Sir.Isaac.Newton.Courtesy.Mario.Vaden.RedwoodCoastParks.com“The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always….From them come silence and awe… they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time,” wrote John Steinbeck.  A true luxury of experience would be to “meet” some of the most outstanding, tall-standing ambassadors.

Thankfully, a list of the top ten Redwood Trees in the world was released today by the Redwood Coast Parks, a nonprofit group that considers members to be “professional redwood adventurers.” Here, in the RCP’s own words, are ten top redwoods:

  • Hyperion
    The tallest of three trillion trees on the planet lords over Redwood National Park from a secluded hillside near Redwood Creek. Park rangers keep its location secret to discourage foot traffic. Fortunately, the few trekkers who find the 380-footer tend to respect low-impact hiking protocols.
  • Iluvatar
    This monster, one of the most massive trees in the world, with more than 200 trunks and stems, graced the cover and eight-page centerfold of National Geographic Magazine in its feature on the super trees of Redwood National and State Parks. It resides in the Atlas Grove in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.
  • Nugget
    Once the tallest known tree, this ex-champ in Redwood National Park could retake the crown someday. It’s the second fastest growing redwood on record. The tree has plenty of elevated company in Tall Trees Grove along Redwood Creek near Orick. Several neighbors are among the world’s ten tallest trees.
  • Corkscrew Tree
    This photogenic oddity featuring four trunks knitted together poses a botanical mystery. Some think it a cathedral tree with a fairy ring gone wild. Others suspect that several coast redwoods grew around a tree of a different species that later died and decayed. In either case, explorers of all ages find its twisting nooks irresistible.
  • Klamath Tour Thru Tree
    Only three living drive thru trees remain, all along Highway 101 on Northern California’s Redwood Coast. The newest and least visited one offers the most pristine natural setting. It stands atop a small private hill surrounded by Redwood National Park. Craftsmen who carved the tree’s cavity avoided essential living wood, safeguarding its health.
  • Stout Tree
    The largest redwood in Stout Grove, a forest at the confluence of two wild and scenic rivers in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, features distinctive rippled bark and a wooden viewing platform to protect its roots and provide wheelchair access.
  • Big Tree
    This old growth giant lives up to its name, having a circumference of 68 feet. Estimated at 1,500 years in age, the tree is just off the Newton Drury Scenic Parkway near the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park Visitor Center.
  • Sir Isaac Newton Tree
    A former American Forests national points champion and one of the largest recorded redwoods, this tree in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park has an unmistakable burl that makes it stand out among the other giants along the Prairie Creek Trail.
  • Horse Goose Pen
    Guided horse rides from the Orick rodeo grounds go into Redwood National Park and stop at this unusual tree with a large natural cave, a so-called goose pen, for an unforgettable selfie.
  • Eternal Spring Tree
    This redwood has a hole in the cambium from which water constantly flows. It’s in the Lady Bird Johnson Grove, a popular mountainside forest in Redwood National Park.

For a map of these growing treasures in Northern California: GOOGLE MAP: http://tiny.cc/redwoodsmap

Once royalty traveled on luxury barges down the Nile river in Egypt and the Thames in England. When future US President Thomas Jefferson was Ambassador in France, he wrote that of all the forms of travel he had tried, barging was the most pleasant.

I have come to love luxury barging in Europe going to places ships can’t reach and traveling at a pace that allows all the senses to be enjoyed.

This month’s WORLD TRAVELLER magazine ran my piece on barging via Europeans Waterways in Italy, Scotland, Holland, and France.  Two were girlfriend trips and two were romantic husband trips. I felt like royalty on all of them.

A year ago today, Lisa and I celebrated our anniversary with a luxurious stay-cation at the Intercontinental Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. As the hotel and restaurant staffs pampered us in our perch atop the tallest building west of the Mississippi, the pulsing energy of the city served to rejuvenate us, as we reminisced about the day we wed.

