by Mary Charleson | Feb 16, 2019 | Europe
High in the northern Italian Alps, surrounded by endless rolling green valleys, turquoise lakes, and glaciers you’ll find the Italian Dolomites. Spanning over 142,000 hectares, the Dolomites were named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2009 for not only their beauty,...
by Mary Charleson | Jan 20, 2019 | Europe
Do you have a bucket list? Or an experience jar? The bucket list is that forward-thinking aspirational list of places you want to see. Inspired by the idea that somehow one must knock things off a list while they are still able is great, but I find the thought that...
by Mary Charleson | Dec 30, 2018 | Europe
The city of Prague has survived centuries of conflict. Preserved in time, despite multiple wars and occupation, it has emerged beyond the curtain with a bevy of stories to share. It’s cobblestone streets, and the historical path they pave, can easily charm the most...
by Mary Charleson | Nov 11, 2018 | Europe
Massimo charged his glass in a toast to friendship, “Ad amici e buon cibo.” While we didn’t understand what was said, we all smiled enthusiastically in agreement, intuitively knowing it meant “to friends and good food.” The intense heat of the day had subsided, and in...
by Mary Charleson | Sep 9, 2018 | Europe
Prince’s Purple Rain filled the hot summer night air in Paris, as a chorus of thousands seated on picnic blankets under open skies belted out the well-known lyrics. Fireworks burst from both sides of the Eiffel Tower in an escalading cascade of purple light racing to...
by Mary Charleson | Sep 2, 2018 | USA
I’m always on the look out for tourism marketing examples, since I use them in presentations with clients in the travel industry over on my other business at FiveMinuteMarketing.com A fellow travelling friend put me onto this clever use of a chat bot named Rose being...
by Mary Charleson | Aug 25, 2018 | Europe
Guest post written by Karen Speirs The light is softening, casting a golden glow on the rolling hills, when the call for dinner comes. The teens scramble up the stone stairs from the pool. A quartet of card players rise from the table, pushing back heavy iron chairs....
by Mary Charleson | Jul 10, 2018 | Canada, South Africa
When I was in my final year of high school, I was hospitalized for a week with the sight in one eye threatened after an exercise band broke and impacted my eye, causing an internal bleed. I spent the entire time immobilized in bed with both eyes covered to limit...
by Mary Charleson | Jun 21, 2018 | USA
I don’t take the back seat easily. Being in control, the pilot of road and boating adventures, and seldom the passenger brings me joy. So when I took the back seat to my husband at the helm of a 1200 Triumph motorbike out of Las Vegas to ride historical Route 66, the...
by Mary Charleson | Jun 12, 2018 | South America / Central America
“For the record, I don’t intend to die in a tsunami in Nicaragua.” Those were my words as I tried to think logically in the face of a loud siren blaring in Spanish, “alerta de tsunami evacua inmediatamente” which translates to “Tsunami alert,...
