The Savvy Traveler :: Bryce

[trip style = various]

When I introduced the once-monthly Savvy Traveler series last week, I promised pilots, pirates and other travel personalities. And though I'm still working on pinning down a {non-evil} pirate, I've secured a pilot!

Bryce flies big planes. He's got wings on his uniform and he wears a hat and aviators when it gets bright. It's in his blood; he comes from a long lineage of pilots. Like "Carol", Liz Lemon's former pilot-fling on 30 Rock, he's a "doorman to the skies". Bryce is also my go-to guy for all things aviation. Given my keen interest in the biz, I'm always asking him a million rapid-fire questions about flying, take-off, touch-down, storms, turbulence, what it's like to be in the cockpit, etc. He's always gracious and indulges my intense curiosity. This is why I'm happier than 18-year-old Frank Abignale Jr. {of Catch Me If You Can fame} dressed head to toe in a Pan Am pilot's uniform, walking through Miami International Airport with an entourage of ladies to feature Bryce in the inaugural Savvy Traveler post. Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts for take-off...

1/ What are your top 3 trip styles and why?
When my wife and I travel, I would describe us as trip style = urban because we enjoy major cities and their food, culture and atmosphere. We also like trip style = active & adventure because we love to get outdoors---whether we're hiking or doing whatever it takes to get a feel for the area we're visiting. We also do last minute trip style = weekend getaway(s) well! If we have one free - especially long - weekend, we are gone! We love weekending in Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago, but the one that keeps on getting away from us is Paris. If we can someday do Paris in a weekend, we’d be pretty happy… maybe for our anniversary?

2/ What is always on your packing list?
My Bose noise-cancelling headset. Not just the ones that sit on your ears, but the ones that fully engulf them, not allowing in any ambient noise. It's a great way to escape.

3/ What is your essential travel gadget or app?
My iPhone! I frequent Yelp to find the best restaurants as soon as I arrive in a new city. Then I use Google Maps to take me there. Last week a flight attendant and I were in Regina and found a great café-restaurant called 13th Avenue Coffee House. The 20-min walk was worth it! Bustling, it was full of locals enjoying a street-side patio atmosphere with the evening sun shining. I had a pumpkin curry stew with a house salad. Both were excellent.

4/ What is your favorite destination, hotel or resort anywhere in the world and why?
One of my favorite trips was to Cambodia. My wife and I were there for 3 months volunteering with a non-profit organization working with Cambodian youth. At the same time we would go and explore the country. On one excursion we found an amazing hotel called Veranda, overlooking the ocean and the town of Kep in southern Cambodia. It's situated in a rainforest setting with boardwalks connecting all of the bungalows floating in the jungle canopy. The staff was friendly, the food was amazing and we’d love to go back. This hotel resort added to the already amazing experience we were having in Cambodia. We’ve recommended it to friends, who have stayed there since and loved it.

5/ What has been a cool off-the-beaten-track travel experience?
I was vacationing in Mexico City and stayed at a hotel right on Zocalo Square in the historic part of town. I met a student from Switzerland who was doing his masters in archeology and was in Mexico doing several digs. We hit it off and he took me on a guided tour of several prehistoric sites in Mexico City, as well as the Mexican National Museum Of Anthropology, which has one of the largest collection archeological artifacts anywhere in the world. It was extremely fascinating and gave the trip a depth it wouldn't have had otherwise.

6/ Bonus: Preferred pilot perk?
The {flight} passes we have access to are unparalleled, making most of the world accessible at a low cost. The office view isn't bad either!

{If you know anyone who should be featured in our once-monthly Savvy Traveler series,drop us a line!}

[photo via Bryce]

Lantern Mania

[trip style = sun & camping]

{Happy 4th of July to our US readers. Enjoy the festivities and fireworks! After a fun weekend in Bellevue, today I'm celebrating in Seattle with some Canadian and US friends on a boat: trip style = cruising---well, sailing actually. Thank goodness we recently published our seafaring style guide, Buoy Oh Buoy for Fashion Friday.}

Lately, I've noticed a lot of lantern lip service: between friends, on twitter and blogs, and on the big screen. I'm wondering if it has something to do with evening summer parties, camping or the movie The Green Lantern? A combination of all three perhaps?

When I was a kid, a lantern was a craft we made in Brownies {like Girl Scouts} with scissors, a paper bag and a votive. We would cut out star and heart shapes in the bag, place the votive inside and voila: a lantern that could be used to light a dark path at night. These rudimentary lanterns were fun, and still are, but it seems in North America we are either ahead or behind the times {depending on how you look at it} in comparison to Thailand and Poland. They have flying lanterns, like mini versions of hot air ballons.

Summer Lantern Loving Camping Lanterns Thankfully, 99% of all modern camping lanterns no longer use a combination of glass and fire to light the way. Nowadays, cranks or batteries will do the trick. As one of my favourite camping necessities, lanterns do everything from the light the path to the potty at night, to gather people around the picnic table to play cards. Aside from beach bonfires, they are a summer essential for anyone who enjoys trip style = camping & glamping.

The Green Lantern Instead of releasing lanterns into the sky, BC native Ryan Renolds is the lantern in the sky. Playing a superhuman, he is bestowed with a mystical and glowing ring that gives him otherworldly powers in the summer blockbuster movie, The Green Lantern.

The Hangover II The Hangover II is pretty raunchy, but the last scene is serene and mystical. The release of flying fire balls surrounded by paper cylinders {sounds like a recipe for disaster, but looks gorgeous} into the dark of night leaves you longing to attend a destination wedding in Thailand.

Poland On June 21st the Polish people celebrated the shortest night of the year, with an impromptu, Facebook-organized gathering releasing over 11,000 glowing orbs into the night sky. See the twinkling video below. EMBED-11,000 Lanterns Floating Over Poland - Watch more free videos

[Image by @tripstyler of pictures sourced from the web]