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 [...]

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Yes, I do think it is a good idea. It is great to learn from others' experiences. Also, I often have specific questions. Our son spent a semester in China and our daughter a semester in Australia. This seems to be a part of many college students' studies now. We did not visit them while they were overseas but possibly would have, if we had felt we could get more personal information about travel options there, especially in China. I have never blogged either, but I guess we all need to be continually learning new things.

Hi Michael, Would love to help anyway I can. I have traveled quite a bit since visiting CR in 2002. I have traveled across the USA (both coasts) as well as international travel to Canada, Southern Africa (Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe), Italy, Peru, Ecuador, Australia, Greece, Spain and soon to China. Some trips were with an organized tour company and others were just on our own (which we researched heavily using the internet). Currently planning trips to Vietnam/Cambodia and East Africa. I would welcome any info this blog can provide as well as assist any traveler with information I learned from my travels.

Happy to help. Most of my travel is for business, but that takes me to some pretty interesting places (Papua New Guinea, Australia, China, Malaysia, North Sulawesi ...) and I usually take advantage of some down time to get a flavor of the culture. You may be delighted to learn that despite exposure to some of these exotic places, we have returned to Costa Rica for our family spring breaks for the last nine years. We still find new things to learn and do during every CR visit. Happy trails.

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!