JulieThCruiseDirectr

I had an unexpected encounter last week with the Luxe Hotel Sunset, the new hotel in tony Bel-Air, in Los Angeles. And to pay homage to the awesome Signature 360º Package , here’s a 360 word blog post!  A little fantasy to take you away from work and into a daydream: Whether you call Los Angeles or Louisville home, it can get stressful. Sure, you had New Year’s resolutions, now long forgotten in the daily shuffle of office, appointments, and, well… life.  While it will be nice to whisk... Read Full Story

My whole life, I was an atheist.  I didn’t believe in anything, except that their might be some “energy thingy” out there that made the universe tick.  After all, if there wasn’t something, why couldn’t science create life?  It was not until my first trip to Egypt, where I went as an unwitting tourist, that Spirit smacked me upside the head and, in one incredible moment of clarity, made me understand that I was a soul having a human experience, and not a human just grappling with existential... Read Full Story

This is a follow on to a post from a guest blogger who was with us in Bali last year.  This came about very organically. One of the guests on our Eat Pray & Love Bali tour in May, Kiya Cote, wrote this wonderful report about the trip and sent it out as an ongoing newsletter to her clients. I so loved her writing and her experiences that I asked if she would allow me to repost her wonderful stories here, and voila! The Bliss of Bali Part II by Kiya Cote Through the book and movie, the... Read Full Story

I’ve been working on my spiritual travel memoir for over two years, and I think it’s finally ready! I’ll be publishing the book this fall under the Spirit Quest World publishing imprint – in the meantime, enjoy this excerpt from the chapter, The Dogs of Egypt … The first dog I met in Egypt didn’t want to have anything to do with me. That was a surprise. I am by nature an animal person, so drawn to them that I am distracted from anything else until I make friends with whatever critters are... Read Full Story

This week’s blog is a guest post from Spirit Quest Tours’ partner, Geoff Edwards, The Success Coach.  Geoff has been a terrific coach for me for many months now, and he has started helping our clients expand their comfort zones and build success!  He wrote this great (and very useful) article on how your perception can hold you back, and how much changing it can improve your life.  Check it out!  At the bottom, there’s more info on Geoff, too. This article originally appeared in Oxygen... Read Full Story

Tiger’s Nest, Bhutan: Happiness at the Roof of the World This week’s blog is from a guest blogger, the wonderful Joshua Liberman, world travel photographer and lover of all things Bhutanese.  The photos in this story are his. Josh is leading our upcoming tour to the Land of the Thunder Dragon . You can see more of his photographs at Tao of Photography.com Step on to the path climbing 3000 vertical feet to Taktsang Palphug (known commonly as “Tiger’s Nest”) and you will begin a trek that... Read Full Story

  We’ve been doing our Eat Pray Love Bali tour for almost 3 years now, and over time, we’ve changed it up a bit, based on feedback and our own experiences. Here’s what we’re doing on our September (and probably future) tours! Our Welcome Dinner in “Italy” has moved to Ubud! Though we had some incredible experiences and wonderful meals at the Amanusa’s Italian Restaurant , Bali traffic can be truly unbelievable.  We’ve moved the welcome dinner to the more accessible  Terazo Restaurant... Read Full Story

Most people travel for vacation or for work.  Then there are those who travel because it’s a calling; they need to visit that place, that country, even if they have no idea why.  Maybe it’s because they read about it as a kid, or have heard stories from other people who visited, or maybe it’s somewhere they lived in a past life. Whatever the reason, they just have to go.  That’s where Spirit Quest Tours comes in.  We offer life-changing travel to exotic locales all over the world.  So we know... Read Full Story

Ever since President Obama was elected, there have been rumblings that America will finally be ending the decades-old embargo on Cuba travels.  Back in the ’40s and ’50s, Havana was a haven for American travelers who wanted to travel to Cuba — only an hour’s flight from Miami, it was gorgeous, catered to tourists, and was in another country with an exotic culture.  In the musical Guys and Dolls , where does Sky Masterson take his dame to impress her? Why, Havana, of course… just for the... Read Full Story

From Brave New Traveler on the Matador Network, comes an excellent article! NO DISCUSSION ABOUT returning from a lengthy time abroad is complete without talk of  reverse culture shock . And, from my experience, this discussion inevitably turns to perspective. Specifically, that many people don’t seem to have any. Perhaps this isn’t a fair statement, but returning home after long-term travel in the developing world often leaves me in a fastidious state of mind. There is something to be... Read Full Story