Wait! Think before you aim that camera at a national wildlife refuge. It may be habit-forming. That’s been true for four standout nature photographers – each hooked on prowling a favorite refuge in hopes of locking eyes with a bird or fox, capturing light and color, and probing the mystery of our animal natures.
 

The Texas Travel Industry Association, an Austin-based nonprofit organization, is holding its 30th annual summit at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in downtown San Antonio this week. Dozens of TTIA members from across the Lone Star State are expected to attend. 

These are not the state of Texas travel marketers who gave us the slogan, “TEXAS It’s Like a Whole Other Country,” or “Remember the Alamo.” TTIA members are employed by or own a travel-related business in Texas.

Where can you go to learn about the history, culture, and art of Newfoundland – on the site of an historic fort and a fire department from long ago? 

There's just something magical about the Colorado sky when viewed from the San Juan Mountains. It's more than just the result of elevation lifting you towards the heavens. It's the lack of light pollution, the crispness of the air, the subtle gurgle of a nearby stream and the smell of vanilla wafting from the bark of the Ponderosa pines with their vanilla-butterscotch scent.

The thirty-nine ESL students, dark eyed and dark complexioned, each took their turn telling me their name and their country of origin. Mexico. El Salvador. Honduras. Cuba. Peru. Colombia. Ecuador. Lebanon. India. China. Korea.

Time for a road trip! Today, we’re heading 90 minutes north of Paris by car to explore Rouen, France. Rouen, the capital of Normandy, is located on the Seine and is chock full of history and art – two of my favorite things.

Well, our favorite sculptor, Jason deCaires Taylor, is at it again. We love his work at the Museum of Underwater Art in Cancun, Mexico and have interviewed him about his underwater sculpture park in Grenada, among others. He's one of my favorite artists.

It is with great, great pleasure that I share with you a remarkable story and video. It comes from Alex Berger, a friend and fellow international educator, who runs a fantastic site called Virtual Wayfarer (here's our interview with him!).

Michelle Belair is a wanderer, social worker, and writer who aims to share the beauty of the world - the nature that creates it and the individuals that inhabit it. With an interest in travel, self-development, and vegan living, she believes that the best way to live is by fueling your heart and energy with all the things that bring you joy and passion. To read more from Michelle, follow her at www.whirlwind-travel.com. She studied abroad in Barbados.