Here’s a video I filmed recently in partnership with Air Rarotonga and Cook Islands Tourism. One of the most remote islands on Earth, Manihiki, is an idyllic and naturally stunning South Pacific atoll, and is home of the legendary “Black Pearl” of the Cook Islands. Hope you enjoy the paradisal journey through the “Island of Pearls”! 🙂
Finally wrapped the editing of my latest feature video, filmed in the Cook Islands back in May. Hope you all enjoy the journey through the wonderful #littleparadise in the South Pacific… 🙂
Kia Orana! I’ve just returned from a week in the incomparable Cook Islands. My mind is still processing the visuals and sensory of it all. Once I can reactivate my island-induced narcotic pulse to a bpm high enough to type for more than a few minutes, you will hear (and see) all about this magical, magical place…
#lovealittleparadise
“What ya sayin’ man!” Here we go island lovers, my NEW promo video for the Bahamas is a wrap! 🙂 I had the sensational pleasure to film this video on my last stop on the #FreedomTour a few months back. What a gem of an island! Let’s please keep it a “secret” though, cuz Lenny Kravitz (who lives there part time) told me to help keep it that way. True story. Nice man.
So, relax your mind, unwind and enjoy my virtual tour through the island of Eleuthera. *Please don’t view this video while operating any machinery…or if you are required of a productive day at work. 😉
(Rainbow Bay – Eleuthera, Bahamas)
This was my first morning on my recent trip to the Bahamas, up early (5:45am). I always love to catch the sunrise on my first day in any new place. It’s my way of connecting with nature…having some personal time in my new surroundings. This is the best way to set the tone for the experience that lies ahead. Sit in silence. Get a feel for the environment. Breathe in the freshest air of the day. Listen to the earliest whispers of the wind and sea. You can’t beat it. You really can’t. (unless you brought along a rum bucket and an endless supply of jelly donuts)
#GringoWithAGreenBag #FreedomTour
Hot damn, Sep 1 already??? What the…?? I was just barely stocking up on SPF-50! Welcome to this month’s #TravelTuesday special feature: The #Beach! I’m pretty bummed that Summer has zipped by faster than that shoe that got hurled at G.W.Bush’s head. I live near the coast, and I’m sure we’ll have a sweltry Indian Summer that lasts through October here in California, but I’m still gonna miss the Summer season of BBQ, baseball games and carefree fun in the sun…which seems like it lasted a week. So let’s get some virtual sand in our toes to last us ’til next Summer… 🙂
¡Adios Verano!
(Rincon, Puerto Rico)
(Cahuita, Costa Rica)
(Dog Island, Panama)
(Jericoacoara, Brazil)
(Great Ocean Road, Australia)
(Mexican Caribbean)
(Molokai – Hawaii)
(Boca Chica)
Nothing peaks the top levels of my “satisfaction meter” like the sight of a fresh coconut and a machete-weilding native! On a hot day in the Caribbean, it’s the perfect compliment to a day spent lounging on the sand, synching your brain pulse to the rhythm of the sea and thinking about what you are going to write home about (sorry, instagram about) in your daily travel diary later that evening. “Oh look, fresh coconuts! Yay! Wait ’til I take a selfie of myself sipping rum-spiked nectar out of a coconut shell in paradise…haters gonna hate!” It is the cherry on top of the “island life” sundae. In the land that put the “Loco” in the “Coco”, you’re in for a real treat when you see one of these guys approaching you on any of the dreamy beaches of the Dominican Republic. On this particular day, I got a 2 for 1…a fresh coco and an even fresher hat to go with it! Things could be worse…much worse.
Just wanted to shout out to the city of Acapulco for hosting the Tianguis Turistico Mexico 2015 travel conference this week. It was an amazing event for the global promotion of Mexico, and the Gringo With A Green Bag was honored to be invited by the Mexico Tourism Board to participate in a week of business, culture, networking, beach and uninterrupted sunshine. Full event review on the horizon. I’ll be sure to reflect on all the inspiration (not pounds) I gained over the week…which, as I imagine it does for most visitors, started with that lovely vintage view of Acapulco’s legendary Pacific coastline and a little first date courting with la playa y sol. 🙂
This morning on the beach in Acapulco, Mexico…host city of Tianguis Turístico México 2015. The shadows have since shortened and the temps have risen. A beautiful place to be.
(Aguada)
One of several things you are guaranteed to find on the island of Puerto Rico (besides delightfully potent and colorful rum concoctions, fried pockets of meat-stuffed plantains at every turn and the infectious beat of Caribbean rhythms that can force even the gringoest of gringos to break into a Carmen Miranda-like hip shuffle) is an epic sunset. In order to find the best ones, however, you must leave the tourist-mousetrap of San Juan (which does offer up some rather enticing bait) and head towards the western end of the island where the final footprints of day slowly fade away behind the dreamy Pacific. Sunsets on a tropical island always seem more enjoyable than those viewed from anywhere else. They just do. Several theories here: 1) It could be the consistently dramatic island skies, which are typically filled with swirling and color-bending clouds that hover above the ocean like seagulls in search of surface appetizers, reflecting the lovely golden and pastel hues of the “magic hour”. 2) The calmness and serenity of being on a landmass surrounded by water and fringed with photogenic palms, isolated from the rest of the world and so far away from the monotonies of the “normal” life back home, which forced you to buy that ticket in the first place. 3) Feeling like you are in a privileged place at the perfect moment in time while all of your friends back home are sitting at a desk counting the tic-tocs until they can leave behind the office grind and dive into the not-so-flowing stream of rush hour traffic. 4) You’ve just consumed your fourth Piña Colada or Mai Tai, and everything you witness is “the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen!”. Yeah, fruity drinks injected with alcohol do have that effect on me sometimes. The only downside of that is being able to properly focus your camera or iphone as the Earth beneath you begins to spin double-time. Whatever the reason, there’s no denying that Puerto Rico offers up sunsets that can rival those found anywhere around the world. On a stage that has been set to provide much drama, beauty and inspiration to all those who come out to watch…the sunsets of Puerto Rico have played a praiseworthy role.
(Vieques)
(Rincon)
(Rincon)
Gringo With A Green Bag 