Radio Show: Rio de Janeiro + Its Travel Myths

I'm always amazed to hear how people avoid traveling to Rio de Janeiro because they think it's just ridden with crime. It's certainly curious, for example, that the flight attendants I spoke with on the way down told me to remove every last piece of jewelry I had on -- and I wasn't wearing gold or diamonds, that's for sure -- because well, it's Rio. They also told me to now go bicycling or jogging alone. Oh, and be careful of the traffic, especially at night when you'll encounter drunk drivers. It's a good thing I didn't listen to any of this advice.



You can listen (below) to my recent interview with Pat Boyle on the Travel Show at KPAM 860 radio in Portland, Oregon where I dispel these and other myths associated with this vibrant and welcoming city.

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A Gem of a Portuguese Sandwich Shop in New York

I'm one of those few Americans who's not in love with sandwiches. Whatever is layered between two pieces of bread had better be pretty interesting or downright tasty before I would ever give two thumbs up to a sandwich choice. I find most sandwich options boring, tasteless, laden with greasy mayonnaise or stacked high with fatty meats and cheeses. But my skeptical view on sandwiches was turned on its head when I bit into one of several sandwiches over a few days at the new New York City eatery, City Sandwich.


Chef Michael Guerrieri who has an eclectic background -- he was born in Naples, grew up in New York City and lived in and opened up an upmarket restaurant, Mezzaluna, in Lisbon -- presides over this wee Mediterranean shop that easily transports me to Portugal, a country I visit at least once a year.

The idea behind his new venture, which melds the Italian with the Portuguese, is all about simplicity and remaining true to traditional flavors and ingredients. When I spoke with him recently, I felt his passion for Portugal and for the cuisine he serves. "I'm putting my Italian-Portuguese upbringing on bread," he said.


Sardines are imported from Portugal and he's also tapped into New Jersey's Portuguese community. The breads are made in New Jersey by a Portuguese baker -- it arrives at the shop twice a day. They'll also be bringing in Portuguese wines. And don't expect to see any mayonnaise on your bread; instead, it's yogurt or olive oil.



Even the color scheme of the menu, with red representing meat sandwiches, green for veggies/fish and yellow for those that are egg based, are in keeping with the hues of the Portuguese flag. But the restaurant also has a New York sensibility. After all, melted mozzarella is not something you'd expect to find in either Portugal or Italy. (It's a New York City Italian phenomenon.)

My favorite sandwiches included the Auntie that combines pickled sardines with onions and cilantro. Even if you're not a sardine lover give it a try because the cilantro offsets any intense fishy flavor you might expect when sardines are on the plate. The Todd, my other fave, is constructed with smoked Portuguese pancetta and a honey-Dijon sauce. Given that I'm what I call a conditional vegetarian -- I only eat meat if it's a specialty or something that's a notable local delight and then I'll consume only small portions -- it's especially noteworthy that I finished the entire sandwich and found it exceedingly flavorful. (The size of these sandwiches -- hero-quality -- means you are getting very good value for the money, as well.)

Some customers may be hesitant in ordering the codfish; the alheira, a sausage of pork and sausage; and especially the morcella, a Portuguese blood sausage, sandwiches but I say give any of these a try or split them with a friend or colleague. Anything Michael touches turns to gold, cuisine wise. He is extremely skillful with his flavor combinations. I intend to return one evening and sip a fine Portuguese wine while nibbling maybe the Portuguese alheira with collards, not a combination that initially attracts aficionados. But in Michael's hands, I'm confident it'll have a blending of flavors that'll keep me coming back for more.

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Finding an Authentic Bahamas

I've never been a fan of mega beachfront resorts, which line former pristine swaths of sand. To me they represent development gone awry. So when I was planning my trip to the Bahamas, I wanted to steer clear of any chain properties as well as those that featured gambling, water parks and the like. So, I focused my attention on the Out Islands of the Bahamas, which are particularly popular with fishermen and boaters. I finally decided on Long Island because it offered a nice mix of low key activities with plenty of authenticity. (My article and accompanying video slide show on pristine Long Island recently appeared in the Huffington Post.) But I realized that I'd have to overnight in Nassau because of flight scheduling issues. And this is where I was in a predicament, wanting an economical hotel that wasn't far from the airport and yet was laid back and charming.

It looked like these were tough criteria to meet and yet I thought I read about the Orange Hill Beach Inn. Then I started reading TripAdvisor and, curiously, the reviews were more all over the place than usual, with some saying they couldn't wait to return, that the staff couldn't have been friendlier and that it was a true hidden treasure, while others said it was filthy, the staff was rude and that the rooms were overprices. Wow, what a disparity. But, after looking at the expensive, glitzy alternatives, I decided to take the chance and I'm so glad I did.

