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Steve Leventhal

Meet Spencer West – Incredible and Inspiring!

November 25, 2019 by Steve Leventhal

In October 2019, at the Ensemble Travel conference in Seattle, I got to hear and talk to one of the most incredible individuals I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. The theme of the annual travel agent convention was “Travel With Purpose.”

Spencer West lost his legs below his pelvis at age five. Yet, he has become an activist, author, video star, as well as a terrific motivational speaker, and an inspiring personality. He leads volunteer excursions for young people and adults. His story should encourage everyone to face challenges in life head on, and embrace change.

In his talk, Spencer discussed the challenges he overcame along the way, how an unfulfilling job led him to go to work for WE.org, and how he summited Africa’s Mt. Kilimanjaro. Spencer achieved this journey, that would test the fitness and aptitude of any person, on just his hands, only occasionally relying on his wheelchair.

West is a commanding presence on stage, yet he maintains a charming self-deprecating sense of humor. “I save a lot of money on shoes and socks,” he jokes while delivering his impassioned speech. Even in keynote speeches, you can usually hear some side chatter. Not this time. From the moment Spencer wheeled himself up towards the lectern, to the ovation he received at the conclusion, the audience paid rapt attention.

A towering presence: from L to R – Steve Leventhal, Spencer West, and Jennifer Leventhal (owner, Sentinel Travel)

I reached out to Spencer and asked him to share some of the things he discussed in his speech. Please share his story with others, and watch the video (below) of his unbelievable journey to climb Kilimanjaro.

How important was it that your friends and family growing up treated you like everyone else?

Growing up it wasn’t a conscious choice on my part.  It’s just what my close friends and family did. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized how important it was to me. When I wrote my book Standing Tall, I sat down and asked my parents why they raised me that way and their response was“We were afraid if we treated you differently you wouldn’t take the risks you needed to become your own person. Plus,we wanted to make sure you were as independent as possible in case something was to happen to us.”

Tell me how you got involved in sports in high school?

At my high school in Rock Springs Wyoming, in order to be considered a well-rounded student you not only had to be good at academics, but you also had to be a good athlete. Academically I did well, but I had never played a sport. So, I decided to try out for the cheerleading squad because I had taken gymnastics as a kid. Not only did I make the squad but my loud voice and tumbling skills turned out to be an asset for the team, and that year, along with my incredible teammates, we brought home a state championship title.

How did the attitudes of the jocks change when your team won the state cheerleading competition?

What I found so frustrating is that our main job as a cheerleading squad was to support our high school sports teams. But many of these players teased us, us being the male cheerleaders, because they didn’t consider cheerleading a masculine sport. But after we won the state championship title, many of those players came up to us after to congratulate us and wanted to know how they could join the squad next year. We were able to create a social value around the sport of cheerleading.

What challenges did you face when you entered the working world?

As a teenager, when I had reached the age that I could legally start working, I started applying for jobs in my community. The usual things, retail, fast food etc. I noticed that my friends were getting interviews and landing jobs much faster than I was. I couldn’t even get an interview. I want to be very clear, that I don’t know this for certain, but I always thought that maybe my disability had something to do with my struggles finding a job. The thing I found most frustrating is that I don’t really need a lot of accommodations when it comes to the workplace. Usually it’s a stool to boost my height, but most things I can navigate in my wheelchair or on my hands. I eventually had to apply for a program called JTPA (The Job Training Partnership Act) and an incredible woman named Beth helped me find my first job as an information specialist for the Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce.

Why did you leave a well-paying job to go to work for We.org?

