%3Amax_bytes(150000)%3Astrip_icc()%2FTAL-lead-exp-journeys-luxury-camp-camp-smith-fork-ALISTKEVINPOST0625-c9d00785c8304ffaa0dab8d04c567c79.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Private Luxury Camps Are Officially in a 'Golden Age of Glamping,' According to This Outdoor Travel Advisor
National parks are sacred spaces for adventure and discovery, but in the past they've lacked the high-end accommodations that luxury travelers expect. Now, though, glamping experiences in famous locations like Yellowstone National Park, Zion National Park, and Grand Canyon National Park are bridging this gap. Expansive private properties like Ted Turner Reserves and Wagonhound Ranch are also great options.
These sites provide much more than your run-of-the-mill tent and sleeping pad; they're luxuriously curated to each traveler's needs and desires. Whether you're having a candlelit dinner with a Navajo code talker, waking up to the sunrise in Grand Canyon National Park, or calling for wolves alongside the very expert who reintroduced them to Yellowstone in the 1990s, every detail provides maximum comfort with enough freedom for an authentic, personal experience. A campsite on the shore of the Colorado River.
When planning your trip, consider a glamping company with a commitment to supporting conservation. Our camps at EXP Journeys, for example, operate under Leave No Trace principles—meaning we're committed to leaving the environment exactly as we found it. We also utilize solar energy, biodegradable products, and other sustainable practices.
While the place you stay is wonderful, it's really the access these camps provide that make glamping stand out. Your camping guide plays a fundamental role in facilitating your connection to the land—and making sure your needs are met. The right trip leader—equal parts knowledgeable, fun, and safety-focused—is an essential and esteemed part of the luxury adventure. These experts bring depth, color, and meaning to every journey.
In this new age of luxury camping, travelers can discover the untamed wilderness in the most elegant ways possible. Whether you're looking for a family retreat, a romantic escape, or a transformative solo journey, consider glamping for an unforgettable experience grounded in authenticity and sustainability.
Kevin Jackson is a member of Travel + Leisure's A-List and specializes in trips to U.S. national parks. You can create a tailor-made itinerary with Jackson at [email protected] .
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fast Company
13 minutes ago
- Fast Company
Agentic AI in three moves: Connect, co-operate, concierge
A spring storm wipes out the last Thursday flight from Dallas. One in-app request later, an invisible digital assistant secures a nearby hotel, drops a meal voucher into your wallet, reroutes your suitcase, updates tomorrow's Teams meeting, and (because it senses weariness in your voice) orders an Uber Black. The experience feels less like self-service and more like having a well-briefed assistant orchestrating every detail. The result is not merely a rescued itinerary, but a deeper affinity with the very airline that just disrupted your plans. That feeling is the promise of agentic AI: software that breaks a goal into tasks, taps outside systems, remembers context across channels, and hands control back to a person whenever judgment matters. The timing is right. IBM research shows 76% of executives are piloting autonomous agents and 86% expect them to reshape workflows by 2027. Customers are more impatient than ever; 17% quit after one bad interaction, 59% after a few, and 70% expect the next employee or interface to know their context without being told. Agentic AI can meet that bar, but only if we build in the right order. Think of it as a three-stage path that begins with connecting, moves into the cooperate stage, and ends with the promise land of concierge. Here's how it can work: 1. CONNECT: GIVE EVERY CHANNEL THE SAME MEMORY First comes plumbing. Funnel every click, order, chat, and loyalty swipe into a lightweight feature store, a living memory capsule any touchpoint can open. This capsule powers an AI copilot beside frontline staff. The copilot drafts answers, suggests next moves, and flags land mines such as a refund that would void a bundle discount before a rep hits send. Customer Benefit: Instant, consistent replies in one brand voice, regardless of whether the message arrives by SMS, email, or IVR. Business Benefit: Average handle time drops an estimated 25% and brittle integrations surface early, long before full autonomy. Design work changes focus. Instead of polishing pixels, teams choreograph conversations: tone curves, escalation triggers, and data contracts replace static mock-ups. Brand language is encoded once, then reused everywhere. 