The Other “Little” Venice built by Leonardo DaVinci

It’s both little and little-known compared to Venice and it’s Grand Canal but it has a very big name attached to it. The Port-Canal in Cesenatico has stayed off the tourist radar for many years, despite its similarities to Venice. The charming port on coast of the Adriatic Sea was drawn and designed by the renaissance…

American Girl in Italy: Behind the Iconic Photo

“It’s not a symbol of harassment. It’s a symbol of a woman having an absolutely wonderful time! I clutched my shawl to me because that sheaths the body. It was my protection, my shield. I was walking through a sea of men. I was enjoying every minute of it.” In fact, the American girl, Ninalee “Jinx” Allen…

Stay at this beautiful Portuguese Hostel … that’s right, I said HOSTEL!

Let me be the first one to admit that when traveling, I have always steered clear of hostels. I’ve forever kept this image of a horribly grimy hostel in London that I would often pass by when I lived there and shudder at the thought. But that was before I laid my eyes on the…

Palestine’s Paradise: A Mediterranean Valley of Vines

These are not the rolling hills of Tuscany. This is the Palestinian village of Battir in the West Bank hills near Bethlehem; a land of olive groves, grape vines, fig trees and seven natural springs that feed ancient agricultural terraces of rich soil planted with green beans, zucchini and eggplant so sweet you can eat it like a cucumber.…

The Amazing Sea of Stars

This picture is not photoshopped. What you’re looking at is Bioluminescent Phytoplankton (food for fish and whales) washing up on the shores of Vaadhoo Island in the Maldives. Bioluminescence is the emission of light from an organism. Fireflies, glow worms and plankton all have bioluminescent capabilities. Luminescence occurs when micro-organisms, called dinoflagellates, are disturbed in water…

Hipster Camp

When I was thirteen, my mother sent me to musical theatre camp in upstate New York. That sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud but it happened. American camp culture was totally foreign to me. I remember I had never been away from my parents for more than a week, especially as much as…

Lost & Found: A Dad’s Dos & Don’ts for his American Girl in Paris

I was walking around Marie Antoinette’s gardens this weekend in Versailles when I spotted a folded white piece of paper on the ground. No one else was in sight in the frosty orchard to claim it, so I picked it up and continued on our brisk walk, not thinking much of it until we returned home that evening. What…

The Floating Straw Islands of Uros: An Ancient Tribe Surviving in a Tourist Hub

Once again, today the internet has taken me to a place no geography or history ever did. Floating out into the middle of the Lake Titicaca between Peru and Bolivia, figures are seemingly drifting amongst the reeds and mythical creatures guarding what look like islands made of straw on the water… (c) Suzanne Preston (c) KeelyNYC On my internet wanderings,…

So now you can Travel with your own Personal Photographer

Okay, I know, it might sound a little vain and pretentious at first, like something a fashion blogger might do. But hear me out… Who else has the problem when travelling as a couple, of only ending up with a few blurry selfies together after the trip of a lifetime? Or even worse, travelling with someone who can’t just live in the…

The Hidden Feast in a Barcelona Factory After Dark

We left the Barcelona night behind us, disappearing through a graffiti-covered door on a bustling back street of locals going about their downtown nocturnal hustle. All we have is this calling card with an address on the back as we wander down the austerely-lit corridor and take the first staircase, not entirely sure where it will…