Dream Trip 2009 is up and running! For inspiration, here's another one of our favorite entries from last year:

Is that a monk scurrying off to services? A Star Wars enthusiast dressed as a Jawa on his way to the Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con? The subject of finalist Christian Jane's winning image may be less fanciful than you may imagine, but it's still pretty exotic: It's his wife at Cairo's Amr ibn al-As Mosque, wearing the robe required for female visitors.

"All women are asked to cover themselves with this green hood," writes Jane, "apparently because some women visit the mosque scantily clad during the peak summer season."

Share your travel photos and memories in our 2009 Dream Trip Contest. You could be just a few clicks away from a $25,000 trip to anywhere you choose.

Will.i.am hangs out in Venice after a concert.
Photo: CONTOUR by Getty Images

Hip hop phenomenon-turned-actor Will.i.am has traveled from Australia to Israel as frontman of the chart-topping rap group The Black Eyes Peas. In Condé Nast Traveler's May issue, Assistant Editor Eimear Lynch spoke with the music man about his favorite beaches and hotels, and she got some underwear advice.

Top Warm-Weather Spot: "It's a toss-up between Brazil and Israel, and I'll have to go with Tel Aviv. It has great clubs, and the locals are warm, friendly, and family oriented, plus the girls are incredibly beautiful. I stay in the Dan Tel Aviv and order room service--it's always a club sandwich and soup, no matter where I go [972-3-520-2552; danhotels.com; doubles, $360-$480]."

Packing Tips: "Don't bring underwear. You don't want to be that guy with the overweight bag filled with dirty drawers. I buy a seven-pack every week while I'm traveling and throw them away after one wear. I take five pairs of jeans, three sweaters, a bunch of hats and accessories, and two tuxes--my favorites are from Yves Saint Laurent."

Hotel Perfection: "The Sydney Harbour Marriott became like a second home when I was on location for the new X-Men. It's in a great spot, near The Rocks district [61-2-9259-7000; marriott.com.au; doubles, $190$252]. The Hotel Unique, in Sao Paulo, is like a big boat in the middle of a jungle of skyscrapers [55-11-3055-4710; hotelunique.com.br; doubles, $395-$465]. And staying at the W Seoul is like being in a huge Korean BBQ joint, with a hotel club, the Living Room, that's straight out of The Jetsons [82-2-465-2222; starwoodhotels.com; doubles, $130-240]."

Best Bar: "When I was in Sydney shooting X-Men, I went to Tank Club [3 Bridge Lane] and Ivy Lounge [320-330 George St.] every weekend; those clubs turned me on to electro and dance music, which inspired the next Black Eyed Peas record."

Favorite Restaurant: "Curry House CoCo Ichibanya, in Tokyo. Curry is a favorite of mine, and they serve a Japanese style that's sweeter than Indian and Thai. It makes me feel like I'm home [24-10 Utagawacho, Shibuya-ku; 813-5459-0460; entrées, $5-$10]."

Dream Trip: "Peru. I want to go with an expert who can take me on a tour of the mountains and to Macchu Picchu."

See Will.i.am's acting debut in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, in theaters May 1.

Condé Nast Traveler's Jocelyn Miller plys the waters of Kerala, India, in a rice barge turned kitted-out houseboat.

Dream Trip 2009 is up and running! For inspiration, here's another one of our favorite entries from last year:

A travel moment, by definition, passes by in the blink of an eye. Dream Trip 2009 finalist Katherine Fiori's "Fleeting Moment" represents this transience, and mimics the blur of an object or a scene caught in your peripheral vision. Before you realize you should pay attention, the split second has passed, but your memory lingers.

"I had just arrived at a festival outside Tokyo," Fiori wrote of taking the picture, "and was awestruck by the overwhelming movement and sheer 'foreignness' of it all. I was snapping away with my camera and managed to catch this young girl glance somewhat admiringly at an older girl passing by."

Share your travel photos and memories in our 2009 Dream Trip Contest. You could be just a few clicks away from a $25,000 trip to anywhere you choose.

