I returned from Chile last week and the highlight of my trip was four wonderful days in San Pedro de Atacama. I flew to Chile with my wife to visit our daughter who is studying in Valparaiso. After two weeks in Santiago, Valparaiso and Mendoza, Argentina, we parted company. My daughter took a bus back from Santiago to Valparaiso, my wife boarded a plane to return to the states, and I got on an overnight bus heading north. After stopping for a day in Chanaral in order to visit Pan de Azucar National ...

After spending hours and hours over several weeks trying to make a reservation to get me down to Buenos Aires, and then having the airline cancel my reservation without telling me, and then spending more hours and hours getting them to reinstate my reservation, I was tempted to write a blog titled, "Why I Really, Really, Really Hate Dealing With Airlines."

However, my next phone encounter with United made me do a complete 180 and I've decided to blog about the exact opposite. ...

Before going to Cancun for Spring Break with my wife, daughter and daughter's friend, I spent a lot of time searching Luxury Link, Trip Adviser, and other travel websites to find the ideal hotel for our stay. We had never been to the Yucatan and I wanted this to be the perfect vacation. I had found a room for the last few nights of our trip, but not the first four. Unfortunately, I was having a very difficult time finding a hotel that offered what we wanted. There seemed to be something wrong ...

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 ...