This year, we have something a bit grander in mind: two weeks in Egypt. We leave soon for a week in Cairo and a New Years luxury cruise down the Nile, from Luxor to Aswan, with Mayfair Cruises. It will be our first time with them, and we are looking forward to having some wonderful stories to tell.

Forget about armies marching on their stomachs.* Travelers marvel with their stomachs (or quiver).

In Iceland reflections on nature are everywhere.

In Iceland reflections on nature are everywhere.

The first culinary morning of my Arctic journey with Poseidon Expeditions begins at the Hotel Grand Reykjavik, where even the manmade reflects the natural. The buffet breakfast includes international diversity and Icelandic favorites, with multiple flavors of Skyr yogurt .

A pot of miso soup, with bowls of seaweed and tofu to sprinkle in, sits next to a pot of porridge with brown sugar for flavoring. But best of all, next to that are shot glasses and a bottle of cod liver oil with lemon slices for a citric twist. An Icelandic health ritual.

Bottoms up as we head toward the Top of the World!

Our port for departure is in the capital of this land of “Ice and Fire” — more than 100 volcanoes and even more waterfalls. The country is fueled completely by renewable energy sources — wind, water, and geothermal power unite! Travelers, too, can be renewed by the wonders of nature in the wild and in the city.

My reflections go to my last time here, with sunny days and the Wild Nights of Iceland, but also look forward to what I hope will be nocturnal reflections of Northern Lights in the waters of northern Iceland, across the Arctic Circle and into the fjord system of Eastern Greenland.

Who knows what the electromagnetic energies of dancing lights can renew?

And who knows what food marvels lie ahead?

Sometimes filling in the blanks is fun!

As I sit in this lovely hotel waiting for transport to the M/V Sea Spirit, I have filled in some blanks, but I look forward to filling in even more blanks, skies, and plates ahead!

outdoorsSo far 2017 has been the year of N travel for me—Nature to the nth degree, from the sky darkened by massive groups of birds to the sky returning to light after a rare solar eclipse, and from miles of vibrant flowers to the upcoming journey to seek Northern lights and Narwals …

I headed to Nebraska for the birds and felt privileged to see hundreds of thousands of cranes seek rest in the Platte River as a stop-over in the Great Migration of the North American Fly Away.

The Netherlands in the Spring bloomed abundantly with tulip glory! A childhood friend and I took a barge through the canals with European Waterways and enjoyed “Tulips and Windmills with Panache”.

My husband Victor and I flew to Nashville, hoping for almost two minutes of the “Totality Awesome” Solar Eclipse, August 21. I have enjoyed upbeat Nashville before and knew that if the eclipse got eclipsed by clouds, we could still have a syncopated time in Music City, as chronicled in “Ringing in Nashville.”  Fortunately we were able to enjoy music and, after some drama with teasing clouds– a full and fulfilling Solar eclipse

Victor wrote “Nashville Hosts the End of the World” for the Huffington Post and used my photos.  Fortunately, the world did not end; the sun returned spectacularly from the moon’s shadow – so there is a lot more to explore.

I leave this Saturday to seek the Northern Lights and Narwals! If all goes well, I will board the Sea Spirit in the capital of Iceland — a country enchanted with waterfalls, hot springs, puffins, and more : “Wild Nights Iceland” won a NATJA award for Best Illustrated article.

From Iceland, we will head north of the Arctic Circle on a Poseidon Expedition to Greenland to explore the largest and longest fjord system in the world. I hope to be enthralled by the Northern Lights again. It’s been seven years since I shivered with awe and cold and produced a video of the dancing lights set to some Gershwin as part of
Hunting the Northern Lights” for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC INTELLIGENT TRAVEL.

This time I hope to see Nature’s great light show upward and reflected in Arctic waters with icebergs for exclamation marks!

Please stay tuned for more Nature ahead!