The Extreme WOW Suite at the W Hong Kong.
Photo: Jimmy Cohrssen / Condé Nast Traveler

Condé Nast Traveler's Hot List issue is hitting the stands jam-packed with our annual roundup of the top new hotels, restaurants, spas, and nightclubs. If for no other reason, pick up a copy to ogle the lush photographic homage to hot properties such as Miami Beach's Mondrian South Beach, Australia's Southern Ocean Lodge, and Botswana's Zarafa Camp. Yum!

The Hot List party continues at cntraveler.com/hotlist where we include the 140 hotels, 50 restaurants, 50 spas, and 35 nightclubs found in the issue PLUS an additional 105 properties. And we break out those 43 Hot Hotels listing at $250 a night. 

Publisher Chris Mitchell, actress Kim Raver, and editor-in-chief Klara Glowczewska at Wednesday night's Hot List party.

Madame Boldface left a message this morning saying she was "simply too exhausted" from covering Wednesday night's Condé Nast Traveler Hot List Party to submit anything for a Friday Boldface. We blame the RC Cola/Pernod shooters she was caught slamming down late that night. Please accept the apologies of the DT staff. We leave you with a link to her party reportage.

Dream Trip 2009 is up and running! For inspiration, here's another one of our favorite entries from last year:

Sometimes the most enjoyable part of travel isn't trudging through a museum or paying a pilgrimage to a landmark, but taking a break to sample another way of life. Dream Trip 2008 finalist Steven Greaves's Paris street scene encapsulates the phenomenon. The Louvre and the Eiffel Tower can wait. Who wouldn't rather play the flâneur and kill the better part of a morning sipping a demitasse of French roast as the world passes by?

Share your travel photos and memories in our 2009 Dream Trip Contest. You could be just a few clicks away from a $25,000 trip to anywhere you choose.

The Marriott's "OUT in New York" package includes breakfast for two and a charitable donation.
Courtesy of Marriott.com

by Sara Tucker

Now that pink is the new green, gay and lesbian travelers, whose vacation spending boosts the U.S. economy by an estimated $70 billion a year, are being courted as never before. Even New York City, "birthplace of the gay rights movement" and the niche's undisputed grande dame, is out on the street, shakin' her booty with the competition.

Not everyone is amused. When state legislators got wind last summer that South Carolina was being touted abroad as a gay-friendly destination, an international flap ensued and the offending ads were pulled. "Nothing like Southern hospitality," commented Gay Agenda. More recently, Congressman Steve King warned Iowans their state could become a "gay marriage Mecca" if they don't watch out. (Best comeback, from a Political Ticker reader: "Oh my! We can't have gays come to Iowa. That might lead to . . . dancing!!")

Possibly more disturbing, from a marketing perspective, is the growing suspicion that non-heterosexual travelers are an awful lot like heterosexual ones.

How do you take your eggs? bmi has professional chefs on board for premium flyers

by Barbara S. Peterson

Given how hard it is to produce decent tasting food aloft, why don't airlines simply give up the compartmentalized trays and leave us to sup on a pile of greasy fast food we picked up on the way to the airport? Well, most have, at least domestically; my last coach flight reeked of Taco Bell takeout. When I fly internationally, though, I expect to be fed. Quite well. The good news is, this week Lufthansa announced that it is pairing with Ritz Carlton chefs to produce premium-class meals on transatlantic flights.

Starting in May, passengers flying to Germany can feast on dishes dreamed up by Ritz chefs based in Boston, Denver, New York and San Francisco: butternut squash risotto cakes with porcini mushroom sauce, Parmesan-crusted halibut, goat cheese mousse with a Banyuls glaze and crushed pistachio nuts. Sounds much better than Burger King.

