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Monaco Grand Prix & the South of France

A luxury trip to the most famous stop on the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) circuit, the iconic Monaco Grand Prix (June 5 - 7, 2026). Working with one of the most established tour companies (22 years in business), the package will include viewing parties from 2 different hotel patios and a luxury superyacht.

With several add-ons (being planned) before or after:

Pre-Trip Prep: A driving class by AMG Performance Academy at the Sonoma Raceway… to give you a feel for the G-forces, the skills needed, and the adrenaline rush of the greatest race drivers in the world.
Evening visits to amazing restaurants in Nice (Apopino, Chez Davia, Flaveur, L’Atelier, etc. Oo La La ) and Monaco (Zefferino and a dozen others). Pre-Trip Prep: A food party where everyone will cook a French dish, or even (if people want) a group visit to the Michelin 3-star French Laundry in Yountville.
Gambling night at the Casino Royale (aka Casino de Monte Carlo). Pre-Trip Prep: Join us for a poker-night’ type party learn the games (like Bacarat) and that chi-chi etiquette. In Monaco, this will be an exciting evening out on the town at one of the most tony casinos in the world.
A informal tour around the south of France after the Formula 1 event. Maybe a castle, maybe some wine. Pre-Trip Prep: Join us for a wine and cheese party focusing on wines from the south of France. And Grape stomping (to make wine) at Grgich Hills estate.
Pre-Trip Prep: Participate in a book-club type reading assignment of ‘Ian Fleming’s Casino Royal’.
Pre-Trip Prep: Join us for a movie night to watch Hitchcock’s “To Catch a thief”, that awesome Grace Kelly movie that includes driving the hills of Monaco. And to appreciate the connection of the US actress/royalty to the kingdom of Prince Ranier… and her tragic accident.
Pre-Trip Prep: Spend a day at the pistol range to learn to shoot my Walther PPK, 007’s weapon of choice (in Monte Carlo’s Goldeneye and most other James Bond films).
Pre-Trip Prep: See the film “F1” in IMAX at a real movie theater to appreciate the vibrancy of F1 racing.
Pre-Trip Prep: See the 7 seasons of Netflix series “Drive to Survive” to get the fun behind-the-curtain perspectives of F1 personalities and the politics of the 10 teams.

A few details of the Grand Prix Adventures platinum package:

Fiji Isands

Exotic island paradises always seem to beckon. Fiji lures scuba enthusiasts as well as beach bums, sun worshippers, and adventurers galore (Sep 17 - Oct 7, 2025).

Go BIG Travel is offering a relaxing / adventure trip to the islands of Fiji, to include kayaking, hiking, scuba diving, paddle boarding, sliding down waterfalls, and glorious tasting of food and culture, traditions and history.

Go BIG Travel’s next offering is:

A 3-week trip to exotic Fiji, including:

1. A week of scuba diving or snorkeling,

2. Kayaking,

3. Waterfall swims,

4. Rock sliding fun,

5. Ceremonial introduction to the fiery Fijian culture, hospitality, and oh, the cuisine!, and

6. Instagram-worthy sandy beaches to snorkel, nap, and nosh,

and just wander

7. Pre-Trip Prep: Nitrox scuba training to leverage the most fun out of our time underwater. More oxygen and less nitrogen please .

8. Pre-Trip Prep: Refresher scuba dive if you haven’t been for a while. Safety first, right?

9. Pre-Trip Prep: A viewing of the TV show “Love Island”. Haven’t seen this series yet myself, but this newish reality show loves Fiji as their paradise setting.

10. Pre-Trip Prep: A viewing of EVERY Survivor since season #33, a record 17 in a row! LOVED Survivor since Day 1… Still do! Mark Burnett’s team picked Fiji as their permanent home (17+ seasons).

11. Pre-Trip Prep: A viewing of the Fiji-set films of Cast Away (2000, starring Tom Hanks), and The Blue Lagoon (1998, starring Brooke Shields)

12. Pre-Trip Prep: A Reading of the 2023 mystery novel, “A Disappearance in Fiji” by Nilima Rao.

Hearst Castle

Before you know it, the “cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon” makes your eyes well up… as time winds down with our parents… with our kids. But take heart! There’s time to enjoy a few more life-lasting memories with those that you love. (My mom wants to visit Hearst Castle for her 93rd birthday, eh…) Made me think… Go BIG Travel wants to help you make your special parent /family trip a reality sooner than later… with a visit to Hearst Castle.

