Rathtrevor Beach on Vancouver Island is a fantastic family-friendly camping spot. There are many local attractions within one hour of nearby Parksville (where you can pick up extra ice for the cooler or groceries, just a five minute drive from the campsite).

Being prepared and having an optimistic attitude are highly recommended for a successful family winter camping experience. This map is inspired by that time I was convinced to spend two night in a quinzee with my boys. You can visit my new blog to see more of the story!

I grew up in New York. The *other* New York - the vast expanse of farmland and wilderness that comprises almost everything outside New York City. The town I grew up in, in Fulton County (just northeast of the counties on the map), was the center of the leather and glove making industry during World War II and into the 1950s and '60s. I always assumed that the Leatherstocking Region took its name from the leather trade. However, instead it comes from James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, a series of books that includes The Last of the Mohicans.

A map depicting the Oak Island and the alleged cursed treasure that lives there.

The Benedictine Abbey, Tihany

At Camden Lock Market you will find a wide range of food stalls with street food of the finest kind from all over the world next to the Regent's Canal.

Do some self-guided London sightseeing tour by using London's own transport system, passing many tourist attractions as Trafalgar Square or Victoria Palace Theatre by bus. At Westminster Pier get on board at River Thames bus service. You can see London's famous landmarks as Big Ben, London Eye, St Pauls Cathedral, the Tower and the Tower Bridge from the water. From Tower Gateway you can take DLR train, which is an automated light metro system. The trains are fully controlled by computer. Take a place in front where normaly the driver is sitting and enjoy an unusual trip with a marvelous view on the Docklands and Canary Warf until you reach Greenwich!

Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace in London is the spectacular process by which an old guard gives the guard service to a new guard

London never sleeps

Directly between the Hyde Park and the Regent's Park in London there is a picturesque area known as Little Venice. With Narrowboat you can travel the Regent's Canal until Camden Lock Market.

Places to spot birds and what species you might find there

Blickling Estate. National Trust property in Norfolk UK. Commissioned map.

Try out some offbeat geothermal pools in Iceland which are less crowded and cheaper than the hyped up Blue Lagoon. http://siddharthandshruti.com/geothermal-pool-iceland/

I moved from the US to Oxford last year and I am still in love with all the beautiful buildings, the many museums and the culture in a bike friendly and walkable city.

Although golf-like games were played in other parts of Europe as early as the 1200's, it is thought that Scotland is where the modern game of golf as we know it was invented. The first written mention in Scotland was in 1457 prohibiting the play of golf since it distracted from practicing archery, a skill used for military purporses. But the real spread of golf happened in the late 1800's when train service from London to Edinburgh was much improved. Golf spread across the British Isles and then further to the entire British Empire. Even with the expansion of golf courses worldwide, it is still a rite of passage for many golfers (professional and amateurs alike) to head to the wind swept coastlines of Scotland to play on some of the most famous courses in the world. This illustrated map shows just a few of these top courses.