When I interviewed Lufthansa's catering team for Condé Nast Traveler a few years ago ("Airline Kitchen Confidential" published March 2006), the chefs spoke candidly about the difficulty of reproducing restaurant meals. The punishing conditions dictated by airline service require, among other things, that components of meals be prepared as much as a full 24 hours in advance. As one chef at the Culinary Institute of America put it, "the reality of airline food is that you're eating leftovers." Yuck.

by Beata Loyfman

Every year, Condé Nast Traveler sends scores of writers out all over the globe to find the hottest new hotels, spas, bars, and restaurants (anonymously, of course). Their experiences are then compiled into the annual Hot List.

This sort of thing calls for a celebration, and last night the Hot List was feted at NYC's Pranna restaurant. Yours truly (wo)manned the red carpet to chat with the travel-loving celebs who turned out to party with us. Here's a look beyond the velvet ropes:

Justin Tranter arrives in style.
Photo: Patrick Butler

Justin Tranter, of the band Semi Precious Weapons, christened the red carpet with a bang. Wearing a pair of stiletto boots with tights, a leather jacket, and some of his custom Fetty jewelry, Justin set the bar high for red carpet shock factor. But he was as passionate about travel as he was about getting our attention. His travel must-haves: exactly three pairs of pantyhose and black eyeliner. Never leave home without 'em.

Bronx-born singer Kat Deluna usually brings more than that, but she had a great packing tip: roll your clothes into "egg-rolls" to save space and put all hair and make-up products into zip-lock bags. Next up for Kat is choosing the destination of her new video, either Cuba or Brazil. It's a tough call, Kat. We sympathize.

Actress Kim Raver told us about her upcoming trip to France. Traveling with two young children has its own challenges, but Kim has some tricks up her sleeve: bring plenty of hand wipes and doubles of everything, that way you're never caught off guard with baby, ahem, fluids. 

The award for the coolest celebrity guest goes to actress Sherri Saum of HBO's In Treatment. Not only did she tell us all about her amazing recent trip to Israel and her favorite hotel (the Four Seasons Chicago), but she also hung out and chatted with us until the party's end. At one point, she was checking out baby pictures from the wallet of our very own Ombudsman, Sanjay Surana.

Check out the video (above) for more inside the Hot List festivities. Click here for a list of all the winners.

Dream Trip 2009 is up and running! For inspiration, here's another one of our favorite entries from last year:

Shots of Rio de Janeiro usually frame the outstretched-armed, mountaintop statue of Christ the Redeemer, the golden swath of Ipanema beach, or the famed Girls of Ipanema. Finalist Xin Zhou's winning image is more unexpected, a photo of a cable car approaching (or is it departing from?) the top of the city's iconic Sugarloaf Mountain. The mist hanging over the peak adds to the air of mystery--and anticipation of reaching journey's end.

"It had been cloudy all day," Zhou wrote in his entry. "When I finally got to Sugarloaf Mountain, the sky starting to clear up just a little. There was this eerie feel of going through the clouds. I quickly took out my camera and stuck my hand out the window to capture this image."

Share your travel photos and memories in our 2009 Dream Trip Contest. You could be just a few clicks away from a $25,000 trip to anywhere you choose.

One of the greats: Reggae was born in Randy's record store and studio in Kingston, Jamaica

by John Oseid

In the 80s, I used to lose myself for hours at Paris music chain Fnac, where salespeople allowed shoppers to take records out of the sleeves and listen to the music, right there. If it weren't for those record heads, I would never have discovered great Gallic rockers (no, that's not an oxymoron) like Charlélie Couture.

Looks like others (Norah Jones, Chuck Berry, and Paul McCartney, among them) dig vinyl, too: On April 18, a thousand retailers worldwide will host in-store performances in support of Record Store Day.

The industry promotion reminds me what a great part of the travel experience record browsing is. Endangered as they are, plenty of shops in the world have survived the download takeover, and they still serve as discovery zones for knowledgeable staff and music lovers. Not long ago, I rushed past a great looking little vintage record shop perched on Lisbon's perilously steep Calçada do Duque stairway on the way to a show. I had meant to return. I hope it's still there. If you have a favorite record store--be it devoted to jazz in Tokyo or Toronto, hard rock in Belgrade or Adelaide--I'd love to hear about it.