Hearst Castle… What an amazing piece of history right here in Northern California. It embodies the age-old American story of power, politics, and privilege. Of old money. Of celebrity. Of salacious marriage arrangements, of tantalizing Hollywood parties. And OMG, an infamous Berkeley kidnapping and transformation of the heiress, Patty Hearst, into an SLA (Symbionese Liberation Army) terrorist, with bank robberies, bombings, and murder on her rap sheet. And she walks free today, pardoned by a President after receiving a commuted sentence (from 35 years to time served, 2 years) from another.

The grandeur of this family’s California landmark, Hearst Castle, is open to the public as part of the California State Parks system. It is spectacular, and made even more so as it makes one think of parallels in our society today.

Go Big Travel is offering an exploration of this world, focused on a tour (or several separate tours) of Hearst Castle. My 93-year old mother has never been, so we’ll soon be taking a road trip to finally check it out. Of the 14 tours available, we will be going on one of the tours that provides wheelchairs.

So please let me know if you’d like something similar for you and your parent… or your family, your friends, or just yourself. I can’t wait to share with you what I learn there, so you can do the same.

Go Big Travel is offering this exploration:

A memorable trip to the famous Hearst Castle, participating in one or more of their 14 tours, including…

1. An evening dinner at a local restaurant or in the Castle’s Dining Room.

2. A bonus drive to visit the elephant seal coastal rookery along beautiful Highway 1.

3. Pre-Trip Prep: A viewing of the most famous film ever, Citizen Kane, the classic 1941 mystery film depicting the life and times of William Randolph Hearst.

4. Pre-Trip Prep: A viewing of the 2020 film, “Mank”, depicting the complex story behind the writing of Citizen Kane by Herman Makowitz. A lot of the history of Hearst’s parties and relationship with his actress mistress is portrayed in this film.

5. Pre-Trip Prep: A viewing of the compelling 2018 CNN 6-episode documentary, “The Radical Story of Patty Hearst” on HBO Max.

6. Pre-Trip Prep: A reading of the book, “American Heiress - The Wild Saga of Kidnapping, Crimes, and Trial of Patty Hearst.

2026 US Pond Hockey Championships in Minnesota

This past January, 300 teams from 7 nations came to ‘compete’ in camaraderie at the US Pond Hockey Championships in Minnesota. This is a Bucket List item for many hockey players, and earlier this year eight of us (the Oakland Diving Dogs Brewery) skated back to our youth on outdoor rinks, and had a blast.

Please let me know if you are interested in playing in the epic US Pond Hockey Championships on Lake Nokomis, MN from January 23rd - 25th, 2026. Early registration has recently been offered to teams from this past January’s tournament… so I think I can help facilitate teams’ early applications. Some divisions fill fast.

If you know friends who might want to join the fun, just let them know. I’ll see about assembling multiple teams depending upon the level of interest. I do need to know soon, as the early registration ends Sep 30.

As usual, Go BIG Travel would add on a few options (and maybe days) in addition to the Jan 23 - 25 tourney, including offerings of:

1. A post-game sauna on the lake to salve those game-day bruises,

2. A visit (90 min or 3 hr tours) to Paisley Park, the Museum / HQ of the late rock genius, Prince.

3. Going to a high school hockey game (powerhouses like Eden Prairie or Edina) and/or college (U of M Gophers are always near the top of the NCAA D1), and/or an NHL Wild game, depending upon their schedules. (BTW, High school hockey games in Minnesota are INTENSE!).

4. And of course, a shopping spree at Pure Hockey, the superstore in Edina!… and the Mall of America for those less-compelling needs.

5. Pre-Trip Prep: Read the wonderful collection of hockey stories from Minnesotan hockey coaching legend, Tom Peart. Ask him to be your coach! His 2023 book is “A Vagabond Life: Stories from a Minnesota Hockey Coach”.

6. Pre-Trip Prep: Watch the seminal outdoor 1999 hockey film “Mystery Alaska” written by SJR’s own Hollywood mogul, Sean O’Byrne, and starring Russell Crowe.

7. Pre-Trip Prep: Watch the hilariously raunchy 1977 film, Slapshot, perhaps the most famous hockey movie made, starring Paul Newman.

8. Pre-Trip Prep: Read Gretzky’s 2016 “99: Stories of the Game” filled with those anecdotes only the Great One could collect.

9. Pre-Trip Prep: Read about the Winnipeg Warming Huts, architecture at its finest to help sustain the hardy through their adventures on the rivers. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_Warming_Huts%3B_An_Art_and_Architecture_Competition_on_Ice

10. Pre-Trip Prep: And if you’re hardy enough, skate the 7-10 km Nestaweya (Red and Assiniboine Rivers) River Trail, a paradigm for outdoor survival fun.

