13 Places to Visit in 2013

Published in MensHealth.com

The world’s an endlessly vast place for exploration. And the more you travel, the more ground you realize you have yet to cover. With that in mind, here are a baker’s dozen of places—close, far, known, and relatively obscure—that you should visit in the coming year.
We’ve included everything from islands to icecaps, so check off a resolution for 2013 and book a ticket to one of these hot destinations across the globe.

4. Kenya
Kenya is one of the best places for Safari year round. The big five (lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros) roam freely and frequently through the large expanse of the Maasai Mara in the south and the lesser known Aberdere National Park in central Kenya. Stay in the park at The Ark, a wooden building with long walkway fashioned after Noah’s that’s equal parts kitsch and hunting lodge. A feeding trough outside the main dining and gathering areas draws animals around the clock. Expect everything from warthogs chasing away leopards looking for lunch to elephant sex shows. (Really.) Or try the mara at the ultra-luxe Kicheche camp, where three-course meals and bottomless cocktails are de rigueur—as is the mandatory armed guard escort back to your tent at night.
When to go: June—the beginning of Kenya’s winter—which is one of the best times for Safari.

 --Chris Kompanek

Destinations to Watch in 2013

Published in SmarterTravel.com

More Reasons, More Destinations

Anniversaries

New York City: February 1 marks the 100th birthday of Grand Central Terminal. The day will be marked with performances and the opening of the New York Transit Museum's "Grand by Design" installation.

Kenya: 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the country's independence. Expect celebrations across the country to celebrate the Golden Jubilee.

Destinations To Watch In 2013

Published in the Huffington Post

Here's the best New Year's resolution: Travel more. We've looked into the 2013 crystal ball and found destinations to dazzle in the year ahead. Find out why you're invited to the Emerald Isle, how the City by the Bay is making the most of its waterfront, and which country is set to make a dramatic solo debut into the European Union next year.

Anniversaries

New York City: February 1 marks the 100th birthday of Grand Central Terminal. The day will be marked with performances and the opening of the New York Transit Museum's "Grand by Design" installation.

Kenya: 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the country's independence. Expect celebrations across the country to celebrate the Golden Jubilee.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: The town is marking the 150th anniversary of both the Gettysburg Address and the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest Civil War battle, with activities and events in late June, early July, and November.

-- By Christine Sarkis

J&R Guram Campaign Furniture

Published in GearPatrol

We’re no strangers to the revival of heritage American brands, but what about revisiting cool gear from the heyday of the British Empire? An under-explored category, indeed. On a recent trip to Elephant Pepper Camp in Kenya’s Mara North Conservancy, we slept, dined, drank and chewed the fat in tents furnished handsomely by J&R Guram, a throwback campaign furniture and accessories outfit based in India.

Think of campaign furniture as a more elegant version of the folding chairs, stools and cots you’d pick up at REI for a leisurely weekend in the woods. In the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, it was commonly carried by administrators and armies of the British Empire in the Indian subcontinent and beyond. Renowned houses like Chippendale, Hepplewhite and Sheraton made high quality furniture that was suitable for an aristocrat’s home but could easily be knocked down — in fact, it’s sometimes called “knock-down” furniture — and transported when it was time to move camp.

Like Imperialism, this style of furniture has mostly gone of style. But Jeet and Raj Guram have taken at stab at reviving it with an elegant variety of knock-down chairs, tables, desks and other tent furniture and equipage — all of it made with rosewood, canvas, buffalo hide and equestrian-quality brass. If you’re starting an empire (or family), this could be your game. Just don’t forget the Nainital Safari Bar. Not unless you’re keen to rough it, sir.

Africa Rising

Published in Recommend Magazine