Everett Potter's Travel Report

Steve Jermanok & family, active travelers all.

By Steve Jermanok & Lisa Leavitt

We are very excited to announce the launch of our new membership-based travel consulting and booking agency called ActiveTravels.com!

As some of you know, Steve has been working as a professional travel writer since 1990, visiting more than 80 countries and writing over 1200 stories. Whenever one of these stories is published, he receives numerous follow-up emails and calls from people asking for more specifics about that particular travel locale. Even with the glut of travel information out there on the web, expert travel advice is at a minimum. So, prospective travelers contact him to get in-depth knowledge from a trusted source.

This is why we created ActiveTravels! Just like you rely upon a financial advisor to give you advice about your investments, it’s a good idea to trust a travel consultant and advisor to help plan your valuable vacation time with friends and family.   We are delighted to be able to offer that service to anyone who joins ActiveTravels.com. This past Sunday, The New York Times featured an article titled, “Are Travel Agents Back?” on their front page. Their answer? A resounding yes!

Lisa is now an accredited travel agent with two pillars of the travel industry, the Virtuoso Network and CWT Vacations, the leisure arm of Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Through her contacts, she can often get discounted room rates, complimentary upgrades and breakfasts, and on-site spa or food and beverage credits. Just this week, she saved clients $750 on discounted room rates at the same hotels they booked online. In addition, Steve has developed great relationships with hotels, outfitters, and restaurateurs over the years, so you can expect VIP service whenever you trust us to book your next escape.

As a husband and wife team, you can look forward to a “mom and pop” atmosphere where each member will be appreciated. This is not your corporate agency where you are just another face in the crowd. We look forward to getting to know you and your travel preferences and to giving you exceptional personalized service.

If you’re looking for personalized expert travel consulting and a trusted advisor to arrange your travel plans and ensure that all your trips are memorable and as stress-free as possible, please check out our new website, ActiveTravels.com, and join our travel club.

  Steve Jermanok As a columnist for National Geographic Adventure, adventure travel expert at Budget Travel, and regular contributor on outdoor recreation for Outside, Men’s Journal, Health, and Sierra, Steve Jermanok has written more than 1,000 articles on the outdoors.He’s also authored or co-authored 11 books, including Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England and Men’s Journal’s The Great Life. His latest book is Go Now! Put Your Life on Pause and See the World. He’s currently an adventure travel expert at Away.com and blogs daily atActive Travels.

The rap on Vermont skiing was that the ski resorts were based in historic New England towns that lacked the modern amenities of the resorts out West. Not any longer. The Woodstock Inn (above), close to the skiing at Killington and Suicide Six, just unveiled their $10 million spa in September and it’s a beauty. Two well known Vermont artisans, glassmaker Simon Pearce and furniture maker Charles Shackleton create the hanging lamps and chaise lounge chairs in the Great Room waiting area, where floors are made of soft Vermont white oak. Just outside in the courtyard is a large outdoor hot tub and sauna, with heated stone floors to keep those tootsies warm in the winter months. That’s in addition to the eucalyptus steam rooms found in both the men and women’s changing area. Woodstock Inn’s state-of-the-facility comes on the heels of Stowe Mountain Lodge’s spa, the first offshoot of the highly regarded Cooper Wellness spa in Dallas. The new space features every treatment imaginable, including music, water, and aromatherapy, nutritional and fitness counseling, and seminars on maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

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No one needs to be reminded of the brutal atrocities committed in
Rwanda in the 90s, where over a span of several months more than a
million people were murdered. Thankfully, old wounds can heal. The
small central African country that borders Uganda to the north and
Tanzania to the east has transformed from “Hotel Rwanda” to Nyungwe Forest Lodge,
a five-star resort set to open next week. Set in the mountainous
southwestern part of the country in Nyungwe National Park, the region
is known for its ancient rainforest canopy with more than 200 different
types of trees from the giant lobelia to the African mahogany. Take a
walk with naturalists and you’ll also find 13 species of primates
ranging from chimpanzees to acrobatic black-and-white colobus monkeys
to the baboon-like Grey-cheeked Mangabeys. The lodge is managed by the
Mantis Group, who run luxury boutique hotels through the game preserves
of South Africa. Visit Active Travels.

For thirty years, Active New Zealand has offered their signature Rimu trip. They’ve obviously doing something right because National Geographic Adventure
called it one of the top 10 trips in the world. The location certainly
doesn’t hurt. The two-week jaunt goes around the South Island of New
Zealand.

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