Rest assured that vinyl still rules. As saucy singer Shelby Lynne sees it, "You can't roll a joint on an iPod."

More music:
* If you're attending California's famed Coachella music festival this weekend, look for the Record Store Day tent, which will sell 7" singles cut especially for the celebration by the likes of Tom Waits and Franz Ferdinand.
* The Record Store Review lists international record shops.
* Boom Box: An unabashed gusto for music of the world

Click on the image for a larger view.

As we told you earlier today, Dream Trip 2009 is up and running. Here's one of our favorite entries from last year:

The pink-hued rocks undulate, refracting sunlight from above. The hiker's head turns up in wonder, drawing the viewer's eye to the top of the canyon. The scene looks as though it could take place in Petra, Jordan, but 2008 Dream Trip finalist Mskalny captured this image not far from his hometown of Tempe, in Antelope Canyon-Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park.

"The sand stone formations of the slot canyons reveal the ageless colors and details of a land seldom seen," Mskalny wrote in his entry. "Antelope Canyon is a destination that everyone should see and can see when visiting Arizona."

Share your travel photos and memories in our 2009 Dream Trip Contest. You could be just a few clicks away from a $25,000 trip to anywhere you choose.

Condé Nast Traveler is offering you a chance to win a $25,000 Dream Trip to anywhere in the world!

All you need to do is upload a photo from a trip and tell us what made it a great travel moment.  If the editors like your submission, start packing your bags.  Not only will we pay for your trip, but consumer news editor (and sister blogger) Wendy Perrin, will work with you to craft a truly unforgettable and flawless journey.

So start rummaging through your travel collection today!  Need a little inspiration?  Check out our Dream Trip 2007 and 2008 winners.

Further reading:
* The full list of Dream Trip 2009 prizes
* Our 2007 winner blogged his Dream Trip through Antarctica and South America

Il Buco's main dining room.

by Brook Wilkinson

I've seen plenty of restaurant deals drop into my inbox, but this one's a cut above: New York's Il Buco is reducing diners' lunch tabs by 15 percent for one week, and donating that 15 percent to the International Union for Conservation of Nature from its own coffers. So if you spend $100 on lunch you'll only have to pay $85, and the East Village restaurant will donate $15 to the IUCN's Amazon rainforest conservation projects. This fundraiser will apply to all lunches from April 21-25, in honor of Earth Day next Wednesday, the 22nd. Just don't ask for Evian--the restaurant has been serving its own filtered water instead of the bottled stuff for a decade.

An adorable one-bedroom cottage
at Aguas Claras.

In case you missed the More Sun for the Money piece in the March issue of Condé Nast Traveler, we're doling out the Latin America and Caribbean deals here on the Daily Traveler all month.

Aguas Claras in Playa Chiquita, Costa Rica   with cottages going for $70-$220

Set amid hibiscus bushes and palm trees, Aguas Claras is a relaxing retreat three miles south of Costa Rica's lively surfing capital, Puerto Viejo. The inn's five brightly colored stilted chalets are a short walk from the gorgeous (and surfable) Playa Chiquita and have ceiling fans, screened kitchenettes, and sitting areas. Breakfast at the on-site Miss Holly's Kitchen includes a fresh fruit salad, omelets, and baked goods.

Book: The chalets are equally appealing; the only difference is the number of bedrooms (506-2750-0131; aguasclaras-cr.com).

J. CO serves green tea, Black
Forest cake, and garlic cream
cheese donuts.

by Manuela Zoninsein

The Lion City might be one of the world's most peaceful places, but that hasn't prevented a baked goods battle from erupting. After standing in line at J.CO Donuts & Coffee for about 20 minutes earlier this month to try one of their crazy frosting flavors, I asked for a neighbor's take on the beignet state of affairs. Mr. Tang, a local telecommunications executive, looked me straight in the eye and openly fretted, "J.CO, they're going down. They used to be so soft . . . you didn't need teeth to eat them."

