Laurie's light travel travel tips

I'm a sucker for romance, especially when the press release includes some of my favorite destinations. By far, Rome remains the most memorable city I have ever visited, for several unromantic reasons -- the ruins, the lasagne, the language among them. I had not thought of romance because I went there alone, but that is a kind of romance, sì ? HotelwithTub (great name) crunched the numbers and shares its top 50 cities for the newly married. (In my view, these "honeymoon" destinations also double as great spots for singles, but then I'm biased.) Here are the key findings: 1. Rome is the Most Romantic Destination in 2026 With 1,613 swoonworthy restaurants and 1,328 romantic hotels, the Eternal City earns the highest Romantic Score (66) and stands as the world’s most romantic destination in 2026. 2. London Leads Global Date-Night Culture With 2,173 romantic restaurants and more than 12,800 romance-related hashtags, Blighty achieves a Romantic Score of 63, ranks #...

Buona sera! Did I say that right? OK, good. I've been talking about wanting to go to Rome since 2004, when I bought a $20 D.K. guide and slapped it down on my desk. "Ever been to Rome?" I asked my then-boss Eugene. "No," he said, "but I'd like to." I was reporting for a London-based company out of their New York SoHo office. My world was opening up as I worked with colleagues from the UK and also, remotely, from Hong Kong and elsewhere. I remember a coworker saying to me, when I told him I didn't have a passport, that "there's a whole world out there!" It took me about a week to hustle out and get my first passport - thank you, Ben. So that brings us to Rome. It only took me 14 years to realize this dream, but it was well worth the wait. I took an Alitalia flight out of London's Heathrow, purposely sitting at the window. Being daylight, flying into Rome and seeing ruins from the plane stirred the giddy child in me. It had ...

Hard to believe another year is upon us, but then, I am quite sure I said this Dec. 28, 2012 as well. This past year, the talk was full of Miley Cyrus, Edward Snowden, Obamacare, the Boston bombings, "BreakingBad" and a spate of states sanctioning gay marriage. Hopefully for you, it was also full of exciting and memorable travel; but if you are like many cash-strapped Americans, 2013 was a tight year. So let's look ahead to a more prosperous 2014. Grab your passport, suntan oil, GPS and favorite traveling companion and get your booking digits ready. Herewith, five of the top ten treks for 2014: For techies: While technology is being manufactured from Japan to Chicago, California's infamous Silicon Valley is still the gold standard when it comes to all things geeky. Whether you'd like to visit Google's headquarters in Mountain View or the Apple Campus in Cupertino, SV lives up to the hype. (Note: it's not really a valley.) For...