And if you want to record your own Nature adventures, you can pick up a copy of The Great Outdoors: Nature’s Bucket List or My Adventures: a Travel Journal, and add to the projects I was fortunate to create for Quartos Publishing.LTM bird THANKSIMG_7830 copy copy

Want to go cruising in an American convertible in Cuba? Take a look at Havana from a ’52 Buick for a minute or two (or six or eight). It’s a video road trip!
See how one Havana neighborhood turned a water tank into an art studio, transformed trashed walls into treasured murals, and helped a five-year-old dance to the Cuban beat.
Learn how firefighters who died in duty are given the highest honor- nothing human-built can be taller than their Memorial at the renowned Christopher Columbus Cemetery.
Last Spring, FATHOM became the first cruiseline in over 50 years to provide cruises trips from the US to Cuba.  Victor and I hopped onboard the Adonia in Miami, Florida for one of her early journey’s to the ports of  Havana, Cienfuegos, and Santiago de Cuba. Victor put together some mini-movies so you can enjoy a quick trip

“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.” John Muir (C) Sonne

 

Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”  John Muir

If you are craving portals to beauty, the Magnificent Mountain Loop (MML) of three California National Parks offers travelers uncountable “doors.” In one trip you can enjoy the tree giants of Sequoia National Park, the adjoining wonders of Kings Canyon National Park and the iconic delights of Yosemite.

This year, Yosemite shares the riches of nature and history with a 150th anniversary. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Land Grant 150 years ago, creating “the first protected wild land for all time” and the “first state park in the world” according to the National Parks website.

Below are some quotes by past famous Yosemite visitors Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Muir, Ansel Adams, and President Teddy Roosevelt to inspire your own visit. There are also some tips to add luxury to your travel.

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” John Muir

 

 

EMERSON & MUIR TRANSCEND

According to the National Parks Services website: “In 1871, John Muir, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Poet, and Transcendentalist visited the Mariposa Grove of trees in Yosemite and Muir said to Emerson in the grove: ‘You are yourself a sequoia. Stop and get acquainted with your big brethren.’ ”

Emerson called Muir a “new kind of Thoreau” who gazed at sequoias of the Sierra instead of scrub oaks of Concord.”

Grandeurs of granite walls in Yosemite.

In Yosemite, Grandeur of these mountains perhaps unmatched on the Globe; for here they strip themselves like Athletes for exhibition, & stand perpendicular granite walls, showing their entire height, & wearing a liberty cap of snow on their head.” From Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Journal.

PRESIDENTIAL AGAIN

In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt requested to meet with Muir in Yosemite, and Muir encouraged him to sleep under the stars- a night that led the protected area to be expanded and transformed into a National Park.

It was like lying in a great solemn cathedral, far vaster and more beautiful than any built by the hand of man.”- Roosevelt

Sleeping under the stars like Muir and Roosevelt may be the richest way to enjoy the nature of the park 24/7, but if you are looking for more pampering nurture in your visit, the Tenaya Lodge offers lovely luxury rooms, concierge services, the Embers restaurant and the Ascent Spa with signature organic treatments. The Ahwahnee Lodge’s legacy dining room is worth at least one memorable meal.  Yosemite Lodge inside the Park affords window views of the Yosemite Falls, and great access to the park’s sites, trails and shuttle system.

 

Yosemite Riches- your outdoor museum. Sonne

Tenaya Lodge, Fish Camp, near Yosemite

 Yosemite Lodge at the Falls,

Wuksachi Lodge, Sequoia National Park

John Muir Lodge, Kings Canyon National Park

For those that want to celebrate the resiliency of nature with some personal rushes, OARS is now offering river rafting in the Tuolome River.  (I haven’t yet tried their river trips but hear good things.)

It’s the images of Ansel Adams that have put Yosemite in people’s imaginations for decades, but his words are also an inspiration for how to enjoy Yosemite:   “Life is your art. An open, aware heart is your camera. A oneness with your world is your film. Your bright eyes and easy smile is your museum.