I stayed two nights, one on each end of my trip to Long Island and I so wish that I had a week, that's how much I adored the Orange Hill Beach Inn. Yes, it's got a rough-around-the-edges feel. But it's also homey, and the staff was warm and welcoming. Yes, it's very low key but the setting, a lush garden expanse with all manner of blooming foliage, can't be beat. It's located literally across the street from a long sandy beach that I found perfect for walking or sunning with little in the way of crowds. My accommodation, which was one of two private cottages, was spacious with a wee kitchen and a small balcony where I sat and enjoyed the view from my mini-hilltop retreat. There's even a tiny man-made waterfall outside my door!

They have a small pool but my favorite activity was sitting in one of several wooden swing chairs amidst the palms, frangipani and other colorful and fragrant foliage. Among the other tropical plants on the property, we found bougainvillea, banana trees, sea grapes and dozens of other with blossoms in myriad hues. In the early morning, it was a delight to get a cup of coffee and sit amongst the foliage listening to the twittering birds, which were in abundance.

At first I thought that the location -- literally a five-minute cab ride from the airport -- would be noise (Not) and that it would be isolated (Not). In fact, the hotel does a daily grocery run giving you the opportunity to buy dinner fixings that you can cook if you're staying in one of the cottages. They can, sometimes, drop you off at a nearby restaurant that's also within walking distance. But, if none of that works for you, there's also a mini bus that runs along the coast that goes to and from downtown.

One of the best things about this inn is the food. They serve three meals but dinner is the real treat. The short menu changes nightly and during my two-night stay, they served chicken or shrimp fajitas, jerk chicken or tuna, grilled grouper, cracked conch, shrimp with pasta, and Bahamian lobster tail. My favorite was the Bahamian combo of chicken, ribs, and grouper fingers.

This is a family-owned business -- Judy, the owner, has had the place for 31 years. And they have a real following with guests returning year after year. In fact, it's not unusual to hang out in the bar, dining room or outside the reception area and find people you met on your previous visit.

So, where did all those bad reviews on TripAdvisor come from? Maybe some guests couldn't deal with some peeling paint, a faucet fixture that wasn't working properly or the shower that didn't heat up very fast. Remember, I said it was rough around the edges. Don't go expecting a palatial retreat. Go expecting to relax and enjoy the low-key Bahamian vibe, eat some tasty food, and maybe make some friends. That's what I did and I can't wait to return next year.

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50 Places of a Lifetime - National Geographic Traveler iPad App

National Geographic Traveler recently released their iPad app: 50 Places of a Lifetime and it provides everything you'd expect from this illustrious publication. This is the iPad travel app for those who want to dream with their eyes open. Who want to be inspired by jaw-dropping photographs. Who want to learn about creatures and cultures and curiosities.

You'll find that the 50 magical destinations are divided into five categories: Urban Spaces (Jerusalem, Istanbul +), Wild Places (Antarctica, Tepuis +), Paradise Found (Amalfi Coast +) Country Unbound (Danang to Hue +) and World Wonders (Easter Island, Angkor +). Once you select different categories and places, you'll be presented with evocative articles by luminaries that include Bill Bryson, Gore Vidal and Paul Theroux. (A cool bar at the bottom allows you to rapidly scroll through all the articles.)

Each article is accompanied by a check-mark icon that, once tapped, leads you to "your place of a lifetime" list. You can think of it as a bucket list -- a term I abhor. Instead, this one has two columns: one for the places you've already visited and the other for those you desire. Simply drag the photo of the place into either column. It could be used to boast about all the amazing places you've managed to visit or to show your friends and colleagues where you're planning or hoping to travel. (I dragged Mesa Verde, Tuscany and New Zealand's North Island into the Places I've Been category and added Tepuis along with Kerala, India and Angkor to my Places I Want to Visit column.

I found the interactives (videos, slide shows and photo galleries) the most captivating. (Clicking on another icon in the articles brings you to the photo gallery.) After all, these stunning images are all taken by some of the world's best photographers. A slide show on Vermont reveals a dense growth of sugar maples rimming a country road, forming a tunnel of foliage. But what makes it oh-so-lovely is that I can tap through the slides to see the exact same trees and road evolving through the seasons: the crimson reds of fall contrast with the icy snow-draped branches of winter. For Paris, the photo gallery depicts a series of images that are all about dogs: a terrier sitting atop of table in a brasserie, a poodle, standing against a Peugot. (It's all so French.) For San Francisco, a slide revealing a dim sum sampler -- mini octopus, shrimp dumplings -- sparked my appetite so much so that I was forced to order Chinese food for dinner that night.)

