A fairytale town in a picture-perfect location, Bled, Slovenia is comprised of 3 jewels – Lake Bled, Bled Castle, and a tiny island with the beautiful church of St. Mary. The walk around Lake Bled is a highlight. It is only 6.5 km (4 miles), and mostly flat, with scenic views the whole way, and plenty of places to stop for refreshments. (They are known for their cream cakes!) I was fortunate to spend 6 days here, and walked around Lake...

With over 1000 islands off the coast of Croatia, I thought I’d give you a little series of posts on a few of my favorites. Since they all have such different personalities, this may help you choose where to spend your time, should you put Croatia on your bucket list. Let’s start with Mljet (pronounced Meeyet – in Croatia, J’s are pronounced like Y’s), which means “honey” and is the greenest island on...

Not far from Dubrovnik, Croatia, is the country of Montenegro, so it’s easy and inexpensive to go day tripping there. Montenegro is known for it’s beaches, and the old city of Kotor, and they’re both worth a look, although on the day I was there, so were 3 cruise ships, and thousands of other tourists, so not the ideal circumstances for my visit. In Kotor, you will find inside the city walls, plenty of places to shop and to...

Plitvice Lakes is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It is one of Croatia’s 8 national parks, a series of 16 stunning turquoise lakes strung together by a series of cascading waterfalls. The colors of the water are reminiscent of jewels – aquamarine, blue topaz, emeralds and sapphires. Plitvice Lakes is the largest of Croatia’s national parks, as well as the oldest, and it’s included in the UNESCO...

New Zealand abounds with opportunities for excursions – you could participate in a different one each day for weeks and not do them all: bungy jumping, jet skiing, horse back riding, boat cruising… …There are gondola rides, bike tours, paddle boarding, historic train trips,  hikes on glaciers and ice climbing, helicopter tours, aqua biking, river surfing and rafting, rock climbing, whale watching, fishing, zip lining, panning...