One disorganized woman’s attempt to organize her travel-lust…one list at a time.

On Dec 17, 1903, Orville Wright launched what would be the first airplane flight from Kitty Hawk in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. He flew 120 feet in 12 seconds while his brother, Wilber, ran along below, shouting encouragement.

Over 100 years later, I launched my first ever hang glider flight from a sand dune not far from Oroville’s launch site. Kitty Hawk Kite employees Dave Rosner and Zack Woodall ran below me, shouting encouragement. I traveled only about 100 feet in about 20 seconds before landing in the soft sand below, and my flight had no historical significance whatsoever. But it was a exhilarating, nonetheless. 

The steady winds and soft sands that attracted the Wright brothers to the Outer Banks for their aeronautical experiments still draw those who are tantalized by sensation of flight. In addition to low altitude hang gliding lessons at Jockey Ridge State Park, the Outer Banks (OBX to the natives) boasts high altitude tandem hang gliding flights, parasailing, kite boarding,

download Avenging Angelo

and sightseeing tours in small planes (an excellent way to truly comprehend the fragility if this narrow spit of land between the coast of North Carolina and the Atlantic). 

The Wright Brothers Monument stands high above the Visitor’s Center on Kill Devil Hill, a 90-foot sand dune that has been stabilized (to keep it from shifting under the monument) with grass, but the Wright brothers actually launched from the flat ground below the dune. “If they launched from up there, it wouldn’t have been the first powered flight. It would have been more of a controlled glide,” says Darrel Collins, the US Park Service Historical at the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

If you’ll settle for a controlled glide, head over to Jockey’s Ridge State Park. It’s the largest sand dune on the East Coast, and the launch site for Kitty Hawk Kites, the largest hang gliding school in the world. Nearly 10,000 students manage to get airborne here every year. 

There’s good reason for its popularity. If you weigh between 85 lbs. and 225 lbs. and can run about ten yards, you can hang glide.  ”Dune gliding” is much less frightening than “mountain gliding”—once you get past the multiple references to death and dismemberment in the obligatory training video and release forms. You are rarely more than 10 or 15 feet off the soft dunes, and your instructors follow, shouting instructions. Worst case scenario: you land on your face and get sand in your teeth. In fact, I never did land on my feet, but the sand was forgiving, and the views were breathtaking.

The rules are simple: relax, breathe, look straight ahead (looking down at the ground will only take you there faster than you might prefer), run until the wind lifts you up without jumping, and have fun.

I repeated that mantra-”relax, don’t look down, have fun”—with touch of apprehension as we walked to the top of the dune, Zack carrying my glider. I strapped on my helmet and did a hang check to make sure that I was attached properly to the glider. Dave double checked to make sure I was really attached properly. And when the wind was just right, they gave me the signal and I stood, pulled the bar in toward my stomach as directed, and ran. My bare feet left the sand, for a moment it seemed as though I was dangling in the air, and then I was flying.

In my euphoria, I barely heard the directions Dave was shouting below—I was busy living out my flight fantasies. The dunes seemed to stretch forever, the Atlantic shimmered on the horizon, and the wind felt soft and caressing. Luckily Dave was accustomed to trying to break through the “this is what it feels like to be a bird” daze, and eventually I heard him shout “flare”-the directions for  pushing the bar straight out ahead of you to land. And all too soon, it was over.  I was too excited to wait for Zack to carry my glider-I was on my way back up the dune to try it again.

AMPR’s President & CEO Andria Mitsakos spends more than 80% of her time on airplanes. When it comes to quick getaways, she knows that jetting away on just one flight means avoiding missed connections and long layovers.
 
Here are her Top Five favorite “one flight wonders”:
 
JAMAICA
Flight time from New York: 3hr 50min
Flight time from Miami: 1hr 40min
Accommodations: Geejam, a new, seven-room retreat where jungle meets beach.
Website: www.islandoutpost.com
Insider’s tip: Most don’t know that tourism in Jamaica originated in Port Antonio at the turn of the 19th century. Spend the day jet skiing along Portie’s wild coastline. Stop off at its seven beaches. Take a dip in the real Blue Lagoon.
 
NASSAU
Flight time from New York: 3 hours
Flight time from Miami: 1 hour
Accommodations: Marley Resort & Spa, just 16 rooms and run by Bob Marley’s daughter, Stephanie
Website: www.marleyresort.com
Insider’s tip: Get off the plane, and into a taxi and head straight to Good Fellows organic farm and market. Loads of fresh sandwiches, salads and other items are made right on the premises, in addition to an international array of gourmet items. Perfect for a beach picnic.
 
ST. MAARTEN
Flight time from New York: 4 hours
Flight time from Miami: 2 hours 50 minutes
Accommodations: Rent an apartment in Aquamarina, the island’s most chic real estate development.
Website: www.aquamarinasxm.com
Insider’s tip: Flights back to NY and Miami are generally in the afternoon, and the airport is five minutes away from Aquamarina, so on your departure day, get up early, check-in for your flight and then head back only 45 minutes prior to departure time. Another beach day earned!
Double insider’s tip: Hop a ferry to nearby Anguilla or St Barth. St Maarten is a great jumping-off point for the region.
 
