Junky Travel Sites for Travel Junkies

by Adrienne Wilson on

Junky is the kind of word I’m attracted to, partially because there aren’t too many bad habits I have that are hard to kick. But it’s the type of word when paired with those like travel and vacation becomes highly desired by all and everyone. Example: “He’s such a travel junky. From Omaha to Havana, Cuba, there isn’t a place in between he hasn’t been.” Yeah, travel junkies are a cool breed of folk, so it’s not surprising there are sites like this cuba-junky.com place for those with an insatiable interest in Cuba to head to and start planning their vaca. Check out the impressive photo galleries or basically anything you’d like to know about Cuba here.

Other travel-junky sites include: Dominican Republic, Brazil and Jamaica. I’d say they’re pretty gnarly and worth ten minutes of your time if not more, but I’m a travel junky myself so there you have it!

Hello, Hi, my name is Adrienne and I HEART travel to everywhere, anywhere and yes of course there too. I’m a travel junky. Goodbye.

Word for the Travel Wise (03/14/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Last year I misplaced a piece a jewelry quite dear to me with a stone that is
somewhat difficult to find here in my parts of the globe. To make up for the loss I have since considered going the
extra mile to find the unique stone in the mines located in Los Chupaderos, Dominican Republic. This Spanish speaking
Caribbean island is the only place in the world where the blue pectolites can be found where a journey to the mines is
said to be an extraordinary experience from the long off-the-beaten track, dirty and stony roads to landing in the
villages of the brave miners.

Today’s word is a word most commonly known in Dominican Republic:

Larimar – a rare form of pectolite discovered in the 1970’s in the Dominican Republic. The
name comes from a combination of Larissa and Mar, the Spanish word for sea.

Obviously this
word isn’t a complete Spanish word, but if you happen to find yourself in the D.R. and see the beautiful blue stone
remember it’s Larimar and not turquoise which it is often
mistaken. If you’re as wild about learning more about gems and stones as I am you may wish to check out the online Larimar Museum which I mentioned sometime ago. At that time I was told the
actual museum located in Santo Domingo is much better so I can only imagined what going into the mines must be like!
Anyone willing to join me?

The official language of the D.R. is Spanish so between planning make sure you
refresh your vocabulary and visit some of past Spanish words here on Gadling: escalar, cercano, realidad.

Photo of the Day: (3/18/05)

by Erik Olsen on

Kiteboarding is so fricken cool. I was wondering the other day what the folks on the Mayflower would have thought if, while they were sailing across the Atlantic, they suddenly spied a kitesurfer off the port bow. What a world we now live in, eh?

Anyhow, check out this sweet POTD from the Dominican Republic.

Looking for a Killer Surf Hotel?

by Erik Olsen on

So was Bill Lee. He had very exacting requirements, too. He wanted the perfect surf spot with ample opportunities for hard-core adventure junkies, but also the perfect mix of laid-backedness and good food and friendly people. So when he had trouble finding this hotel, he said fu%$ it, I’ll start my own. Which is what he did.

So after cruising the surf beaches of the Caribbean and the northern Pacific for a year or so he decided to found eXtreme Hotels. EXtreme Cabarete, Lee’s property on the north coast of the Dominican Republic, matches his ideal. It caters to adrenalin sport enthusiasts, from kite boarders, to paragliders and rock climbers.

eXtreme Hotels

by Adrienne Wilson on

Lay your head to rest at night with no worries, but in the morning get ready to ride some serious kite. Uh, um… Well grab your kite board and go! The first, in a chain of “eXtreme Hotels” can be found in Cabarete Bay, Dominican Republic and what visitors can expect is a whole lot of sport! If the waves start to take their toll try some of the other activities like skateboarding, tow-in-surfing, and fling boarding.

According to the Journal News, Bill Lee plans on opening other eXtreme Hotels in places like Nevada for rock climbing and Chile for snowboarding. The goal is to achieve the ultimate, affordable, lifestyle hotel with a signature sport, lessons and equipment for beginners, advice from a pro in the field, and the eXtreme Bar. Now you’re talking! Sounds like a good deal to me.