It had been years since I have visited the stunning city of Florence, Italy and my wife, Anne, had never been. Anne was booked to sing on a cruise through the Italian Riviera and lucky me, she invited me to go along as her guest. Its was a pretty good gig for me! The itinerary included an overnight in Florence. What a perfect way for me to rediscover this city and for Anne to experience it for the first time. So we planned a mini vacation while on the cruise and decided to do

I was looking for a fun little stay-cation in New York City to celebrate my birthday. We had purchased Broadway Show tickets, so ideally I wanted a location that was not too far away from the theater district. I have never been a fan of staying in the Times Square area as it is crowded and loud. The restaurants are usually overpriced for the quality. However, a brand new player has arrived to Times Square. It is not a new player in the hotel world; however, I believe it is a

London is just one of those places that the more you explore, the more you fall in love. Having just been there in October, it was such a treat to head back and experience more of this magical city. Our trip began with checking into one of my favorite hotels in London, The London Edition. From its stunning lobby alive with excitement to its perfectly appointed rooms, this SOHO hotel has stolen my heart. Imaginative cocktails at Berners Tavern, exceptional concierge and recept

I have always loved cruising. As a kid, my family cruised every year for our vacation. As an adult and a travel agent, I have traveled on hundreds of cruise ships and river cruises and loved every minute of seeing the world by water. The one type of cruising that I have always been unfamiliar with is sailboat cruising. I had the opportunity to go on a 3 day Caribbean sailing with Star Clipper on their Star Flyer ship. We departed from Saint Martin and sailed to St. Kitts, St.

As a travel designer, I have the fortunate ability to see so many beautiful places around the world. It is a rare thing for me to be left speechless at the beauty and magic of any destination. My recent to Hotel Caruso in Ravello has left me without the proper words to describe its beauty. From the moment we stepped onto the property, the staff helped us feel comfortable and welcome. They provided us with a personal tour of the hotel ending at the true star of the hotel, the

Our family’s Thanksgiving tradition is to go down to my hometown of Baton Rouge to visit my parents. All of my siblings, their spouses and kids also join my family and we all stay at my parent’s home. This year we decided (or the flight prices decided for us) to stay an additional day in New Orleans with our teen kids. They had not been there in a while and it remains one of my favorite cities in the world. Our stay began with checking into the absolutely stunning Ritz Carlto

“Our vacations embody how I wish the entire world looked - a place that is open and accepting, no matter who you are,” Kelli Carpenter, co-founder of R Family Vacations. 15 years ago, Kelli Carpenter and Gregg Kaminsky came together with one mission in mind - to create a LGBT travel company that would be welcoming to all types of individuals and families. Combining Gregg’s experience in gay travel and Kelli’s marketing background, they launched their first kid-friendly LGBT c