Helen Hatzis, is the Chief Exploration Office and Co-Founder of Trip Jaunt.
Helen is a recipient of the Governor-General Award, has been honoured as one of Canada's Nicest People! A true xenophile at heart, she finds joy in traveling and delights in sharing her experiences through Trip Jaunt (formerly Weekend Jaunt), an online travel community and hub she established in 2010. Her aspiration is to inspire others to explore the world as she does!
Helen is an esteemed advisory member of the North American Travel Journalists Association.
New York City woke on June 14 to confirmation that a 53-year wait had ended. The Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 the previous night, securing the franchise’s first NBA championship since 1973. Jalen Brunson’s 45-point performance, capped by 13 straight points in the fourth quarter, delivered the decisive margin in a game that
Seattle travelers heading to the airport this week will encounter a noticeably different Concourse C. The long-awaited expansion opened just before the first FIFA World Cup matches hosted in the region begin on June 15. The project addresses chronic space limits at one of the nation’s most constrained airports while adding comfort features timed for
Most people assume five-star hotels are simply out of reach unless you’re on a company expense account or celebrating something significant. That assumption turns out to be wrong, and the gap between what luxury hotels actually cost and what savvy travelers pay for them is often surprisingly large. The hotel pricing system is far more
Chicago sits at a peculiar crossroads of the American map. Within a tank of gas, you can reach everything from sea-cave national lakeshores to underground cave systems the length of a small country. Most people think Milwaukee, most people think the Wisconsin Dells. That’s fine. Nothing wrong with the classics. But there’s a whole tier
When the Texas sun turns relentless and city pools start to feel a little too crowded, a lot of Austin-area families quietly load up the car and head west on the highway. The destination? Krause Springs in Spicewood, a genuinely underrated gem that sits just beyond Austin’s sprawl and manages to stay refreshing even in
Something shifted quietly around 2020, and it hasn’t shifted back. Millions of Americans, particularly those in their late twenties and thirties, started trading their city apartments for something they hadn’t seriously considered before: life in a small mountain town. The skyline swapped for a ridgeline. The subway noise replaced by wind through pines. It isn’t
Most people associate “beautiful American beach” with white Florida sand, or maybe a postcard shot from Hawaii. Oregon rarely comes to mind first. That might be the whole point. Though it may not spring to mind when you’re daydreaming about classic all-American beaches, Oregon has 363 miles of rugged coastline dotted with some incredibly beautiful
Boston has never been shy about its food identity. Clam chowder, lobster rolls, Italian pastries in the North End – the city wears its culinary reputation proudly. But there’s a quieter side to Boston’s food scene, one that doesn’t show up on every tourist map or trending listicle. The city’s best hidden gem restaurants are
There’s a specific kind of quiet that only exists in a mountain cabin in winter. It’s not just silence. It’s the kind of stillness where you can actually hear the snow settling on pine branches outside, and nothing competes with it. Most people default to the same well-known ski resorts every season, missing dozens of
Overwater bungalows have become one of travel’s most iconic fantasies. Most people hear those two words and immediately picture French Polynesia, a hefty price tag, and a flight itinerary that eats most of the budget before you’ve even unpacked. There are now over 250 resorts around the world with overwater rooms, and the options have
Most people spend months planning a cruise. They compare cabins, research ports, bookmark shore excursions. Then, a week before departure, they grab the first insurance policy they find, or worse, skip the whole thing entirely. That single decision can turn a dream vacation into a financial disaster that takes years to recover from. Cruise travel
Passengers routing through Panama now have a practical new option. Copa Airlines has lengthened its stopover program, giving travelers up to 15 days in the country at no added ticket cost. The change turns routine connections at Tocumen International Airport into opportunities for longer visits that can include beaches, rainforests, and towns. Practical Impact for