The KTX Train at a Glance Originally based on the French TGV. Want to go 190mph? No problem! Super-smooth ride. Cheaper than Amtrak. (This post originally appeared on a train website that is no longer on the Internet.) I rarely get a chance to trail by rail. Aside from the niche Grand Canyon Railway and…
Travel
Planes, trains, automobiles, ships, bicycles and more.
48 Hours in the Verde Valley
The Verde Valley isn’t exactly one of the big draws for Arizona. If people get anywhere near it, it’s usually because they’re going to Sedona. I’ve lived here for a good long time and have actually never spent a night anywhere in the Verde Valley other than Sedona. That changed recently because my wife ran…
Throwback: Three of My Favorite Travel Books
I always like reading books about places where I’ve been and places that I’d like to visit, even if they’re not technically “travel books.” When I reviewed books for a small local magazine, I had the opportunity to read quite a few books that I might not have found otherwise. Some of them were pretty…
Two Nights on the Fanxipan Express
[I originally wrote this as a guest post for a website that no longer exists. I’m republishing it to preserve one of my more interesting travel experiences.] Vietnam taught me one important lesson: For every blazing-fast maglev train or smooth-riding KTX or futuristic Japanese bullet train, there’s a Fanxipan Express. I experienced an overnight trip…
Bicycling in Southern California – A Quick Guide
Bicycling in Southern California is a real treat, especially if you’re from the desert like I am. Even in June, you can count on mild temperatures, decent cycling infrastructure and some hilly routes to help burn more calories. If you’re into bicycling, Encinitas is a nice place to get a taste of bicycling in Southern…
Visiting Seattle with a Kid
Back in September, I took my first trip to Seattle with a kid. Well, not just any random kid – my own, of course. I’d last been to Seattle in around 2005-ish with my now-wife. We walked all over the place, found all the tasty food and searched for good beer. As walkable as Seattle…
It’s Time to Fix How We Renew a Passport in the US
The process to renew a passport in America is needlessly slow and archaic. I went through that 20th Century, postage-stamp song and dance a few years ago before going to Brazil. I never spared a second thought about what it’s like in other countries. A friend’s tweet changed that made me think of this, especially…
The 737 MAX: One Refreshed Version Too Far
Here’s the big problem with the Boeing 737 MAX: Both Boeing and the airlines are forcing a past-its-prime design to be a flying Swiss Army Knife. They want it to have unparalleled fuel efficiency on short hops from Chicago to Louisville. And they want it to fly from Phoenix to Hawaii, too. The two fatal…
Costa Rican Craft Beer in 2018
Costa Rican craft beer just wasn’t a thing during my first visit nearly 15 years ago. That’s changed, with a wide variety of breweries stretching beyond the ubiquitous Imperial lager. But how good is Costa Rican craft beer? Well, most of it is good enough to finish. But none of it is good enough to…
Traveling with Kids? Go See the Museo de los Niños in Costa Rica
My wife did a pretty awesome job selecting our hotels for the Costa Rica trip. Our final base in San Jose had its quirks – namely, allowing smokers to stink up the air in the courtyard of a nonsmoking hotel. But it had an awesome location that was close to the Museo de los Niños. Anneka…
Flying to Costa Rica Kind of Stinks
Flying to Costa Rica kind of stinks right now, at least from Phoenix. I love a good long flight. Put me in an economy class seat on a decent airline for 14 hours, and I’m perfectly happy to pass the hours watching movies and devouring books on my Kindle. Notice the key phrase: a decent…
International Service at Sky Harbor: What’s Next?
I’ve said for years that there’s not enough international service at Sky Harbor in Phoenix. The city’s only intercontinental route in recent years was a British Airways flight to London. Then we had a nice sign of progress when Condor Airlines re-connected Phoenix to Germany. And British Airways added three more flights to London each…
Is Swoop Airlines Your Ticket to the Northern Lights?
One challenge of being a traveling family is deciding what the littlest person in your family is ready to experience. With a nearly 4-year-old, we’re trying to figure out a few things: Is she ready for the huge crowds of Tokyo? Is she ready to deal with motor scooters zooming every which way – even…
The Top 2 Places on my Travel List are Now Gone
This week, I found out that one of the places in the world that I want to visit most is no longer accessible. Back in 2017, operations at the Naica Mine ceased. That allowed water to re-flood the absolutely incredible Cave of the Crystals. Cave of the Crystals is the second of my to-do list…
How I Fly with Craft Beer Without Spilling a Drop
Whenever I travel, I’m on the lookout for craft beer that I can’t find at home. Often, I want to take some home with me. That was the case when I visited Curitiba, Brazil. I found a thriving, varied craft beer scene that was a welcome surprise (and seriously, Curitiba is now one of my…
Hawaiian Airlines 787: What It Could Mean for Travelers
It’s been nearly a month since Hawaiian Airlines announced its switch from the Airbus A330-900 to the Boeing 787-9. This was great news, but I was also too caught up in writing about gravel bikes to put much effort into a post here. The Hawaiian Airlines 787 will now get its due. Airline geeks will…
The Population is Growing – Why So Many Smaller Airliners?
The last time I saw both my grandparents alive and together, I was 12 years old. I took an American Airlines 767 from Phoenix to Chicago. Today, the 767 is rare at Phoenix Sky Harbor. Typically, it’s a Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 that handles runs from here to Chicago. This is weirdly counterintuitive. The…
Four Days in Denver
We recently escaped the summer heat to spend a few days near Denver. I wanted to go mountain biking, and we all wanted to stroll around as a family without getting flayed and fried under the sun. We also didn’t want to drive a lot, and we wanted to visit some friends living in the…
Can Condor Airlines Help Phoenix Become a "Real City?"
Condor Airlines just might help Phoenix become a real city. Here’s what I mean: Whenever Phoenix and Philadelphia play leapfrog in the city size rankings (which invariably makes our local journalists generate reams of predictable content), I always bring up Sky Harbor International Airport and its lack of intercontinental flights. My view: I don’t care…
My Favorite Bars for Craft Beer in New Zealand Edition
If you like traveling and craft beer, I have a destination for you: New Zealand. The Kiwis grow all sorts of great stuff in their country — a sense of adventure, friendliness — and heaping amounts of craft beer-compliant hops. During our first trip to New Zealand back in 2010 or so, we discovered epic…