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CNN Live Today

Exotic Vacations

Aired July 01, 2003 - 11:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Your vacation does not have to be the same old same old this summer. You can stretch your neck out and stretch your legs, an African safari, an 11-day package. It's called "Ape Escape." It takes to you three remote corners of Tanzania, and it's not as costly as you might think. That is just one of the exotic family getaways we are talking about with our guest.
Carolyn Hatterfield is executive editor of "Departures" magazine. That's an American Express publications. She sounds like she has a very fun job. She joins us from New York this morning, and it's good to have you with us.

Good morning.

CAROLYN HATTERFIELD, "DEPARTURES" MAGAZINE: Good morning. Thank you. It's a great job actually.

KAGAN: Before we get started on this specific trip, the idea is if you have got kids, just don't get tunnel vision, it can only be about Disney World. There's other stuff to do out there.

HATTERFIELD: It's true. And I think that the family vacations have actually really changed. In the past, people used to find places where they could go themselves and sort of stuff their kids into a kids program. And I think the whole approach to family vacations has really changed. People want to spend time with their kids now, and take them on vacations and on these extended vacations, but definitely have the activities be things that they can do together as a group. And so I think the whole approach to traveling as a family has really changed over the past couple of years.

KAGAN: We were just talking about the African safari. We said it's not that expensive. But my notes say it's $7,000 per person.

HATTERFIELD: Yes, it's not inexpensive, but it does include all meals and your lodging. This is not a roughing it safari actually. They are quite luxurious. You know, when you go to Tanzania, you see the most extraordinary amounts of wildlife and animal life, and it's really a true learning experience for you and your kids. But you stay in these extraordinary tented structures. To call them tents is a bit of an exaggeration. They really Egyptian cotton sheets, and beautiful bathrooms. They are sort of construction tents, so it's a very luxurious trip.

KAGAN: Not exactly roughing it.

HATTERFIELD: No, it's not roughing it. KAGAN: I'm sorry, I just want to cram as many of these as I can into the segment. So let's move on to cloud walking in Costa Rica.

HATTERFIELD: Costa Rica, it's an amazing trip. It is actually less expensive. That one is $1,800. And you actually walk through on these suspension bridges through the cloud forest, actually through the clouds. It's amazing. And Costa Rica is also known for wildlife, monkeys, and it's extraordinary.

KAGAN: And my notes are saying $1,800 per person. That's significantly less than $7,000.

HATTERFIELD: Right, and the destination is less expensive.

KAGAN: Right, here's a lovely thing to do, cooking class in France.

HATTERFIELD: That's totally different. That's more of a learning vacation. That's a combination of the Cordone Blue (ph) hooked up with the "Georgia Sank," a Four Seasons hotel in Paris, and it's a great way to structure sort of a city vacation by learning how to cook at the same time. And they have demonstration classes and practical classes, and it's been a fabulous program.

KAGAN: My notes here say minimum age is 13, which I think is younger than you might think before having to go to cooking school.

HATTERFIELD: It's true, and kids are more into cooking than ever actually. I was saying, I live near a cooking school, and I always have these kids programs that are packed. So I think that it's an interesting thing that kids want to learn to cook more now.

KAGAN: Here is a place I might now have thought about -- Iceland. What are you going to do with your kids in Iceland?

HATTERFIELD: Iceland is extraordinary. It looks like the moon. It's so amazing. And sunrise expeditions takes you on a trip canoeing through the rivers there, and you end up in Reichcuevick (ph), which is great, because then you're in a little of city and a lot of adventure. And it's a totally an interesting place between the glaciers and active volcanoes. So it's unlike any place that I think most people have ever been.

KAGAN: And, finally, it does not have to be overseas. You can go to Laguna Beach, California, surf and turf.

HATTERFIELD: Absolutely. There's places close by that are amazing. In Laguna, there's a hotel called Montage, and it's fantastic, and they've created both kinds of programs, a program where you can leave your kids and they can do activities that are conscious of being specifically in California, or you can do a lot of activities as a group. They have these sort of three-day weekends that they planned where there's hiking, rafting, canoeing, whale watching, and you can do that as a family, but you can also have a resort experience. So that's actually making it exactly the kind of family vacation that you want. KAGAN: Well, you certainly have opened up our horizons. You make me want to go pack my things. Whether you have kids or not, there are some great ideas. Thanks for stopping by and giving us those tips.

