As soon as I said I was going to Red Mountain Spa, I regretted it.

From affordable housing and a plethora of outdoor pursuits, to abundant seafood and lush farmland, this valley provides all the necessities of life. And there's high-speed Internet, too.

After airfare, accommodation is the fastest way to wipe out your travel budget. Staying at a hostel is the easiest way to stretch it, as students gearing up for summer travels quickly learn. Spend £75 ($150) a night on a low-end London hotel, or £25 ($50) for a bed at Hostelling International Oxford Street… That’s a lot of cash that could be diverted into pints of Guinness.

Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, and Eleanor Rigby's grave are just some of the Fab Four's legacy that features across the European Commission's Capital of Culture for 2008.

Crystal Klym’s efforts to rid Penticton’s Skaha Bluffs of invasive plant species has earned her the nickname “Noxious Weed”. That moniker might not suit everyone’s taste, especially a young woman’s, but during a tour of the bluffs last July, the South Okanagan Valley resident told the Georgia Straight that she proudly wore the handle.

Finding a place to stay that truly does its best to reduce its environmental footprint can be a frustrating experience.

Compared to slogging it out on foot, the road to Santiago looks different from a bike seat.

From April 4 to 6, hundreds of brightly clad youngsters from 17 countries will take over Whistler's slopes to compete in North America's preeminent ski contest for their age group.

I’ve just stepped in fresh dog shit, a bus has blasted me with exhaust, and I nearly sprained my ankle on a piece of broken sidewalk. And why won’t those damn hot Argentine men cruise me back?

Whether your benchmarks pertain to the richness of coffee, the firmness of mattresses, or the crunchiness of fries, travellers have long used such standards to measure the pluses and minuses of an adventure away from home. The charm of travel benchmarks is that they can be applied to a universal range of tastes and expectations. There’s nothing necessarily snobbish or exclusive about personal litmus tests.

Stretching your comfort zone is part of the adventure, but it’s crucial to balance your risks and abilities.

For tourists in the Gambia, even the beach is no refuge from hustlers, known as “bumsters”, who sell horseback rides—or themselves.

Winter travel has spawned innovations from dogsleds to snowmobiles, and nowhere more than in the True North.

Feeling pumped about the prospect of some spring bike action? The North Shore Mountain Bike Association has just the thing: the pump track. This freshly constructed wooden bike track debuted at the recent Outdoor Adventure and Travel Show at B.C. Place Stadium, where the NSMBA held its annual bike sale. Over the past five years, the swap has become the 3,400-member club’s major fundraiser, the biggest event of its kind in Canada.

Vancouver