Advertise on podcast: Adventures in Luxury Travel

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners, sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 51 of adventures in luxury travel. Before we begin a heads up the today's episode is our last of the season. As with many of our clients, we will be on summer vacation. And while we're away, we'll be reimagining the next season of the podcast. Please send us a message if you have any feedback you'd like to share, and listen in to the end of this intro for an exclusive gift opportunity with this week's destination.

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 50 of adventures and luxury travel. Today, Rosa and I talk about two destinations of a lifetime dabbler farm in Iceland and Rio Polina in Chile. They each are an ideal combination of adventure plus understated elegance. Join us to learn how these two trips will leave you thinking you just had your best vacation ever visit true Bay travel.com/fifty for a video of today's show, and additional resources. Good morning, everyone. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein. And today I am here with Rose Allen. And we're going to talk about 11 experience one of my favorites, luxurious, active and adventurous companies in the travel industry. Rose, welcome to the show.

Rose Allen 1:17
Thank you. Thanks, Mimi, I'm excited to be here. And thanks for having me.

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners, sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 49 of adventures and luxury travel. Today Patricia and I talk about Belize a small country in Central America that packs in a lot of adventures. In Belize, you'll want to visit both the coast and inland so you can explore the wide variety of experiences on the water and in the jungle. For people who like marine life. Belize has a lot. Manta Rays, whale sharks, turtles and manatees. Venturing inland you'll find ancient caves Mayan ruins and jungle adventures. Add to that arrange of luxury lodging and you have an ideal winter getaway. Visit true day travel.com/ 49 For a video of today's show, and additional resources. Hi, everyone, I'm Mimi Lichtenstein. And today on Adventures in luxury travel, I am happy to have on Patricia Johnson to talk all about Belize. Patricia, welcome to the show.

Patricia Johnson 1:23
Thank you. It's good to be here. It's an honor to be able to share believe with your viewers and listeners.

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners, sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 48 of adventures and luxury travel. Today my turn I talk about Uruguay and under the radar South American destination this little country is full of reasons to visit, first of which is the lifestyle of focus on laid back luxury with beach bars and clubs, incredible restaurants, wineries, and a love for magical sunsets. There are also many active adventures from surfing to horseback riding in the moonlight. And there are three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, unique architecture and a vibrant art scene. Of course, we'll talk about the best hotels and spas to visit true a travel.com/ 48 for a video of today's show and additional resources. Good morning, everyone. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein. And today on Adventures in luxury travel, I have on my Utah Burnet chia, and we are going to talk all about ERG y. Mehta, thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners, sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 47 of adventures in luxury travel. Today, Augustine and I talk about hiking from place to place in northern Italy's dolomite mountains. The Dolomites are ideal for this kind of hiking, they have mountain refu HEOS and five star hotels, three different cultures, panoramic vistas, sparkling lakes and your routes can be tailored to suit novice hikers, or those wanting challenging vertical clients. In addition, there are via ferratas mountain biking, spectacular picnic spots, luxurious spas and Michelin star restaurants. Visit true Bay travel.com/ 47 for a video of today's show and additional resources. Good morning, everyone. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein. And today on the adventures in luxury travel show we are talking all about hut to hut or hotel to hotel hiking in the Dola meet days. And Augustina Loggos. Marvel is my guest today. Welcome Augustina. Hello, thank you so much for coming. We're excited to have you on you and I were talking a little bit before the show. And I learned that you actually grew up in Patagonia. And so obviously today we're going to talk about the Delta meat days. But tell me a little bit. Just kind of an overall comparison. How does hiking in the dolla meat days compare with hiking and Patagonia?

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners, sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 46 of adventures in luxury travel. Today, Anastasia and I talk about Puerto Rico and easy to get to island that is full of history, culture, active adventures and opportunities to luxuriate. We'll talk about the highlights of experiences on land and in water, introduce you to local cultural activities, and share a few of our personal favorite places. Of course, we'll talk about the best resorts and hotels to a reminder before we begin, if you love the content of this podcast, then you'll love what we share in our weekly newsletter. Every Wednesday, we send out inspiring travel ideas for your next trip. Go to true a travel.com/subscribe to sign up. Visit Survey travel.com/ 46 for a video of today's show and additional resources. Hello, everyone. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein. And today I am here with Anastasia kissel, and we are going to be talking all about Puerto Rico, Anastasia, welcome to the show.

