Take a Cooking Class on Vacation (or at Home!) With This Great Deal

Attention Millennials: Get ready to have the time of your life! Contiki is having a sale and travelers between the ages of 18 and 35 can save 10 percent on 15 of Contiki's top tours to Europe, Asia, South America, Morocco, Australia, and New Zealand when they book by Dec. 15th and use promo code ELFTASTIC. They've also got some sweet last minute deals to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America that are worth checking out if you're looking to book something sooner. Options include brand new tours like Best of the Balkans, a 15-day trip through Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Romania, Hungary, and Slovenia; and favorites like Asian Adventure (a 14-day trip through Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia) and Vietnam Experience (a 12-day trip through the Mekong Delta, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, and Ha Long Bay); as well as popular best-selling tours like Simply Italy (a 12-day trip to Rome, Sorrento, Capri, Florence, Venice, Milan, La Spezia, Pisa, and Vatican City) and Greek Island Hopping, a 13-day trip to Mykonos, Santorini and Ios. Please note that package prices do not include international airfare, but do cover all ground transportation, a large amount of guided tours and activities, and most meals once you get there. I've traveled with Contiki twice so far—the first time on their London & Paris Plus Paris Extension tour in 2013, pictured above, the second time last May on their Amsterdam to Barcelona tour—and I'm constantly looking through their site trying to narrow down my next adventure, probably in Australia next year if I can swing it. My favorite part of the trips is meeting a whole bunch of friendly young people from all over the world who love to travel as much as I do. I've gone on both trips by myself and as a solo traveler, I was thrilled to learn that Contiki never charges extra solo supplements if you're traveling alone. There's an option to have your own room that costs a bit extra, but otherwise you're paired up with a single traveling roommate of the same sex. Translation: instant new friend. You're basically sightseeing by day and have the option to go out and explore the nightlife of a new city within the safety of a group, something that was really important to me and works out great because people are able to do as much dancing til dawn as they want to, no pressure. If you're worried about being hauled around on a bus all over the continent, think of it as a mobile-UN unit where you will inevitably get into fascinating conversations with your fellow travelers and end up talking about how things are done where you come from vs. how things are done where they come from. It always hits me how little we (Americans) know about what goes on in Canada, Australia, and the rest of the world during these chats, so I treasure these spontaneous educational moments. Plus, there's plenty of beautiful scenery to look at along the way and if you need it, time to rest up so you're ready to hit the ground running by the time you get to the next city. The rest stops are fun, too. I remember nodding off and waking up somewhere between Amsterdam and Paris, asking our Trip Manager, "Which country are we in? What language are they speaking in that building?" It's amazing how quickly a big group will bond on trips like these. I still keep in touch with lots of people I've met on each trip a year or even two years later on a regular basis thanks to the power of social media. A few of my new friends from Australia have even come to visit me here in New York and I know of several others who re-connected once they got home and have gone on more trips together. We want to hear from you: Where in the world do you want to go next? Sound off below!

If you're in the NYC area this weekend and love to travel, come check out the New York Travel Festival, an event geared towards travel enthusiasts of all kinds, whether you're in the industry (or looking to become part of it), a lifelong or long-term traveler, or you just love new experiences and want to see the world. I'm also going to be participating in a panel discusson Sunday at noon—Affordable Luxury: Yes, You CAN Afford It!—with Christine Wei from ShermansTravel and Tom Meyers from EuroCheapo, and hosted by Ko Im—so come by and say hello! The New York Travel Festival will be held in the Upper West Side this year at two separate locations: 150 W 83 on Saturday, April 18th, and at Hostelling International New York on Sunday, April 19th. Here are the ticket options for both days: Weekend Traveler Tickets You'll pay $45 in advance ($60 at the door) and have access to Traveler Track sessions like Smartwatches, the Sharing Economy and Selfie Sticks: Travel Trends in 2015 and Beyond; Tales of the Well-Traveled; The Ethics of Travel: Should You Stay or Should You Go; and 50 Shades of Black: Understanding Diversity's Impact On The Future Of Travel on Saturday as well as sessions like Yoga For Travelers, The Best Places to Adventure in NYC, and a special guided Instagram Walk thru the Upper West Side on Sunday. You'll get access to the main exhibition area, appointments in the Experts' Corner on Saturday, participation in Pathfinder Consults on Sunday, and lunch (included on Sunday; there is a $15 advance lunch price for lunch on Saturday). As a special treat, you'll also receive discounts on tours with companies like Urban Adventures, Turnstile Tours, SusanSez NYC Walkabouts, and The Levys' Unique New York!, a Delegates' Discount Pass from nycgo.com with discounts on select NYC restaurants and attractions, and a special 20 percent discount on HoneyTrek Trip Coaching Courses. Saturday Only Tickets Please be aware that there are limited Saturday-only tickets available at this time. Tickets are $30 and include all the perks of the weekend ticket mentioned above, but only allow for Saturday admission. Sunday Only Tickets Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door and include access to all panels (excluding workshops), access to the exhibition area, participation in Pathfinder Consults, and lunch. Weekend Meet, Plan, Go! Tickets Tickets are $100 and include all the same perks as a Weekend Traveler Ticket, plus access to an exclusive 4-hour Meet, Plan, Go! Workshop on Sunday. Please note that there are only 30 tickets available for this workshop, and they're going fast. Weekend Industry Tickets Members of the media, travel industry, and other professional travelers (or those interested in becoming a part of either of those categories) can opt for the Weekend Industry Ticket, available for $150 in advance or $200 at the door. You'll get everything that's included in the Weekend Traveler Ticket, plus access to special Industry Track sessions and workshops to fine-tune your skills, pre-registration for individual sessions, lunch on both days, and special invitations to exclusive events like the Saturday Cocktail Hour sponsored by Urban Adventures. Please visit nytravfest.com for more info and join the conversation on social media by following @nytravfest.

