Inspiring travel one pin at a time.
Nestled on Conti Street just a stone’s throw from Bourbon Street is the charming and chic Hotel Le Marais, as part of the New Orleans Hotel Collection. At the perfect intersection of being close enough to the action but quiet enough to offer serenity, the Hotel Le Marais is named after Le Marais–the historic district on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris.
After a decade of violence in Nepal due to an internal armed conflict, over 40,000 children have been displaced with over 8,000 orphaned. In partnership with United Planet, a volunteer organization with programs in over 35 countries, it is my hope to embark on a short-term volunteer placement program (usually ranging from 1-12 weeks) in Nepal to work with disadvantaged children in orphanages.
Deciding to launch your own blog is an exciting endeavor where you have free range to create, say and share what you want with readers around the world. As the old saying goes, the first step of any journey is the hardest and when it comes to starting a blog it can be overwhelming to figure out where to begin.
My first two days in New Orleans has been a blur that tastes like powdered sugar, sounds like jazz, looks like a splash of pastel colors and feels like on-going revelry. With only a short amount of time to eat my fill of Caribbean inspired Creole food, soak up as much live music as I can and revel in the beauty of the French Quarter, I know that New Orleans is a city that will always leave me wanting more.
Is it okay to cheat airlines in the name of saving on airfare? Recently, a new level of travel hacking has snagged the attention of the media thanks to SkipLagged, a seach engine that pulls up “hidden city” flights where travelers treat their connecting cities as their final destinations. Here, I discuss the ongoing debate of this latest travel hack.
With the promise of a New Year ahead, let me take a moment to look back and count my blessings from 2014. From the places I’ve traveled, the people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had it has been a year of growth. As I sit here reflecting on the past 12 months, let me think back to when I set out to start The Pin the Map Project.
Nestled in between London’s Regent’s Park and Camden rests the charming York & Albany hotel and restaurant, owned by Chef Gordon Ramsay. When one thinks of Chef Ramsay, their mind often turns to his household name and franchise that has reached stardom through various celebrated restaurants around the world, Hell’s Kitchen and other culinary endeavors. Ramsay’s reputation as a talented chef preceeds him but many would be surprised to find that his London restaurant, York & Albany, also boasts a lovely hotel for guests.
Nestled just blocks away from Trafalgar Square on Waterloo Place rests the beautiful and welcoming Sofitel St. James Hotel in London. The globally recognized brand doesn’t sacrifice quality on the altar of being a corporate name, as many hotels can often do.
In this make believe world of our own making, this love we share is warm and innocent, wide-eyed and whimsical, impervious to the trials and tribulations life can so often toss in the way of new love. My need to protect this love is how I imagine a parent must feel when holding their newborn in their arms for the very first time. That same awe-inspiring adoration, that same unwavering and unyielding love and that same inherent desire to keep something so pure and so beautiful safe and protected.
For quite sometime now, I have flirted with the idea of taking time to freelance and focus on my writing. To step off the corporate treadmill and enter the renegade world of freelancing seemed at once thrilling and terrifying. From a 9-5 job to a full-time travel writer, I explore my decision to step off the corporate track and into the world of freelance.
T’was two weeks before Christmas and time to buy gifts, but for travelers out there this can go amiss.
For what do you gift someone with the world at their feet, whose adventures in travels cannot be beat?
The cabbie is gushing about The Goring; his excitement palpable as his car weaves in and out of London traffic headed towards this historic hotel situated by Buckingham Palace. Whether Princess Kate did in fact stay at The Goring before the royal wedding, I can’t say, but it is clear that this hotel offers the quintessential English experience I have been searching for.
I am staying at the charming boutique hotel of Relais Christine that is on the quiet Rue Christine in the Latin Quarter. The area around the Relais Christine is dotted with small creperies, eateries and shops and is only a short walk from Notre Dame, the Seine and the metro. At first sight the hotel is like a Parisian dream with a warm, roaring fireplace in the lobby and a friendly, French staff waiting to help with luggage and kindly lead the way to a room that will feel like a home away from home.
Paris has that certain je ne sais quoi that sets it apart from other cities as it seems to have a veil of romance draped over its cobble stone streets. From the deep green stalls that dot the Left bank of the Seine–selling everything from tattered novels to postcards–to the colorful pastries on display at Laduree, the… [Read More]
From the Shakespeare and Company Bookshop on the Left Bank of the Seine to Les Deux Magots in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, here is a guide to experiencing Paris like a writer and paying homage to the literary greats–such as Fitzgerald and Hemingway–that once called La Ville Lumière home.
There are perhaps 20 people nestled side by side in the crowded space, yet each one is laughing as the comedian allows his well-timed jokes to roll off his lips and ignite the room in streaks of laughter.Through a serendipitous encounter, I have recently found myself pulled into the comedic underbelly of the Concrete Jungle where laughter, wit and and a sense of humor reign paramount.
