After an amazing and breathtaking visit to the small island of Jan Mayen, it was two days at sea as Aurora Expeditions’ Sylvia Earle made her way up to the Svalbard Archipelago…and Aurora’s Expedition Team nailed it! During our voyage there were some excellent lectures that emphasized the Expedition Team’s knowledge, enthusiasm, and – importantly

One of the main attractions to this rather unique itinerary on Aurora Expeditions’ Sylvia Earle was the visit to Jan Mayen, a Norwegian island located literally in the middle of nowhere. It was, until I got there, a “That’ll be interesting” sort of thing. But when I arrived, it was “This is place is incredible!”

Aurora Expeditions takes its responsibility to educate and engage its guests in Environmental Responsibility seriously. There is an integrated approach that provides a consistent (and, if you desire, persistent) awareness that can add significantly to one’s appreciation of not only the beauty of where you visit, but the fragility.  I wish there was more of

My exploration of Iceland, Jan Mayen, and Svalbard continues on Aurora Expedition’s Sylvia Earle, now focused on the incredible Westfjords region. With sunlight pretty much 24 hours a day and a bit of excitement to get the expedition started, I headed to the 24/7 espresso machine for an Americano while I waited for the Rockhopper

My journey on Aurora Expedition’s Sylvia Earle is one that I have been looking forward to for quite some time. The combination of the awesome beauty of Iceland, polar bears, and walrus in Svalbard, and an intimate “sexy” expedition ship filled with an experienced expedition team is just about perfect.  But – don’t you hate

It has been a while, and a lot of travel, since I mentioned my checking out Aurora Expeditions, the Australian two expedition ship, line. I will be flying to Iceland, and boarding the Sylvia Earle, a new 132-guest expedition ship for an exploration of western Iceland, Jan Mayen (the northernmost active volcano), and Svalbard. Aurora

When I was invited to check out Riverside Luxury Cruises’ MS Mozart I was given a few options for itineraries. One jumped out at me as being both having more time on the river to check out all the ship offered and, selfishly, a truly unique itinerary visiting areas I have never been to and

I was invited by Riverside Luxury Cruises to experience not only their first ship, MS Mozart, but the Riverside experience itself. Bottom Line: I’m a fan!  (And you know I don’t toss words like that around lightly.) Before I get into my travel experiences so far on this unique and eye-opening itinerary (which will be