Tang demonstrates Singaporeans' common zeal for food and for debating the ins and outs of the town's dining scene. Locals are not unknown to queue in anticipation of street snacks--but that's traditionally been in pursuit of Chinese, Indian, Malay, or Indonesian hawker cooking. Now, they will wait several hours, at any time of the day, to get their hands on a specialty donut.

Wanwisa Posner's winning photo from the 2008 Dream Trip Contest.

To kick off this year's $25,000 Dream Trip Contest, the Daily Traveler is beginning a new daily post, our Photo of the Day. Starting today, we'll highlight photos and travel moments from Condé Nast Traveler's 2009 contest, and we'll also throw in a couple of favorites from past editions.

Keep checking the Daily Traveler for inspiration--and to see the top competition vying for an unforgettable Dream Trip. Read about today's pick after the jump.

"Petits chiens voyagent gratuitement."
Photo: Brigitte Lacombe for
Condé Nast Traveler

by G. Y. Dryansky

Autres bêtes autres moeurs, the old French saying goes: Other beasts, other habits. It's a metaphor for cultural curiosity and tolerance.

Now that we've forgotten about freedom fries, our American tolerance and curiosity about the French is back to what it was. Thing is, they're often convinced that we still get our perceptions wrong in ways that the French find intolerable.

Regarding scholarship, the French are the first to honor some of the best work about them done by Americans. Robert Paxton and Herbert Lottman's books on France in the forties, in particular. Truth to tell, when it comes to magazines and fiction, often there comes the rub. Over and over our writers project a vision of France with boilerplate perceptions of toujours l'amour and gourmet epiphanies, and we view the natives with humble awe or create patronizing caricatures of them.

The look of Sicily's Verdura Golf Resort & Spa.

by Ondine Cohane

Despite some recession gloom casting shadows over the hospitality sector, I am happy to see that a number of big hotel players are opening exciting new properties this year. Rocco Forte, for example, who already has properties like Rome's Hotel de Russie, London's Brown, and the Hotel Amigo in Brussels under his belt, will debut two new hotels. The Augustine will launch in Prague in the next couple of months. A former thirteenth-century monastery with vaulted ceilings and spectacular views of Prague Castle, it will get a new dose of style from Forte's design-dynamo sister, Olga Polizzi. In late May, Forte's anticipated Sicily project, Verdura Golf Resort & Spa, will open for business on the southwest part of the island with a large spa, an 18-hole Kyle Phillips-designed golf course, and six restaurants. This seaside property sits on a huge plot of land near the Valley of the Temples; it is arguably Forte's most ambitious project yet.

The Aman Group is also set for expansion this year. I am looking forward to the unveiling of the Amangiri in southern Utah: the views look jaw dropping and I like a little luxury mixed into an outdoorsy vacation. Aman has also just opened the first part of its Montenegro project--you can read more about this fascinating country in David Ebershoff's Condé Nast Traveler feature--at the Villa Milocer, once Tito's summer residence. The completion of the resort, called Aman Sveti Stefan, will come in August, when the sturdy medieval buildings that face Villa Milocer across the bay are transformed into a hotel. This part of the coast was once a glamorous seaside getaway for the likes of Richard Burton and Sophia Loren, and the property claims mile-and-a-half-long private pink-sand beaches. A side trip to UNESCO-protected Kotor is a must.

Numerous resorts have put their construction on hold until 2010 in the hope that the economy will have taken a turn for the better by then. In the meantime, I will keep you posted on those forging ahead.

In case you missed the More Sun for the Money piece in the March issue of Condé Nast Traveler, we're doling out the Latin America and Caribbean deals here on the Daily Traveler all month.

El Convento, San Juan with doubles going for $270-$390

A grand vestige of Old San Juan's Spanish colonial past, El Convento is the loveliest hotel in the city: Marble bathrooms, wrought iron canopy beds, tapestries, and carved desks in the 58 rooms set a comfortable, opulent tone. Housed in a former convent, the hotel is large and frames a charming central courtyard that's a popular wedding spot. It's a prime location in the seven-square-block neighborhood of Old San Juan, which is filled with forts, museums, and more than a few bars--notably Rumba, a salsa club with a Dirty Dancing vibe (152 Calle San Sebastián; 787-365-1418). Daily wine receptions are held on a terrace overlooking the old cathedral, which can also be seen from the small rooftop pool and hot tub.