HATTERFIELD: Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired July 1, 2003 - 11:39   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Your vacation does not have to be the same old same old this summer. You can stretch your neck out and stretch your legs, an African safari, an 11-day package. It's called "Ape Escape." It takes to you three remote corners of Tanzania, and it's not as costly as you might think. That is just one of the exotic family getaways we are talking about with our guest.
Carolyn Hatterfield is executive editor of "Departures" magazine. That's an American Express publications. She sounds like she has a very fun job. She joins us from New York this morning, and it's good to have you with us.

Good morning.

CAROLYN HATTERFIELD, "DEPARTURES" MAGAZINE: Good morning. Thank you. It's a great job actually.

KAGAN: Before we get started on this specific trip, the idea is if you have got kids, just don't get tunnel vision, it can only be about Disney World. There's other stuff to do out there.

HATTERFIELD: It's true. And I think that the family vacations have actually really changed. In the past, people used to find places where they could go themselves and sort of stuff their kids into a kids program. And I think the whole approach to family vacations has really changed. People want to spend time with their kids now, and take them on vacations and on these extended vacations, but definitely have the activities be things that they can do together as a group. And so I think the whole approach to traveling as a family has really changed over the past couple of years.

KAGAN: We were just talking about the African safari. We said it's not that expensive. But my notes say it's $7,000 per person.

HATTERFIELD: Yes, it's not inexpensive, but it does include all meals and your lodging. This is not a roughing it safari actually. They are quite luxurious. You know, when you go to Tanzania, you see the most extraordinary amounts of wildlife and animal life, and it's really a true learning experience for you and your kids. But you stay in these extraordinary tented structures. To call them tents is a bit of an exaggeration. They really Egyptian cotton sheets, and beautiful bathrooms. They are sort of construction tents, so it's a very luxurious trip.

KAGAN: Not exactly roughing it.

HATTERFIELD: No, it's not roughing it. KAGAN: I'm sorry, I just want to cram as many of these as I can into the segment. So let's move on to cloud walking in Costa Rica.

HATTERFIELD: Costa Rica, it's an amazing trip. It is actually less expensive. That one is $1,800. And you actually walk through on these suspension bridges through the cloud forest, actually through the clouds. It's amazing. And Costa Rica is also known for wildlife, monkeys, and it's extraordinary.

KAGAN: And my notes are saying $1,800 per person. That's significantly less than $7,000.

HATTERFIELD: Right, and the destination is less expensive.

KAGAN: Right, here's a lovely thing to do, cooking class in France.

HATTERFIELD: That's totally different. That's more of a learning vacation. That's a combination of the Cordone Blue (ph) hooked up with the "Georgia Sank," a Four Seasons hotel in Paris, and it's a great way to structure sort of a city vacation by learning how to cook at the same time. And they have demonstration classes and practical classes, and it's been a fabulous program.

KAGAN: My notes here say minimum age is 13, which I think is younger than you might think before having to go to cooking school.

HATTERFIELD: It's true, and kids are more into cooking than ever actually. I was saying, I live near a cooking school, and I always have these kids programs that are packed. So I think that it's an interesting thing that kids want to learn to cook more now.

KAGAN: Here is a place I might now have thought about -- Iceland. What are you going to do with your kids in Iceland?

HATTERFIELD: Iceland is extraordinary. It looks like the moon. It's so amazing. And sunrise expeditions takes you on a trip canoeing through the rivers there, and you end up in Reichcuevick (ph), which is great, because then you're in a little of city and a lot of adventure. And it's a totally an interesting place between the glaciers and active volcanoes. So it's unlike any place that I think most people have ever been.

KAGAN: And, finally, it does not have to be overseas. You can go to Laguna Beach, California, surf and turf.

HATTERFIELD: Absolutely. There's places close by that are amazing. In Laguna, there's a hotel called Montage, and it's fantastic, and they've created both kinds of programs, a program where you can leave your kids and they can do activities that are conscious of being specifically in California, or you can do a lot of activities as a group. They have these sort of three-day weekends that they planned where there's hiking, rafting, canoeing, whale watching, and you can do that as a family, but you can also have a resort experience. So that's actually making it exactly the kind of family vacation that you want. KAGAN: Well, you certainly have opened up our horizons. You make me want to go pack my things. Whether you have kids or not, there are some great ideas. Thanks for stopping by and giving us those tips.

HATTERFIELD: Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com