What: Single Island Shores Where: Finger Lakes, NY What makes it special While concrete jungles have their own beauty, they typically lack the color green. If you’re looking for a little nature time away without the buzz of the city, the Finger Lakes are a perfect quick drive upstate. Single Island Shores offers well-appointed cabin rentals right on Seneca…
What: Vintgar Gorge to Lake Bled Where: Soteska Vintgar, Slovenia What makes it special Around the river and through the woods (and two Slovenian ski towns), to Lake Bled you should go. Vintgar Gorge (also known as Bled Gorge) is a 1.6 kilometer gorge in northwestern Slovenia. Up for a little adventure? This journey is right up your alley. Begin on…
Looking for low airfare? You may want to stay glued to Twitter. Sites like Airfare Watchdog (@airfarewatchdog) and Scott’s Cheap Flights (@scottsflights) regularly post massive fare sales for routes around the globe. If you followed @JetBlue, you would have known about their crazy Halloween sale where they offered all one-way flights on Halloween for just…
What: Dromoland Castle Where: Dromoland, County Clare, Ireland What makes it special It’s not often you get to stay in a 15th Century castle built on ancestral lands that have been overseen for over a thousand years, but Dromoland Castle gives you that chance. Don’t worry about that medieval stank, because the whole place was renovated to…
What: Thought Experiments in F# Minor Where: Los Angeles, California What makes it special Many know the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA to be the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, offering stimulating orchestral performances, innovative music education, and engaging community programs. What many do not know is that the Walt Disney Concert Hall…
What: Maguro Koya Where: Nara, Japan What makes it special Japanese restaurants are usually known for one specific thing, be it udon noodles or tempura or sushi. Some, though, go even further and specialize in a single ingredient. That’s the case with Maguro Koya in the Japanese city of Nara where the name of the game is…
If you’re an airline enthusiast, you probably know about the American Airlines AAirpass that was first sold in the ’80s. For $250,000, you could buy a pass that entitled you to unlimited first class flights for life. FOR LIFE. One of the people who bought the pass was Steven Rothstein, a stockbroker from Chicago. In…
Airline miles don’t last forever. If you’re a big player in the points and miles game, you know full well that airline miles expire after a period of inactivity, so what do you do if you’re about to lose your miles and have no flights booked? The airlines will try to convince you to use…
The Beauty of Turning Four Do you remember turning four? I don’t. I do, however, know that I had a birthday party at Pizza Hut and the photos my mom has are proof that I was *so excited*. I’m equally excited that Your Oyster has now turned four. Not four years old, mind you, but four…
Three’s a charm! The third edition of Your Oyster is here and we love hearing how much you love our travel pearls. This is actually the very first edition of Your Oyster where all three pearls come directly from readers. Lauren and I are grateful for your submissions! On that note, the really special thing…
We’re off and running! It’s official: we’re not a one-hit wonder! We’re thrilled to be sending you Your Oyster, Volume 2. We had a tremendous response to our first newsletter and we’re so grateful to everyone for reading and sending in their own pearls. We can’t wait to share the incredible recommendations from others readers just…
Welcome. We’re trying something. It’s called Your Oyster (as in “The world is…”) and we want it to be your source for pearls of travel wisdom, as recommended by people just like you. This is a newsletter with the things you’ll never find through a travel agent. Amazing places to visit, unbelievable food and drink experiences, places…
If you ever fly Southwest, you know the agony and ecstasy of their boarding policy. With no assigned seats, it’s every person for themselves once you board the plane. There’s a bit of a shortcut, though, if you’re flying out of the right airport. While most airports have a single entry point onto the aircraft,…
When I first heard about the Companion Pass from Southwest Airlines, I thought it was too good to be true. After all, how can any airline offer unlimited free flights for a companion for an entire year? I’d heard of limited two-for-one/BOGO (buy-one-get-one-free) deals before, but this unlimited thing was new to me. On top…