To answer this question I need to back up and explain that growing up, it was implied by society and the community around me that the “North American” dream was to go to college study something that would get you a good paying job so that you could have “the house, the car, 2.5 kids and all the things’. So that’s what I did, I chased a paycheck instead of my passion. I studied at Westminster College and got a degree in Communication. But when it came time to find a job there was nothing available in my field. I eventually landed a job answering phones at a salon and spa. Very quickly I climbed their corporate ladder and became one of their operation directors. However, this job wasn’t my passion and I realized I wanted a job that paid well, but more importantly, made the world a better place. In 2007 a dear friend and mentor, who knew I had been struggling, invited me to go on a volunteer trip to Kenya with him and his family. After some deep thought and soul searching, I said yes. This trip changed my life forever. I saw firsthand the work WE was doing on the ground with their international development model WE Villages. I had never seen a development model not only be sustainable, but it was the community members that were breaking the cycle of poverty for themselves with some gentle support from WE.  I was also learning about the youth empowerment work they were doing in North America and abroad to support youth in making a difference and I knew I wanted to be involved in a larger way. When I returned home from my trip, I almost immediately applied for a job at WE. Things moved very quickly and just a few months after returning home from Kenya I packed up my life in the United States and moved to Toronto Canada to work at WE’s headquarters as an ambassador, motivational speaker and leadership facilitator.

How did you become a motivational speaker?

Throughout the course of my life people had invited to various events and classrooms to tell my story about the loss of my legs. It wasn’t until I began working for WE that I started speaking professionally. I had the distinct honour of working with some incredible people, one of them being the co-founder of WE Marc Kielburger. He taught me how to properly craft a speech, know your audience and to tell my story in such a way that anyone could relate to it whether they had legs or not. After that I did the hard yards of speaking whenever possible to get my story and message out there. Over time I built a career that now includes having spoken for some of the major businesses and schools in the world. Organizations like Virgin Atlantic, Staples, KPMG, Bank of America and Microsoft.

What has been the reaction to your YouTube videos?

To be honest YouTube has been slow to the uptake. We are still trying to figure it out. As of now it’s been a hodgepodge of content from vlogs, interviews, behind the scene antics, and as of late a motivational video every Monday. For now, it’s a glimpse into my life and how I navigate the world as someone who identifies as gay and has a physical disability. We’re always looking for subscribers. (shameless plug) Here is the YouTube link

The incredible story of Spencer’s Kilimanjaro climb

What led you to go on the Kilimanjaro trip, and were some of the lessons you learned about yourself?

Halfway through my journey with WE I was starting to feel guilty. I was telling most audiences that they needed to start getting involved with things that they care about and either raise awareness and or funds for that cause. But I was just talking about it and wasn’t actually doing it myself. I got to a point where I could no longer tell folks to do that when I had never done it myself.  So, I decided to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and raise a half a million dollars for clean water in East Africa, whom at the time, was facing one of the largest droughts they’d seen in over 60 years. I knew attempting to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro on my hands and in my wheelchair would be no small feat…get it? Feet? Ha! Anyways, I asked my two best friends Alex and David if they would do it with me and they graciously said yes. We spent and entire year campaigning, working with a personal trainer and meeting with our guide that would lead our trek.

In June of 2012 we set out to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. The hope was that I would do 50% on my hands and 50% in my wheelchair. But after the first day we realized it would be more like 80% on my hands and 20% in my wheelchair. I’m grateful that my two buddies came because I needed their help. They were amazing at saying encouraging words like “just a few more steps” “keep going, it’s really inspiring to watch you walk”.  There were points during our trek where they would physically carry me or help push me in my chair. It was a given that if I’m going to attempt to climb the largest mountain in Africa on my hands and in my wheelchair, I was going to need help. But what I didn’t anticipate is that on summit day the roles would drastically reverse and my buddies would need my help. Around 18,000 ft. they got hit with massive altitude sickness and I didn’t. I literally watched my support system crumble to their knees before me. Genuinely, it was the first time in my entire life where I wished I had legs that day so I could physically carry my friends like they had carried me. But I don’t have legs, so instead I decided to focus on what I could do. My friends kept telling me that it was inspiring to watch me walk on my hands, so I figured if that’s all I could, I’d do that to the best of my ability. I stood in between them and hand over and hand and foot over foot we started to walk. We had to stop multiple times for my buddies to vomit and twice we physically had to help pick them up. But eventually we made it to the top. We collapsed and cried, took a photo, they puked, we took another photo and we celebrated. We had reached the summit and raised well over our goal to provide 12,500 clean water for life in Kenya. What we all learned from that experience is the importance of asking for help and then offering. That was the key to our success. 

