Author: lou

One of my serious Bucket List items has always been to ride in a hot air ballon over picturesque scenery. In 2017, I got that opportunity in one of the best locations one could imagine – the Dordogne River valley in France. I was on a large group trip and took this flight with 2 friends – Maggie and Molly Kearns. While I was shooting still photos, Maggie took video with her Go Pro. Later I helped her edit the multiple files and we published this YouTube video. It was a great ride.

Whenever I travel, I want to maximize the use of my time, so good planning is the key to that. And by planning, it is easy to go overboard but I believe there is a good balance to be had. There are a number of resources that are very useful and, for me, one of the best is Trip Advisor. This website can be used to book airplane flights, auto rentals, etc but I primarily use it to understand the most interesting things to do for any given destination as well as to find good restaurants near my route. ( I am a member and contribute many reviews but I have no affiliation otherwise with them.) I use other methods to book hotels, cars, and airplanes.

The purpose of the Trip Advisor website is the gathering of user/customer feedback on their travel experiences. The success of any endeavor like this depends entirely on the accuracy of the reviews posted. And, by and large, I find that this information is quite evenly balanced and holds up to my own personal experiences. So I find it a reliable way to find the best things to do in a given destination as well as good recommendations on restaurants. When I write a review, I make sure I point out the highs and lows of the item I am reviewing so that my experience is as useful as possible. Give it a try.