A beginner's tour of western North Carolina

July 20, 2008

In Marion, Andy of Mayberry came on the radio, nicely accompanying us north toward Linville.

Recent columns

• How I worked my summer vacation

  June 29, 2008

  There are no new ways to save money while traveling. None. Every conceivable idea has now been floated — and sent to me personally in a lengthy e-mail.

• Veni, vidi, vendor: Enjoying the charms of street food

  June 15, 2008

  When the prospect of going to Australia recently came up, one of my first thoughts was: meat pies.

• Solutions for hopelessly outdated landmarks

  May 25, 2008

  This year, after 85 years, the New York Yankees are playing their last season at Yankee Stadium. This exemplary American organization has concluded, amid much criticism, that just because your home happens to be a national treasure doesn't mean you can't trade it in for something more modern, more pristine, more dripping with profitable skyboxes.

• The importance of traveling, no matter how near

  May 11, 2008

  Summer's coming so let's see where we are.

• Traveling with the Stars

  March 23, 2008

  Choose a destination with Kellie Pickler: People think traveling is something anyone can do. (Unlike, say, dancing.) But it can be a challenge for folks who don't know the names and locations of the places that are out there. You get to plan a trip with the American Idol finalist who, when she appeared on Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?, didn't know what country Budapest was the capital of. She thought maybe France, but then wasn't sure that France is a country. Hint: Don't even mention Bucharest.

• The people who create trips of intelligent design

  March 9, 2008

  The first person I met at the Educational Travel Conference in Baltimore last month was Susan, who works for High Country Passage and lives about five blocks from me in Fort Lauderdale. Smart travel, small world. Later, I checked the company's Web site (hcptravel.com) and found an impressive roster of trips and a wonderful company motto: "World Class Is Now in Session."

• Miami will steal your corazón

  February 17, 2008

  It's time again for my day tour of Miami, since a few things have changed since 1999 and those that didn't you've probably forgotten.

• Your country is happier than our country

  January 27, 2008

  "When was I happiest, the happiest of my life?" James Salter asks in his beautiful memoir Burning the Days. "Difficult to say. Skipping the obvious, perhaps setting off on a journey, or returning from one."

• OK, it's not exactly death in Venice

  January 13, 2008

  When I return from a trip, people often ask me how my vacation was, which is understandable, since my trips involve many of the same pleasures — and disappointments — as vacations.

• Dear readers, may 2008 bring you . . .

  December 30, 2007

  a change of scenery

• Is there a doctor in the country?

  October 28, 2007

  Medical tourism is an interesting concept, sort of a throwback to the era of Arthur Frommer's Europe on Five Dollars a Day. Then, comparatively wealthy Americans availed themselves of the cultural attractions of a continent still recovering from war. Today the draw is health care, in another developing, low-cost region. "Asian Hospitals on 150 Dollars a Day." Perhaps the next Patricia Schultz best seller will be "1,000 Medical Centers to See Before You Die."