Often believed to be the travel choice of the newly wed or nearly dead, the nature of cruise vacations has evolved in recent years. At one time, a cruise vacation meant shuffleboard, never-ending buffets and a few thousand older, overweight passengers on a spin around the Bahamas. Now, the old iconic activities, dining options and even older passengers are being replaced with an active lifestyle and options for adventure travelers.

As new ships come out, cruise lines are careful to build in an ability to be flexible and cater to the traveler of today. Relevant dining options ranging from lifetime event dining, like a steakhouse dinner to celebrate a graduation at a fraction of the cost on land, to comfort food dining, like Macaroni and Cheese in the ship's main dining room, reflect an evolving passenger's taste.

Pinpointing that taste and satisfying it, cruise lines are more rabidly focused on capturing the attention of would-be passengers with far more than low prices and bonus offers. Branded experiences ranging from an infusion of DreamWorks characters into the Royal Caribbean fleet, a Nickelodeon influence on Norwegian ships and even Apple products in iLounges on Celebrity Cruises are proving popular. Off the ship, adventurous shore experiences often put cruise travelers on a path similar to that suggested by popular travel bloggers going it on their own.

Flickr photo via Trey Ratcliff

How many times have you seen that awkward guy at the beach with his pants tucked into his socks scouring the sand with a metal detector and wondered if he's ever found anything valuable?

We laugh at him somewhat and tell ourselves that he probably has jars at home full of bottle caps and used pieces of tinfoil, but what if, just what if, he's ever found something extraordinary? A long-lost diamond ring, a rare coin or an entire hoard of Viking silver?

What about a treasure chest full of gold?

Such was the case this past Memorial Day weekend on the crowded shores of California's Venice Beach. Knowing that the beach was going to be packed for the holiday weekend, a team of pranksters decided to clandestinely bury a treasure chest full of faux-gold bullion deep in the sand at 2 a.m. and then raise it the next day amongst the excited crowds.

The only problem was that the gold bullion was chocolate coins – but nobody needs to know that.

At one point the metal-detecting team and their horde of frothing onlookers even draw attention from local authorities who inform them that you can't, in fact, just unearth buried treasure chests in public without telling anyone. Outnumbered by the glory-hungry crowd, however, the authorities are brushed aside and the effort to extract the bullion culminates in a triumphant crescendo, despite being only temporary.

Look for metal detector sales to spike this week all along the West Coast.

Chicago, Chicago – the city is so big and so fabulous you have to say it twice. Buildings are not just tall, they're also as broad as entire cities. Alleyways are as wide as turnpikes. People are not built for bigness: they're digitally enhanced for hugeness. Fittingly the portions on the giant plates in the vast eateries of Chicago are bigger than jumbo-size. They're mega. They're obscene.

An old-paradigm, European-size guy like me from San Francisco via Paris feels positively dwarfish in Chicago. On a recent trip, the balding pate of this European-Martian barely reached belly-button level in elevators. The Martian felt lost in a forest of fleshy Eiffel Towers.

Eiffel would never have been allowed to build an underfed, skeletal tower in Chicago. It dawned on me on our first day that Chicagoans must be unbearably hungry when in Paris.

It also became clear that extra-terrestrials seem like silly creatures in Chicago. They wear black socks with athletic shoes. They order single-shot small espressos and beg for drinks without ice. They ask for half-orders and doggy bags designed for Great Danes.

Martians also feel an extra-large burden of gluttonous guilt when eating out in Chicago. There is no way normal humans can finish a dish in the Windy City, which should be renamed.

San Francisco columnist Herb Caen once quipped that SF circa 1910 might well have been "the City That Knows How": by the 1970s it was "the City That Knows Chow."

Blending in to a city or country you're visiting has many advantages. Among them, allowing yourself to have a more immersive experience and not falling victim to a robbery scheme involving human feces. Some cities come with their own code of conduct, such as Washington DC, where during Gadling's recent summit we noticed anyone who stands on the left side of an escalator is immediately met with a barrage of furrowed brows and choice words. The tips below, however, can help keep you from being branded as an out-of-towner in any city the world over. Take these pointers in stride and the day will come when tourists ask you for directions while you're out on adventures.

Be Discreet About Using Maps & Guidebooks
Let's face it: We all get lost, even in cities we're familiar with. But if you carry around a guidebook or unfold a large map in public, you might as well wear a neon sign flashing "tourist" over your head. That doesn't mean you should travel sans map, but it does help to step out of foot traffic or even into a store or cafe when you need to regroup and figure out where you are.

When the city of Newport, Wales, was building its Riverfront Arts Centre back in 2002, there was an amazing discovery. A large medieval trading vessel was discovered in very good condition.

The ship measured about 85 feet in length and was 26 feet wide at its widest point. The timbers of the clinker-built ship survived the centuries thanks to the oxygen-poor conditions in the River Usk where it was found. This kept microbes from feeding on the ship.

