The Vacation Guy Blogs

Chile is easy to spot on a map of South America. It’s the very long, very narrow ribbon of country stretching over 4300 km (2700 miles) along from the middle to the very tip of the Pacific coast of South America. In spite of its length, it’s only 350 km (220 miles) wide at the widest point! With the storied Atacama desert in...

One’s in Austria, and the other in America. But they are bound together in the pop culture celebrations of the season.Have you figured it out yet? The hint is in film and music. Both Salzburg and Stowe are destinations tied to the Trapp Family legend. You likely know it as: The Sound of Music, a movie that’s become essential holiday family...

It's one of the world's top ten busiest airports, with a flight every 80 seconds. A hundred airlines transport over 60 million passengers yearly to and from Singapore's Changi airport. So millions of travelers are already familiar with the breathtaking Nature features in the airport that's the gateway to Asia's 'City in a Garden'. But 2019's new Jewel Changi Airport brings the natural...

And he even used a light saber. The actor famous for his role as one of space's greatest heroes didn't need to use the Force to launch the new Skywalk at the top of the Rock of Gibraltar. The best part may be the Stormtroopers chilling in the background.Mark Hamill's appearance at the Rock of Gibraltar Skywalk was a dramatic opening...

It's as Canadian as maple syrup. The Caesar is Canada's national cocktail. Created in a hotel bar in Calgary in 1969, it's been the only-in-Canada favorite game night, summer patio, and 'hair of the dog' Sunday brunch cocktail. Caesars even prompted an exclusively Canadian cocktail mix: Clamato juice, a combination of clam and tomato juice, which you can find on...

All eyes are on this SoCal city every New Year’s Day for two of America’s most iconic annual events. Pasadena, California plays host to the back-to-back morning Rose Parade and afternoon Rose Bowl Game. The game is one of the major bowl games in college football, but the Rose Parade that precedes it is truly one-of-a-kind. The Rose Parade dates back to 1890. Pasadena...

Recent, extreme hurricanes have devastated favorite Caribbean island communities.For travel, the impact of more extreme hurricanes is double. It can take years for tourism infrastructure in island destinations to rebuild and welcome visitors again, so your favorite destinations and resorts may be unavailable. Plus some travelers avoid Caribbean island vacations (and cruises) during the Atlantic summer and fall hurricane season, especially during...

The global pandemic closed the doors of nearly every hotel in the world. But thousands of very special ‘guests’ at some Fairmont hotels stayed.Some have even been ‘residents’ for years.'HOME SWEET HIVE'In 2008, the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto and Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver installed honey beehives. These two urban hotels may not seem likely places for apiaries. But the thriving hives made...

There may be no dish that evokes cruising more than Baked Alaska.A miracle dessert of warm, caramelized meringue on the outside, still magically full of layers of frozen ice cream on the inside. No one really knows why, but somewhere along the way, it became a classic of traditional cruise culture.Even today, Baked Alaska is often served on celebration, formal...

Before every travel destination had a ghost tour and haunted hotels, there was Dracula's Castle.Irish author Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel 'Dracula' popularized the vampire genre of fantasy fiction that today is more popular than ever.And although the character of the undead Transylvanian Count is fictional, the Romanian national monument known all over the world as 'Dracula's Castle' is...