island of Delos. That welcome announcement -- some rare good news emanating from that beleaguered country I love -- had special import for me, because one of the magical experiences of my early traveling life took place on Delos. Reading about the theater and the history of the island re-immersed me in that singular memory -- and inspired me to hunt through my journals and scrapbooks for an account I wrote shortly after my visit more than three decades ago. I offer it here not as a guidebook to the current conditions of the place -- I've never returned -- but rather as a snapshot of its spirit, and a celebration of the serendipitous bonds that travel can sometimes bestow.

***

There are no tavernas, no discotheques, no pleasure boats at anchor; nor are there churches, windmills or goatherds. Delos, three miles long and less than one mile wide, is a parched, rocky island of ruins, only 14 miles from Mykonos, Aegean playground of the international vagabonderie. Once the center of the Panhellenic world, Delos has been uninhabited since the first century A.D., fulfilling a proclamation of the Delphic oracle that "no man or woman shall give birth, fall sick or meet death on the sacred island."

I chanced on Delos during my first visit to Greece. After three harrowing days of seeing Athens by foot, bus and taxi, my traveling companion and I were ready for open seas and uncrowded beaches. We selected Mykonos on the recommendation of a friend, who suggested that when we tired of the beautiful people, we should take a side trip to Delos.

On arriving in Mykonos, we learned that for under $3 we could catch a fishing trawler to Delos (where the harbor is too shallow for cruise ships) any morning at 8 a.m. and return to Mykonos at 1 p.m. the same afternoon. On the morning of our fourth day, we braved choppy seas and ominous clouds to board a rusty, peeling boat that reeked of fish. With a dozen other tourists, we packed ourselves into the ship's tiny cabin, already crowded with anchors, ropes and wooden crates bearing unknown cargo.

Continue reading Delos Diary

Delos Diary originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>delosdon georgeDonGeorgegreeceislandmediterraneanFri, 23 Mar 2012 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Pearls of wisdom and wanderlust from Pico Iyer]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/02/29/pearls-of-wisdom-and-wanderlust-from-pico-iyer/http://www.gadling.com/2012/02/29/pearls-of-wisdom-and-wanderlust-from-pico-iyer/http://www.gadling.com/2012/02/29/pearls-of-wisdom-and-wanderlust-from-pico-iyer/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Last month the wonderfully thoughtful and eloquent author Pico Iyer published his 11th book, The Man Within My Head, an intriguing hybrid of autobiography and literary criticism that insightfully illuminates the life and work of Graham Greene - and of Pico Iyer. On his book tour, I've had the honor and pleasure of interviewing Pico on stage twice, the first time on Jan. 26 in an event sponsored by Geographic Expeditions in San Francisco and the second in Washington DC on Feb. 10 as part of the National Geographic Traveler Conversations series that I host. Happily, as it turned out, these conversations traveled in quite different directions -- but really, every conversation with Pico is an edifying journey, wherever it goes. Here I want to single out four pearls of wisdom I took away from our San Francisco odyssey.

1. Spring and summer, East and West

I began by asking Pico about the differences between the author of his first book, Video Night in Kathmandu, published in 1988, and the man who wrote The Man Within My Head. This prompted him to reflect on how the older you grow, the less you know: "The sentences in my first book are delivered with a really bratty confidence. You know, 'I know everything in the world because I'm 28 years old.' And my new book is haunted by a sense of not knowing a thing, and that being the beauty of life but also the confoundingness of it."

A little later he took these thoughts to new soaring levels:

"Partly I think it's the difference between spring and autumn.... Graham Greene at the very end of his life said that there's wisdom in age and it's all about wishing you weren't so wise. Yet autumn can see spring a lot better than spring can see autumn.

"I've always been fascinated by autumn. It's my favorite season in the country that we both share as our secret home, Japan, because it can take in the whole cycle, because it knows everything is impermanent, and because it knows that the impermanence itself is rather permanent. All the leaves are falling, the cold is approaching, it's getting darker, and the days are shortening, and that is all necessary to get back to spring. Whereas spring has a much more linear sense; it believes everything is moving in a forward direction. When I was a kid, I thought/expected I would know much more at 50 than I do at 20. Now I can see the progress moves cyclically rather than in a linear way, and follows the seasons rather than a manmade assembly line.

Continue reading Pearls of wisdom and wanderlust from Pico Iyer

Pearls of wisdom and wanderlust from Pico Iyer originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>don georgeDonGeorgepico iyerPicoIyertraveltravel writingTravelWritingWed, 29 Feb 2012 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Three unexpected treats on Oahu's North Shore]]>http://www.gadling.com/2012/01/31/three-unexpected-treats-on-oahus-north-shore/http://www.gadling.com/2012/01/31/three-unexpected-treats-on-oahus-north-shore/http://www.gadling.com/2012/01/31/three-unexpected-treats-on-oahus-north-shore/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



Last October, when my wife and I visited Oahu for a week, we spent the first few days happily exploring the attractions and activities we'd plotted before the trip: the artfully educating exhibits at the Bishop Museum; the snorkeling splendors of Hanauma Bay; the tranquil and transporting Byodo-In Temple; Chef Ed Kenney's acclaimed organic cuisine at Town restaurant; and the then-just-opened Japengo restaurant in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, which promised - and as it turned out, delivered - a palate-expanding fusion feast (three faves: the Tootsie maki with crab, avocado, shiitake and lobster; the scallop butter yaki; and the coconut crème brulee). I've already written about two other highlights from those first few days: a night of multi-course culinary magic at Alan Wong's restaurant in Honolulu and a visit to life-changing MA'O Organic Farms in Wai'anae.