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners, sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 45 of adventures in luxury travel. Today, Alfonso and I talk about the UNESCO World Heritage Site of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. If you are looking for a destination that is full of culture, art, elevated cuisine, cool cocktails, welcoming people, beautiful luxury resorts and charming boutique hotels, San Miguel de Allende is the perfect destination. While you're there also explore the wineries and adventures outside of town. A reminder before we begin, if you love the content of this podcast then you'll love what we share in our weekly newsletter, hidden gems, epic hikes and the best new restaurants. Every Wednesday we send out inspiring travel ideas for your next trip. Go to true a travel.com/subscribe to sign up. Visit Travie travel.com/ 45 for a video of today's show and additional resources. Good morning, everyone. I am Mimi Lichtenstein, and I'm here today with my friend and colleague Alfonso Su, Mano. Welcome to the show. Alfonso.

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 44 of adventures in luxury travel. Before we start to reminders if you love the content of this podcast, then you'll love what we share in our weekly newsletter, hidden gems, epic hikes and the best new restaurants every Wednesday without fail. We'll send out inspiring travel ideas to add to your next trip. Go to true a travel.com/subscribe to sign up. And if you'd like to see the photos we talked about on the show and a full video go to true Bay travel.com. Today lighly is back to talk about the East African safari destination of Tanzania. You will learn that it not only has the big five, but also hippos, chimpanzees and the great wildebeest migration. You'll traverse the Serengeti and other national parks visit the UNESCO designated Ngorongoro Crater and explore the coast and Zanzibar. Today on adventures and luxury travel, we're talking all about Tanzania, and I'm so excited to have lighly back with me today. Welcome back. lighly.

Lylie 1:30
Thank you very much, Mimi, it's

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week, I take you to a new destination with one of my partners, sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 43 of adventures and luxury travel. Before we start to reminders, if you love the content of this podcast, then you'll love what we share in our weekly newsletter, hidden gems, epic hikes and the best new restaurants every Wednesday without fail. We send out inspiring travel ideas to help you have more enriching trips, go to tube a travel.com/subscribe to sign up. And if you'd like to see the photos we talked about on the show and a full video, go to true Bay travel.com. Today, Christina and I talk about Colombia, one of my absolute favorite Latin American countries. Colombia is known for its lively culture, incredible food and coffee, nightlife, art and fashion. It also has active adventures in the mountains, the Amazon, the cities and on the water. Today on Adventures in luxury travel I have on Christina Consuegra with me, we are going to talk all about Colombia, and I am so excited to be here with you today. Thank you for coming.

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners, sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 42 of adventures in luxury travel. Today, Shawn and I take on a topic that some say may be the least exciting topic related to travel insurance. However, Shawn is here to make this topic interesting Angeles confusing so that you are equipped to make the best decision for you. We help you understand when insurance is needed and when it's not. And share hypothetical examples that illustrate how it can help safeguard the money you invested in your trip. Today on Adventures in luxury travel, we are talking about what some people might think is not a very exciting topic with travel, travel insurance. But Shawn, my guest here today is going to help me make it interesting, informative, and maybe a little bit fun. Shawn, welcome to the show.

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners, sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 41 of adventures and luxury travel. Before we start, I have two questions. Do you like knowing about hidden gems, local hikes and the best new restaurants when you travel? Did you know Every Wednesday we send out inspiring travel ideas to help you have more enriching trips. Go to true a travel.com/subscribe to sign up. Just a reminder, you can see the photos we talk about on the show and a full video on true Bay travel.com. Today, Steve and I talk about taking a sabbatical. One of the most rewarding experiences each of us has had. We share our personal stories, a couple of our favorite books, and other practical tips to help you finally realize a long held dream. Today on Adventures in luxury travel, I have the pleasure of having Steve Wilson on to talk about one of our favorite topics. Steve, welcome to the show.

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 40 of adventures and luxury travel. Just a reminder, you can see the photos we talked about on the show, and a full video on truth a travel.com. Today, Greg and I talk about Russia. As we record this, the timings not right to visit but we share this information for one day when hopefully it is the right time. As Greg said, you don't need to fictionalize Russian history. It's already fascinating. Join us as we talk about St. Petersburg and Moscow, the historic and contemporary sites, the exclusive experiences like talking with a retired KGB officer, and Greg's Tales of a unique American bachelor party in Moscow. Hello, everyone. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein. And today I am excited to be here with Greg Tepper. We are going to talk all about the very unique destination of Russia. Greg, welcome to the show.

