The TravelRight Dispatch

POSTCARD FROM VALENCIA
​Last month, I headed to Valencia to cover the 2026 Gay Games, a week-long, city-wide sporting and cultural event held every four years in different cities around the world. It's a chance for LGBTQ+ people (and allies, Ray!) to play sports, win medals, experience different cultures and make new friends. You don't need to be a super athlete, just an enthusiastic one.

Valencia itself is a city I've added to my winter-away list. It's cosmopolitan while still being close to the countryside, and has sandy city beaches, safe neighbourhoods, excellent restaurants, an efficient transit system, great art and lively markets. Add in a high-speed train to Madrid, an international airport and ferry connections to the Balearic Islands and you've got a plan (and no complaining about tourists, like Barcelona).

THE DISH
Portolito Beach​
The first thing I ate in Spain this time around was a calamari sandwich. No guff! The second thing was a fabulous paella. The Dish today really is a dish—one of Spain's many gifts to the culinary world. It was invented in Valencia in the 15th century by farmers in what is now the Albufera region south of the city. The traditional recipe includes short-grain rice, rabbit and chicken (bone in), flat green beans and large white beans, tomatoes, paprika, saffron, olive oil and water. Today, there are many varieties—seafood, chorizo, pork. Snails? Sure, just like Mama used to make (as if).

EXCERPT
The Canary Islands: Shopping With the Cruise Ship Chef
​Combing the market stalls of Santa Cruz de Tenerife with a Windstar executive chef is a lesson in sourcing local—and an absolute blast. This story appeared in the Vancouver Sun.

I love shopping with people who drop cash. It’s just so exciting—and has nothing to do with my bank account. So I jump at the chance to go to the main food market in Santa Cruz de Tenerife with chef Stefan Vasilev and sous chef Alvyn Guillarte from Windstar Cruises—who are armed with an absolute mittful of money.

THIS MONTH'S PODCAST
​The TravelRight.Today Podcast #37 drifts through the ibuprofen-fed arteries of travel mobility and how travel planning for geriatrics is an art form. Listen to more bucolic details about Charlevoix and learn how to make AI work on your next travel itinerary. It thinks it's so smart....

INTEL
How to Plan the Family Reunion
​Speaking from experience, this task may seem daunting, but it's actually quite fun. Reason being: You get to have everything your way, doing things you yourself will love. Here comes the but: there are many considerations to consider, including different interests, budgets, health and mobility.

1. Choose the time of year that works for everyone's work and school schedule (i.e. grandkids' graduations). This will domino into the weather at said time, which will then dictate where you go.

2. Ask yourself what type of vacation would work best. Are you embarking on something different from previous trips or falling back on a routine, visiting a place everyone is familiar with? Would your family put up with the rigor of a bus tour, changing hotels every night, or are they better suited to a central location, like a villa, off which they can hub and spoke? Maybe a cruise ship is an easier gathering spot, with the variety that can add?

3. Choose a location everyone can reach easily (and not too expensively), given where they live. Getting everyone to agree may be exhausting, but if they all weigh in on the decisions, no one can complain later.

4. Leave room on the agenda for both social family time and private time. Personalize a group tour by researching what there is to do during your free time. You might be too tired, but advance scouting let’s you take home a little holiday memory all your own.

5. As with any group holiday, go with the flow, but do your part with keeping the flow going. The whirlwindiness of a tour bus has an air of adventure, but the itineraries carry a rather rigid timeline—one that you have to match.

6. Group dynamics also demand patience when dealing with personalities—loud, shy, passive-aggressive or otherwise. You may have to occasionally bite your tongue, tactfully change the subject or physically distance yourself from static or bickering when it arises. My advice is to choose to be agreeable, even if you don’t feel like it.

When World's Diverge
​I love fellow travellers who know what they're doing with their business plan! That's why I want you to know about Divergent Travelers, Lina and David Stock. They're travel creators and group-travel hosts who have been absolutely everywhere and can take you with them! See their new group trip to Svalbard in the high Arctic in 2027. I'm thinking about it!

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