My notebook (and my brain) are BULGING with wondrous ideas for future travels.

Between September 14 and December 21st of this year, I will have traveled to four different continents. I suppose that confirms I am a bonafide globe-trotter – and a very lucky girl!

Continent #1 was Africa. I returned last Friday from Marrakesh, Morocco, where I attended a trade show dedicated to experiential travel. In a nutshell, that’s what I’ve always been about – creating unforgettable experiences of travel – and now the industry is catching up. (I always knew we were trendsetters!) Over the course of 3+ days, I met with 47 different suppliers (boutique hotels, adventure operators, etc.) for 20-minute appointments. It was fast and furious learning – and my notebook is bursting with scribbled notes and business cards. Now my task is to share the highlights with my team … and with my WOW audience, before I forget everything! In a nutshell, I learned that there are not enough days in the year – indeed, not enough years in a lifetime! – to experience all the wondrous travel opportunities that are available. But I’ll do my best to experience as many as possible – and create more and more amazing WOW adventures! Here’s a snippet of some highlights: Luxury Sahara Desert camps: I’ll be including two nights in the Sahara as part of the WOW! Travel Club Morocco itinerary for March of 2020. But which camp?? Meeting with several different suppliers helped me narrow down the choices so that the desert experience I’ll include for my WOWees will be mind-blowing and unforgettable! Sundowners in the Sahara, anyone??

Camels will transport you to sunset cocktails in the Sahara!

New discoveries in New Zealand: I met with the General Manager of a luxurious lodge called Treetops, near Rotorua, and brainstormed about the upcoming WOW! Travel Club adventure. Paul Jordan and I dreamed up some extra-special experiences to “WOW” our group! I confess to being one of the few people on the planet who isn’t into Lord of the Rings, but I learned more about the behind-the-scenes tour of the Weta workshop, the studio that produced the digital special effects for the popular trilogy. We still have space on our epic New Zealand adventure (March 22 – April 3, 2019)!

Treetops Lodge is the fulfillment of the owner’s 30-year dream: a property in the midst of a virgin forest, surrounded by 800-year-old native trees.

Arctic & Polar Bear Excursions: This experience is high on my wish list, so I was eager to learn about the many ways to get to the top of the world. One option is via the world’s northernmost inhabited islands in Norway, or on walking excursions on the tundra from a lodge in Manitoba, or via Greenland, where you can learn how to say “Ittoqqortoormiit” – a village with a population of 452. So many choices! This will definitely be offered as a WOW adventure in the near future! I can see myself soaking in a geothermal pool as icebergs float by. And witnessing ice crashing into the sea from one of the world’s fastest-moving glaciers (it moves 62 feet per day!). Or, sitting silently in my kayak as beluga whales surface around me. Then I’ll grab a bit of a “bergy” (floating bits of 5,000-year-old ice!) – to chill the gin & tonic I’ll enjoy back onboard my expedition ship. What a “WOW” that will be! (Are you with me??)

Enjoy the solitude of one of the most pristine and spectacular places on the planet!

A little closer to home, I learned about a beautiful new boutique hotel in the Casco Viejo section of Panama City, which has been revitalized since I last visited there several years ago. Another place to check out!

A lovingly-restored building from 1917 is now an inviting boutique hotel in the Old Quarter of Panama City

I was fascinated to learn about this place – just an hour outside of Rome. It’s a 15th-century seminary that’s been converted into a 5-suite hotel, in a tiny hilltop village (population 10)!

A labor of love: Christiana and Paolo have created one of the most captivating places in all of Europe!

Circling to the opposite side of the globe, I thought I knew everything about my favorite country, but I’d never heard of a place called Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage site in south-central India. There are more than 1,600 ruins from the last great Hindu kingdom – spread over 16 square miles!

Spectacular! Yet another place on my ever-expanding “Must See” list!

I learned about a futuristic expedition ship with a purpose-built inverted bow that’s supposed to cut through the ocean waves more smoothly than traditionally-shaped bows. The ship will also feature platforms that unfold from the hull for unobstructed views of waters below. I’ll not be cruising on this ship when I sail through the infamous Drake Passage (some of the roughest waters in the world) to Antarctica in early December. I’ll let you know how that goes!

The Greg Mortimer features a radically-designed hull to pierce the waves.

There’s a hotel opening next spring in Washington, D.C. – just down the street from Trump International – that aspires to be a haven for guests who want to use their travel money to send a progressive message. It’s called Eaton Workshop, and combines a hotel, co-working space, media company, and wellness center. They invite “activists, artists and entrepreneurs from around the world to instigate meaningful and positive initiatives on both a local and macro scale.” Should be interesting to watch! Other cool places I’ve yet to go: Fiji, Namibia, Belize, Greenland, Jogjakarta . . . oh – there’s so much to learn, and SO many places to see!

We’ve got some great WOW! Travel Club journeys already calendared to share with you. And many more to come!

New Zealand – March 22 – April 3, 2019

Puglia (Heel of the boot of Italy) – May 8 – 16, 2019

African Safari* – September 6 – 14, 2019

(*this limited-edition adventure sold out quickly because of the intimate size of the safari lodges – which have only 7 rooms. But I’ll block another set of dates if there are sufficient commitments to do another buy-out. Let me know!) In 2020, we’ll be announcing details for Morocco (March), Croatia Charter Cruise (onboard the beautiful Black Swan in late June), Alps & Oberammergau (early July), and other places I’ve yet to finalize. What’s on your list?