11. Pre-Trip Prep: Play some night shinny outdoors under the moonlight, using the glowing puck from Tom Pedersonks puck bag. Tom is the inventor of the ‘Green Biscuit’, and also an ex-San Jose Shark and Toronto Maple Leaf… and friend of the Oakland Diving Dogs.

12. Pre-Trip Prep: Try to ‘Ice Fish’ in a hut on Lake Nokomis, where you’ll be playing your shinny!

13. Pre-Trip Prep: And of course, watch the 2018 award-winning film, “Pond Hockey, starring Sidney Crosby, Neal Broten, Wayne Gretzky… https://youtube.com/watch?v=hJvPDtppZtI&si=WQKeVw9qT588d-eg

14. SPECIAL WARNING: DO NOT even think of watching the 1980 Scott Baio made-for-TV after-school special, “The Boy Who Drank Too Much”… instead opt for 1986’s “Youngblood” with Patrick Swayze and Rob Lowe.

Here is a link to the Championships’ site that shows photos, videos, and more specifics (4 on 4, no goalies but weird nets)

https://www.uspondhockey.com

Las Vegas Trifecta

Go BIG Travel will be offering a Vegas Trifecta+ of entertainment! The Eagles, Alanis, The Wiz, & the Golden Knights. You can see any one or the whole trifecta! Of course, the town of Vegas will offer some other pursuits.

1. The Eagles on Nov 1

2. Morissette on Nov 2

3. The Sphere’s immersive version of The Wizard of Oz on Nov 3

4. The Colorado Avalanche are in town on Halloween (Oct 31) to take on the Vegas Golden Knights … a Vegas Halloween!

5. Pre-Trip Prep: View the Alanis Morissette documentary on music in the 90’s through her experiences after the seminal “Jagged Little Pill”. The 2021 doc was produced by HBO, entitled “Jagged”.

6. Pre-Trip Prep: And Netflix just released the Emmy-winning two-part 2013 documentary “The History the Eagles”.

7. Pre-Trip Prep: And Apple TV and Prime are showing “Valiant”, the 2019 documentary of the incredible first season of the NHL expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights, right after the horrible mass shooting.

8. Pre-Trip Prep: And of course, you must read the L. Frank Baum novel, The Wizard of Oz, published 125 years ago, in 1900! It is a short read (only 154 pages) and has more violent adventures than the the movie, the remake, the cartoons, or the Broadway play… but it carries the same life lessons. A worthy read!

9. Pre-Trip Prep: Just for fun, rent the 1978 musical film, “The Wiz”, starring teenaged Michael Jackson and Dianna Ross. (Don’t bother renting the Judie Garland film, cuz that’s what the Sphere producers jazzed up for Vegas.)

This should be a great time, whether you go to one or all 4. So let me know if you’re interested ASAP, as we’ll start buying tickets early to get the best deals and seats together. I’ll start reserving spots at each venue next Friday, so let me know by Sep 19th if you’d like to join.

Cultural Cuba

A Go BIG Travel trip offering (for March 12 - 19, 2026)- Cultural Cuba … including Havana, Santa Clara, Trinidad, and Cienfuegos (an 8-day Itinerary with Friendly Planet's Colors of Cuba tour.

Go Big Travel is offering an adventure trip to Cuba with tours of key cultural sites including mingling with the natives, experiencing the communities making art/photography and music, Latin cuisine… and a cooking class, the dance culture… and a dance class, rolling cigars and riding in vintage convertible automobiles… and much, much more.

This is the ‘Colors of Cuba’ Tour offered by Friendly Planet Tours leaving from Miami, March 12th, and returning March 19th. The trip’s link below offers the details: Colors of Cuba - Friendly Planet Travel

Go BIG travel will be offering a range of add-ons to this Friendly Planet tour, primarily Pre-Trip Preparation activities to get the full flavor of this rarely-tasted, semi-forbidden fruit. (Those special travel visas are procured by Friendly Planet.)

There is just so much history between the United States and this Caribbean stronghold, whose government influenced American policy over the years, and vice versa. Amazing discussions will be a huge part of our adventure! Che Guevara & Fidel Castro, John F Kennedy vs Nikita Khrushchev, Ricky Ricardo (Lucy, You got some 'splaining to do), Kevin Costner (13 Days), and Don Corleone’s “I know it was you, Fredo”

Hope you can join us for this unique cultural adventure to a country many actually once feared! This trip date is filling fast, so please hurry if you’re interested.