Stow Away with Me for 'A Hundred Days of Europe'

I just flew to Europe -- as I have every year at this time since the 1980s -- to kick off another spring of exploring, checking, learning, tasting, and sipping. This photo features an amazing plate of Portuguese taste treats -- my "Welcome to Lisbon" meal -- at a new wine bar I discovered. Oh, baby, I'm in for some good eating the next couple of months!

Landing in Lisbon, I avoided the long line and aggressive cabbies at the arrivals level and (trying out a tip I share in my Portugal guidebook) went up to the departures curb...where I hopped into a cab just dropping off his passengers. He took me to my hotel for exactly what the meter read: €8 (about $10). Our dollar's strong, and Lisbon is a deal -- especially when you learn from your experience.

Starting today, I'll be posting entries nearly daily for the next hundred or so days, reporting on my experiences and lessons learned. On this trip, I'll be in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, and Romania, spending about two-thirds of that time alone researching my guidebooks, and the other third with my crew making new TV shows.

I hope you enjoy stowing away with me for a hundred posts in a hundred days. Please share this post with your traveling friends and let them know that 2016 promises to be a great year of travel. I'd love to have them come along, too.

Happy travels!