A Perfect Day in Portsmouth

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Joel Centano

Long live Portsmouth, New Hampshire – the third-oldest city in the U.S. and, incidentally, one of my favorite places on the planet. As a New Hampshire native who’s lived in Seattle for two decades, I still feel Portsmouth’s tidal pull, which brings me back every year to reacquaint myself with its lobster rolls, beloved tugboats, and brick-paved lanes that always seem to reveal some fresh find. For a few locally favored stops to explore on your visit, read “A Perfect Day in Portsmouth,” my quick guide to the city that I recently penned for The Virtuoso Life blog.

(*story excerpt included in post)

World Class

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Joel Centano

Lessons that come from travel can be as critical for kids as any learned in a classroom setting. I’ve witnessed this firsthand, from beach combing the Maine coast with my young daughters to exploring the Galápagos Islands with my nephew, but also, more recently, while penning a series of articles pertaining to Virtuoso’s Journey to Global Citizenship theme.

Whether it’s an ecology lesson in the Mexican Riviera or a hands-on cooking class in Morocco, it’s clear that educational-themed travels can provide a powerful, positive influence in a child’s life. Read more in “Higher Education,” (August 2015 Virtuoso Traveler) and “Food for Thought” (October 2015 Virtuoso Traveler), or in my “Global Good” post below.

Ecuador: Sky High in the Center of the World

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Joel Centano

UPDATE | May 1, 2013: For more on Mashpi Lodge, check out my review, “Ahead in the Clouds,” written for the May issue of Virtuoso Life magazine.

My head’s in the clouds, I confess, but once again it occurs to me how good life can be. True: Such an outlook comes easy, perched in the canopy of the Andean cloud forest and surrounded by a symphony of birdsong. Nevertheless: Shouldn’t travel be transcendent? Does it not have the power to transform?

Two hundred feet above the jungle floor, I’m seated in the “sky bike” at Mashpi Lodge, a new eco-resort situated in the wilds of Ecuador some 100 miles northwest of Quito. The start of my nine-day trip designed by the Ministry of Tourism to showcase the country’s mainland, my stay at Mashpi has reminded me of the metamorphosis that travel can bring.

Some 80 percent of the lodge’s employees, for example, come from local communities. Built with sustainable materials, Mashpi also resides on land previously owned by a logging company, and its formation has led to the protection of more than 40,000 acres of forest. Under the guidance of resident biologist, Carlos Morochz, the region’s flora and fauna are now being preserved. Already Carlos and his colleagues have identified new species of frogs and discovered a number of heretofore-unknown leks, or mating grounds, for manakin, cock-of-the-rock, and umbrella birds.

Of course, such efforts are the boon of travelers, too. Here in this eco-playground I’ve had the good fortune to immerse myself in revitalizing waterfalls; take night hikes through the jungle; linger in the lodge’s butterfly and hummingbird gardens; and indulge in an alfresco chocolate degustation with chef David Barriga as toucans flitted by in the background. All this and now an aerial bicycle ride that places everything – the lodge, the land, and this verdant, vibrant life that surrounds – in perfect perspective.