Take a minute and tell us your favorite travel destinations.

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All our friends –every single one– have traveled to fascinating places, returned home and told us about their UNBELIEVABLE vacation. The problem? Two weeks later, we can’t for the life of us remember the name of that great hotel (or restaurant or site or…whatever) they recommended. (A “shout-out” goes to the first person who recognizes this hotel and the recommendation they gave me about 5 years ago!)

So let’s put these wonderful suggestions in one place. It doesn’t have to be time-consuming or a big deal. Just use the form or email me (louise@shazzaz.com) with, at a minimum, the name and location of your recommendation. The more info, the better, though.

What makes this idea unique is that the list only includes (1) recommended destinations from (2) people we trust. In other words, I guarantee you will not find any back-packing itineraries through Kyrgyzstan.

What are we looking for? One-of-a-kind, life-changing and/or extraordinarily-satisfying experiences. Most are luxurious (like Ferme St. Simeon), but some aren’t (Big Milly’s Backyard, a quirky, music-loving, dirt-cheap hotel in Ghana frequented by ex-pat aid workers). What do they all have in common? Character, style, authenticity and ambiance.

I’m off to Big Milly’s in a couple of days and will let you know if it’s as fun as they say!

No. Just no.

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Oh, this will be fun. Airline seats with less legroom!

The seats “sit at an angle with no more than 23 inches between their perch and the seat in front of them” which allows the airlines to pack hundreds of more passengers into each plane. Well, maybe not hundreds, but that’s what it’ll feel like to you. And you don’t even get to sit down. It looks like you’re basically leaning against a seat the entire flight.

Neither the FAA or any European authority has approved these “saddles in the sky” yet, but if they do, we can look forward to a new class of service called…what? Let’s see, you’re traveling cheaper than coach, subjected to equipment used for horses and lean on your bottom the whole time. What could it possibly to called?

“Most people think of you as this iconic actor.”

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CNN’s Cambell Brown speaks with “iconic” actor Andrew McCarthy about his other passion, travel writing.

Who? Evidently Andrew McCarthy’s a member of the 1980′s “Brat Pack” and #40 on VH1′s 100 Greatest Teen Stars. But now he’s a writer who tells stories, rather than recites facts, which makes for interesting travel writing.

“Central Bangkok is now a ‘war zone.’”

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View Bangkok Dangerous – Red Shirts Rally March-May 2010 in a larger map

Latest news is that the street clashes are further outside the area marked on this map. All MRT and BTS train services are closed until further notice. Most big shopping malls in central Bangkok are closed too. All schools are shut… The army’s plan to encircle the red shirts (green square) has failed repeatedly. So far 34 dead in running street battles. We think the army will move in today or tomorrow to clear the streets.

MOST DANGEROUS: Areas to avoid in Bangkok this weekend: Sala Daeng/Silom area, Lumpini Boxing Stadium/Bon Kai area and Ratchaprarop to Din Daeng area including Victory Monument.

Journalist Richard Barrow’s map and  tweets provide almost-real-time information on the crisis in Bangkok, as does The Guardian.

“…after my party of four sat down, we heard yelling — loud, sustained…yelling — coming from the kitchen. (The chef) was dressing down a member of the staff.”

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A few minutes later, the chef was at it again. Fifteen seconds. Another fifteen. And without much forethought, I pushed back my chair and walked through the open doorway of the kitchen.

I don’t remember exactly what I said, though I did not raise my voice to the point beyond where people in the kitchen could hear it. I told the chef that his behavior was making me and others uncomfortable. I let him know that I thought it was mean. And I asked him to cut it out. I don’t remember exactly what he said in response, but whatever it was, I found it irritating enough that I reminded him that I was paying to eat there and told him again to stop berating his staff at that volume.

Maybe 20 seconds after I had returned to my seat, he approached the table. He apologized, barely, and then let me know that he thought it was incredibly rude of me to come into his kitchen and tell him how to do his job. I repeated the fact that he had been ruining my dinner…

“I think it’s time for you to go,” he said.

And so Ron Lieber, food blogger
for the New York Times, was kicked out of Michelin one-star Restaurant Marc Forgione by Mr. Forgione himself. Both refused to apologize- or even call a truce- after a phone conversation the next day. And the feud continues with articles all over the internet picking up the story.

Their squabble? Ridiculous.