The kind folks at U.S. Airways put my homage to slumming across Maui on the cover of their esteemed publication. The art looks great. It's a tough life being a travel writer. Here' s a taste.

"Bouncing around on a Zodiac boat with the wooden seat slamming against my hindquarters is not exactly the most gentle morning wakeup call. But here I am, halfway between Maui and Lanai, bracing against the sea spray and already feeling a bit queasy. Then, out of nowhere, an enormous fluke erupts on our starboard side — close enough that I could have pegged the whale’s tail with a papaya. My heart races with the realization that we could easily enter a Melvillian tale and be left adrift (or worse) in the whipping currents.


The unflappable captain deftly turns the boat and settles us a good distance away from the humpback (intentionally getting too close to these protected creatures is a federal offense) and idles the engine. Awestruck, we watch a miraculous ballet ensue as one fluke becomes two, then three. The trio of whales engages in a thumping, tail-whacking hoedown, with two young males competing for the attention of a female (or at least that’s how our skipper interpreted it). When the show is over, the captain guns the motor and we speed toward Lanai as our tummies resume their tortured tossings."

You'll have to click to read the rest. I manage to snorkel, golf, kite surf, and hike to a waterfall while staying at posh hotels and slamming down primo chow. Yawn. :)

—Alex, 09/29/07