Jeanine Barone

Colombia has made all the headlines recently, but, yet again, for all the wrong reasons. And before this bout of bad press, what else do we associate with Colombia, aside from romantic but tourist-laden Cartegena? Perhaps you might say security concerns -- at least that's what you find when you...

The branches of towering Douglas firs and Ponderosa pines sway in the wind. Wisps of clouds brush the rounded peaks. And snow drops gently from tree limbs like fairy dust. An isolated hut, with nary another person in sight, provides a picturesque picnic spot to survey a bucolic, snow-draped field....

Chefs get their inspiration from so many sources. And Anthony Goncalves is now taking his inspiration from chefs who hail from the country of his heritage, Portugal. He's the chef and owner of 42, an upscale dining room perched in a soaring tower of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in...

As countries go, Romania often gets a bad rap. What associations come to mind when you think of Romania? Maybe it's roaming gypsies or hordes of stray dogs. Hardly makes you want to book a ticket on the next plane to Bucharest. What about its tourist highlights? It seems they...

"Montenegro is what Croatia was 30 years ago," says Frank Vukovich, one of the two leaders of our small group of hikers.

Despite our varied backgrounds -- we're a writer, farmer, a botanist, a statistician and a teacher respectively -- we all have a love of nature,...

Let me get one thing straight: I've never been a fan of all-inclusive resorts. Say all-inclusive and I feel like I'm about to be corralled into a bland resort with bad food served buffet style. Imagine my surprise when I found a resort that dripped with native foliage and offered...

What's my recipe for a relaxing stay in either the Caribbean or the Bahamas?
First, I'll start with some of the things that it shouldn't include:

• No gambling
• No glitzy mega resorts
• No wall-to-wall beachfront development
• No raucous hotel or beach parties
• No shopping malls

• No McDonalds or the...

MYTH: You'll find plenty of nudist beaches.

FACT: Rio's beaches may be noted for skimpy swimwear, but going topless is illegal, except on the city's sole nudist beach, Abrico.

MYTH: The crime rate just keeps rising.

FACT: I was warned over and over again to...

There's good reason why Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and their ilk are among the top crowd-pleasing national parks: They're all drop dead gorgeous, with plummeting waterfalls, dramatic chasms, fiery rock domes, spewing geysers and other magical features. Too bad you often have to share this beauty with the throngs. But...