Author: Vanessa Janowski
Road Trip: Sands, Stalagmites and Snow in New Mexico
New Mexico is the stuff that road trip dreams are made of. Long stretches of lunar-like landscapes with distant peaks that always feel slightly out of reach, the kind of warm heat that you want to sink into and stay in a while. It’s a place for the adventurous, yes, but also the laid-back. Perfect…
Marine and other pleasures in Bonaire
When I told friends I was going to Bonaire, I was typically met with blank stares. This small, 112 square mile island, located just north of Venezuela and just east of its better known sisters, Aruba and Curaçao, is remarkably under the radar. Although it has been a magnet for the scuba diving community for…
¡República Dominicana!
To limit the Dominican Republic to the popular all-inclusive resorts of Punta Cana would be to miss the country’s spectacular northern coast, full of miles of unspoilt, lush green vegetation, white-sand beaches, and perfectly curving palm trees. Welcome to Samaná, the Dominican Republic’s unspoilt northeastern peninsula! Here, from January to March, you can often catch…
Holbox: island of whale sharks and bioluminescence
I’m a big fan of islands, and Holbox is no exception. Fortunately, it is still relatively under the radar. That may be because it is relatively hard to reach (a flight to Cancun, followed by a 2-hour shuttle ride to Chiquilá, followed by a 30 min ferry ride to the island). A few hours away…
New Zealand: North and South Islands in 2 weeks
Back in college, I used to think people who studied abroad in New Zealand were silly. Why spend time in a place where the spoken language was English? I was much much better off learning French language and customs living with my 9-person host family in Rennes or picking up on Greek through its rich…
Falklands, South Georgia, and Antarctica: the Seventh Continent
I had dreamed of going to Antarctica for years, and I had heard from fellow travellers that the highlight of their experience was often South Georgia. So earlier this year, I blocked off nearly 3 weeks on my calendar and made the dream a reality last month, travelling to the Falklands and South Georgia en…