Staying at Grindelwald First Mountain Inn in Switzerland feels a bit like staying in your own private chalet, one with spectacular views of the Eiger.
HI Travel Tales
Begin a journey of discovery and wonder
Discover the best funiculars: fun funiculars around the world
Funiculars are cable mountain railways, originally built to help people get up and down steep slopes. Find out more about some of the world’s best funiculars in this guide.
A citizen scientist in Kenya: Adventure of a lifetime with Biosphere Expeditions
For two weeks, I was a citizen scientist in Kenya with Biosphere Expeditions. Being a citizen scientist is not for everyone. It is not a wildlife safari. But the experience will change you and likely become remembered as an adventure of a lifetime.
Best places to stay in Mendocino: Find the top hotels, inns and B&Bs
Looking for the best place to stay in Mendocino? Take a look at our guide to the Northern California coast. We help you get to know Mendocino County’s 90 miles of coastline and 20 towns that offer a huge variety of climates, personality, and travel experiences so you end up in the best place to stay.
Love and passports
We’re Michael and Therese, and we want to inspire your travel dreams with our experience, curiosity, and award-winning photos and stories. Our travel includes all seven continents, 48 countries (and counting) and all 50 states in the United States. We love guiding you to off-the-beaten-path destinations and offering useful travel tips along the way.
If you’re seeking more immersive and meaningful travel, and hidden gems or local secrets, even at popular travel destinations, you’ll find them here.
Travel Tips & Resources
Lost your smartphone when traveling? What to do if your phone is stolen
Losing your smartphone while traveling is no fun. Be sure you have prepared your phone and protected your data well before a thief strikes so your stolen phone becomes an inconvenience, not a disaster.
How to be a good traveler in Europe – 11 tips to travel better
The caricature of that loud, garishly dressed American traveler in a different country may be funny, but you do not want to be that traveler. Here are a few easy tips on how to be a good traveler in most European countries.
Wildlife Photography Tips: 9 tips to improve your wildlife photos
It is not difficult to take eye-catching images of animals if you know a few wildlife photography tips. These nine tips improved my wildlife photos immediately, and they will improve your photographs, too.
Clean your luggage after every trip to protect against bed bugs and germs
Don’t bring germs and bugs into your home after you travel. Know how to properly clean and sanitize your carry-on and checked luggage to keep your suitcases looking good as well as bug and germ free.
Air travel is getting harder: Here’s how to make flying more enjoyable
Air travel is getting harder. Long delays, canceled flights, lost or delayed luggage, and horror stories of packed planes, plus stressed-out passengers, and flight crews. Here are a few tips to make flying more enjoyable or at least tolerable.
Choosing the best travel insurance for your trip
You’ve booked your trip for a dream vacation, but you’re just not sure about buying travel insurance. After all, it seems like an added expense and how do you know which is the best travel insurance for your trip anyway? Let’s stop right there. You need travel insurance when you travel, unless you are so wealthy you can afford your own medical expenses and possibly the expense of medical transport back home. Find out why we like Global Rescue and why travel insurance is so important to you.
Tips & Resources
My tips to keep your hands warm during cold weather photography
Photography is my passion. But I also have something called Reynaud’s that makes me more susceptible to the cold, especially my hands. So I had to come up with ways to keep my hands warm for cold weather photography. Here are my DIY tips to keep shooting and staying warm, too.
Switching seats on a plane? Why I often say ‘no’ to swapping seats
I often say “no” to swapping seats on a plane. I do get asked to switch seats on a plane often enough, and sometimes, though infrequently, I am the one doing the asking. There is an etiquette to seat swapping to keep the skies friendly.
Lost your smartphone when traveling? What to do if your phone is stolen
Losing your smartphone while traveling is no fun. Be sure you have prepared your phone and protected your data well before a thief strikes so your stolen phone becomes an inconvenience, not a disaster.
How to be a good traveler in Europe – 11 tips to travel better
The caricature of that loud, garishly dressed American traveler in a different country may be funny, but you do not want to be that traveler. Here are a few easy tips on how to be a good traveler in most European countries.
Travel Journals
Make travel important in the New Year – transformative travel is life-changing
It is too easy to get stuck in a grind, in a life that sucks you into a day-to-day routine that leads to being unfit and unhealthy. But, if you make travel important, travel can be your lifesaver, leading you to a fresh start or exposing you to a mind-opening experience that affects you deeply and changes your life forever. Transformative travel is life-changing.
Iditarod dog sledding adventure – Nome Alaska goes to the dogs
Experience the lighter side of the Iditarod. Humor writer Michael Hodgson generates laughs during the Iditarod, an 1000-mile epic sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome. Even the dogs were laughing at him.
Solo road trip: How I fell in love with solo car travel
When the world came to a grinding halt in March 2020, the days began to melt one into the other. Until I discovered the joy of a solo road trip. This is the story of solo car travel as transformative travel and how it opened my mind and soul.
A love for travel began with my mum
My love for travel and adventure began with my mum. I still take time on her birthday, on Mother’s Day and on International Women’s Day to honor her and thank her for all the gifts she gave me. Gifts that have made me a better traveler, journalist, photographer and, I hope, a better man.
Travel Journals
Iditarod dog sledding adventure – Nome Alaska goes to the dogs
Experience the lighter side of the Iditarod. Humor writer Michael Hodgson generates laughs during the Iditarod, an 1000-mile epic sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome. Even the dogs were laughing at him.
A love for travel began with my mum
My love for travel and adventure began with my mum. I still take time on her birthday, on Mother’s Day and on International Women’s Day to honor her and thank her for all the gifts she gave me. Gifts that have made me a better traveler, journalist, photographer and, I hope, a better man.
Top 10 stories of 2020 – Readers keep dreaming of travel
It has been a very long 2020 but through it all we found our readers still wanted to dream of travel, to think about travel, and to plan for travel. This was made clear with our Top 10 Stories of 2020 as selected by our readers and what they viewed. Local and regional U.S. stories, stories that highlighted adventures closer to home and ideas for road trips, sprinkled with a few topics drawn from our archives allowed us and our readers to keep dreaming of travel in 2021.
Food & Wine
What do you do with lots of lemons? Make super zesty French Lemon Cake!
If you are swimming in lemons during harvest, the question arises: What to do with so many lemons? What I call my “French Lemon Cake” comes to the rescue. I enjoyed this cake in France, but had to develop the recipe myself, of course using lots of juice and lemon zest.
News & Updates
HITravelTales’ Michael Hodgson wins Excellence in Journalism Award
Michael Hodgson was honored with first place in the IFWTWA Excellence in Journalism Award.
Food & Wine
What do you do with lots of lemons? Make super zesty French Lemon Cake!
If you are swimming in lemons during harvest, the question arises: What to do with so many lemons? What I call my “French Lemon Cake” comes to the rescue. I enjoyed this cake in France, but had to develop the recipe myself, of course using lots of juice and lemon zest.
News & Updates
HITravelTales’ Michael Hodgson wins Excellence in Journalism Award
Michael Hodgson was honored with first place in the IFWTWA Excellence in Journalism Award.
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