"Travel has become an important part of our society and lifestyle. Even though people are cutting back on expenses, no one is saying ‘we're not going to take a vacation at all.' People will still travel -- they'll just do it differently."
So predicts Laura Del Rosso, '79 Journalism, award-winning journalist and veteran travel writer.
"Different" will likely come in the form of briefer trips, closer to home. For those of us lucky enough to reside in the Bay Area, there's no shortage of options. Visit beach town Capitola during its annual festival honoring the begonia, first hybridized there. Spend the night at a haunted hotel in Calaveras County. Tour the Delta town of Locke, the only town in the country built by Chinese laborers for Chinese residents. Del Rosso's latest book, Great Escapes: Northern California, covers both the region's better and lesser known destinations for the traveler interested in getaways that last a day or a long weekend.
Researching the book, Del Rosso discovered that northern California residents tend "to take the region for granted. We acknowledge its beauties, but we don't really go out in it all that much."
Del Rosso's San Francisco neighbors, born and raised in northern California, had toured Europe but never driven to Big Sur. Somewhat sheepishly, she admits she'd never been to Yosemite in winter before writing the book -- an experience, she reports, "that was simply amazing."
Del Rosso's father arrived in the United States in the 1920s and with his older brother farmed artichokes in San Gregorio and in the Linda Mar section of Pacifica. Those farms were sold before Laura's birth, but her father continued to grow artichokes and other vegetables on the acre that surrounded their Pacifica house.
"When I was little, I didn't appreciate artichokes all that much," Del Rosso confesses. "We only ate the hearts. My mother, who was also Italian, braised them in garlic and olive oil."
She may not have cultivated a taste for artichokes early, but Del Rosso knew she wanted to be a journalist in high school and contributed columns to the Pacifica Tribune as a teenager. She studied at Skyline College in San Bruno with SJSU alumnus Sam Goldman who was "phenomenal," she says, and "in his eighties is still going gangbusters. Because he was such a great SJSU booster, a lot of Skyline grads went on to SJSU and I followed that path. I always recommend San José State's journalism program -- it's one of the very best."
At SJSU, Del Rosso was features editor of the Spartan Daily at the same time Linda Zavoral, current travel editor at the San Jose Mercury News, served as editor-in-chief of the university's daily. After Del Rosso made the switch to travel writing from general news reporting for community newspapers in Menlo Park and Redwood City, those Spartan ties proved valuable.
"Linda ran one of my travel pieces in the Merc. We've reconnected, and that's been wonderful," Del Rosso says.
Del Rosso "travels light. I have one of those 22-inch suitcases that expand. All my clothes do double duty and I carry two pairs of shoes -- max."
On the road, researching, she's "forced to be efficient." Although it's impossible to eat in every restaurant and sleep in every hotel, she does go in and chat with the managers of those mentioned in her articles and books. She also canvasses locals on the street for their favorite restaurants and recreation ideas.
Vacations turn sour when people try to adhere to a tight schedule and to cram too much in, she's noticed. Del Rosso's advice: Be prepared but don't over-prepare. Have a sense of where you're going but don't plan everything out. Leave time for things to happen spontaneously. Leave time to relax.
Her own travel "disaster" occurred on a trip to Patagonia. Del Rosso contracted a norovirus on the cruise ship and didn't leave her cabin for 36 hours. "As we sailed around Cape Horn, the cruise director announced that we were passing the most incredible glaciers, and I'd pull myself over to the porthole to catch a glimpse as we floated by," she remembers. "It was just awful."
Before Del Rosso went freelance with her travel writing, she worked for the magazines Travel Age West and Travel Weekly, reporting on travel agencies, tour companies, and trends. She received the Society of American Travel Writers' Silver Lowell Thomas Award for an article published in The Travel Professional, profiling the rise and fall of a mega-travel company that "collapsed in a spectacular way," Del Rosso says.
"In the old days -- the old days even before my time -- to get information about airfares and hotel rates you had to go to a travel agent. Now the Internet provides consumers with an enormous amount of information -- some of it good, some bad." Among the online sites she considers trustworthy: the Lonely Planet and National Geographic websites, www. worldhum.com, and the travel archives of major newspapers.
"A lot of travelers currently get information from Tripadvisor and Facebook. Social networking has opened up a new way for people with similar interests and styles of traveling to share knowledge," Del Rosso explains. "Looking for a great hotel in Paris? Email 300 of your Facebook friends for suggestions."
The proliferation of websites and online travel information has also, in some quarters, caused "a bit of a backlash," according to Del Rosso, benefiting traditional travel agents who now charge for their services because they no longer receive commissions from the airlines. "There are people who feel utterly bewildered by the amount of information available," Del Rosso says. "They want someone who is an expert on Hawaii or France to plan the trip for them."
Even so, travel agents have accepted that they can't be "all things to all people" and have focused on "capturing a niche market, specializing in group tours and special interest tours -- tours for quilters or bicyclists or foodies," Del Rosso explains. "There's a saying in the industry: Find a Pied Piper. Go to the country club, talk to the local golf pro about setting up a golf package to Scotland for him and the club's members. Network. Find the people who will lead you to others in communities."
The good news? "For those who do have some discretionary income," Del Rosso says, "it's going to be a great year in terms of rates. In the Bay Area, in Monterey, Sonoma and Napa, hotel rates are dropping steeply."
Del Rosso's own summer travels will take her back to Italy for a wedding. "I have relatives who live in western Italy in a small town between Pisa and Luca. It's a beautiful spot."
And her home base in San Francisco, where she can hear the "foghorns bellow on the bay" -- not too shabby a destination either.
-- Kat Meads
Drive along the San Mateo County coast and stop by Pescadero's Arcangeli Market, famous for its artichoke-studded bread. Enjoy the wide, sandy beach and grassy bluffs at San Gregorio Beach and (on weekends) the live bluegrass music at the San Gregorio General Store.
Plan a weekday overnight stay in the wine country towns of Healdsburg, Sonoma, St. Helena or Yountville during the February/March mustard season when the vineyards are ablaze in yellow, the hills green, tasting rooms uncrowded and the hotel rates the lowest of the year. Visit Yosemite Valley in the peaceful, beautiful winter season when prices drop by a third or more at Yosemite Lodge and even (sometimes) at the Ahwahnee.
Join the foodie crowds on a Saturday morning at San Francisco's Ferry Building, one of the top farmers' markets in the nation. The City Guides tour starts at noon and covers the city's fascinating waterfront history.
-- Laura Del Rosso
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