What should people know about “traveling with purpose”

Having traveled the world for my job and for pleasure, one of the things I’ve learned is that travel exposes you to new ideas, cultures and most importantly helps create empathy. I’m all for beach vacations as well as volunteering and I think at the end of the day it’s important to realize how your travel can impact everything. By that I mean, culture, the environment, how you represent your home country and what you do while you are outside of your own home. These are just a few of the many things I believe is important for us to consider when traveling with purpose.

For more information on Spencer: https://www.we.org/en-CA/about-we/me-to-we/speakers-bureau/spencer-west
or follow him on social media: Twitter – Instagram – Facebook.

Filed Under: Featured Interviews Tagged With: Motivational Speakers, Spencer West, Travel With Purpose

Sand, Sea, and Skyscrapers – Ten Days in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

May 2, 2013 by Steve Leventhal

Sand, sea, skyscrapers, along with food, in abundance, would be the most apt and description of my trip to the United Arab Emirates.

This just completed journey gave me a glimpse into two vibrant, bustling, metropolises. Their efforts to diversify from dependence on oil revenues, seems to be paying dividends.

But first, a little geography lesson, and a briefest of histories.

The UAE is a single country made up of seven emirates, in many ways, similar to our states. It is located on the Arabian Peninsula, with Saudi Arabia to its west and south, Oman as an eastern neighbor, and the Persian Gulf to the north. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are two of the better-known emirates, as well as the two largest cities. The UAE has been an independent nation since 1971, shortly after the British, who had been governing the area since the 16th century, ceded control to the locals. The discovery of oil in the fifties provided the seed money for much of the infrastructure that is in place today.

When we arrived at the Abu Dhabi airport after a thirteen-hour flight from Chicago, to our chagrin, there was no one to meet us from the ground operator, who was coordinating most of our transportation between cities. My first thought was, “Great, here we are in a very foreign country with no driver, and no working cell phone to contact the tour company!” That did not bode well for the start of a ten-day odyssey.

Fortunately, those fears were short-lived, as our very apologetic operator showed up about twenty minutes late, explaining in his Russian-accented English that the flight notifications never showed us as arriving early.

Our view from the Fairmont.
Our view from the Fairmont.

One of the first things we learned on the trip to our first stop, the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, was that the native population of Emirati, as the locals are called, is only about twenty percent of the people living in the UAE. Like our guide, most of the people we met were immigrants from India, Pakistan, Iran, England, France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Australian, Philippines, as well assorted other Arab countries. Not surprisingly, our that driver was from Morocco.

There are a few rules that come into play in an Islamic country, such as the fact that the sale of alcohol is restricted to hotels and restaurants, and liquor is not sold in the stores. Also public displays of affection are frowned upon. I read in the newspaper about a couple of foreigners who were sentenced to a year in jail for indecent behavior, having been caught in the act in a lifeguard’s chair at the public beach.

We saw all manner of dress there, from men in a traditional Arabic “thwab,” an ankle length white cotton shirt and keffiyeh (headdress) and women with the black “abaya,” the over garment, to others in jeans and casual Western wear.

Even at the shopping mall, some women chose to wear the abaya, only allowing their faces to be seen in public, while some went as far as covering up everything except their eyes. However, you could see blue jeans or colorful dresses peeking out from the lower part of the abaya as they walked along. Even some of the abayas had what I can only imagine is expensive decorative gold lace and trim.

When thinking of Abu Dhabi, some people might have a visual picture of the palm-shaped island. That however is in Dubai and is a man made creation, whereas Abu Dhabi is located on a natural island, sitting a short distance from the UAE mainland. Several other islands make up the city including Saadiyat and Yas Islands. The Fairmont where we stayed the first two nights is actually in an area called “Between the Bridges,” and offered a spectacular view of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, a stunning white marble building, and one of the iconic landmarks in the UAE.