2. CO-OPERATE: LET A SUPERVISED AGENT OWN HIGH-VOLUME TASKS With the pipes proven, elevate one high-volume journey—where is my order, a password reset, an in-store return—to a supervised agent that still knows when to wave in a human. Because it reads from the same memory capsule, the agent can finish a sizing chat that began on TikTok and push a shipping update straight to Apple Wallet without losing context. If confidence drops, the full thread with rationale lands on an agent's screen. Customer Benefit: Friction disappears. When a shoe size is gone online, the system checks nearby stores and offers same-day pickup. At the airport, kiosks spot a risky connection and print a later boarding pass before panic sets in. Business Benefit: Problems are solved on first contact and revenue pops fast; one fashion pilot lifted buy-online-pick-up-in-store conversions by 22% when agents brokered inventory in real time. Designers double down on micro interactions, surfacing one-tap options and keeping language tight. Strategy teams track completion and sentiment, not cost alone, to keep the experience human. 3. CONCIERGE: ORCHESTRATE SPECIALISTS EVERYWHERE The final move adds an orchestrator that spawns specialist sub-agents for billing, loyalty, inventory, payments, and more, all sharing state. Open-source stacks such as LangGraph give engineers fine-grained control without vendor lock-in. In ecommerce, the effect is dramatic: A shopping companion can search, compare, and check out inside the brand app, while new payment rails let AI complete a purchase securely on any site. Customer Benefit: The brand seems to anticipate needs. Wish lists refresh when sizes restock, pantry staples reorder themselves within a spending cap, and a smart mirror recalls everything tried at home. An edit log and a one-tap undo keep the human in charge. Business Benefit: Service savings persist, but growth becomes the headline. Cart abandonment falls as agents juggle price, stock, and rewards in milliseconds. Every interaction pushes live insight back into product, pricing, and media models. Design, tech, and strategy converge around explainability and seamless human hand-offs; a live expert can join the chat without forcing the shopper to start over. GUARDRAILS THAT MAKE IT SAFE AND CREDIBLE Autonomy delights only when it is accountable. Validate with pre-launch testing of generated copy against brand-voice guidelines. Keep a visible skills registry so compliance teams know which agent touches which data. Run security and privacy drills at least quarterly. These checkpoints matter as much to experience quality as typography or color. THE PAYOFF: LESS FRICTION, MORE GROWTH Execute connect, co-operate, and concierge in sequence, and customers notice what is missing: repeated forms, channel seams, surprise fees, awkward transfers. A purchase becomes a sentence such as, 'Find me a vegan gift under fifty dollars, deliver Tuesday, use points first,' and service stays invisible until empathy is needed, at which point a person appears fully briefed. For the organization, efficiency shows up first, growth second. Support costs drop, conversion climbs, and the feature store becomes a feedback loop that sharpens product road maps and media buys. Strategists rank journeys by value and complexity, technologists instrument every agent step, and designers craft feelings of continuity, anticipation, and control. Brands that master connect, co-operate, concierge will own both the moments that suit automation and the critical times when a human must lead. Those that wait may find their next customer already served instantly by someone else's digital assistant.
CBS News
44 minutes ago
- CBS News
NYC woman finds 2.3 carat diamond in Arkansas' Crater of Diamonds State Park
Talk about a diamond in the rough. It's a gem of a find for New Yorker who went in search of a diamond for her future engagement ring. West Village resident Micherre Fox, 31, went to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas for three weeks specifically to dig for diamonds. "So I brought my tent, and my cot, and all the mining equipment I would need," Fox said. "This was a perfect opportunity for me to make a commitment about who I want to be in a relationship." She trained intensely for two weeks, and brought mining equipment and began her search for a diamond there on July 8. "There's something symbolic about being able to solve problems with money, but sometimes money runs out in a marriage," Fox said. "You need to be willing and able to solve those problems with hard work." She toughed it out and discovered a 2.3 carat white diamond at around 11 a.m. on July 29, her last day at the park. At first, she wasn't entirely sure if she had found a diamond. "Having never seen an actual diamond in my hands, I didn't know for sure, but it was the most "diamond-y diamond' I had seen," Fox said. Crater of Diamonds Park is the only place in the world where the public can mine for diamonds. The one Fox found was the third largest of the 366 diamonds found there so far this year. "I got on my knees and cried, then started laughing," Fox said. Fox plans to use the diamond in her engagement ring.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
The ultimate 2025-26 Penguins fan NHL roadtrip guide: Part 2
