By Linda Tancs

Since 1920 the folks at the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference have been developing, protecting and educating the public regarding the myriad of hiking trails in the region–1700 miles of them, to be exact.  With all that acreage, aren’t you glad that someone can help you find the trail that best suits you? Their Web site’s search function lets you find a hike based on difficulty (ranging from easy to moderate to strenuous) and the kinds of features you’re after (like good views, swimming or wheelchair accessibility). You can even volunteer to help build or maintain a trail or engage in fundraising. As the song goes, this land is your land. Mother Earth is counting on you.

By Linda Tancs

Oscar Wilde believed that the secret of life is in art.  The Asian Art Biennial at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts is examining that interrelationship and its effect on shaping today’s Asia during the Viewpoints and Viewing Points exhibition from 24 October until 28 February.  Fifty-six artists and teams from 20 Asian-Pacific countries have been invited to give their views on the current situations in Asia.  What better place to start than with the diverse host locale of Taiwan, an island of multiple tribes, cuisines and religions.  And now with the Neihu line connecting all of Taipei’s 12 administrative districts, you can explore the island’s largest city with ease.

By Linda Tancs

Rugby fans are heading for Bermuda for the 22nd World Rugby Classic.  Now through the 14th, teams competing for the top spot hail from Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom & Ireland, South Africa and the USA.  While they’re there, they’ll help celebrate Bermuda’s 400th anniversary on 10 November at the National Sports Center.  A few short weeks later comes the signature anniversary gala on 5 December at Fairmont Southampton.  What you won’t find there during this festive season is Jack Frost–temps remain in the 60s and 70s.  So put your dancing shoes on and come join the party.

By Linda Tancs

Cheese aficionados, take note.  If the process of cheesemaking is as interesting to you as the taste, then take a lesson or two at Shelburne Farms, a 123-acre estate in Vermont.  Home of the Brown Swiss, a breed known for its high milk fat content, guests can pull an udder or two beside an accomplished milkmaid and immerse themselves in farm life, not to mention history.  After all, cheddar’s origins in Cheddar, England date back to the 12th century.  West of Bennington and part of the Vermont Cheese Trail, the inn on the farm offers 24 rooms with luxe accommodations (and a price to match).  Are these green acres the place for you?  Get moo-ving and find out.

By Linda Tancs

Named for the Afghan camel drivers who once explored its unchartered territory, Australia’s famed railway, The Ghan, celebrates 80 years of service this year.  Led by its fire engine red locomotive, the train traverses the breaktaking landscape framing Australia’s Outback.  Originally routed for Adelaide to Alice Springs, the journey now includes a Darwin extension.  City slickers need not worry.  Connections to the legendary railway are available on Indian Pacific and The Overland for guests travelling to or from Sydney and Melbourne.  All aboard!

By Linda Tancs

Weddings can be a strange affair.  You’ve heard of underwater weddings, sky diving weddings, Halloween-inspired weddings, and so on.  Well, in a primate rescue center in Dorset, England, you can now have a wedding amongst the largest group of chimps outside of Africa.  In June, Monkey World in Dorset, a 65-acre refuge, acquired a wedding license.  At least one couple has married on the grounds since then, serenaded by the cacophony of some of the most abused and neglected monkeys in the world.  Sort of gives animal magnetism a whole new meaning.

By Linda Tancs

The cooler autumn air in Myanmar is warmed up a bit with the cascade of lighting taking place during the Tazaungdaing Festival.  During November’s full moon, women weave saffron-colored robes as an offering to the Buddhist monks.  More than just a robe-weaving festival, though, the event’s highlight is the vast illumination of pagodas, monasteries and even office buildings with colored lanterns and candles.  As Saint Thomas Aquinas once said, “Better to illuminate than merely to shine.”

By Linda Tancs

It’s humpback heaven in Pushkar this weekend in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan.  Pushkar Festival brings together camel traders and their ornately festooned charges ready for their close-ups.  A beauty pageant of sorts, the camels are paraded around for throngs of admiring onlookers, including curious tourists.  Of equal interest is Lake Pushkar, a must-see for shutterbugs.  Hindus believe that the lake was created by Lord Brahma (their creator of the universe) when he dropped a lotus flower to earth as a result of battle with a demon.  The lake is beset with ghats for bathing away sins (like Varanasi) during this high festival.  So how best to reach this holiest of places in the Rajasthani desert?  The nearest airport in Jaipur is 86 miles away.  A network of bus service will get you to Ajmer, just 7 miles away. The local bus ride through scenic mountain ranges will get you to your final destination in a half hour.

By Linda Tancs

British Columbia is known for many things—stately and quite lovely cities (like Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler), whale watching, totem poles, world-renowned gardens, skiing and fine dining—but a literary haven?  Yes, add that to the list and head on over to Sidney, a seaside town accessible by ferry about 20 miles from Victoria, B.C.’s capital city.  There you’ll find Canada’s only booktown, a moniker denoting a locale with a large number of second-hand or antiquarian book shops.  In Sidney, you’ll probably be no more than 10 paces away from a bookstore in any direction.  Bookworm heaven.

By Linda Tancs

In Chiang Mai, a mountain-ringed metropolis north of Bangkok, they’ll be lighting up the night sky with thousands of floating lanterns this weekend in the annual Loy Krathong festival.  At ground level, you can set more lights afloat on banana leaves across the Ping River, a symbolic gesture celebrating the resources of the waterway and casting off misfortune.  No doubt a sight to behold, you can capture the essence of it here.