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October Newsletter Now Available at ActiveTravels.com

Having just returned from a glorious trip to the Lake Geneva region of Switzerland, it was an easy call to make that our feature story in the October newsletter. Brazil and Argentina are two of the most popular destinations for our clientele this winter, so it was a good time to talk about the excellent ground operator we work with in Brazil, AuroraEco. We also divulge four of our favorite resorts in the Caribbean, including Caneel Bay on St. John and the Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios. All are blissful retreats from an often harsh winter. In the Tried and True Travel Tips, I talk about finding restaurants on the road, an abridged version of a recent column I wrote for Men’s Journal. Lastly, we describe a great fall escape, the Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York, where the fall foliage is at its peak time of year. 

 
I’m off to Toronto where I’ll be reporting live all next week. Please follow along both here and on Twitter @ActiveTravels. Thanks, as always, for checking in! 
 

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Family Adventure in the Canadian Rockies with Austin-Lehman

As an adventure travel writer, I’ve been paid to bike around the Big Island of Hawaii, sea kayak the Fijian islands, dive the Great Barrier Reef, and paddle the Allagash River during a memorable foliage. Then I had my first child and the canoes, skies, and other outdoor paraphernalia started to collect dust in the basement of my suburban Boston home. Going stir crazy one summer day, I called my dad who gave me the sage advice to integrate family into my work. The next thing I know I’m going up and down the hills of Vermont with my toddler on the back of my bike. Like many parents, I began to realize that I don’t have to give up my passion simply because I have little ones. It was time to introduce my kids to the real me. Now I travel with Jake, 14, and Melanie, 12, as much as possible without getting scolded by their teachers. And they’re the ones teaching me a thing or two about every sport they try. 

This coming summer, we’re already booked on a six-day multisport trip with Austin-Lehman Adventures in the Canadian Rockies. ALA is known for their guided family trips to the most stunning locales across the globe, from Costa Rica to Alaska, Africa, and yes, the Canadian Rockies. In the Banff, Jasper, and Lake Louise region, we’ll trek with crampons across the Athabasca Glacier, whitewater raft down the Kananaskis River, and bike through the tall cedars and pines on the Evans Thomas path. Another highlight is the 64-mile drive through the peaks and deep swaths of forest on Icefields Parkway. Elk, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, maybe even a bear or cougar can be seen as you make your way to the largest ice cap in the Canadian Rockies, the Columbia Icefield, on the boundary of Banff and Jasper National Parks. At night, we’ll be staying at Baker Creek Chalets, along a quiet stream smack dab in the center of the snowcapped summits.

As we begin to plan our summer vacations, I want to take the time this week to describe some of my favorite trips offered by outfitters.
 

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Try Geocaching

Geocachers savor the opportunity to get lost in the woods, but never get too disoriented because they always carry a Garmin GPS system that will direct them to the exact spot they need to find. The sport is a modern-day treasure hunt where you locate objects in a film canister, coffee can, or other containers hidden by geocachers. After carefully camouflaging the prize under a tree or squeezed into a rock, the person hiding the cache sends the coordinates to the website, geocaching.com, and folks start their search. The sport originated outside of Portland, Oregon, in 2000 when a man posted that first cache on a website, but it has its roots in orienteering and letterboxing. For families, geocaching is a great way to go on a hike and find treasure. Inside every cache is some sort of trinket, from a marble to a toy car to a sticker. The best part about the sport is not merely checking off another cache, but finding sites that no guide book has ever described, spots locals have cherished for decades and are now happy to introduce to strangers. They include hidden waterfalls, caves with hieroglyphics, and lonely mountain peaks with no other people.

I’m off researching a story on beaches in New England. I’ll be back next Wednesday. Have a great weekend and keep active!
 

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Four Seasons Debuts New Resort in the French Alps

Next week, I’m excited to divulge my 5 favorite hotel openings in 2018. But I thought we’d get things started early with the debut of the Four Seasons’ first European mountain hotel. Especially since Megeve, France has been getting dumped on this past week, with a foot of fresh snowfall in the past 24 hours. A modern interpretation of an alpine chalet, Four Seasons Megeve offers 55 guest rooms and suites, and five restaurants and lounges, including a new incarnation of the Michelin two-star restaurant Le 1920. The only hotel directly on the Mont d’Arbois slopes, expect 235 groomed runs at your front door. 

 
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Simon Pearce Unveils His New Glassblowing Site in Quechee, Vermont

Last August, I was saddened to hear that one of my favorite covered bridges in New England, the one that sits over the Ottauquechee River in Quechee, was swept away by the surging water of Tropical Storm Irene. The bridge and the rushing water of the river are best seen while dining at the Simon Pearce restaurant. Pearce and his glassblowing facility were also hit hard last year. But as I noted in a recent story for The Boston Globe, he’s up and running with a rehabbed store and much larger space for viewing the glassblowers at work. If your fall plans take you to the Woodstock region to see the foliage, make a pitstop at nearby Quechee to dine at Simon Pearce. Lifting one of those sturdy glass goblets full of a local microbrew, you’ll be happy you took my advice.  

 
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Memorable Spring Bike Rides, Vancouver’s Stanley Park

The 9 km ride around the Seawall of Stanley Park can be done in less than an hour. Yet, by the time you stop at the world-class aquarium, see the selection of totem poles, and dine on sablefish (a tender and rich Northwestern whitefish) at the classic Teahouse for lunch, the day is over. Riding under towering Douglas firs and along the rocky shoreline, you’ll also stop numerous times to take pictures of the bay. On our last ride around Stanley Park, my family spent a good chunk of time being entertained by the sea otters at the Vancouver Aquarium. Less than 15 minutes later, we were watching river otters in the wild dining on crabs along the Seawall. Another unexpected find in a city of unexpected finds, the reason why I return to Vancouver as often as I can. 

 
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Writing Esoterica

I was guest lecturing at Emerson College in Boston last night when a student asked me how I take notes when I’m out there in the wild, backpacking, canoeing, mountain biking, etc..? It’s actually a very good question. I used to carry a microcassette recorder until I went on a backpacking trip through the Mojave Desert for Men’s Journal magazine. On day three of that trek, I reached down for my recorder and saw that the tape had melted in the sweltering heat. I never liked transcribing notes upon my return, so I switched to writing in a CVS-bought notepad that fits easily into the one of the four pockets on my canvas shorts. That also has its problems. It sometimes gets wet from rain, water, or sweat and I can’t read my notes. Other times I simply lose  the notebook. When I returned from a biking trip to Prince Edward Island for Canadian Geographic, I couldn’t find my notebook anywhere. After freaking out, I wrote the story from memory and called the people I interviewed to confirm their quotes were correct. The magazine loved the piece. It just goes to show you that your memory works far better than you can possibly imagine. In fact, I still remember the waves of nausea I felt the first night of that Mojave Desert trek after hiking 15 miles in the heat and carrying a 50-pound pack. Freeze-dried noodles was not exactly my idea of comfort food, but my body craved carbs so I ate every last morsel.
 

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