One year when I was a young girl (must have been about 10 or so) I decided to save up the room in my stomach for Thanksgiving dinner. Where I got THAT idea, I'll never know.

I arrange magnificent river cruise vacations for so many of my special guests. If YOU haven't taken your first such adventure, I hope you'll reach out to me for help.

Then life moves on and we do our things - sometimes for over a year - and then POW! the trip is close at hand and it's time to make a packing list! 

I am always amazed at the talent of people. I wonder how long it took this clever person to create this Halloween sculpture on the beach.

I am designing itineraries for several family trips to Europe for next summer. I know, I know: haven't we only just now finished with THIS summer?

We're still experiencing wild waves and an unsettled ocean. I went for sunset last night and even the bay was crazy and the wind insane! I love it all!

I just love this image from M Nacsaz of an oops in the rain in Venice. Astoundingly, I can count on one hand the number of times I've experienced rain in Italy. I'd kind of like to wander around lovely Venezia in a light rain. 

At E.U. airports, passport stamps are out and fingerprint scans are in Nearly 30 countries in Europe are requiring biometric scans under the new Entry/Exit System, or EES. This month (scheduled for OCT 12), the European Union will roll out an automated biometric program for foreign travelers entering nearly 30 countries.

I have the great pleasure of designing another itinerary including the glorious Lago Maggiore in Northern Italy. Normally folks think only of Lake Como, the most visited of the beautiful Italian Lakes. I have a soft spot in my heart for this lake since it was the first I visited. It was only a day trip, but I was enchanted and definitely mean to return one day.

Autumn in Italy feels unlike any other time of the year. The heat softens, the light takes on a golden tone, and the country seems to exhale after the intensity of the summer. Vineyards are full of harvest activity, village squares come alive with local festivals like the one pictured below, and even the busiest cities welcome travelers at a calmer rhythm.