Weaving a hug, it says on the tag, and youd be hard-pressed to find a better description once you’re wrapped in one of Avocas cuddly throws, blankets, or scarves. Made of lambswool, cashmere, angora, mohair, linen, and cotton, the pieces come in solids and Irishy plaids and checks with optional embroidered touches. The family-run company has been in business since 1723, which is plenty of time to expand the product line to dresses and

NAIROBI, Kenya – I have traveled to Kenya three times in the past four years. Unexpectedly, each trip is better than the last. I say “unexpectedly” because there is always a fear of sophomore slump after a momentous excursion — even if that excursion is to a place with the geographical extremes and bittersweet history of Kenya.I am on the board of an organization called OneKid OneWorld, and it is with this fine

The following is a slice of life on the road with OneKid OneWorld, a charitable organization that provides sustainable academic and athletic programs for children in impoverished communities. A small group from OKOW travels to Africa about once every 18 months to check-in on current projects and seek out new ones. LAKE VICTORIA, Kenya – Day 503It feels like I’ve been here for months.Update on last night&rsquo

The following is a slice of life on the road with OneKid OneWorld, a charitable organization that provides sustainable academic and athletic programs for children in impoverished communities. A small group from OKOW travels to Africa about once every 18 months to check-in on current projects and seek out new ones. QATAR – Days 8/9Traveling, traveling, traveling.Yesterday morning, 9:30 a.m. We loaded all our gear onto th

My eight-year-old son Jayson is still in love with Richard. He calls Richard his best friend. Ever!Richard is a horse he met six months ago.After outfitting ourselves with boots, hats, and stampede strings at Boot Barn in Laramie, Wyoming, we drove twenty miles west onto US 130, unhitched ourselves from the minivan, and set up at The Vee Bar Ranch. Brent and Kelly, the husband and wife team that run the dude ranch, met us at the main l

ROME – It was a lazy June weekday in Rome. A day that fell in the shadow of some national holiday that saw every man in uniform idling in phalanx. Like a parade that seemed to go nowhere. Military buses and police paddywagons were clustered outside the Forum. Jet planes flew overhead in bursts of red, white, and green smoke and a brass section honked in the distance, but no actual Italians seemed to care, so we walked past in sea

There is no cocaine in Colombia. Or, more exactly, there is no cocaine leaving Colombia, at least not from Rafael Núñez Airport. Ask me how many officers examined my bag before my flight back to New York. Ask. Five!I know what youre thinking: that I must have looked like a drug smuggler — nervous and sweaty, in a fedora and sunglasses, glancing furtively from side to side. But I didnt even wear sunglasses, and Im more sh

ser•en•dip•i•ty n. Happy good fortune, brought on fortuitously.In a letter dated January 28, 1754, Horace Walpole mentioned a discovery of that kind which I call Serendipity, a word the author says he derived from The Three Princes of Serendip, a fairy tale in which the title characters were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of. The story opens with the King of S

NEW ZEALAND – Going to New Zealand in September was a bit of a crapshoot. Sure, its New Zealand, gorgeous any time of year, but early spring weather is iffy at best. You can end up with rain, sleet, and lots of cold and wind in between. Or you can get lucky with mild days, cool nights, and lots of sunshine. Given that September is still low season, we were happy to take our chances with the weather and take advantage of the cheap

A few years ago at a San Francisco dinner party, the table was discussing hotel gross-out stories. You know the ones: Some newsy TV show brings an ultraviolet light into a hotel room to show disgusting stains on the bedspread, or an undercover video camera catches a maid wiping bathroom glasses with a nasty-looking rag.My friend Whitney said that the first thing she does when she checks into a hotel is wash the TV remote control. “You

LISBON, Portugal – Well, it wasnt. A minibar Christmas, I mean. But it almost was.I couldnt believe it when I woke up at 11 a.m. Stunning, considering Id gone to bed at 12:30 a.m. But there it was, 11 a.m. And it was maybe 1 p.m. before I decided to move about.Christmas was a rainy one in Lisbon. Gray and windy. So I decided to stay in bed for a little longer, given that everything was supposedly closed and I was lazy. I ordered a mov

The U.S. Navy stopped using Vieques as a bombing range in 2003. This puts the beautiful, small island off the east coast of Puerto Rico roughly eight years into its development as a tourist destination. Thats not a lot of time – though Vieques is no longer the jetsetterati secret it was a few years ago before the W Retreat and Spa opened in 2010.By way of said W, theres now an Alain Ducasse restaurant in Vieques, miX. And by way

Occupation: Actor / Activist / Chronic WandererFavorite destinations: Kerala, India; Samburu, Kenya; and Marfa, TX.Dying to visit: Petra, Varanasi, Lake Turkana. (Its endless.)Bizarre travel rituals: Frantically checking my luggage for a photocopy of my passport and making sure there arent any dishes in the sink. In-flight relaxation regime: Courtesy cocktails. Always in carry-on: Thick ankle socks (my in-flight footwear), pa

Dear Fathom: With the region in turmoil, can I go to the Middle East?Yes and no. Or more specifically, there are some places you probably shouldnt visit right now, some places you cannot visit, and others that are probably more enjoyable now than at most other times.Ive spent the past ten years living between the United States (my home town, New York, and Washington, DC) and the Middle East (Cairo, Jerusalem, Beirut). Ive covered the region

Hometown: NYCOccupation: Artist/DesignerFavorite destination: Japan!Dying to visit: Mongolia.Bizarre travel rituals: I always apply Young Living Thieves oil in order to protect my lungs from, say, Anthrax or other airborne unmentionables. In-flight relaxation regime: Lavender spray, Rescue Remedy, scarf, tea selection.Always in carry-on: An orange (my grandmother told me that when you peel an orange on the plane it is a gift for all of the

Hometown: LondonOccupation: Writer Favorite destinations: Paris, Venice, Stockholm archipelago, Oman.Dying to visit: Lisbon, Berlin, Japan, the west coast of France, Argentina, Zanzibar, Madagascar. Bizarre travel rituals: I remove hotel bedspreads immediately. I used to take pictures of my feet everywhere I went, but the Internet made me realize that everyone does that.  In-flight relaxation regime: Short haul — stare

Here Is New York is one of our favorite valentines to the city. Written in 1949 by E.B. White, the legendary Pulitzer Prize-winning New Yorker essayist and Charlottes Web author, its a short piece. Heres a little excerpt.  There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbul

Chapter 4(Catch up if you missed Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3) The Dominique Strauss-Kahn allegations and the ensuing media attention have everyone wondering what actually happens behind closed doors in hotel rooms. Take bored rich men, add women cleaning up after them — it can get explosive. The Times of London interviewed me about my experiences, and though unfortunately their paywall prevents me from li

Chapter 5(Catch up if you missed Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4) A few more weeks under my belt, and I learned not to question when a guest expresses a preference for a particular room attendant. It is often innocent — the guest appreciates the way an attendant arranges their toiletries on the sink or fluffs the pillows. But there are instances — a guest calling for service at 11 p

Hometown: Currently NYC, but I consider London home as well. I was born in Washington, DC, but raised in Woodstock, Vermont.Occupation: Writer and consultant.Favorite destinations: Too many to mention. Italy: both city (Rome, Florence) and country (Umbria, Tuscany, Ischia, Amalfi anywhere); France: Paris, near St. Remy; Spain; Harbour Island, Bahamas; most of New England but particularly coastal Rhode Island; California, both south (I love