For me, 2003 started somewhere south of Miami, over the Caribbean.
It is ending somewhere east of Chicago, over the Atlantic.
Between those two midnights (and, no, they didn’t break out the champagne and party hats in midflight), the year sort of flew by. If I hadn’t held on, I might have gone with it.
The things I learned while traveling in 2003 . . .
Don’t fly OVER the holidays, fly ON them: Most people have gotten where they want to go by New Year’s or Christmas or Thanksgiving, making these holidays good dates for cashing in frequent-flier miles.
Don’t sweep for me, Argentina: Any city can be a mess on New Year’s Day, especially if the local custom is, as it was in Buenos Aires, to literally paper the town at midnight. (It was all cleaned up the next day.)
The land of $5 steak dinners: If you can pry yourself away from anything imported, Argentina and its capital are amazingly cheap right now. But being a vegetarian in B.A. would not be fun.
And $1 “champagne”: Argentina has terrific wines at low prices. But sometimes, like that 3-peso bubbly, you get what you pay for.
Where’s Evita?: You don’t need a map to find Eva Peron’s tomb in B.A.’s sprawling Recoleta Cemetery. Just follow the crowd.
Best cruise for people who like a little adventure: Around Cape Horn. On most itineraries, you also get Patagonia, the Falkland Islands, the Drake Passage, Tierra del Fuego, the Beagle Channel, the Strait of Magellan, the Andes, fiords and glaciers. And a guaranteed “A” in your next geography class.
Best cruise for people who don’t: Somewhere else. On the Cape cruise, you’ll get springlike temperatures (think, Chicago spring). A little wind. Perhaps some rain. You won’t, on most days, be lying on deck working on your sunburn. And you won’t, in most ports, be beach-hopping with a tropical drink in hand. But–and, heh, have I scared away all the Caribbean wimps yet?–you will see the wonders at the bottom of the world in the easiest, most comfortable way possible. It’s downright dramatic.
How dramatic?: Well, there was that one day at sea with 100 m.p.h. winds . . . .
Best advice on a shore excursion: Before a short hike at Torres del Paine National Park in Chile, our guide Eva suggested, “If you think you’re going to be blown over, crouch down.” We almost were, and we did.
My advice on the experience: Do it. With or without a hurricane, it was great fun–and one of my favorite cruise destinations ever.
But don’t take my word: After my story on this ran in September, I heard from quite a few people who’ve taken similar cruises, and none of them ran into anything like we did. Some offered their consolations; some were envious.
Back on land: Both Buenos Aires, where the cruise began, and Santiago, Chile, near which (at the port of Valparaiso) it ended, are worth a few extra days before and after. Santiago isn’t quite as cheap as Buenos Aires, but it has one of the world’s great backdrops, the Andes. At least until the smog rolls in.
And on an island far, far away: Looking for adventure–without all that wind? Easter Island, the most isolated inhabited island in the world, isn’t difficult to “do,” once you get there (it’s five hours from Santiago). Its famed statues are readily accessible, and the mystery surrounding them is as fascinating as any you’ll find on this planet.
Business and pleasure: As chairman of the Editors Council of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) this past year, I took half a dozen trips closer to home on “travel editor business.” What’s that, you ask? Basically, it involves going to a great tourist destination–and then spending most of the time inside in conferences, panels and meetings. Convention-goers know the drill (at least those who behaved). Here’s how it went . . . .
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Long Beached: For two of the three days I spent in Long Beach in early February for the Los Angeles Times Travel Show, not having a rental car was no problem. The convention center, where all the meetings were, was next door, and the very good Long Beach Aquarium was just a short walk (what a concept!) away. But returning to LAX airport by taxi on Day 3, by way of a meeting downtown, cost almost as much as my air fare.
Newport un-beached: Newport Beach is, I’m told, one of Southern’s California’s spiffiest beach towns. So where’s the beach? From our inland hotel (a Four Seasons, a chain never to be sniffed at), we did get bused down (up?) to the ocean on several occasions during SATW’s four-day spring board meeting, but when you’re not doing your own driving it’s hard to get your bearings. What little we saw looked interesting. But if you’re visiting as a tourist, stay at the beach–and/or rent a car. And good luck; even our bus driver got lost one night.