But a quarter-century of serendipity has taught us that some of the most memorable on-the-road experiences come from listening to residents after you've landed in a place, and on this trip again three of our finest discoveries - all on Oahu's less-visited North Shore - came from locals' impromptu advice. If you're going to Oahu, here are three North Shore sites we'd recommend you add to your own must-do map.

1. Waimea Valley: This 1,875-acre valley preserve on the outskirts of Hale`iwa, near Waimea Bay, doesn't billboard its wonderfulness. In fact, that's one of the many things we loved about it: how humble and low-key it is, despite- or perhaps because of? - its riches.

Waimea Valley comprises one of Oahu's last examples of the traditional land use system called ahupua'a. In this system, the islands were divided into wedge-shaped slices of land, ruled by a local chief and often overseen by a priest, that ran from the mountains to the sea and incorporated all the kinds of topography and resources residents needed to thrive. You can learn much more about the ahupua'a system here.

Continue reading Three unexpected treats on Oahu's North Shore

Three unexpected treats on Oahu's North Shore originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>don georgeDonGeorgefoodhawaiioahuTue, 31 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Four top treats from my 2011 travels]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/12/31/four-top-treats-from-my-2011-travels/http://www.gadling.com/2011/12/31/four-top-treats-from-my-2011-travels/http://www.gadling.com/2011/12/31/four-top-treats-from-my-2011-travels/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



Since I've been a travel writer for three decades, people often ask me if I don't get tired of all the traveling and writing. After all, when you do anything for 30 years, it must get boring, right?

Wrong! I guess that's one of the gifts of this line of work. Every trip, every place, offers something new, even if I've been there a dozen times before. This year I took four big trips -- to British Columbia, London, France, and Oahu -- and each one reaffirmed this truth with multiple unexpected treasures. Here are the top treats from each.

1) OAHU: MA'O Organic Farms

My wife and I didn't know what to expect as we drove on a sunswept October morning to this outpost on the little-visited Leeward Coast of Oahu. When we turned off the Farrington Highway at the Wai'anae exit as instructed, we found ourselves in a nondescript residential area of one-story stucco homes. We wound though the streets deeper and deeper into the interior until we reached the end of the road - and found the smiling face of Kamuela Enos, the Education Resource Specialist at this singular place.

MA'O's mission, Enos told us, is social entrepreneurship through farming, cultivating organic food and young leaders for a sustainable Hawaii. MA'O stands for mala 'ai 'opio, which translates as "the youth food garden." Basically, MA'O takes youngsters from the Wai'anae community - a traditionally neglected settlement of mostly native Hawaiians, beset by severe social, economic and nutritional challenges - and puts them to work on the 16-acre farm, where they learn all the aspects of running a farm, from working the fields to managing the distribution of the produce to maintaining smooth relationships with clients and consumers. MA'O also runs a variety of in-school programs at the Wai'anae intermediate school and high school and at nearby Leeward Community College.

Continue reading Four top treats from my 2011 travels

Four top treats from my 2011 travels originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>best destinationsBestDestinationsbritish colombiaBritishColombiadon georgeDonGeorgeenglandfrancelondonoahuparisSat, 31 Dec 2011 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Taste Hawaii: Savoring Alan Wong's fresh farm-to-table feast]]>http://www.gadling.com/2011/11/30/taste-hawaii-savoring-alan-wong-s-fresh-farm-to-table-feast/http://www.gadling.com/2011/11/30/taste-hawaii-savoring-alan-wong-s-fresh-farm-to-table-feast/http://www.gadling.com/2011/11/30/taste-hawaii-savoring-alan-wong-s-fresh-farm-to-table-feast/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



On a recent trip to Oahu, my wife and I had the excellent fortune to dine at Alan Wong's eponymous restaurant in Honolulu. Consistently named one of the best restaurants in Hawaii, Alan Wong's has been at the forefront of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement since its founding in 1995. Our farm-to-table, fusion feast featured a number of dishes that embody the chef's culinary quest to showcase Hawaii's fresh food products and its marvelous mélange of culinary cultures. Virtually every dish was a compact lesson in taste, texture, and tradition.

Our favorites included such signature concoctions as the Soup and Sandwich, a stemmed glass filled with chilled vine-ripened Hamakua Springs tomato soup presented with a yin-yang design, crowned with a parmesan cheese crisp and atop it a mini-kalua pig foie gras and mozzarella sandwich; Butter-Poached Kona Lobster, savory chunks of lobster served in a sauce of green onion oil with flavorful morsels of Hamakua Heritage eryngi mushrooms; North Shore Tilipia on a bed of local saimin noodles with Naked Cow Dairy lobster truffle butter nage; Ginger Crusted Onaga with piquant miso sesame vinaigrette, Hamakua mushrooms and sweet corn from Kahuku; Crab "Tofu" Agedashi, consisting of a tofu-like spanner crab mousse with Kona lobster medallions and plump lumps of crab meat, served with kudzu dashi; and a delightful dessert called The Coconut - scrumptious coconut meat-like haupia sorbet served in a chocolate "coconut" shell, surrounded by tropical fruits in a lilikoi sauce. Yum!

Gallery: Alan Wong's Hawaii Regional Cuisine

Continue reading Taste Hawaii: Savoring Alan Wong's fresh farm-to-table feast

Taste Hawaii: Savoring Alan Wong's fresh farm-to-table feast originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>alan wongAlanWongdon georgeDonGeorgefoodhawaiihonoluluWed, 30 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST