Machu Picchu, Peru, photographed by Orbitz's own Kari Babinec. Orbitz employees love to travel. And it’s probably no surprise that we also love capturing our adventures in pictures to share with friends, family and inevitably — each other.  With so many talented and savvy travelers, we figured why not have a contest to see who could snap the best shot? This year, Orbitz employee Kari Babinec took first place with her spectacular... 

This past January, our very own Chris O’Brien took a stand against the Chicago chill and headed west for a sunny California vacation and the warm glow of Laguna Beach. Chris captured these images of your everyday, run-of-the-mill Laguna Beach sunset (wow!), and left us working really hard to come up with reasons why here is better than there… Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR .  Read More →

By Joanna Wiebe When he was 14 months old, in 1981, my son David took his first family vacation to Guatemala to visit his great-grandparents and see the sights. With only a large red backpack, a hand-woven woolen Guatemalan bag, an aluminum-frame baby backpack and a cheap folding stroller, my husband and I took Dave all over Guatemala, on public buses, hitchhiking and walking. Dave swam in the Pacific, hiked in the mountains, climbed the steps... 

By Patrick O’Neil Over Bastille Day in July, my wife and I took our girls – then ages 6 and 8 — on a 10-day Europe vacation to Paris. We chose to stay in a Paris hotel in the 17th arrondissement because it was comfortable and near the food markets on Rue Cler. We found the kids had many more entertainment and play options than expected. We had great times at…  Read More →

I saw this over at Bespoke Affairs and just had to share… Move over balloons and umbrellas and say hi to gigantic bubbles!  If you’re looking for a cool prop for your engagement photos I think these jumbo bubbles could be just the ticket.  Check out these fun photos from Brian Dorsey’s blog . Photos by Brian Dorsey . Have a great weekend!  Read More →

If you’re visiting New York soon, don’t miss Event Horizon , the amazing citywide art exhibition by British sculptor Anthony Gormley (you know, Angel of the North, and Another Place just outside Liverpool ). He’s the man currently putting the ‘man’ into Manhattan. As it were. And our ace friends at Ace Hotel New York are championing the …  Read More →

By Elina Fuhrman Alaska is one of those places where people go to seek adventure. Its fierce beauty, overwhelming silence and lack of luxury hotels makes it a natural spectacle. Once you get off the main roads and into the wilderness, a whole new world opens up: raw, magnificent and still. But most places in Alaska are not even accessible by car, so I decided to make my first trip there by taking a cruise . As a child I knew …  Read More →

By Elina Fuhrman No other word better describes Rio de Janeiro than “exhilarating.” It’s a city that seduces visitors with the persistent rhythm of samba, mile upon mile of sandy beaches, stunning mountains that tumble down to the deep blue sea and sexy tan bodies of its residents. Rio is a true melting pot of races, colors and creeds: Africans, Italians, Germans and even Americans, all proudly call themselves cariocas and will... 

By Elina Fuhrman There is something distinctively soulful and romantic about Paris. No matter how much I travel I find myself longing to be back in the City of Light. From the first time I wandered the Champs-Élysées on Valentine’s Day in 1993 until a recent visit in October, my heart cannot but leap at the sight of romance on every corner, embracing me like a long-lost love returned home. Each time I visit, I discover a new street, a new... 

Elina Fuhrman riding an elephant in South Africa. Elina Fuhrman is the Orbitz Travel Blog’s travel artist of the month. Each week we will feature a series of photographs from her collection. Before we share her photographs, we asked Elina to share a little about herself. By Elina Fuhrman The first time I saw the world through a camera lens was during my assignment in Afghanistan. I was there in 2002 to cover the war for CNN, but I brought... 

The falls on the way down from Half Dome. By Melissa Fuller It happened a lot like this. I get a call from my best mate Jackie at 3 p.m. on a Thursday. “I have a plan,” she says. “I have three days left over on this week-long pass that I bought to enter Yosemite Valley. I think we should do Half Dome — I think we should do it at night. I …  Read More →

Today’s guest post is from my friend Ellen over at To The Max !  I was one of her bridesmaids way back when and I can still remember her fun-filled wedding.  I asked her for a wedding photo to accompany her wedding advice post but she refused on the grounds of funny looking hair and sent this picture of her cute kids instead…. Hi, everyone. I’m Globetrotting Bride’s longtime friend, Ellen. She likes to call me her “old”... 

By Melissa Fuller Traveling “far away” in my own neighborhood is one of my favorite things to do. This week I went sailing — practically in my own backyard — without even having to book a San Francisco hotel . I went out with OCSC , a San Francisco-based sailing club and charter company that offers classes, training and certification for nonprofessionals like me. If you are one of those people with sea water in your veins, this... 

Melissa Fuller is the Orbitz Travel Blog’s travel artist of the month. Each week we will feature a series of photographs from her collection. Before we share her  photographs, we asked Melissa to share a little about herself. By Melissa Fuller I took the sage advice of my corporately employed single mother: “Melissa, I want you to do something you LOVE. It’s not worth it any other way.” And so it became ingrained in my head that work... 

By Melissa Fuller I went on an amazing international vacation — an African safari to see some of the world’s most prized national wonders: Arusha National Park, Ngorogoro Crater, the Serengeti National Park and Tarangire National Park. Zebra graze on the hillside at Ngorogoro Crater. We spent our days cruising in the sun under the popped top of a converted 4  Read More →