Charleston chews: Great old city they’ve got down there in South Carolina. This is where 40-some travel editors (including columnist–and former Tribune Travel editor–Alfred Borcover; see Page 2) met earlier this year for a weekend. So if you think you’ve read a lot about Charleston in various publications recently, now you know why. Many people come here just for the food, and I don’t blame them. But here’s a dirty little secret: Charleston Chews–the candy–are made in Chicago.
Philadelphia, Philadelphia: Okay, I “cut” one business session here just to grab a Philly cheesesteak and, like on my last visit 10 years ago, wasn’t that impressed. But, sandwich aside, nothing else about Philadelphia–its oh-so-walkable central city and best-in-America historic sites, its well-beyond-Rocky neighborhoods and turn-of-the-centuries (19th and 20th) parks, its world-class museums and tasty-as-they-are-trendy restaurants–was remotely disappointing. A decade ago, Philadelphia was showing it years. Now it’s showing them off–in all their glory. Plus lots of new stuff (don’t miss the impressive, just-opened Constitution Center–or the ballpark, coming in spring). All in all, it’s become a city lover’s dream.
New York, New York: And, if you’re in the neighborhood, this one ain’t bad either. After Philly, I had one free night here, which I spent wandering around Bellevue Hospital looking for a way to get to a restaurant on the other side of the East Side Highway (don’t ask). Otherwise, in two days, I left the hotel where we were meeting only twice–and never got more than a block away. Still had a good time. Only in New York . . .
Uncle Scrooge at sea: SATW’s fall board meeting, aboard the Disney Wonder, was a bit surreal. Here we were, 20 or so child-free adults, hashing over bylaws and budgets in a windowless conference room while 4-year-olds fresh from shore-leave in the Bahamas chased down Cinderella overhead (the feet may have been tiny, but it was hardly pitter-patter). But, mostly, Disney has thought about everything. There were adult-only places to escape to, and late-seating dining was tantrum free. Only on our fourth and last afternoon/evening at sea did we have free time to mingle with Mickey and Minnie and Goofy–and the kids, who were having a ball. All in all, an interesting experience, but one more day, and I’d have been goofy.
Orlando aye: I’ll second Al Borcover’s comments on Page 2 about Cape Kennedy, Disney’s Mission: Space and Universal’s Spiderman. But, for me, the highlight of our nightly excursions during SATW’s annual convention was the “Party of the Senses” at Disney’s Epcot–the best “grazing” spread of food and wine I’ve ever experienced. Mark your calendar: Disney does it every fall.
Family fun: Enough “business”–though it’s hard to get much sympathy for a trip in November that includes both a cruise and Orlando. My big “pleasure” trip kept me busy too–I took my four sisters, ages 38 to 60, with me to Thailand.
It was my umpteenth trip to my favorite exotic destination, but their first–and our first-ever trip together. So in two weeks I worked hard to show them Chiang Mai and the North (temples, scenery, hill tribes, shopping), Phuket and the South (temples, beaches, sea caves, shopping), and, of course, Bangkok (temples, palaces, nightlife, shopping).
They shopped. I dropped.
In the North, I was delayed and joined them late. But I’d arranged a new guide, and he was terrific, taking them to the Golden Triangle and briefly into both Myanmar and Laos before I caught up with them. (If you’re looking for a guide in the North, e-mail Suphote Hankitiwatana at [email protected]; tell him “the Curwens” sent you.)
In Phuket, staying at the Banyan Tree, we had a villa with pool. In Bangkok, at the Dusit Thani, we saw the crown prince of Thailand–and his gold Rolls-Royce.
We also got together in Bangkok several times with Onn, the widow of my late guide, who I’ve written about in the past, and her two boys, now 10 and 12. One evening, her whole extended family–brother, sister, brother-in-law–somehow happened to join us for what turned out to be a memorable Chinese-Thai seafood feast. Another time, we spent a two-family day at Wat Po and the Royal Palace, followed by a canal ride–and shopping.
A fine time was had by all. At least until we got our credit-card bills.
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Randy Curwen hopes to stay home next New Year’s Day to watch Wisconsin in a bowl game. E-mail him at [email protected].