Book: Higher rooms are nicer and recently renovated (787-723-9020; elconvento.com).

Anyone up for a dull adventure? (The Telegraph)

"America's trains may soon go faster--relatively" (The Economist)

Here's a good idea: showcase art in those empty shop windows (Javno.tv)

"A passenger who allegedly twisted a flight attendant's arm in a bid to use an airline toilet is facing charges" (news.com.au)

Florida to get first solar-powered city (Reuters)

Prelude to a fall: In March 2008, a chunk seven times the size of Manhattan broke off Antarctica, putting the rest of the Wilkins Ice Shelf in jeopardy of a collapse.

by Sara Tucker

When a large chunk of ice makes news, it's almost never a good thing. There was the 18-inch blob that fell from the sky above Tampa, Florida, on a Sunday morning and landed on a Ford Mustang, the 50-pound boulder that hurtled out of the blue two summers ago and smashed through an Iowa roof, and the airborne lump that crashed through a Pennsylvania house last October and bounced off a sleeping occupant's forehead. Not to mention the 200-pound Goliath that landed in a vacant lot in Oakland.

The latest chunk of ice to make headlines is the size of Connecticut. The Wilkins Ice Shelf, which scientists, navigators, and bloggers have been watching closely for the past year, collapsed over the weekend, detaching itself from the Antarctic Peninsula just as diplomats from 47 countries convened in Baltimore to discuss issues affecting the polar region. Topping the list is tourism.

Even the Coppolas have to cut back:
Nic Cage (that's Francis Ford's nephew)
was forced to sell his Bavarian castle.
It was an offer he couldn't refuse.
Photo: AP

by Beata Loyfman

We recently blogged about heroic A-Listers doing their parts to boost the economy by spending on lavish destination weddings. Well, this week the news is less good. Word has surfaced that some celebs are actually having to cut back on spending in the wake of the current economic hiccup. Gasp!

For example, poor Nicolas Cage has had to sell his 28-room German castle Schloss Neidstein. Now where will his child bride and son Kal-El stay while in Bavaria? I guess they could make do with their other two castles, including the ace-of-clubs-shaped Midford in Bath. But owning an even number of castles is just unseemly. Perhaps his royalty fees from Knowing will offset this sad financial state.

Thank goodness the economy hasn't slowed down the queen of spending, Mariah Carey. She and child hubby Nick Cannon recently spent $200,000 on chairs at schwanky Kreiss Showrooms on Melrose Avenue. But who can blame them? Can you imagine how many chairs are needed to fill Fleur de Lys, the world's largest mansion, currently on the market for $125 million? Oh, did we mention that Mariah has made an offer on the property? At least she'll finally have enough space for all those shoes.

Further reading:
* Adrien Brody's home is his castle
* Boldface: Celebrity travels

No, this is not a drawing. This is St. James's Club in Antigua.

by Barbara S. Peterson

On Wall Street they call it bottom-fishing, loading up on absurdly cheap stocks when you sense the price can't go any lower. We're seeing it all over: home buyers snapping up foreclosed McMansions, shoppers getting designer duds at Wal-Mart prices. Travel is no exception.

Does that make us vulture vacationers, as the New York Times dubbed this phenomenon last Sunday? Should we feel a tad guilty that we're profiting from someone else's pain? I mean, we're really just filling rooms and airlines seats that would otherwise go empty. Besides, unlike market players who hope to cash in their cheap shares for a substantial profit later on, we're not holding the investment. We're enjoying it now.

The Times article got me thinking about my own voyage into vulture-dom. In mid-February, I took what amounted to a free vacation to the Caribbean under a novel stock swap deal: I got to dump several hundred shares of battered Citigroup stock in exchange for a week's stay in a beachside room at St. James's Club in Antigua, all meals included.