Travels with Larry Olmsted

By Larry Olmsted There have been a lot of news stories about the coming crush of holiday travel, with consumers booking Christmas vacation earlier than ever (CNBC), availability already growing tight and driving up prices (Wall Street Journal), while many tour operators have reported new record setting reservations for 2022,

By Larry Olmsted Masks are back, like it or not, while for travelers they never went away. All flights, and in most places any public transport, requires them, and so do many destinations both domestically and abroad, especially indoors. Even where they are not required, they are a very good

By Larry Olmsted For such a popular vacation and conference destination, New Orleans has always been surprisingly short on top tier luxury hotels. That is about to change. That’s why the new Four Seasons, opening in one-week (August 17, 2021) is such a big deal – it is exactly what the

By Larry Olmsted Guided culinary tours are the best way for the traveling foodie to experience pretty much any city in the world. You get to try more different things and learn more than you could by choosing a single place to eat on your own, no matter how good

  By Larry Olmsted Las Vegas tourism has been slow to recover during the coronavirus pandemic and threat of COVID-19, but as vaccines are rolled out, the city is hopeful travelers will begin to return in the not-too-distant future. When they do, they will find yet another new mega-resort waiting

By Larry Olmsted As the Pfizer, Moderna and additional coronavirus vaccines continue their global rollout, most in the travel industry see a light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel and a slow return to travel normalcy. But personally, I expect a few of the pandemic induced changes to stick

  By Larry Olmsted After years as the fastest-growing segment of the ski industry, alpine touring (AT), or uphill skiing, has gotten even hotter and is seeing record participation this winter, in large part because of the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 …   Continue Reading       Award-winning travel

By Larry Olmsted The National Park Service (NPS) is slowly reopening parks nationwide, but at least in the short term, some concessions and facilities will remain closed and it won’t exactly be business as usual. At this time, you should check any park’s individual website for details of what is

By Larry Olmsted Forget about crowds or spring breakers. Even when travel returns to “normal” after the current pandemic, there will be an emphasis on low-density destinations, the great outdoors, and close-knit time with friends and family, and this kind of trip addresses all of those. “This is the Caribbean

  By Larry Olmsted “When we travel again, having had time to think about how much we miss traveling and exploring, will we do anything differently? Will we make better use of our time investment by ensuring that our travels have a defined goal in mind?” I sure hope so.