Author: Teresa Bergen

I’m about thirty feet in the air, balancing on a small swinging log when I stop to stare down at the alligator below. The huge, wide reptile basks in Florida’s mild winter sunshine. Around me, roseate spoonbills nest in the treetops. It’s a viewpoint you can only get from the ropes and zip line course called Crocodile Crossing at the Saint Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park. People have been coming here for thrilling encounters with massive reptiles since 1893, making it one of the state’s oldest attractions. But soaring over gator pits on a zip-line gives a perspective that would…

“Would you like a rum punch?” the receptionist asked first thing as I checked into South Beach Hotel. I was in Barbados, the birthplace of rum and known for Mount Gay Distillery, which dates back to 1703. Instead of getting sensitive and protective, like I sometimes still do, and brusquely saying no, I asked if they had anything nonalcoholic. Which of course they do—I hardly invented nondrinking. I sat in the sunny lobby with a glass of sweet fruit punch, the first of many nonalcoholic alternatives I would drink during five days in the land of rum. Sure, there’s a…

In downtown Loreto, the church bell rings every 15 minutes, day and night. It’s a gentle background sound during the night that I can sleep through if I’m already asleep. But at six AM, the bells go wild, bursting into a whole song. Must mean it’s time to haul my carcass out of bed and hurry the few blocks to the waterfront to catch the sunrise. It would be a shame to miss the sun coming up over the malecon, the 1.7-mile walkway along the beach. This fishing town in Baja del Sur, population 10,000, is lively in the morning.…

The hike took seven hours, and we gained 1800 feet of elevation in the first three. Huffing and puffing, we climbed through cloud forest, passing orchids, ferns and a glorious waterfall. Sometimes we walked on dirt trail, sometimes we climbed old, uneven Inca stone steps. The last 52 were so steep we had to crawl. At last, we reached the Sun Gate and saw it in the distance: Machu Picchu! Our little group of sober hikers had survived the arduous climb and could reap the reward of visiting this 15th century archeological site. It was the pinnacle of a wonderful…

Dawn comes very early at Lake Shikaribetsu on Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. By 4:30 AM, I sit up from my thin futon and see the pink and orange sky lightening over dark water. It’s the beginning of another day at the Hotel Fusai, a traditional hot springs hotel that sits right on the lake. Here, I got a little education in Japanese culture: Shoes off before you enter your hotel room. It’s acceptable to wear your bathing kimono to breakfast and dinner, but wrap the right side around yourself first, as the left first is for burial. Don’t expect coffee…