It was also where we had the first of many exotic dinners, at the hotel’s Lebanese restaurant, Cedars Lounge. In truth, we were too tired to go anywhere else the first night, and coming from Chicago, we did not feel the need to eat at the hotel’s steakhouse. The next evening we ventured over to the Souk Qaryat Al Beri. “Souk,” is an Arabic term for marketplace. That term can run the gamut from a fancy retail center, to an old fashioned market with tiny stores, crammed with antiques, and manned by ageless shopkeepers.

The Qaryat Al Beri is relatively new, as is most everything in the UAE, but designed to look decidedly old. We dined at Ushna, an upscale Indian restaurant. The outdoor area sits alongside the creek, with excellent views of the Mosque. I can’t tell you half the things we ate, other than it was great, it was spicy, and as we seemed to do a lot on the first part of the trip, we over ordered.

One of the items I had many times on the trip was mezze, which could best be described as Arabic antipasto – a selection of appetizers consisting of hummus, babaghanoush (eggplant,) olives, cheeses, and other Middle Eastern nibbles. I also came to enjoy “um ali,” a mashup of bread pudding and nuts, that tasted like a cool oatmeal, and served for dessert.

abu-dhabi-golf-club.jpgBy sheer coincidence, the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship was taking place the first weekend we arrived. We decided to watch the action on day two, and descended on the course just in time to see Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Martin Kaymer tee off, We followed the trio for the first nine holes, along with the majority of the other spectators present. At one point, one of Tiger’s shots landed within eight feet of our position, and we got an up close look. Later, one of McIlroy’s drive strayed beyond the ropes, nearly landed out of bounds. We strode up just in time to witness one of those amazing shots that only the top pros can make; out of the sand, under a small tree, to within fifteen feet of the cup.

Our visit to the tourney that day was a shortened one, because our afternoon destination was a tour of the Grand Mosque. That was the one place where strict adherence to the Islamic dress code was a must. There was a list of do’s and don’ts near the entrance. Shorts for men and short skirts for the ladies were not permitted. Any woman who did not have her head covered was required to put on an abaya.

mosque-sideThere was no official tour so we joined the masses that were streaming in an out of the main prayer hall. The main prayer hall can accommodate seven thousand people. The carpet we trod on is the world’s largest carpet at 60,000 square feet. The entire building and grounds has room for forty thousand worshippers. The inside was as spectacular as the outside, with column after column (ninety-six in all,) covered in marble and mother of pearl. The building is named after Sheikh Sayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the first president of the UAE, who initiated the construction, but never lived to see it’s completion. He is laid to rest on the grounds.

The following day, we moved to our next hotel, the Westin Abu Dhabi, which is located on the golf course that hosted the aforementioned tournament. Had we done a little research prior to arrival, we might have stayed there the entire weekend. To say the least, it was a thrill to be located a chip shot away from the first tee. Our arrival Saturday afternoon coincided with a few of the last pairings reaching the eighteenth green. Then we retreated with a number of the hotel guests to the sports bar, where we sipped on over priced beer and feasted on English Premier League soccer with a number of golf fans from the UK.

camel market - Al AinThe reason we didn’t arrive at the Westin until late in the afternoon is that earlier that day we made the ninety-minute drive east to the city of Al Ain, where we visited the Sheikh Zayed Palace Museum. You’ll notice the Sheikh’s name comes up a lot. He truly brought the country from a backwards Bedouin existence, to the modern country it is today. Many roads, bridges, buildings, and schools bear his name. The museum is an old fortress, which served as Zayed’s residence. It has been restored to approximate the look and feel of visiting it sixty years ago, before the oil boom. In addition, we stopped at Jahili Fort, another old fortress that has been turned into a museum. It hosted an exhibition of photographs by British explorer Wilfred Thesiger, who lived the modest existence of the Bedouin tribes for two years in the late 1940’s, and took thousands of pictures during his treks across the harsh desert. Our last stop before lunch was to see a camel market, something I can truly say I have never experienced before.

