In the post that follows I am asking for feedback. Here’s some background: Over the years many of our past guests have written me asking for advice about travel in general or travel to places other than Costa Rica. I have found it very satisfying to help with advice on anything from, “where should I go for [...]

Meena emailed me the account below of her trip to Galapagos and gave me permission to share it with you. Dear Michael, Thought I would share my  wonderful vacation  experience of my recent  Galapagos trip ., especially in the thread of the travel agent  going the extra mile .  We chose KleinTours , and it  turned out to [...]

Hi Michael, Yes, this is a great idea, as long as you keep it small, personalized and focused. Otherwise you run the risk of becoming too much like all the other web-based travel site forums.... overwhelmingly large, no consensus, and tainted by marketing and sales pitches. I plan an adventure trip every summer for my family: so far we've been to Hawaii, Costa Rica, the Canadian Rockies, Vancouver Island, the Swiss Alps, and Tanzania. We want to have these experiences as a family before my kids, now teenagers, leave home. This summer, I'm looking at the Galapagos Islands or Australia, or possibly Vietnam. People are always interested that I'm able to research and plan these trips online, and often say that they couldn't figure out how to do that. It's difficult to find good information on the web, and even harder to find trustworthy opinions. Something like this blog would be a valuable resource. I'd like to participate, both to share my knowledge, and to benefit from other people's experiences.

Hi Tina, I am Chief Marketing & Guest Satisfaction Officer here at CRE and I've been helping Michael with his new blog. I've worked for the company for 23 years. You family trips every summer sound wonderful. I can certainly appreciate why you want to get as much as you can in before your teenagers leave home. I am figuring that I will get one maybe two more vacations with my two teenagers before they are off doing their own thing. :( You mentioned that you are considering Australia, Galapagos and Vietnam for next summer. For Galapagos we have some wonderful friends that I haven't communicated with in awhile that have an outstanding operation. I will email them today and get you a name and email for a contact person. For Australia I'll have to do some research, but we have some ideas and will be back to you shortly. For Southeast Asia we highly recommend Trails of Indochina, I've pasted in the contact information for Vinh Lam, your contact there. TRAILS OF INDOCHINA Limited Contact: Mr. Vinh Lam (US Representative) Email: vinh@trailsofindochina.com Website: www.trailsofindochina.com 9092 McBride River Ave Fountain Valley, CA 92708-6464 Tel:1- 800 835 1376 (West Coast) Fax:1- 714 908 1844 I'll be in touch as soon as I have a contact for Australia and Galapagos. In the meantime, as we say here in Costa Rica, Felices Fiestas!