Let's get right to it: If you have the itch to see the Penguins play on the road — and I see you in airports and arenas all season long, so I know you do — I'm here to help. Here's the second and final part of my annual rankings of the best cities for Penguins fans to visit. Part 1, which published on Tuesday, is here. Enjoy, and safe travels. • It's a very friendly place. • The food (especially the BBQ) is excellent. • The traffic isn't bad, and you'll find that it's a relaxing place in general. • It's not a terrible drive from Pittsburgh and there are direct flights. • Not a wide variety of hotels, but they're generally cheap there, at least. Advertisement • PNC Arena is pretty mid. • The Penguins haven't won here in eight years (really). • It's not an overly exciting place. Stay at the Crabtree Valley Marriott. The breakfast is outstanding, a great mall is across the street, and you're a 10-minute drive to the arena. I'm actually embarrassed that I have Raleigh ranked this low, simply because I love it. It's not that exciting, but it's a nice city. You get the best of southern charm in Raleigh. If you're looking for a relaxing getaway, go for it. (The Penguins play here twice in March. Maybe Pitt will have a men's basketball game at Duke or North Carolina around this time, which offers the potential of a double dip. Consider this when the ACC hoops schedule is released.) • If you don't like the Saddledome, I don't know if we can be friends. • The Penguins play only two more games in the Saddledome before the new, surely not-as-cool new building opens. • If you like mountains, you'll love Calgary. • Downtown Calgary is a hybrid of Denver and Pittsburgh, in a good way. • Super friendly place, and the steak and bacon here are top notch. • It's quite a lengthy trip. • The weather here in January, when the Penguins visit, can be quite dicey. Rent a car and make the quick drive to Banff. Probably the most beautiful place I've ever been. (Or, if you aren't the scenic type, join me on a three-hour drive to Medicine Hat the night before the Penguins-Flames game to watch Benjamin Kindel play. This way, you can say you've seen him play before he was big-time, and you can say you've been to Medicine Hat.) Calgary is so cool. If you like Denver, you'll like Calgary. It's the superior Alberta city. • The artist formerly known as Staples Center is a very nice building. • You're fairly close to Manhattan Beach, which is a great spot for dining, fishing and vibing (did I use 'vibing' right?). • LAX is hell on earth, but at least we have cheap, direct flights there from Pittsburgh. • I can't emphasize enough how nice the weather always is in Southern California. Advertisement • While L.A. is surrounded by many beautiful beaches and places to visit, the downtown area is awful. • This trip won't give you that nostalgic, hockey-loving feeling that some places will. • Cross-contamination alert: Thursday Night Football rears its ugly head as Steelers-Bengals will still be in the third quarter when the Penguins and Kings drop the puck. If you're doing the California swing, stay in Orange County close to the Ducks arena for the entire trip. Just rent a car and drive to L.A. for the second game of the trip, when the Penguins play the Kings. Traffic in L.A. is terrible but not quite as bad in the years following Covid, and you'd rather stay in Orange County. If you're doing the Kings game, you're probably seeing the Ducks play the Penguins two nights earlier in Anaheim. Both are fun trips worth doing. But, as you'll read below, I think you'll prefer the Anaheim portion of this trip. • Manhattan, you may have heard, offers a fair amount of restaurants and things to do. • Being there for Mike Sullivan's Rangers debut — and Dan Muse's Penguins debut, we should mention — would be something. • Madison Square Garden truly lives up to its reputation. • Because the Penguins are there in October, it should be noted that fall in New York is glorious. • From a transportation perspective, getting to New York is an unimaginable pain on most occasions. • It'll cost you. If you're looking to save some cash, stay in Newark (I know, I know, but the airport Marriott is nice and located right next to a train to the city) and just spend all day in Manhattan. You'll save a few hundred in hotels, and Pittsburgh has direct flights to and from Newark. While I'm not a huge NYC person, I know many people are. There is truly nowhere else like it. And if you haven't experienced MSG, what are you waiting for? It's worth it. • Downtown Chicago, I have concluded, is America at its very best. • Probably America's best food city. • Plentiful and inexpensive direct flights there from Pittsburgh. • As big cities go, the hotels are very cheap (and very nice). • As big cities go, the people are so friendly. • The area around the United Center isn't the best. • This probably won't be a Stanley Cup Final preview. Advertisement So, the Penguins play here on Dec. 28. Maybe you're off from work that week. If so, flying on the morning of the 28th to Chicago and giving yourself a long weekend for New Year's Eve in one of America's greatest cities isn't the worst idea. (Bonus tip: Find a good Steelers bar — there are a few — and watch Steelers-Browns early in the afternoon before making your way over to the United Center. Now that's a day.) I personally like Chicago for baseball more than hockey, primarily because the weather in June is a little nicer than December and Wrigley Field is a place you need to experience. That said, you should do this trip if you're off that week and feeling it. It's fun. • American Airlines stinks, but American Airlines Arena