                                     -Photos and text by Lisa TE Sonne, Luxury Travel Mavens

Antarctica, Hurtigruten Cruise (C) Sonne

Start of para-sailing, Caribbean coast, Cancun, Mexico (C)Sonne

Dream. Go. Discover. Explore. Set your sails.

Take a leap. Sit still somewhere new. Meet yourself.

Add kindness in different time zones. Share beauty. Create laughter.

Spark an idea. Illuminate.

Whether you want to explore all seven continents or experience  your own neighborhood better, here are some inspiring travel quotes, and some images from my travels.

“Make voyages! Attempt them-there’s nothing else.”

– Tennessee Williams

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ”

– often attributed to Mark Twain

“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” – Seneca

Bilbao Museum, Basque Country, Spain, (c) Sonne

 

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ”
St. Augustine 

“Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you traveled.” –Mohammed

Zip-lining, Nicaragua, Austin Lehman Adventures, (c) Sonne

 

 

 

 

“Adventure is worthwhile.”

– Aristotle

 

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.”

-Helen Keller

 

” Not I, not anyone else, can travel that road for you. You must travel it for yourself.” –

-Walt Whitman

World’s largest Hot Air Balloon Festival, Albuquerque, New Mexico (c)Sonne

 

 

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”

— Martin Buber

 

“Three things restore a person’s good spirits: beautiful sounds, sights, and smells.”

-Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot

 

 

 

 

Moroccan Woman in the Atlas Mountains of Africa, Access Travels trip (c)Sonne

“All life is travel through time and space. Think outside the cube.”
-Lisa TE Sonne

 

 

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”

– Maya Angelou

 

 

 

 

Buddhist, Himalayas, Royal Kingdom of Bhutan, Asia (c)Sonne

 

 

“Hitler didn’t travel. Stalin didn’t travel. Saddam Hussein never traveled. They didn’t want to have their orthodoxy challenged.”

— Dr. Howard Gardner

 

“Experience, travel – these are as education in themselves”

– Euripides

 

“When travelling, kindness can be  the greatest gift, and dearest souvenir.” -Lisa TE Sonne

 

 

 

“The life you have led doesn’t need to be the only life you have.”        -Anna Quindlen

Lady Astor, Queen Victoria, Gandhi, Charlie Chaplin, Lawrence of Arabia, Kipling, Henry James, Henry Ford, Churchill all walked the grounds and halls before Cliveden House in England became a five star hotel to top the lifestyles of Downton Abbey (c) Sonne.

Maasai walking in Kenya, Africa (c)Sonne

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.”

– Bill Bryson

Parenting chinstrap penguin,sitting on an egg and a chick  below:

 

 

 

 

 

“I  like animals. I like natural history. The travel bit is not the important bit. The travel bit is what you have to do in order to go and look at animals.”

– David Attenborough

 

 

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”                                             – Marcel Proust

After traveling on all seven continents, I saw this dolphin wave surfing at the Pacific beach fifteen minutes from my home. (c)Sonne

 

“To move, to breath, to fly, to float…to travel is to live.”  -Hans Christian Andersen.

Sonne and a polka-dotted whale shark by Danny Heilprin

-Lisa TE Sonne, excerpts for Luxury Travel Mavens

@ExploreTraveler

(c) Lisa TE Sonne, Selects from a book she is working on

All above photos by Lisa TE Sonne. Please contact her for permission to use. Lisa@Sonne.org

Please add your own inspiration and any travel/ exploration quotes you want to share in the comments section below or email them. Thanks!

 

 

The yacht named after a former owner, Princess Grace, now cruising the Galapagos via Quasar Expeditions.

Pinch me. I must be double dreaming. I am basking on the M/Y Grace, the yacht given by Onassis to Grace Kelly when she married Prince Rainier of Monaco, the yacht the royal couple honeymooned on.  In every direction I see islands of the Galapagos, one of the world’s great destinations, and a spectacular part of Ecuador, the small enticing country that also shares the Andes and Amazon with travelers that love culture and nature.

