In a city with two seasons — hot and hotter — cocktails offer a welcome reprieve. As the sun drops and the air shifts from scorching to merely sweltering, Saigon’s bars come alive with inventive drinks, talented bartenders, and a cocktail culture increasingly shaped by local ingredients and ideas. “For a long time, the cocktail…
Travel Blog
Slow Tripping Through B.C.’s Sunshine Coast
I’m hiking Skookumchuck Narrows, with my partner, where ferns fan out under towering cedars cloaked in moss. Snowmelt rushes over smooth, multi-hued rocks, leaving a slippery surface. The look is layered, lush, like something out of a fairytale. At the end of the hike, I find orange and purple sea stars, clinging to rock, and…
How a Wellness Resort Can Teach Women Lasting Wellness Habits
TIA takes wellness further by giving guests tools to restore balance, enhance vitality, and make healthy food choices long after they return home. It’s easy to see why TIA Wellness Resort was ranked among the top 10 Destination Spa Resorts in the world in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards. You can read more…
8 Behaviours to Curb Overeating at Home and on Vacation
I’m an emotional eater. It started in University with Crispy Cream donuts, and flares up every so often. Over the years, I’ve used different techniques to curb my urge to anxiety eat. Since I retired, it’s easier to go downstairs and graze. From exercise to drinking tea instead of filling my face, I’ve got 8…
Best New Orleans Bites Beyond Bourbon Street
On my return from New Orleans, friends asked, “Did you stay in the French Quarter and party on Bourbon Street?” These days, Netflix thrillers fill my nights, with a bowl of popcorn and a glass of Merlot. On a pre-Katrina trip, I heard jazz at Preservation Hall, shopped in Jackson Square, and took a cemetery…
Discover the Culinary Heritage of New Orleans with Chef Dee Lavigne
Trailblazer Lena Richard defied Jim Crow-era barriers to become the first Black woman to host a televised cooking show, more than 10 years before Julia Child. In the 1930s and 1940s, Richard also authored a cookbook. Today, her legacy continues in Chef Dee Lavigne, who has opened the first Black-owned cooking school in New Orleans…
Cajun Coast Louisiana: History, Mystery and Fine Food
Imagine commandeering a kayak on the meandering Bayou Teche waterway, beneath moss-draped cypresses, majestic oaks, and bottomland hardwoods. The Bayou Teche snakes through Southern Louisiana, providing a 135-mile National Water Trail that flows through towns like Franklin, in St. Mary Parish, on Louisiana’s Cajun Coast. But the beauty and mystery of the Cajun Coast go far beyond…
6 Croatian Comfort Foods to Fuel Your Next Trip (Or Eat at Home)
My mother was ahead of her time when it came to nutrition. She introduced salads early. Iceberg lettuce and tomato wedges, topped with orange Catalina dressing. For lunch, my mother mixed 2% cottage cheese with fruit cocktail or canned peaches (rinsed and drained to remove the excess sugar). When I traveled to Zagreb, I couldn’t…
Tucked into the cobbled streets of Zagreb’s Upper Town, the Museum of Broken Relationships is not your typical cultural institution. There are no ancient artifacts or grand paintings here. Instead, you’ll find a collection of everyday objects—each one a relic of love lost, heartbreak endured, and emotional resilience reclaimed. Founded by two Zagreb-based artists, Olinka…
7 Tips to Tame Your Tummy in Thailand (#5 Is Self-Evident)
Whenever I travel, something bad happens. In Furore, Italy, I succumbed to sunstroke from too much wine and too little water. In Bali, a wayward monkey bared its teeth and bit me. I also contracted ‘Bali belly’. I had the runs in Cuzco, Peru, and was woozy from altitude sickness meds. So, I expected to…