With my 25th wedding anniversary rapidly approaching and no ideas what to get for my wife, I spent hours scouring Luxury Link and other websites for ideas. When the Willows Lodge in Woodinville, Washington appeared as an auction item, I placed a bid and was elated to get the package. Not only are we getting four nights in a nicer suite with a fireplace and oversized whirlpool, but we're getting a welcome wine tasting, breakfast for two every morning, a lunch basket one day, $100 credit towards spa ...

The day before I was to turn in my rental car, I went to a PEMEX gas station in Tulum, Mexico. I was supposed to return the car with half a tank of gas, which is the amount in the tank when I got possession of it. I figured that by the time we drove all the way to Punta Allen, back to Tulum, and then to the Cancun airport, there would be around half a tank of gas left.



All gas stations in Mexico are owned by the government, but that doesn't mean that the people who are ...

Since moving to Eugene in 2000, I've become a big fan of the University of Oregon football team. I usually attend two or three home games each year and the games tend to be very exciting. Over the years, the Ducks have evolved from being the doormat of the Pac-10 to being a perennial contender and playing in some major bowl games. This year, the Ducks are doing what they haven't done since 1995, when they lost to Penn State. In fact, the last and only time the Ducks won the Rose Bowl was in 1917, ...

Several years ago, my wife and I spent two weeks on Bali. We stayed in Ubud in a small bed and breakfast, which was actually just a room in somebody's house, but the breakfasts were some of the best that I've had in my life. Pancakes, fresh fruit, fresh mango juice. We decided that we wanted to explore the island, so we asked our host about renting a car. This was many years ago and there weren't any offical car rental agencies in town. Our host told us that a friend of his, a local shop owner, ...

So here I am, doing some last minute packing, thinking about how much easier air travel used to be. I remember just being able to pack a bag and not having to worry about what was in it. Less than 3.4 ounces of liquid? No sharp objects? Small enough to fit into the overhead rack? Will my checked baggage weigh too much?



I took my first trip overseas when I was seventeen. I had taken a year off after graduating from high school. One day, I received a letter from a friend ...