Assistant editor Rachel Barbara makes her first snow angel.

Editor’s Note
The Promises of a New Year

Just in time for the holidays, my current home town got hit with one of the biggest snowstorms in the city’s recorded history. Nearly two feet (60 cm) of powder blanketed downtown Denver, Colorado.

Schools closed, partygoers cancelled and hardware stores sold out of shovels. Even before the snowplows were put away, another foot (30 cm) was forecast to dump atop the remaining dirty ice and gray slush. A lot of people were annoyed.

But since I’m originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, a city where a dusting of snow falls only a few times a century, I couldn’t help but get excited. I made my first snow angel, blazed my first snowshoe trail and sculpted my first real snowman. It was barely New Year’s resolution time, and already I’d accomplished some long-standing goals.

January is the time of year when many folks pledge to try new things, 86 their bad habits or just lead a healthier life. It’s also the time of year when people make promises on which they don’t deliver.

We here at Go World Travel aren’t trying to make any grand promises. But we do hope to inspire travel, whether it’s a visit to a magnificent Spanish fortress (Moorish Moorings: Granada, Spain, by Joanne Lane) or a weekend of spa indulgences (Like Mother, Like Daughter: Spa Getaway at the Arizona Biltmore, by Janna Graber).

If you need a little motivation, check out Heike Schmidt’s Skiing Steamboat Springs: Olympic Training Grounds. You’ll discover the playground of both legendary skiers and homespun cowboys. Even beginners can get Olympic instruction in this Colorado ranching town.

Pete Mathers seeks out new adventures in Seascapes and Sky Sights: Kaikoura, New Zealand. Join him as he swims with dolphins in the cold waters off the Kaikoura Peninsula and flies the clear skies above New Zealand’s eastern coastline.

Several of our writers explore local traditions such as Vietnam’s weasel coffee (see Changing Tastes: Hanoi's Coffee Street, by Michele Peterson) and the colorful weavings of Ecuador’s Otavaleño Indians (see On the Trail of Tapestry: Ecuadorean Master Weaver, by Martha Christopherson). If the unfamiliar sparks your imagination, travel along with David Rich as he finally gets to journey through the archeological remains and hilltop fortresses of Albania (Albania at Last: Exploring the Adriatic Coast).

As 2007 sets in and everyone tries to make good on New Year’s resolutions, we hope that Go World Travel will inspire you to move forward, explore more destinations and discover new sides to the places you already know. As for the airline tickets, you’re on your own.

Happy Travels!

Rachel Barbara
Assistant Editor