My Ecuadorian nature experience continued after departing Metropolitan Touring’s Mashpi Lodge in the cloud forest with two nights at the JW Marriott Quito before boarding the Santa Cruz II in the Galapagos for a relatively short seven-day (five-and-a-half-day expedition) experience. If you are truly into the wildlife and/or landscapes, a

Is it possible to have a true luxury resort in the middle of the Ecuadorean cloud forest in the Choco region and located virtually in the middle of nowhere and 3.5 hours outside of Quito, Ecuador? The answer is a resounding: Yes, and its name is Mashpi Lodge. It is

Explora Journeys is no longer the “new kid on the block”. In fact, with incredibly beautiful and well-designed ships, Explora Journeys is fast becoming a leader in the luxury market.  In fact, almost every client of Goldring Travel that has sailed on Explora Journeys has rebooked for a second, third,

Many people who visit The Galapagos add a pre- or post-expedition visit to Machu Picchu. This is something I don’t understand because one has nothing to do with the other.  To me, the logic is creating a “nature experience” combining the Galapagos with the Ecuadoran cloud forests and/or the Amazon

A lot is happening at Silversea Cruises, including its return to a pricing scheme that makes more sense. New Pricing Structure Effective immediately, the Door-to-Door, Port-to-Port, and Essential fares have been replaced with All-Inclusive Plus, All-Inclusive, and Last-Minute Fares.   What does this mean? The fares are simplified: All-Inclusive Plus: Fully

Century Cruises invited me to experience its Three Gorges Cruise on the Yangtze River, sailing from Chongqing to Yichang, China, on its newest ship, Century Voyage. This experience was sandwiched between a travel industry tour that started in Beijing and Xi’an, before the cruise, and ending in Shanghai and Suzhou

My journey with Century Cruises continued with a late-night docking in Badong, China, and an early-afternoon disembarkation in Yichang, China, due to a late-night flight to Shanghai, making for a very long day.  (I did take advantage of the downtime to catch up on work, so that was a big

It was time for Century Cruises to take us from Beijing to Xi’an; home to the Terracotta Warriors before heading to Chongqing and our three-night Yangtze River Cruise including the Three Gorges Dam. We had a 1.5-hour flight on Air China, which was made easy with our luggage being transported

I started this, my second, journey to China with a focus on curiosity based on now having a little understanding of Chinese perspectives which I learned from my first visit in 2019, reading – including a very interesting book, Unpacking China: 50 Essential Q&’s for First-Time Visitors, and believe it