Travels with Larry Olmsted

By Larry Olmsted I often travel with my dogs, and I am hardly alone. In recent years Americans have spent record amounts pampering their pets, and increasingly treating four-legged friends like human children, including on the road. Pet travel has increased steadily for the past 20 years, and a 2020

By Larry Olmsted A consortium of top travel agents (so good at what they do that they prefer to be called “Travel Advisors”), Virtuoso is the best-known organization of its kind in the luxury travel space. Advisor membership is by-invitation-only, and after decades of growth and reputation building, the U.S.-based association

By Larry Olmsted When it comes to planning an island vacation in the Caribbean, there are tons of choices, big and small, with arguments to be made for just about every spot. But if you are a golfer, the options thin out dramatically. There are several smaller islands with one

By Larry Olmsted “Wonders of the World” and “Bucket List” are terms that get thrown around a lot in the travel industry, often inappropriately. But there is no doubt that Angkor Wat, the top tourism destination in Cambodia, easily qualifies for both. In terms of ruins and manmade sites, there

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