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week, I take you to a new destination with one of my partners, sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 39 of adventures and luxury travel. Just a reminder, you can see the photos we talked about on the show and a full video on Tuesday travel.com. Today, David and I talk about Cuba, Cuba has the reputation of being more complicated to visit than other Caribbean islands. But it's easily done with the right support. Today we dive into the culture, our food, music, Hemingway's favorite places, and the activities hiking, biking, dancing, fishing, even baseball, boxing, and golf. Cuba is an ideal blend of a cultural trip and a tropical destination visit true a travel.com/ 39 for a video of today's show and additional resources. Today on adventures and luxury travel, I am delighted to have David Lee here with me, not only because he is a expert on Cuba, but also because he and I went to the same business school. So he's the first person I'm getting to interview on the show that shares an alma mater with me. So David, welcome.

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 38 of adventures and luxury travel. Just a reminder, you can see the photos we talked about on the show and a full video on true Bay travel.com. Today Washa and I talk about Zambia. Zambia not only has the big five, but it also has water safaris and is the origin of walking Safaris. Its unique landscape includes the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. This is a country that is ideal for combining a traditional safari with a lot of adventure activities. Visit Travie travel.com/ 38 for a video of today's show, and additional resources. Hello, everyone. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, and today on Adventures in luxury travel. I am here with wotja Do a and I am delighted to have him on to talk about Zambia. Well, I shall Welcome to the show.

Mimi Lichtenstein 0:01
If you're a traveler that believes luxury and adventure are not mutually exclusive, then you're in the right place. Every week I take you to a new destination with one of my partners, sharing the hidden gems over the top experiences and active adventures to inspire your next family vacation. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein, an experienced Travel Advisor who has also traveled with my three teenagers and my husband around the world. Let's get started. Welcome to Episode 37 of adventures and luxury travel. Just a reminder, you can see the photos we talked about on the show and a full video onto a travel.com. Today Hannah and I talk about active trips with backroads travel backwards is one of very few companies that I work with that host group trips. I love how active they are and that they segment trips so you can find just the right one for the ages and abilities of your family. Hannah has been a guest and a guide on many of them. And today you'll learn about her favorites. Visit Travie travel.com/ 37 for a video of today's show and additional resources. Hello, everyone. I'm Mimi Lichtenstein and today on Adventures in luxury travel. We have a first I have on hand. Alana can she is here from backroads travel to talk to us all about the cool adventures that you can have going on his trip with backroads. Hi, Anna, welcome to the show. Thank you so much, maybe absolutely Glad you're here. Well give us a little bit of background about you. You have been with macros for awhile. I know you've gone on trips yourself to different places and you've led trips. So tell us a little bit about your experience with backroads.

Mimi Lichtenstein 1:37
I know and it's such a different and unique one compared to many of the other Safari destinations. Would you give us a little bit of insight about your background and when you started going to Namibia when you were younger, I know. Sure. Sure. So

Scott Simpson 1:49
yeah, like you said, I'm originally from South Africa. That's where I was born. It's where I grew up. Most of that time was in Johannesburg, a little bit of time in Cape Town and Durban but Starbuck is where I went to school University. And because there's quite limited things to do in Joburg, my parents, bless them were big adventures. So we would spend every weekend away and you know, every school vacation traveling all around Africa, mostly Southern Africa. So a lot of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, but then a lot of that time was in Namibia. I think it's probably my dad's favorite destination as well, which is how it got passed along to me. But you know, we did a very differently, we had the old VW Kombi bus and the Landrover defender with a rooftop tents. And, you know, we would just set off into the desert, you know, there were times when you wouldn't see another vehicle for three days, there would just be us would pull over on the side of the road pitch the tents sleep out overnight, you wake up, it's like leopard prints all around the tent. And yeah, it's, it's crazy, it's sort of have to call ahead to the next camp to let them know you'll be there in three days. And the reason you do that is so that if you don't arrive in three days, they know something went wrong, and they need to put out the distress signal. So it's an amazing destination. And I feel very grateful that I got to explore it the way I did you know,

Mimi Lichtenstein 1:44
Yes, well, you and I both love Australia you live there, you know so much more about it than I do. I will touch on a little bit your background, you have a very varied background, including working at some Safari lodges in Africa. So not only do you know Australia, well, you and I have a shared love of active, adventurous really cool, different kinds of experiences, wildlife and all of that. So I'm excited to pick your brain today. Yeah, no, it's

Drew Classica 2:10
gonna be fun. Okay, good.