is really nice. • Downtown Dallas is great. • The JFK Museum is within walking distance of the arena and is an amazing place. • One of the finer steakhouse cities I've encountered. • Hotels are plentiful and cheap. • Direct flights are easy to find. • Not what I would call a great hockey town. • The Penguins play here on the same day as a Steelers-Ravens game, another cross-contamination concern. I can't speak highly enough of the JFK Museum. If you're lucky, Penguins communications czar Tom McMillan will be giving private tours. I like Dallas a lot. It's easily my favorite city in Texas. It might not be worth making this trip without an additional reason to go to Dallas that weekend. Then again, it might be. You'll like it. • It's a simple, five-hour drive from Pittsburgh, or you can take a direct flight. • The building isn't young but has held up quite nicely. • It's one of the world's greatest cities, filled with culture and a diverse range of activities that is hard to articulate. • The Hockey Hall of Fame is a must-see destination for any hockey fan. Advertisement • Ticket prices in Toronto are notoriously absurd. • Toronto traffic is worse than Los Angeles traffic, in my opinion. So, check this out. If you're looking to save money before the holidays — most of us are — but still want to treat yourself, I have a plan for you. The Penguins play in Toronto on Dec. 23, which is a Tuesday, at 4 p.m. The league scheduled this game at 4 so players can have extra time off over the holidays. Because of this … it would be a long, long day … but if you want to remove all hotel costs and plane costs, you could pull off a day trip. Leave Pittsburgh at 9 a.m., get there by 2 p.m., visit the HHOF for an hour, go to the game, get out of town by 7 p.m., and you're home at midnight. It's worth it. It's Toronto, which means it's a little overwhelming. But it's always worth it. • The Swedish people are very polite and likable. • Stockholm is beautiful, walkable and truly worth seeing. • The air and water quality are noticeably better than what we get in Pittsburgh. • The breakfast food in Sweden is top-notch. (The rest of the food is pretty blah but not awful.) • Old Town, located on the edge of downtown Stockholm, is a great blend of history, restaurants and shopping. • Everyone speaks English, and transportation is very simple and comfortable. • Those are a long couple of flights. • There will only be a few hours of daylight when the Penguins play here in November. Go to the ABBA Museum and thank me later. In fact, there are a number of magnificent museums all located within walking distance from one another. You can very easily spend a few days here and never be bored. The Penguins and Predators play two games in Stockholm in November. Because I was just in Stockholm for Worlds in May, I figured I'd add this city to the list. Truthfully, I can't recommend this trip enough. Rent a car for a day, drive north and enjoy a northern lights show. See some hockey along the way. Stockholm is a breathtaking city. I absolutely loved it and suspect most of you would, too. You may even meet friends there. I met Penguins fans Alvin and Ellen there, and now we are pals. Advertisement • If you like to drink, this is your trip. • If you like live music, this is your trip. • If you like country music in particular, this is your trip. • Lots of direct flights on Southwest to Nashville from Pittsburgh, and they're usually cheap. • It's a surprisingly good hockey town, and reminding Preds fans of the Patric Hornqvist trade will be fun for the whole family. • If an entire downtown full of people binge drinking annoys you … well, think twice about this trip. • The price of those downtown hotels will get you every time. Stay at a hotel near the Grand Ole Opry and Uber into downtown. You'll save a ton of money and maybe even check out a concert at the famous venue, if that's your thing. Also, while downtown, you have to visit the Johnny Cash Museum. It never disappoints. Nashville has dropped a smidge in my ratings, though it remains a great destination for a hockey trip. I'm not a big drinker so it can get a little excessive at times. That said, it's great fun and I recommend it. (But not until next season, as the Penguins don't play in Nashville until the 2026-27 campaign.) • Orange County > Los Angeles by a wide margin. • Disneyland is about two miles away — literally. • Beautiful beaches are nearby. • It's very easy to get tickets at Honda Center. • Good, affordable hotel scene. • I like Honda Center, but it's starting to show its age. • Not exactly a great hockey atmosphere; it's pretty terrible, in fact. Avoid LAX at all costs. It's a horrible place. I strongly recommend flying to John Wayne Airport in Orange County. If you just want a couple of relaxing days at the beach, or Disneyland, and in the California sun, this is a great spot. Catching a hockey game is a nice bonus. Strongly recommended trip. Advertisement • You get to see the champs, and they're worth seeing. • You're a mere 30-minute drive from the ocean while watching an NHL game. Not bad. • The area around the Panthers' arena is great, with a beautiful mall and lots of good places to eat. • Tons of Pittsburghers will be joining you. • There are many