Editor’s note: On October 7 of this year, Israel was attacked by the terrorist group Hamas, with more Jews slaughtered in a single day than any day since the Holocaust. Since then, Israel has vowed to dismantle Hamas and its networks inside of the Gaza Strip, an area crowded with civilians that the terrorists use…
As followers of The Royal Tour have undoubtedly noticed, I tend to travel for fairly long periods of time. While I do have long weekend or week-long trips, this year (2023) I will also have taken a two week trip (Santo Domingo), a six week trip (Buenos Aires and Montevideo), and a three and a…
It’s still weird for me to think of the life I’ve built, and contrast it to where I was less than a decade ago. I was a suit and tie guy, working as the executive director of a large nonprofit organization, spending 60 or more hours a week in the traditional grind. I was also…
Some regular readers have been asking me recently if I really like every place I travel. After all, I seem to call a lot of cities or countries “world-class” or amazing, or any other positive adjective I might happen to use. So today, I wanted to address this. Do I really like every place I…
It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone. For me, 2022 was the year of a semi return to normalcy. While Covid is still an issue - and I am someone who keeps up to date with boosters and continues to wear a mask indoors - the world has at least opened back…
Too often, I find myself guilty of getting distracted while on travel. I become too consumed with learning, with experiencing new cultures, and with seeing things that will inspire articles that I fail to stop and to pay attention to what I am feeling. This trip to Germany gave me a lot of feelings, and…
How much of my story came from this place? Would I still be the same person had I grown up elsewhere? How much of this city is in me? Or I in it? Brand Boulevard has certainly changed in the forty-one years since my birth, though it is still - and probably always will be…
Now I understand what you tried to say to meHow you suffered for your sanityHow you tried to set them freeThey would not listen, they did not know howPerhaps they’ll listen nowDon McLean, “Vincent” It’s a bit of a surprise to me that Don McLean’s song about Vincent Van Gogh isn’t part of the Immersive…
Another year has come and gone. It is hard to believe 2021 is already over. (Read my year in review here.) I guess it’s time to preview 2022 here on The Royal Tour! A necessary caveat: all travel plans are subject to cancellation due to Covid. Omicron is ravaging the world right now, and the…
It wasn’t as bad as 2020; I’ll give 2021 that. While it began slowly, my March vaccination opened the world a bit, and I was able to take some wonderful trips, especially over the second half of the year. 2021 also was a big year here at The Royal Tour. We added some new guest…