Among the video selections, I watched the Amazon at sunset, following the rippling waters, the clusters of birds nesting in tree branches, a tarantula attached to a tree trunk and a guide showing off a reptile specimen. The images are so intimate that I found my skin crawl when I spied the spider. In a video of the Alps, I had vertiginous views of an alpinist as he climbed up the Eiger to a soaring perch amongst the sweep of craggy peaks touched by a whisp of mist. My stomach dropped out from under me when he base jumped and the earth promptly fell away. For Istanbul, the video shows an ice cream man who's got his sales pitch down perfectly. (He entices passersby by tempting them -- and me -- with the stick traditional ice cream that he holds at the end of an enormously long metal rod.)

With all these treasured features, perhaps the most stellar is the wide 360º-panoramic images, such as the Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde. (First you tap to enlarge the image, then you swipe, pinch and zoom in.) I swept my finger around the image of this the largest of the sandstone dwellings rapidly producing a dizzying view from the rooms set in the cliff side to the lip of the rocky overhang and up to the clouds and then back down to the ruins of the chamber-like rooms set in the floor. I felt like a bird sweeping over these ancient ruins. The 360-degree of the Grand Canyon had me flying from the waterfalls tumbling into the Colorado River to the striated cliffs above and up to the jagged crack in the Elves Chasm revealing the cerulean blue sky

I could go on, but I'll let you experience these 50 great places. You won't be able to take your eyes off the images and the words. As a travel app that stimulates your mind and warms your heart, it doesn't get much better than this.

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Things You Didn't Know About Rio

How well do you think you know Rio de Janeiro? Do you believe that the city's golden sands are places where you could go topless or au natural? What about all that drinking -- must be plenty of drunk drivers on the roads, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, huh? And, should you want to wake up from your hotel and walk down the street to some of the city's renowned beaches, such as Ipanema and Copacabana, that's going to really cost you several hundred dollars a night, right? Wrong on all accounts.


I came up with eight myths about Rio de Janeiro based on what I've overheard many a traveler discuss. This piece that I wrote for the Huffington Post sorts out fact from fiction.

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Green, Eco-Conscious Rio

Visitors have so many misconceptions about Rio de Janeiro: that it's so unsafe you shouldn't leave your hotel to roam the streets and certainly you shouldn't go bicycling, jogging or walking on any of the trails; and that it's a car-choked city crammed with slums. The list goes on. But this isn't what I found. In fact, surprisingly, Rio is a verdant city coated with green spaces and it's also a bike-friendly city. Who knew?

This is an piece I just did for National Geographic Traveler's Intelligent Travel blog on the Rio you never knew.

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Travel First-Aid Advice - Video

"Be prepared" is my travel motto. And, in keeping with that theme, I've blogged and guest blogged about how to stay well on the road. But if you'd like to see how I actually pack my ultimate first-aid kit and why I bring the supplies I do, check out this new media segment (part 1 of a two-part series) that I just did for Trip On A Deal. In 7+ minutes, hosts and producers John Palacio and Luz Montez ask me about why I bring along Tic Tacs, what supplies women need to tote to ward off ills on the road, the array of products I carry to ward off "tummy troubles" and much more.

To see a larger screen video of this spot, click here.


The Ultimate Travel First Aid Kit by TriponaDeal

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Finding Hidden Travel Gems

I find treasures along the road on all my travels, whether I'm in New York City where I enjoy sitting in the shade of tall willows in the tiny patch of verdancy known as the Creative Little Garden or in Portugal where I strolled the narrow lanes in the medieval hilltop town of Marvao or in Iceland where I gazed at a black-painted church, the only other building on a windswept expanse where my accommodation, Hotel Budir, was perched.

These are just some of the travel gems you'll find out about when you read the interview that Elise Reeks at Positive World Travel did with me recently. You'll also learn some of my travel packing tips, including why I always bring along the Xubaz scarf and an Icebreaker hoodie.

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Preventing Travel Health Issues on the Road

No one wants to deal with uncomfortable and unpleasant health-related problems, such as gut issues from drinking contaminated water, or unbearable headaches from high altitude, when you're traveling. And spending time in an emergency room because of heat stroke or severe poison ivy isn't my idea of a great side trip. That's why I'm always the model of caution when I travel, whether it's domestically or to far flung locales.

I recently was asked to write a guest post for Janice Waugh at the Solo Traveler. Because I have a medical background, I focused in on how to easily prevent five common health-related problems that can occur on almost any trip. They all just require a little planning by packing the required items in your first-aid kit. Hopefully these tips will keep you well when you're traveling.

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