That evening, we dined at Agadir, the Westin’s Moroccan restaurant. We found out later that all the chefs and, the waiters were brought in from Morocco in an effort to be as authentic as possible. For appetizers, we had spiced soup along with Moroccan filo pie, filled with pigeon (it was not as gross as it sounds) quite tasty actually, and covered with crushed almonds and orange blossom, then glazed with honey. The main course was “couscous royal,” a combination of lamb, chicken, merguez (mutton) sausage and vegetables. As usual we over ordered and ended up taking our desert of pastries and cookies back to the room.

 

Dubai beckons

The next day it was off to Dubai, but not before one of the best breakfast buffets we had on the entire trip and watching some of the final pairings tee off. They love their buffets in the UAE, and every hotel had amazing displays of food, both Arabic and well as Western and Asian fare. There was something about the preparation, choices, and taste that made the Westin’s buffet rise above the rest.

Abu Dhabi has is share of architecturally eye catching edifices, but nothing prepared us for what we saw in Dubai.

Now I live in Chicago, so I’m used to seeing a skyline with tall towers.

There is an eight lane highway covering the eighty miles between the two cities. The border between the Emeriatees is about halfway there. The Abu Dhabi part of the highway is lined with small “ghaf” trees planted diagonally on the side of the road, as well as the median. That probably acts as a buffer to keep sand from blowing on the road. You pass through a few suburbs along the way. The minute you reach the Dubai border, the trees disappear and all you have on either side of the road is flat desert scrub, and the occasional low, rolling dunes and wild grasses. Off in the distance are some of the industrial buildings from suburban Dubai.

As we approached the city, we saw a cluster of high rises and started looking for the fabled Burj Khalifa. That turned out to be the Dubai Marina, a three-kilometer stretch of high rises condos and apartment building along artificial canal city on the Persian Gulf. We continued on for another twenty minutes before the downtown business district came into full view.

 

The architecture is a) stunning b) impressive c) imposing or d) all of the above

Answer: d

 

The buildings are everywhere. Each ongoing construction project seems more outlandish and eye catching than the next one.

dubai-skylineCheck out the view from our room at the JW Marriott Marquis. Their claim to fame is that at eighty stories, it’s the world’s tallest hotel only building. The hotel actually has twin towers. The one we stayed in opened only in November. The second structure isn’t even completed yet. Our room was on the forty-third floor. We even managed a foray up to the lounge on the seventy fourth floor, but were a bit disappointed that it only had views on two sides, and that was partially obscured by some of the windows decorations. It also had balconies that appeared to be solely for look, because you couldn’t go out on them. Go figure. The hotel itself was another example of the over the top design in Dubai. Among other things, it boasted a fabulous bakery with some outstanding French pastries. The property is located in an area called the Business Bay, a few short kilometers from the main downtown area.

business bayOur concierge advised us against taking at taxi to go to the Dubai Museum, fearing that we’d spend much of the time stuck in afternoon traffic. He recommended taking the Metro. Dubai’s subway system is clean, modern, and efficient. It was also very crowded at rush hour. So once we bought our tickets (about $1.25) for a one-way fare, we jockeyed for position on the platform, then fought our way through the mob to enter the nearest car. Once safely inside, I looked around to notice that I was the only male in the car. While normally that would not be a bad thing in a Western country, in the Middle East women can and do prefer some segregated facilities. So after a few mumbled apologies, I made my way into the next car. No harm, no foul. People were particularly nice on the train, going out of their way to tell us where to change trains, and what stop to exit.

That was the easy part. Trying to find the Al Fahidi Fort and the museum was another thing. There were no signs at the station, so we relied on people to point us in the right direction.

The fort, which dates from the late 1780’s, is the oldest structure still standing in Dubai. Admission was three Dirhams (less than a dollar.)

