My husband, Ron, and I are inveterate travelers, having been on 67 cruises and all seven continents. We also are enthusiastic viewers of nature programs and have long been fascinated by the huge lizards on the island of Komodo in Indonesia. So when we found that “The Great Barrier Reef Experience” cruise with Holland America Line (Seattle, WA; 877/932-4259) stopped there, we immediately booked it through our travel agent.

The 16-day cruise aboard the Volendam, Nov. 24-Dec...

While on a driving tour of the Benelux countries with my husband, Colin, April 2-30, 2013, we mainly took back roads, wandering through the countryside. We had made some lodging reservations in advance, but since we were uncertain where we would be some days, we chose to rely on last-minute accommodations at those times.

After driving from Luxembourg through Belgium and into the Netherlands, we found ourselves in an area with many small towns but no lodging options readily apparent....

When, after an absence of several years, I walked into my favorite London restaurant, Denise’s (79 Southampton Row, London, Greater London, WC1B 4ET, U.K.; phone +44 20 7436 1562), I was warmly greeted by the owner, who never forgets a face!

Denise asked about my family and proceeded to insure that my daughter and I enjoyed our meals.

The cuisine is French, the ambiance is cozy and bistro-like, and the food is wonderful and reasonably priced. My daughter had pork chops, I had...