You've missed the Griswolds, haven't you? They almost feel like family, right? Maybe you've even wondered where life took the bumbling brood after the credits rolled on their last misadventure? America loves the Griswolds (the hapless clan from the National Lampoon's Vacation film series) because they are a fun-house mirror reflection of our own travel aspirations. We appreciate their bottomless optimism in the face of fail after fail. We laugh at the Griswolds because, in our quiet moments of self awareness, we're afraid that we are the Griswolds. Led by patriarch Clark (Chevy Chase), the family somehow finds its way into every deliciously inevitable (and utterly preventable) travel mishap. In fact, the Vacation series was such a great example of how not to plan and execute a family trip that Budget Travel devoted an entire feature to them: "Vacation Lessons From the Griswolds." For those of you who've been pining for the Vacation franchise to reboot, the wait is over. Warner Bros has announced that New Line Cinema is filming Vacation, starring Ed Helms as Rusty Griswold, Christina Applegate as his wife Debbie, and Chase and Beverly D'Angelo reprising their roles as Clark and Ellen. Slated for a July theatrical release, the film deals with a subject near and dear to the hearts of Budget Travelers: A cross-country road trip to the Walley World theme park. We want to know: What was your most entertaining "vacation fail"? And has our Vacation Lessons From the Griswolds helped you avoid the pitfalls portrayed by Chevy & Co.?

This article was written by Will Collier on behalf of Say Hueque, a company specializing in tours to Argentina and Chile. Located in the Southern Cone of South America, Argentina is the 8th largest country in the world. Home to high mountains, immense plains, lush vegetation, and extreme deserts, Argentina is one of the world's biggest ecological reserves and has proven to be the perfect environment for wine making. Considering Argentina's history of Spanish, Italian, and French immigration, the country has a unique European heritage that has nurtured several generations of vine growers and winemakers. Stretching from latitude 22° south to latitude 42° south and encompassing more than 228,575 hectares of cultivated area, Argentina's biggest wine region is located in the western portion of the country, at the foot of the Andes Mountain Range. Most often associated with Mendoza, this region is commonly referred to as Argentina's wine country and is known to be one of the top wine making regions in South America. According to the Huffington Post, the Mendoza region ranks as the 4th best wine destination in the world. So what distinguishes Mendoza from other great wine destinations? In addition to the more than 1,200 wineries that account for 80 percent of the country's wine production, the fertile land of the region is perfectly suited for the conditions needed to grow Malbec, Argentina's most popular wine—the grapes used to produce Malbec are rarely found in other parts of the world. Although originally from France, Mendoza's high elevation and warmer climate have resulted in a very advantageous environment for growing Malbec. For this reason, many people mistakenly believe that Malbec is an Argentine creation. While Argentina can't claim responsibility for Malbec, the country is actually the birthplace of another type of wine: Torrontes.  Grown in the Cafayate Valley in the province of Salta, just north of the Mendoza region, Torrontes is a white wine grape variety that has been growing in popularity in the last few decades. With a special microclimate, the Cafayate Valley region is well suited for production of this fruity and aromatic type of grape and has seen outstanding vineyard development in recent years. While it has not yet reached the level of world-wide recognition that Argentina's Malbec has, this local invention is well on its way to becoming equally as famous. For wine lovers, now is the time to discover the up and coming wine destination of Argentina. On a trip to South America, you will not only have the chance to taste some delicious wine, but can also take advantage of the unique activities that surround the wine region like hiking in the Andes Mountains in Mendoza and visiting local Andean villages in Salta.