Per Wikipedia: The museum was opened by the ruler of Dubai in 1971, with the aim of presenting the traditional way of life in the Emirate of Dubai. It includes local antiquities as well as artifacts from African and Asian countries that traded with Dubai. It also includes several dioramasshowing life in the emirate before the advent of oil. In addition to artifacts from recent discoveries as old as 3000 B.C.

After the museum visit, we took a water taxi across the Dubai Creek to the old market area, where we were overwhelmed by the Gold Souk. It was like Chicago’s jeweler’s row on steroids. Store after store selling watches, rings, gold chains, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. Hundreds of shops, literally. So we retreated to the relative safety of the nearby Spice Souk, and bought a few items from a charming, middle-aged shopkeeper who was from Iran. Based on his recommendation, we found a Persian restaurant and enjoyed a meal of traditional Iranian fare.

 

The next day we set our sights on the tallest building in the world.

burj khalifa 01

You might know the towering Burj Khalifa from its supporting role in the movie Mission Impossible 4. Tom Cruise dangles out of the building at breath-taking heights. What’s simply amazing is looking up from the observatory on the 124th floor, and seeing another forty stories of building soaring over our heads. The building itself is so much larger (2717 feet tall with 163 stories) that it makes the fifty and sixty story edifices look simply puny next to it. At times the tower itself can take on a surreal look. http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/language/en-us

 

downtown dubai The Burj is the centerpiece of Downtown Dubai, and mixed use development features five hotels, eleven residential options, and of course, shopping centers.

http://www.mydowntowndubai.com/

 

In the UAE, they love their malls. The Dubai Mall has over 1200 stores. Every brand name from the US can be found there, plus top retailers from the UK, Spain, France, and Germany, a full size ice rink, and wait, there’s more – the Dubai Aquarium.

By contrast, the super sized Mall of America outside Minneapolis burj-al-arabhas just over 500 stores. The Dubai Mall has nearly twice the retail space as the MOA, checking in at hefty 5.4 million square feet. There was no chance we were going to eat American, but we could have at TGI Fridays, PF Changs, Outback Steakhouse, or California Pizza Kitchen. Instead we chose to enjoy a mix of local and Asian food at the Social House, an outdoor eatery facing the large fountain that was part of the complex. The Dubai Fountain is renown in its own right, and features a water show produced by the same people that created the famous fountains at the Bellagio in Las Vegas

We never got to see the inside of it, but one of the other uber-malls in Dubai is the Mall of the Emirates. This 520-store behemoth boasts Ski Dubai, an indoor ski slope. Yes, you read that right – a year round, indoor ski area that can accommodate up to 1500 guests on 242,000 square feet of surface area, or roughly three football fields.

http://youtu.be/Witt1TpWZnA (Travel Channel video of Ski Dubai)

 

Without a doubt, the highlight of the trip was our stay at the Al Maha Desert Resort.

al maha suiteIf the tall buildings and modern city life epitomize Dubai, then the Al Maha is the antithesis of the hustle and bustle of the busy metropolises. Instead of traffic jams and crowded malls, there are camels, gazelles, Arabian oryx, and birds. Situated on 225 square km, fifty minutes south of Dubai, Al Maha is a peaceful, tranquil, and graceful oasis in the Emerati desert. It boasts forty luxurious one-bedroom suites, designed to look like Bedouin tents from the outside, yet as plush as any of the hotel rooms we stayed at on our journey. The resort includes a first class restaurant, and a full-featured spa with several treatment rooms as well as a fitness center, pool, sauna, and steam room. None of other hotels, however, offered falconry, camel riding, horseback riding, or nature out into their own desert landscape. The best activity was a 1 1/2 hour excursion zipping around the giant sand dunes in four-wheel drive vehicles. The adrenaline pumping, stomach-churning experience is not for the faint of heart, and never to be undertaking after a meal.

gazelleOur suite had its own private deck and an infinity pool overlooking a beautiful desert vista. Just about every day, the gazelles, which roam freely on the property, would stop and graze just outside our window. It was wonderful just to listen to the birds chipping in the early morning hours, and just after dusk. Everything is spread out over the hotel portion, so it was a delightful five-minute walk back and forth to the main lobby and restaurant.