Yes, I was dreaming — but dreaming of reality — of the trip I finished yesterday. I am swimming in joyful recollections. The teak and mahogany yacht for the voyage previously entertained Winston Churchill, served valiantly in WWII, and was a moving playground for the wealthy before Quasar Expeditions turned it into a romantic nine-suite vehicle for travelers seeking the extraordinary, far from the Mediterranean and Monaco.

A flamingo looking for shrimp in a Galapagos lagoon.

Onboard our week-long cruise of the southern Galapagos, there was a family of five, a couple in their 30s on their honeymoon, and another couple in their 30s who got engaged while on the paradisical Gardner beach of Santa Cruz Island. Just a few days later with accumulated Grace and Galapagos memories, the two medical professionals actually had the Captain marry them our last night, for a very spontaneous elopement not on the itinerary.

Was it the almost-full moon? The fresh lobster dinner?  All the laughter of the guests, now friends, remembering favorite moments of the trip? A desire to weave the trip’s joys more permanently into life’s quilt? A love that deepened in a remarkable place? The couple added yet another chapter to the romance and legacy of the yacht.

Blue-Footed booby birds and red crabs share a perch not far from playing sea lions in the Galapagos. “Panga” rides from the Grace with a knowledgeable naturalist, would take visitors close to the wildlife. Photo by Lisa TE Sonne

Wild Memories
Many additional cherished memories filled my well-named memory chip of photos from our daily hiking and snorkeling expeditions on different islands with up close views of flamingos, penguins, iguanas, blue footed boobies, mating comarents, newborn sea lions, newly hatched albatrosses, and the finches that helped Darwin form his revolutionary theories about the evolution of life.

It was a privilege to be able to move through the raw and wild movements of nature in parts of the islands without human habitation, but two of my favorite moments came when I stayed in one place and the animals came to me. On our last snorkel, led by the Captain beneath the striking monolith of Pinnacle Rock, I floated gently and just felt awe at the schools of fish shimmering around me, and the shapes of the immersed rocks with bright colored algae and aneomones.

Suddenly two penguins darted toward me, performed twirling twists right in front of me and zoomed off. Then back again. I laughed with glee and was glad my prescription mask didn’t leak when I smiled grandly. The penguins continued to dart around our little band of bipeds for ten minutes and even brushed against one snorkeler who said the bird felt soft.

Galapagos Penguins are the only penguins to live naturally north of the Equator

 

 

A different afternoon on the post card -looking Gardner Beach, I sat in the powder-soft organic sand, while Galapagos penguins were swimming in the waters that mingled turquoises and azures. A baby sea lion waddled toward me sniffing like a puppy dog. Somewhere else on the beach, a delightful couple (after several years together) were getting engaged to be married, while the rest of us were engaged with different wildlife.

Six hundred miles of Pacific Ocean from the mainland of Ecuador, surrounded by the life force, I think we were all glad to be able to say “I do” to the Galapagos with Grace.

Photos and Story by Lisa TE Sonne,  Luxury Travel Mavens.com

Cheers to “Beet Cancer” Recipe in the article below.

October in the United States is now providing a different kind of “medical travel” — pink travel. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness, or BCA, and pink is touted to promote awareness. Various travel venues are “tickled pink” to donate some of their revenue in October to related nonprofits.

Two destination stand-outs are Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and San Diego, California (the W, Hard Rock and Hyatt Hotels) according to J Public Relations, which offers the content below, including a cocktail recipe.

If you know of other travel-for-a-cause opportunities, please share them in the comments section below. Please also let us know what you think of these.

