By Jim Jorgensen
I grew up in a small city in Wisconsin and moved to California in 1970 to go to school. Forty years later, I helped start Discover Walks headquartered in Paris. We have employed travel guides in over 1,000 cities around the world. In the meantime, I traveled to 49 states (sorry Alaska) and visited over 50 countries.
I have traveled using “Europe on $10 a Day '' as my guidebook. And, I have made trips using private jets. I have become a bit of a lodging snob over time, but hate wasting money on anything. I have eaten street food in almost all 50 of those countries and have been sick from it only once (beach food in Porto de Galinhas, Brazil).
I have met, worked, and traveled with some of the most interesting people around. For most of my life, people have asked me for personal travel advice. It is one reason I wanted to do this column.
I plan to write not only about current travel and people, but also tell some of the more interesting stories about ‘Traveling Through Life’. As a side note, I wrote a book about happiness in 2014 and have a column based on it here.
12 articles published
Hvar and Split – Fun in Croatia
As noted in a previous article, my wife and I spent ten days exploring the mid-coastal section of Croatia. We started with Split and Hvar. Split is the second largest city in Croatia. That said, Split has only 160,000 people in it, So, it is more of a small to mid-sized city. For a tourist, […]
Plitvice – It was like Magic
I am not a National Park ‘groupie’, but the Plitvice Lakes National Park blew me away. (Yes, I think Yosemite is spectacular and Yellowstone is a must visit for nearly everyone, but in general exploring Tokyo, or Paris, or the coastal villages of Uruguay, are just more me.) In June, my wife and I went […]
Tuscan Hill Towns
Rome, Venice, Florence, these are the most common first destinations for people visiting Italy. And I like all three. They are vibrant, fun and full of history. But when you have more time, there are the hill towns of Tuscany. These are mainly located just south of Florence and north of Rome. My wife and […]
London in the Summer
My wife and I arrived in London the last week of May at the start of an extended trip for June. The weather was so good I can easily title this visit Summer in London. Still, I often put a couple of small umbrellas in my bag, just in case. Accuweather tries its best, but […]
America the Beautiful
Yes, America the Beautiful. One of our great songs. Some people even confuse it as our National Anthem because of its stirring words. It also makes a great title for traveling in the United States. If you live in America, the news is mostly about its problems. And like all places, there are plenty of […]
Is San Diego Worth a Visit?
The easy answer to the title question is… Yes, of course. If you have ever seen any of the San Diego vacation ads, you have seen many of the fun things to do in and around San Diego. It’s a beautiful coastal setting, old stuff – new stuff, nightlife stuff – day stuff… The ads […]
First Trip to Italy
So you are thinking of going to Italy for the first time, and you want to know where to go first. It is a great question with lots of great answers. Let’s start with a short list of gat parts of Italy: Rome, Venice, Florence, Tuscan Hill Towns, Amalfi Coast (Capri +), The Lakes (Como […]
You “Need” to stay at the Villa d’Este
I recently saw a Travel and Leisure’s article Ten Best Italian Resorts. The Villa d’este was #10. I have been lucky enough to stay in eight of the resorts on the list over the years. And to me, the one you “Need” to stay at is the Villa d’Este. The others are ‘merely’ spectacular Italian […]
California Storm Chasing – Mendocino Style
Almost every year in January, my wife and I spend a long weekend at the Heritage House, on the coast just south of Mendocino California. This is a rugged section of the northern California coast with lots of cliffs, caves, and small beaches in the coves. We ‘discovered’ the Heritage House about 15 years ago. […]
My favorite street in Paris – Rue Montorgueil
Paris is full of iconic landmarks and ‘must see’ places and ‘must do’ activities. I lived part time in Paris for for a few years, So friends often ask me what they should spend time seeing and doing, I always add one ‘surprise’ to their itinerary – rue Montorgueil. Highlights: It feels like a Paris […]
Sicily – Worth a Visit? Yes? No? Maybe?
I just returned from my first visit to Southeastern Sicily. With three other couples, we had rented a nice villa between the town of Ragusa and the beach community of Marina Ragusa. Highlights: Syracuse (both the town central island and the ruins of Syracuse long glory years – Greek and Roman, The non-touristy hill towns, […]
What is the best resort for kids in Hawaii?
The answer to this question has been the same since 1988. That is when Hawaii got its first mega resort now called the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Why is this the winner for kids? For a kid, it is almost like living in a real amusement park. My first visit to the resort was in 1989, […]
