In the seven years since he founded the interactive-media agency Mediasmith Inc., David Smith has found himself embroiled in a series of “currency discrepancy” squabbles with online publishers. These typically occur at the end of an online advertising campaign, when publis

There’s something spiritually elevating about standing on a golf course in the Midlands of Ireland with the wind to your back and the sun on your brow and the sound of a golfer’s soft-spikes on gravel. In my particular case it was Mount Juliet’s Jack Nicklaus Championship Course in Th

Picture yourself driving along the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains, through the dense jungle and coconut palms on the west coast of Guerrero, to a stretch of pristine Mexican shoreline surrounded by vast hills of lush foliage, green and well-watered. After a two-hour flight, y

How long has it been since you played golf and/or attended a conference at a resort outside the U.S. where you had every need met—without having to ask or even acknowledge that you needed—by a friendly, mostly brown-eyed staff of professionals? Would you send postcards to everyone wis

People unfamiliar with Costa Rica think of it as one of those pesky little Central American countries like El Salvador or Nicaragua, where gringos typically aren’t welcome. But Costa Rica is a peaceful country that has opened its arms to foreigners. And ever since its pivotal ro

Right now it’s Monday 4 December 2000, a cool-warm tropical evening, and I’m sitting on the terrace just outside the bar-lounge of the Jamaica Inn, a uniquely charming yet isolated hotel of roughly 45 rooms and/or suites—most with verandas overlooking the lawn leading down to the wate

For an escape from everyday living, the clear waters of the Bahamas beckons. Every vacation has its one moment. Mine came while swimming naked on the remote side of Stocking Island in the Bahamas. Sounds crazy, I know. Grown man throwing his shorts to the wind and going native. But th

Acapulco’s reputation as an action-packed, glittering international playground packed with tourists is true. The city is buzzing with energy and glamour. Blessed with spectacular scenic beauty, this southern-most community on the Mexican Riviera is in the business of making vaca

By Suzie Harrison The Laguna Beach Independent  Powerful riffs resound through a pedestrian walkway off Forest Avenue that leads to a cobblestone alley. Fingers that dance along a guitar’s neck and a voice that betrays the performer’s passion accompany the aural alchemy. D