If you go to Tuscany, you think of hill towns, medieval villages, Florence, Siena, and maybe Lucca. They are all great places to visit. But what is not far away from this part of Italy is the town of Pisa. And you all know what is in Pisa, right? THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA, of course.

On a trip to Tuscany, this is the place to stay. It is halfway between Florence and Siena, and not far from San Gimignano and Volterra. This beauty of a town is small but still shows its medieval heritage. The main part of town is still surrounded by the walls built back in the 12th century for protection. So many touches of the original remain, such as arches and towers.

One of the beauties of traveling to a foreign place is that at some point you will fall asleep.

Turkmenistan is a desert country with a population the size of Minnesota (just over five million).  It doesn’t invade its neighbors (though it has a dismal record of oppressing its own citizens), and its leadership doesn’t engage in regular rhetorical lashings of the United States. 

I have the (the!!!) most beautiful book sitting on my desk. It’s about Paris (naturally), and is a completely new look at an ancient, much photographed city – through its bridges, glowing, at night.

I've been working on a new book project over the past couple of months. I've looked at hundreds of images, all from my ski touring adventures. So with all that snow and beauty on my mind, I created a series of 5x7 greeting cards highlighting some of my favourite photographs.

You know how you find a photographer, and then click through their ENTIRE Instagram, liking each one? Or heading to their website to discover more? When we find such a creative artist that speaks to us, it’s both a lucky occurrence (finding them in the millions of people online) and a life-enhancing moment. From now on, our lives will be enriched by their talent, view, artistry, and sharing of their worldview.

If visiting the Middle East, you might want to visit a famous landmark or two -- the Pyramids of Giza and the Temple of Karnak perhaps, or the Western Wall and the Umayyad Mosque. But without a doubt, a trip to the Middle East would be incomplete without a stroll down an alley.

One of the most famous sites in the Middle East is Petra, a city that the Nabateans carved out of rose-red rock in southern Jordan about 2000 years ago.