Top 5 Adventures in the Caribbean, Hiking Dominica
As the leaves fall from the oak trees in my backyard just outside Boston, my thoughts turn to warmer weather. Specifically to my favorite adventures in the Caribbean. For those of you who’ve been reading this blog since its inception, forgive me for continually praising Dominica, but it offers the finest hiking in the region. This island near Martinique has become an affordable haven for the active traveler who yearns to hike through a lush mountainous interior inundated with so much water that around every bend is another raging waterfall, a serene swimming hole nestled in the thick bush, or a hidden hot spring to rest your weary body after a day in the outdoors. Ken’s Hinterland Adventure Tours will take guide you on a 7-hour round-trip hike inside Morne Trois Pitons National Park to the crater known as Boiling Lake. You’ll hike through a dense forest of tall gommier trees, staring at the iridescent purple-throated hummingbirds as they keep you company. Relax your muscles afterwards in the natural hot spring at Papillote Wilderness Retreat. Owner Anne Jno Baptiste first came to the island from the States in 1961. Eight years later, she bought a 7-acre chunk of land enveloped by the rainforest that she would cultivate into a flower-rich botanical garden and one of the Caribbean’s first eco-resorts, using Dominica’s wealth of fruits and vegetables for her meals. Suites start at $115 a night and swimming in the hot springs is clothing optional.
Home to two of the most active volcanoes in the world, one would expect Hawaii’s southernmost island to be an angry land of deadened rock and rivers of red. But this ever-expanding island has a myriad of moods—the gentle rolling hills of Waimea; the inviting sand of the Kohala Coast; the almost impenetrable jungle-like interior of the Hamakua Coast; the enormity of two mountains that are nearly 14,000 feet; even a rain forest on the backside of a volcano. Indeed, Hawaii is more like a miniature continent than an island in the Pacific.
Dropping Jake off at Cornell University this past weekend reminded me of the story I co-wrote for Boston Globe Sunday Magazine on 
On the road one-third of the year, you can often find me at night watching the latest House of Cards or Boardwalk Empire episodes on my laptop. Rarely do I find something worthwhile to watch on the hotel television. That’s why I was excited to hear last month that