Sleeping with the wolves

Hello,

It’s me

Welcome back to another edition of the Travel Onist newsletter. Think of me as your virtual travel agent OR your very own AI Travel bot... you can call me Chat GP TO from now on 😏 . Except there’s nothing artificial about this intelligence, just pure, high-quality travel inspiration 🤩.

Here’s what we’re serving up today:

A Canadian hotel where you can sleep with wolves

A mezcal tasting in CDMX

Snorkeling with the Obamas?

AI that can help you plan your next trip

Stay

Parc Omega - Quebec, Canada

This glorious wildlife park and hotel offers views of wolves exactly how I like them—shielded by a thick glass barrier. Whether you opt for the day pass, guided tour, or a night in one of the many accommodation options, you’ll be able to see some of the 20+ different species of wildlife roaming within the park.

As a wildlife fanatic myself, this has been on my list for a while now. Could you imagine being up close and personal with a wolf? 😍 

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry

Mezcal Tasting at El Grifo - Mexico City, Mexico

One of my favorite things about travel is stumbling into cool experiences as I’m wandering around. Where else can you casually stop in for a world-class mezcal tasting? You’ll notice the orange peel and sal de gusano (a finely ground powder of chili, sea salt, and dried agave worm) as opposed to the typical lime and salt that most associate with tequila.

For those of you unfamiliar with mezcal, let’s use the more well-known Tequila as a reference point. Tequila is a type of mezcal. However, tequila must be made from blue agave and is specific to certain regions of Mexico. Mezcal on the other hand, covers all agave-based spirits and usually has a smoky flavor. This smokiness comes from the production process where the agave hearts are cooked in pits in the ground. In contrast, to make tequila, the blue agaves are typically slow-roasted in an oven.

To summarize, all tequilas are mezcals, but all mezcals are not tequilas. Hope you learned something new! 🤓 

Experience

Snorkeling off of Waimānalo Beach - Oahu, Hawaii

For those of you who enjoy snorkeling and Barack Obama, I’d highly recommend this experience! You may be wondering what snorkeling has to do with a former US President, and deservedly so. It just so happens that the Obamas recently built a lovely little vacation home right on this beach. But enough about him and more about the snorkeling…

We booked this snorkeling trip through Airbnb Experiences (big fan). Tim, our host, was knowledgeable, professional and friendly. We went out with him and one other couple. He picked us up, brought everything we needed, and even took some detours along the way to share some cool facts about the island while showing us some stunning views. We ended up seeing two sea turtles out in the water which was the cherry on top! I would highly recommend this experience to anyone visiting Oahu 🐠.

Carry On

Copilot 2 Trip

In the world of AI, it can be very hard to sift through the B.S. and figure out what’s what, let alone what is actually useful… but that’s why you have me! For those of you who like having a plan, but don’t love the act of planning, check out this tool. Copilot 2 trip helps you find under-the-radar activities at the destination of your choosing. It’s fun to play around with and can definitely uncover some hidden gems in a time-efficient manner.

Personally, I’ve also used Chat GPT for travel research and trip planning and have had some success. Reply “more” if you’d like to hear more about my AI travel research methods!

AI Travel Art Piece of the Week

Cheers til next week,

T.O.