Mimi Lichtenstein 2:12
Okay, let's start with I'm going to bring on a map as we usually do, so everybody can get a good overview of what the country looks like and how big it is. I love this map that you had layering on the US tell us a little bit about the different areas and the highlights.

Mimi Lichtenstein 1:52
Absolutely. Well, I know you just went to Kenya a little while ago. Do you want to just give us kind of just a quick overview of what's what's it like in Kenya right now? Is tourism coming back? And are the safari lodges all open?

Warren 2:06
Yeah, definitely. Tourism was coming back in a big way. In Kenya, I was actually surprised by the amount of people that were traveling and you know, and mainly American markets. With everything being completely open up, all the lodges have opened up, the parks are back to the staff. So happy to see people that you know, there's big smiles every way. And yeah, Kenya is up and ready to go. And there's, you know, COVID numbers are coming down and stabilizing. Everyone's getting vaccinated in the lodges and in the hospitality industry. So yeah, Kenya is almost back to where it was.

Mimi Lichtenstein 2:41
Awesome. Well, you know that I'm going to be coming to Kenya in July. And I am very excited working with your team to plan my own family Safari. So today, we'll share with everybody else, all of the amazing things to do in this beautiful country. And of course, what they're going to see and all the wildlife, do you want to give us a little bit of an overview, we have a few maps to share, we'll start with the big picture Africa map, and then I'll flip forward from there.

Mimi Lichtenstein 1:33
Well, you are one of my go to experts on everything. African safaris. And gorilla tracking is obviously a unique type of, you know, Safari or wildlife experience. And I know you're deep in, you know, your knowledge base of all the different lodges and different places. So I'm excited to kind of seek all your expertise today. Thanks for Thanks for being here. I look forward to sharing them. Yeah, well, do you want to start by I'm going to pull up a map? And would you give us like a little bit of an overview of the country where where the gorillas are, and the fact that Rwanda actually isn't just gorillas. There's other things to do in Rwanda. So tell us a little bit about those two.

Dylan 2:12
Wonderful, and I think that is such an important point that you mentioned there, me, you know, traditionally, Rwanda was always a destination for gorilla tracking alone. And that's very much a thing of the past. Now, if we have a look at Rwanda itself as a map, Kigali is the capital in the center of the country. It's probably one of the most cleanest cities in the world. And then you have really at this stage, that you have three main national parks. So on the north western boundary of Rwanda

Mimi Lichtenstein 1:34
Absolutely. And it's definitely not for everybody. But for those people who are very goal oriented love to have something that's you know, an athletic accomplishment. It's a great bucket list item. Tell us a little bit about I know a little bit about your background, but maybe give us a little synopsis for everyone about how you got to where you are doing these guides up Kilimanjaro.

Richard Beatty 1:54
Well, the short version, I'd say we've done the long version earlier on. But the short version is I landed up in Africa about just over 30 years ago, 1990 in Tanzania arrived in Tanzania, not really knowing very much about Africa, but having a background in both outdoor education and mountaineering. So Kilimanjaro was an obvious progression. And now here I am, whatever it is 31 years later, back in the same place, still, or still in the same place organizing climbs, I've actually got myself, what we've done is we've trained some fantastic trans named guys, but I'm gonna tell you more about that later.

Mimi Lichtenstein 1:35
Me too. I'm excited to hear all about it. And I do want to preface this conversation with it almost looks like I'm in prison. Today I happen to be in Costa Rica in a conference room at my hotel. If you look a little over here, you can actually, you know the outdoors where it's a little pricey, but there's not great lighting. And so it is what it is I'm traveling and we'll just go with it. Alright, well, there are so many different countries you can go to on Safari. We talked last week about South Africa. Today we're going to talk about Botswana. Can you tell us a little bit about why would somebody want to go to Botswana over a different African country

Sandra 2:12
country in its own right. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site that is a large country, it's about the size of France, to a population of 2 million versus 67 million in France. So it gives you an indication of how remote it is the space the pure vastness of the country. The Safari itself takes place up northwest, the rest of the country is Kalahari. And that Safari destination is extremely pristine wilderness, there is no way on earth that you can go that is going to give you the same experience that really is a gem. Yes, it's the experiences it offers are unbelievable. They're very different. So we will always ask your clients what they would like to see from the next SAS slide, we'll see how it combines. But within one track in Botswana, you don't even need to go elsewhere. We can give you a myriad of experiences.