A jaguar thinks it over.

START THE JOURNEY HERE This site is designed to let your imagination fly. It will introduce you to some unusual travel experiences. It doesn't suggest the best hotels or restaurants, but it will lay out the territory where you might be able to find one interesting adventure and link up with some of the finest travel companies on the planet and others like yourself who want to know more about where you are. So dream a lot, plan a little. Then go. Enjoy!

Nothing says luxury like a Bugatti.    IF YOU LIKE CARS... and are willing to spend a few dollars to get the full story about some special luxury vehicles, join Smithsonian Journeys in Germany, France, and Switzerland on this unique trip July, 2012.   Innovation happens in unlikely places, and Karl Benz's began with a tricycle in 1886. This is part of a display illustrating the evolution of the automobile in the Deutsches Museum in Munich, where the trip begins. From here, visit the Bavarian Motor Works factory and museum and see where BMW began as an aircraft manufacturer in World War I before moving on to motorcycles and cars, to become one of the most popular cars around the world today. Three nights in Stuttgart, the so-called auto city, give car lovers a chance to explore the development of the Daimler-Benz, at the spectacular new Mercedes Museum, beginning with Karl Benz's first Motorenwagen with a gasoline-infused engine in 1886. This led to some of the most beautiful racing cars and classic limousines of the 1920s and 1930s, many of which are on shiny display in  the Museum. Also in Stuttgart is the Porsche plant and museum where you can see the first Volkswagen Bug (the People's Car), designed by Ferdinand Porsche, who went on to blood-pumping sportscars, including the Type 64 racecar. From there, you spend an amazing day at the German Grand Prix watching the Formula 1 race. Cross the border into France and immerse yourself in the Peugeot Museum of Adventure in Sochaux. This is guaranteed to deliver the thrill of automobiles, leading to the final day spent at the Bugatti Atelier, and some of the breathtaking Audi-built AWD Bugatti Veyron supercars. Ten days altogether; fly back from Zurich.  Starts at about $6,500. This trip needs 20 minimum to go; please call 877-338-8687. For details, see http://www.smithsonianjourneys.org/tours/european-cars/?display=itinerary
Witnesses to millennia of history. (Photo©sculpies)   EGYPT: A MOMENT IN HISTORY ABERCROMBIE & KENT, experienced in trips to Egypt over several decades, is celebrating Egypt's new moment in history. This land/cruise trip aims to acknowledge the ancient civilization as well as the new spirited country. Start in Cairo with a visit to the Museum. From the Fairmont Nile Hotel, take in Giza, the Sphinx, and Saqqara. On Day 5, fly to Luxor and board the Sun Boat IV with an Egyptologist for 4 days of cruising the temples in the Valley of the Kings. Because the Sun Boat IV  is smaller than the average Nile cruiser, travelers can slip  into places rarely visited, past scenery that emphasizes Egypt's fundamental beauty.  Next day, cruise to Aswan and switch to a fellucca to sail around the islands. On the final full day in Cairo, visitors get a chance to feel the new spirit of the country with visits to the grand Mosque and the huge marketplace. Eleven day trips leave January to October, 2012, with breaks in the hot months, April, May and August, September.  From $2,000 to $3,200, depending on berth; single supplement $800 to $2,200. Internal air is $300. See: www.abercrombiekent.com/travel/?tid=5412	Ice crystals come in all sizes and shapes. This unusual one was found in Idaho in 1936. It measures 4.5 inches in diameter. (Photo@NOAA/NWS/photolib.noaa.gov)   CLIMATE CHANGE AT THE ARCTIC'S EDGE The Arctic in February begins to look a lot like spring, if you don't mind several feet of snow, dim light all night, and occasional dancing Aurora Borealis. Earthwatch's site, not far from the western edge of Hudson Bay, is one of the most sensitive climatic areas in the north. Summer teams measure the slip of the vanishing permafrost, caused by rises in global temperature that affect land and sea. But in the winter, the decay is slower, ice is hard, snow is deep. For 10 days, join Dr Peter Kershaw, a "biogeographer, disturbance ecologist, periglacial geomorphologist," and collect and classify ice crystals, and measure snowpack thickness, density, and temperature. You get about on a sled pulled by a snowmobile, and get to experience what researchers do in extreme field conditions. Evenings you can spend in the lounge reading about the nuances of climate change, or go out for a beer in the local town. At some point you learn how to build your own igloo and sleep in it for the full Arctic experience. Lodging and meals otherwise are in the Churchill Northern Studies Research Center. Sleep 8 to a room dormitory style, share showers, eat in the cafeteria -- hot water, flush toilets -- no roughing it here. Your data will contribute to the overall understanding of climate change, and you might find you like collecting ice crystals. Ten days, Churchill, Manitoba, two teams leaving in February, about $3,000, plus air. Call 800 776 0188; see: www.earthwatch.org/exped/kershaw_churchill.html
Raglan Castle in the south of Wales has weathered storms and wars for the last 500 years. (Photo©Terryfic3D)   GHOSTS AND CASTLES   Since most British castles are haunted by something or someone, expect to hear distant singing or catch a glimpse of a floating spirit when you find yourself alone in the tower after a long climb.   On this trip, offered by Road Scholar, travelers take their grandchildren between the ages of 9 and 11 for eleven days in Wales. Four nights are spent in Ruthin Castle, built in the 13th century, which might host some of King Arthur's entourage.   When you're not castle-hopping, you'll travel across a viaduct and along a subterranean river in King Arthur's Labyrinth. Don't be put off by the impossible-to-pronounce roadsigns ("Wales" is "Cymru"); your guide speaks Welsh. Because of the cold damp, castles are closed from November to February; but you will be there in sunny, warm July. Enjoy the abundance of a medieval banquet in Cardiff, as well.    This intergenerational adventure is about $3,000 per person, includes everything except international air. Activity level is moderate: be able to walk 2 miles in a hour.   Call 800-454-5768; or see: www.roadscholar.org/programs/programdetail.asp?DId=1-5NEWBB