To see various regions of New Zealand without the hassles of driving, my husband, Keith, and I decided that the expedition-style ship of the Australian company Orion Expedition Cruises (New York, NY; 877/674-6687) was what we were looking for.

We sailed aboard the Orion on the 10-night “New Zealand Highlights” cruise, Feb. 3-13, 2010, departing from Bluff, on the tip of the South Island, and stopping in Milford Sound, Dusky Sound, Dunedin, Akaroa, Kaikoura, Wellington, Marlborough...

We were looking for a quiet, smoke-free apartment for our stay in Brussels, Sept. 23-29, 2009, and B&B Maritiem (rue de Ribaucourtstraat 135, 1080 Brussels, Belgium; phone +32 0 498 33 97 32) was perfect.

Our hosts, Lies and Danny, answered all our questions prior to our booking online and provided travel advice later.

The B&B is located just across the canal from Lower Town and just two blocks from public transit. To the south, at the metro station Ribaucourt, the...

Pilgrimages fascinate me — the ritual, the pageantry, the dedication of the pilgrims, their willingness to undergo hardship and their sense of fulfillment upon the achievement of their quest. My own “pilgrimages” have been secular.

In August ’08 I was simply a traveler drawn to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain for the annual late-July festival of Santiago, the biblical Saint James.

Legend says that the Romans cut off his head and his friends ferried his remains to a...