Hundreds of artifacts were recovered during the excavation, including an hourglass, a shoe, a cannonball and Portuguese coins. The most important artifact was a small silver coin found wedged into a hole at the join between the stem post and the keel. This type of coin was minted in France from 1445-1456 and so the ship must date to then or later. Coins were often placed into the fabric of a ship when it was being built as a token of good luck.

While a planned museum for the ship hasn't been built yet and restoration of the timbers isn't finished, it's still possible to visit the Newport Medieval Ship. There are various open days, including one on June 1 and another on June 9. The one on June 1 marks a decade since the ship was discovered. Visitors will get to see the restoration in progress and hear more about the ship and its times from local experts.


[Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

Whether it's in the clubs of international hotspots or bustling metropolitan hubs, there are plenty of places where those so inclined can find something to do all night. But only a select subculture of hard-partying youth and industry workers will typically prowl the clubs and 24-hour diners. What does it take for the average person to indulge their inner night owl? Whether it's a religious festival, an artistic exhibition, or just a party too big to be limited to daytime hours, we've rounded up some of the best recurring nighttime events in the world – and you don't need to get past a velvet rope to enjoy any of them.



Nuit Blanche
Ever since its introduction in St. Petersburg, the "White Night" festival has become an institution in cities around the globe – Paris, New York and even Toronto (above) have adopted the practice. Originally designed to capitalize on the phenomenon of the midnight sun, the concept has been carried over to cities with a more natural evening – museums, galleries and local or visiting artists will blanket the city in artwork to be appreciated through the night. In addition to installations, there are public performances of music, dance and theater occurring throughout the city until sunrise.

British adventurer Dan Martin is about to embark on an epic challenge that he calls the Global Triathlon. The journey, which is set to get underway from New York City any day now, will see Dan circling the globe completely under his own power, and just like any other triathlon he'll be swimming, cycling and running the various legs. In this case, those legs just happen to be substantially longer.

All triathlons, regardless of length, always start with a swim and Dan's is no different. In this case, however, that swim involves crossing the Atlantic Ocean. He'll first enter the water in the Hudson River and start heading east, continuing to do so until he makes landfall in France. Along the way, Dan will be escorted by a support boat, which is where he'll sleep, eat and rest while en route. At the end of each day, he'll crawl on to the boat, replace as many burned calories as he can and try to regain his strength for the next day, when he'll return to the water and continue on.

To date, only one other person has managed to swim across the Atlantic. Back in 1998, French long distance swimmer Benoit Lecomte managed to accomplish that feat in just over 73 days. Lecomte's efforts are contested by some, however, because he didn't use a GPS to strictly track his progress. Dan hopes to allow others to follow his progress via his website, keeping the world updated on his position at all times.

As temperatures in New York City rise to a sweltering 90 degrees, my mind can't help but wander to the beach – particularly this secluded strip on Jomalig Island, the easternmost part of the Philippines' Quezon province. With no airports, no hotels and few amenities, this destination is the epitome of "off-the-beaten-path," as Flickr user Galwin notes in his description for today's Photo of the Day. It appears to be a far cry from summer in the city, that's for sure.

Does a photo of your favorite secluded beach belong here? Upload your travel shots to the Gadling Flickr Pool and your image could be selected as our Photo of the Day.

For those who haven't heard about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, it's a luxurious aircraft with space for 219 passengers, large windows with an adjustable tint, spacious storage compartments, lower cabin altitude, higher humidity levels, a quieter and less-turbulent cabin, faster flying, tech enhancements and 20 percent less fuel usage than normal airplanes.

Do you want to try this innovative airplane out for yourself? Tickets for U.S. passengers to ride the new aircraft have just gone on sale, as United Airlines announced a daily, nonstop Denver-to-Tokyo route. Passengers can book now for travel beginning March 31, 2013.

"I want to recognize the efforts of Mayor Hancock, Kim Day, Manager of Aviation, and her team at Denver International Airport, and the business and civic leaders in Denver who have worked together to bring this great new international destination to our customers in Denver," said Jeff Smisek, United's President and CEO. "Our customers will enjoy the direct, nonstop service on our new Boeing Dreamliner aircraft, which will provide a spectacular flying experience." For a visual idea of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, check out the video above.

It's lunchtime in Taga, a village in Burkina Faso, West Africa. A guy is milking the cows and the women are working over the stove. Kids are running around making noise and getting in the way. It's just like lunch at my house – well, not quite.

That's what I love about this video. There are so many similarities – the laughing kids, the idle chatter, taking some time off work in the middle of the day to enjoy family – that I can almost forget the thatched huts and chickens. The greatest thing travel teaches us is how similar people are under all the superficial differences.

One of the bigger differences is the slow pace of life in this village. It's a tranquil video too – great for inspiring relaxation on your own lunch break. For a different look at life in the same country, check out this video of driving through the capital Ouagadougou.

By the way, anyone out there know what the gray seeds are that the woman is putting in the milk?