Once again the food was simply outstanding. Our international culinary adventure the consisted of Sri Lankan fare, some of the spiciest food I’ve ever eaten. And we ordered it medium hot. Our Indian server commented on how spicy it can be, and he’s used to a hot palate.sund dunes

There is a cool video on their website introducing the property.

http://www.al-maha.com

The last three days of our saw our return to Abu Dhabi. This time we relocated to Saadiyat Island, a large, low lying island connected to the mainland by several causeways. We stayed at the St. Regis, right on the beach. There are some very ambitious plans to develop the island, which will include the only branch of the Louvre to open outside of Paris, a Guggenheim Museum, a concert hall, and more hotels and apartments. There is already an 18-hole golf course designed by the legendary Gary Player.

emirates palace
Emirates Palace Hotel

We spent an afternoon over in downtown Abu Dhabi at the Emirates Palace Hotel, where we delighted in having afternoon tea. The hotel is one of the most expensive hotels ever built, at a cost of over three billion dollars. When you see the inside you understand why, from the marble floors and gold inlay. It only has about 400 rooms, but has additional high-end suites reserved for heads of state and the Emerati royal families and their guests. One of the rather unique features of the Emirates Palace is the presence of a gold vending ATM. Shoppers can insert cash and receive gold coins or nuggets. We chose instead to do our shopping along Hamdan Street, and at the Abu Dhabi Mall, not quite as spectacular as the Dubai Mall, but a shopper’s paradise nonetheless.

Our last full day was spent being bums on the beach. The hotel has nine kilometers of pristine beachfront along the Gulf. Sorry for the continuous mentions of distances in km, but that’s the way it works over there. If you want, do the math. One mile is 1.6 km.

etihad towers
Etihad Towers

The final amazing dining experience we had was back at the St. Regis. The Sontaya restaurant featured a variety of Southeast Asian cuisine. We both had fish that was exquisitely prepared, and at last, we ordered just enough food to be able to finish everything.

The next morning it was back to the airport for the long journey back the US. We were sad to leave, but happy to be returning home. It was a wonderful trip. We saw so much, yet still missed out on some things we would have liked to have seen, such as Ferrari World, billed as the world largest indoor theme park, and Yas Waterworld, a brand new water park that had its grand opening while we were there. Given all the construction that was in various stages of development, I can only imagine what the UAE will look like in a few years.

Filed Under: Featured Trips Tagged With: Abu Dhabi, Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios – Yeah Mon!

January 16, 2012 by Steve Leventhal

“Timeless elegance.” That’s how manager Mary Phillips describes her fifty-two room, upscale Jamaica Inn hotel in Ocho Rios. In fact, if you take away the wi-fi and the iPod docks, leaving just the four-poster beds, the large easy chairs, the croquet lawn, and the tile walkways, you’ve got the same fine hotel where some of the island’s most famous visitors of a generation ago came to stay, eat, and socialize with their contemporaries.

Marilyn Monroe, Arthur Miller, Noel Coward, Ian Flemming, and other luminaries had tea, cocktails, and the finest Jamaican dining in the same patio and restaurant I did on a recent weekend getaway.

A four-day trip to the island paradise was just what the travel doctor ordered, and the leisurely, relaxing pace at the stately and meticulously manicured sixty-year old property made for the ideal holiday.

I had no problem with the proper attire requirements of long trousers and collared shirts (their words, not mine) after seven o’clock. Every afternoon tea was served at four. Each evening featured cocktails at seven. No discotheque, no t-shirt contests, and certainly no cutoffs and raggedy tees at night. Obviously, this slower pace is ideal for those couples wanting a throwback to a weekend of stately, old world charm, and vacation elegance.

An overly windy day meant a scheduled boat trip got cancelled, but the resulting change of plans took us to visit the home of the noted playwright Noel Coward. That excursion turned out to be a most pleasant of surprises.
[Read more…] about The Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios – Yeah Mon!

Filed Under: Featured Trips

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