From J Public Relations:

“San Diego- Hard Rock “Pinktober”

“Pinktober 2013 at Hard Rock Hotel San Diego | San Diego, CA

Hard Rock goes a bit pink in October to help Breast Cancer Awareness in San Diego Photo from Hard Rock Website

“Stay – Hard Rock Hotel San Diego will outfit select guestrooms with special Pink Sheets, and a percentage of the room proceeds during October will benefit the campaign. The Sleep Like a Rock® bedding features the signature embroidered guitar pillowcases and plush bedding.  Guests of “Pink Sheets rooms” will also receive Hard Rock’s 2013 PINKTOBER guitar pin featuring pink rhinestones. In addition, hotel guests can opt to add a donation of any level to their guestroom bill during their stay.

 “Sip – The property’s retro-chic diner, Maryjane’s, will serve a limited-time cocktail. The restaurant team will wear pink shirts and pink gear every Sunday to promote awareness. They will hand out pink frosted guitar cookies to our hotel guests to promote awareness. They will also offer the cookies to outside guests for a donation.

 “Hard Rock Hotel’s 207 and Float bars will be offering specialty cocktails Flamingo Margaritas, Pink Floyds and Pink Dolphins with 25 percent of proceeds benefitting Hard Rock’s PINKTOBER™ 2013 campaign.

 “Savor – Rock Spa will offer an invigorating 50-minute Pink Sugar Whip body scrub to benefit PINKTOBER™.  To book a spa treatment, guests may call Rock Spa at (619) 764-6930.

 “Shop – Located lobby-level at the hotel, the boutique will feature a variety of PINKTOBER™ merchandise to benefit the cause including PINKTOBER pins, t-shirts, Pink Sheets and more.

 “W San DiegoIn honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the W San Diego is offering a ‘Drink Pink (for a cause)‘ cocktail where 50 percent of the proceeds from October will be donated to the Keep A Breast foundation.  The Drink Pink cocktail is made with Svedka colada vodka, triple sec, lime and cranberry juice.  

“In conjunction with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the W will also be turning it’s ‘W’ logo outside PINK to honor the month and help further spread awareness. Inspiring, iconic,and influential, the W San Diego offers a unique mix of cutting-edge design and passions around fashion, music and entertainment.  

 “Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The beauties of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Photo from the Hotel Terra Jackson Hole website.

“Spur Restaurant & Bar at Teton Mountain Lodge & Spa Hotel | Jackson Hole, WY

 “Throughout the month of October, a portion of Spur Restaurant & Bar’s ‘Beet Cancer’ cocktail will be donated to the Women’s Healthcare Fund at St. John’s Hospital in Jackson Hole.  The ‘Beet Cancer’ cocktail includes:

  • Beet ginger infused gin
  • St. Germaine elderflower liqueur
  • Lemon juice
  • House made ginger syrup
  • 1 egg white
  • Shaken and served up

“CHILL SPA at Hotel Terra Jackson Hole | Jackson Hole, WY

 “Chill for a Cause

 “Join forces with Chill Spa this October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Book a Chill for a Cause treatment and 10% of the proceeds will be donated to the Breast Cancer division of Saint John’s Women’s Healthcare Fund

“PINK Awareness Pink Grapefruit Facial | 50 Minutes $129; 80 Minutes $179: Bring life and vitality to your complexion with a vitamin-rich burst of pink grapefruit and other Eminence Organics Skincare products focusing on hydration.

“Fight Like a Girl Facial | 50 Minutes $129; 80 Minutes $179, Fight bacteria with a deeply purifying facial at Chill Spa.

“Live. Love. And get a Massage | 50 Minutes $129; 80 Minutes $179: Pink out your massage by choosing our specialty treatment this October.  The Live, Love massage is available in Deep Tissue or Swedish massage techniques.”

(End of quoted information from J Public Relations about pink destinations to help Breast Cancer Awareness in October. )

*********

If you know of other luxury venues and destinations that are donating proceeds to Breast Cancer nonprofits, please share the information in comments below.  Do you think these kinds of efforts are a good way to reduce Breast Cancer?

Please also share other opportunities luxury travelers can enjoy while helping causes.