affordable, direct flights to Fort Lauderdale. • The Penguins play here in October, which means it will feel like a swamp. • Driving on South Florida highways is legitimately frightening. Stay at the beach. It's a bit more expensive, but don't taunt yourself by staying inland, even if that would save you some cash. Go big or go home. Or something like that. You save a lot of money on tickets and on your flight, so you can splurge a bit on the hotel. You can't go wrong with this trip. Personally, I like the Gulf Coast a bit more. It's a little more laid-back and more of a Midwest vibe, which is more my speed. South Florida is intense, but it's also very entertaining, and you'll enjoy this trip quite a bit. • Magnificent beauty at the footstep of the Rocky Mountains. • Downtown Denver is a treat. • You know Sidney Crosby will be fired up to play against Nate MacKinnon. • Lots of direct flights, lots of nice hotels. • You'll be joined by about 7,000 Penguins fans. • The airport is about seven counties from downtown. • The weather is usually nice … usually. Rent a car. That Uber to downtown is expensive and — more to the point — if you're that close to the mountains, you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't take a drive and enjoy them. I have to say, I don't think I've ever met anyone who dislikes Denver. Everyone is friendly. Lots of Pittsburghers live there. It's a beautiful place and a good hockey town. So long as the high altitude doesn't bother you, you'll love it. Advertisement • Downtown Tampa has rapidly improved over the years and is a very nice place to visit. • Lovely beaches are nearby. • The weather during the winter really can't be beaten. • As southern markets go, this is a great hockey town. • Hattricks Tavern is a great hockey bar. • Bern's Steak House is legendary; the best restaurant I've ever experienced. • Inexpensive, direct flights. • Hotels here are wildly expensive. • Florida isn't for everyone. Get to games super early. The traffic in Tampa is much worse than you'd think. Plus, the area around Amalie Arena is great fun before puck drop. One of my favorite stops. You'll be in a good mood the whole time you're here. Fun hockey town, beautiful weather, and there's so much to see and do. Also, I'll note that the Penguins play here in April on my birthday. Bern's would be a thoughtful birthday gift. Just saying. • It's Vegas. If you know, you know. • You won't get bored, nor will you go hungry. • T-Mobile Arena is one of the NHL's best venues. • Vegas has become a true hockey town in short order. • Sure, we have casinos in Pittsburgh now, but gambling in Vegas just feels different — and better. • The weather in March will likely be nice and, during the hockey season, it's pretty much always nice in Vegas. • Only one, but it's a big one. The cost of being in Vegas has become outrageous. Since Covid, the price gouging at casinos — namely the cost of hotel rooms, the outrageous resort fees, and the price of food (the days of $5 prime rib are long gone) — has taken something away from this trip, or any visit to Vegas for that matter. I'm a Vegas guy. I'll always love it there. But I have to call it like I see it. I'm the least cheap person you'll ever meet, but don't pay $8 for a bottle of water in the casinos. Find a drug store on the Strip and stock up there. Advertisement It's a must-do if you've never been to America's playground. You'll enjoy it. I don't normally harp about money so much, but I'm telling you, things have really changed in Vegas. (If you're abundantly wealthy, disregard, and throw me a few chips in March.) • Geographically speaking, easily the most beautiful city in the NHL. • If you like the outdoors, there are hiking trails galore (so I hear). • A perfectly diverse city in every imaginable way. • If you like to experiment with different types of cuisine, this is your city. • High-level nightlife. • Hotel prices are not so good; in general, this is a very expensive place. • It requires a long day of flying to get there. Try to book a flight that arrives in Vancouver around sunset. Best view in the league. Breathtaking. It's very expensive, it takes a long time to get there and it might rain once you arrive. No matter. This is the crown jewel of NHL cities in many ways. The natural beauty, diverse eateries and overall experiences will blow you away. • Greatest atmosphere in hockey. • The Bell Center remains a spectacular venue. • Gibbys steakhouse is a must-visit. • A walk around Old Montreal is as good as it gets. • The nightlife is legendary. • None that I've ever encountered. Stay at the Marriott Chateau Champlain. Excellent hotel located right beside the Bell Center. It's also a quick walk to the hotspots in downtown Montreal. Montreal's love for Crosby will warm your heart. Also, the Penguins play here only once this season, but it's on the final Saturday before Christmas. Perfect. Montreal is beautiful during the holiday season. There is a vibe in that city that I've never been able to articulate, but it's the best. The nightlife, the food, the hockey atmosphere and the style are unlike anywhere else on the NHL circuit. (Top photo of Sidney Crosby in Vancouver: Derek Cain / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
