The TravelRight Dispatch

POSTCARD FROM MUSKOKA
​Ho-hum: the three big Muskoka lakes are so yesterday. We recently spent quality time on the Muskoka River to celebrate a friend's birthday. This winding little piece of Muskoka tranquility was once a VIP highway for steamships in the late 1800s, ferrying posh holidayers from the train stations into cottage country. The river was also a smuggling route for bootleggers during Prohibition (1916 to 1927 in Ontario), with tales of hidden dock compartments and trapdoors and such. We did our tequila shots right on the dock, of course, because we're modern.

PLEASE SHARE THIS​
Kindly share my newsletter with your travel-horny peeps. It takes five seconds and will help keep us going: kit.com/@the-travelright-dispatch​

EXCERPT​
OK, there are no whale sharks in Muskoka. I recently wrote my first story for the Silversea Cruises Discover blog. It was about how learning about sea creatures helps with their conservation. I have swum with Hawaiian manta rays, Tahitian stingrays and giant whale sharks in Australia and did not die.

Swimming With the Fishes
​“Just follow my flashlight,” the snorkel guide says as we wade into the warm, moonlit waters of Kaunaoa Beach. We’re heading for Manta Ray Point, a stone’s throw from the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel in the north end of Hawaii Island, where a small squadron of reef manta rays apparently hangs out. Our group of six is instructed to encircle a little surfboard the guide has brought. A light, pointing down, is attached at a hole in the middle of the board. We hold onto the board with both hands, but our faces are in the water. Moments later, a couple of graceful rays with wingspans of about six feet appear, then a third. I have to squint—but not for long. One of them swoops right up to the light, mouth open wide, and makes a circular loop to almost touch our board, gliding no more than two feet from our faces.

HOTEL CRUSH
Le Mas Barossa, South Australia
​Wheeling around South Australia’s Barossa Valley wine region, we pitch up at what looks like a French country estate. We’re escorted into an orangerie and given gin and tonics in crystal glasses while we check in. So far so good. Turns out, we are the only guests in the four-suite Le Mas Borassa, an elegant little molecule of France in the vineyards of Barossa in South Australia, and have the whole place to ourselves. The terrace looks out over a sloping lawn and maze, and a pool sits under a grove of trees. Cushy rooms come complete with giant bathtubs and Hermès toiletries. The Provençal cuisine is sublime and breakfast is enough to feed an army. Highly recommended if you’re planning a wine tour!

INTEL
How to Prepare an Emergency Document File
​I jokingly tell people I travel with that if I ever fall into a coma, there’s a packet of emergency info in my backpack. Rather than expecting the worst, think of this advice as a way to always be prepared. A folder of information— electronic documents stored in the cloud as well as printed out—acts like a safety blanket in case you run into trouble. Make scans of:
• all passports, each one separate and in colour
• drivers’ licenses, including international drivers’ licenses
• vaccination details if you’re travelling to places that may require a yellow fever or scarlet fever vaccination, for example
• travel and health insurance cards, policies and phone numbers
• a detailed list of medications, preferably with a document issued by the pharmacy
• a list of emergency info—emergency contacts, the address and phone number of the Canadian consulate of the country you’re visiting, how to dial the various emergency services (not every country is 911), and how to dial both local and international telephone numbers in general

Don’t Make Me Come Over There!
​Please feel more than free to forward this newsletter to your friends, yes? And for lifestyle copywriting, look no further than Wallace Media.

​​​​