BARBADOS
Flight time from New York: 5 hours
Flight time from Miami: 3 hours 30 minutes
Accommodations: The House, Barbados’s boutique hotel answer to the laid back for the jet set.
Website: www.eleganthotels.com
Insider’s tip: Needn’t go far for an amazing meal. Daphne’s, located adjacent to The House, is one of the most coveted restaurants in the Caribbean. Princess Diana frequented its London counterpart. 
 
PARIS
Flight time from New York: 7 hours 40 minutes
Flight time from Miami: 9 hours
Accommodations: Rent an apartment steps from Place Vendôme with Welcome2france.com; always less expensive than the city’s leading hotels.
Website: www.welcome2france.com
Insider’s tip: On Sundays, everything in Paris is closed, so head to Le Marais, a neighborhood in the city’s Jewish quarter, where everything is open. Book a gomage (body scrub) and steam at Les Bains du Marais. Jet lag: cured.

Travelspotcoolstuff.com has a nice (two part) post about Thailand’s best islands–covering every contingency. Want the best island for wild parties?  Try Ko Phangan. If you’re a “chill” partier, rather than a wild partier, it’s Ko Phi Phi. Best honeymoon island? Phuket. Best island close to Bangkok? Ko Chang is the pick. I’m leaning towards Ko Tarutao (best nearly undeveloped island).

Forbes has come up with a slideshow of the 13 top skylines. Some are expected (Chicago, New York, Sydney, Paris). One is completely unexpected (Pittsburgh, which was a surprise, but in fact, the skyline is lovely).  One seems slightly wrong (Dallas, a little dull, I think). And one is just plain wrong (Dubai, proving that size isn’t everything). And kudos for showing the San Francisco skyline from an unexpected angle.

I hate shopping. Apparently I’m misssing the shopping gene ( I blame my mother, of course) . Except bookstore or nurseries, shopping bores me witless. So Unearthing Asia’s post on 10 things to do in Hong Kong

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(which only listed shopping once) got my attention. And moved Hong Kong a little higher up my must-visit list.

You’ve got to check out the photos in this 50 Strange Buildings post at villageofjoy.com. It just proves that architectural imagination (and clever engineering) is not dead.

Today is “Bolludagur” or Bun Day in Iceland. We missed it on our Iceland trip, but I have it from a reliable source (Bjork Ivarsdattor, the 16 year old daughter of our Iceland home exchangers) that the tradition is that kids wake earlier than their parents and “spank” them awake–earning a chocolate éclair-like bun for every landed swat.  “Oh, I don’t know how to explain it!” Bjork says. “But it is really fun. You get to smack someone in the butt and then he or she has to give you a Bollu–it’s a bread with cream and chocolate in the middle.”

Rigged full

I stumbled across  a great article on what to do in 48 hours in San Juan. It’s a nice itinerary. One of  the author’s suggestions, El Yunque rainforest, is just 45 minutes out of San Juan. It is one of those macro view spots. When I first arrived I was a little appalled. Many of the scenic locations are only a few feet off the road, and because of the thick jungle there are only a handful of trails to get off the thoroughfare. The La Mina trail was listed as difficult and it is fairly steep, but it’s mostly paved. I saw people navigating it with strollers without much difficulty. It ends in a lovely, but very crowded, waterfall. After awhile, though, you start to appreciate El Yunque’s charms, it’s lushness and fertility,.

The Forgotten download

The 48 Hours in San Juan article  (perhaps feeling that 48 hours in San Juan is not quite enough) skimmed over the bioluminescent bays, which are one of most unique things to do near San Juan.

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Quite possibly the two best words to string together in a single sentence are hidden and beaches.  This post at Bootsn’all lists seven of them…Cousine Island, Seychelles; Caprera Island, Sardinia, Italy; Whale Island, Vietnam;  Luskentyre Beach, Harris, Scotland; New Chums Beach, New Zealand; Playón de Mismaloya Beach, Mexico;  and Whidbey Island, Washington, USA.

Varsity Blues movies

Lonely Planet has come up with a new Top Ten Destinations, rather unscientifically comprised of the top ten destinations in terms of hits on their website. But the changes—and similarities from year to year—are interesting.

Thailand, Italy, Costa Rica, and India are still at the top, year after year. Mexico, Argentina, Vietnam, and Australia also made the list. But two new destinations scored this year: Peru and Denmark.  I’ve been to both , and can vouch for them, but Denmark is a surprise—not because it isn’t lovely—but because when I was there, people were always surprised to hear I was from the US and visiting Denmark. Almost invariably, they asked if I was researching my family’s genealogy, as though that would be the only explanation for staying in Denmark. [Read more →]