List of ideas and items to use as a basis for a scavenger hunt on your next trip to the zoo.

There are many quotes about adventure and adventure living, crazy and interesting, thought provoking and inspiring; here are some of my all-time favorites.

For those who consider shopping a trip essential, China is magic. The vendors at Shanghai’s and Beijing’s markets hawk everything—tea pots, Buddhas, pearl necklaces, scarves, jade bracelets, cheap watches, "designer bags," silk shawls and more. But you need to know where to look and how to shop.

San Juan keeps surprising us. Two urban finds we recently discovered are the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, dedicated to the island’s visual arts and Finca Cialitos, a historic area café devoted to serving Puerto Rican coffee picked according to standards the owner learned at his grandfather’s farm.

To experience the alluring scenery of Fiordland National Park on New Zealand’s South Island, we hiked the trails of the Milford Track and cruised deep into Milford Sound.

A former railroad headquarters, Roanoke, the largest city in Virginia’s southwest, moves with a new energy. Surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, Roanoke offers a weekend getaway that combines interesting shopping and good food.

The recently opened Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Punta Cana, ushers in a new era for the music themed chain. The 1700 room property in the Dominican Republic is the Hard Rock's first all-inclusive. The beachfront behemoth, comes with a conference center, a casino and sometimes free concerts.

Visit Boston in winter? Certainly. Weekend hotel rates drop from spring and summer highs, museums showcase new exhibits and theaters host new entertainment. You can also tack on a ski or tubing outing to a snowy hill within 60-minutes of the city.

Understanding how to push yourself beyond your fears and outside of the comfortable security of your everyday life is as necessary as it is difficult. In all aspects of our lives there are things we fear and feel uncomfortable doing because we don´t like stepping outside our comfort zone.

On Assateague Island the breezes bring the sounds of snow geese honking and the neighs of wild ponies. Misty, the pony from Marguerite Henry's book helped publicize Chincoteague, but the area also has sunlit beaches, wetlands and in fall thousands of migrating waterfowl.