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Posts by Kelsi

Stay Safe During Hurricane Sandy

By on October 29, 2025

The movement of Hurricane Sandy towards the East Coast of the United States could have a tremendous impact on travel plans this week. We are concerned first and foremost for the safety of our guides and travelers.

If you are guiding an experience that will be affected by the hurricane, please contact your travelers as soon as possible to communicate your plans. If you need to change your travel plans due to the hurricane, please contact us. Send an email to support@vayable.com and we will help you reschedule or cancel your experience.

Here are some helpful resources regarding the hurricane:

  • National Hurricane Center
  • Red Cross
  • New York Hurricane Tracker

Take care and stay safe.

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Science Meets History with the Invented in SF Walking Tour

By on October 24, 2025

I am intrigued by good historical tour and I love to learn about science. Robin marries the two with the Invented in SF Walking Tour. This is a history tour of San Francisco with a twist of science. Or is it a science tour with a twist of history?

Robin kicks the tour off with introductions and a fun ice breaker, by asking us “What have you invented?” I dished my secret of putting cinnamon in cream cheese frosting for carrot cake, which I am 100% to 65% sure I’m the first to do. I learned of other things our group mates invented from creative to practical to ingenious.

We explored a 2.3 mile course in the city and stopped along the way to learn the interesting stories of inventions. You may have heard that Levi’s were invented in San Francisco, well Robin has the details. She’ll also share stories of clever food and technology inventions all while exploring the beautiful scenery of San Francisco.

The highlight of tour from my perspective is learning how to shape fortune cookies. This is where I can tell Robin used to work with the Exploratorium. She is great about translating concepts to fun hands on activities. Folding a fortune cookie is not as intuitive as I’d thought. And we were using silicone! Shaping a fortune cookie out of dough is a whole other level of skill.

What I found especially interesting about this tour is my group mates weren’t all from out of town. In fact, almost everyone was a Bay Area resident. An afternoon exploring innovation in San Francisco doesn’t just appeal to travelers. Locals love to learn about our legends too.

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Fun People-Powered Vacation Plans with Flightfox, Airbnb and Vayable

By on October 15, 2025

Curious what a crowd-sourced holiday might look like? Flightfox turned this curiosity into a fun contest idea. They challenged experts to plan a unique, creative and fun vacation using Flightfox for travel, Airbnb for accommodation and Vayable for experiences. All three companies are people-powered travel resources.

We’ve loved reading these creative vacation ideas. The first place winner devised a plan to visit San Francisco, New York and Paris over the course of two weeks. The second place winner took us from San Francisco, to New York and on a fun and insightful tour around Eastern Europe. To read more of the winning itineraries check out this Flightfox blog post.

Where would you go on your crowd-sourced vacation?

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London Food Guides on Travel with Kate

By on October 12, 2025

Let’s celebrate Friday with a virtual vacation. Kate has been exploring the food scene in London with Sakhr and Matthew as her guides. These videos are a sweet treat from her adventures in noshing.

A Foodie’s Paradise in London on Travel with Kate

Hungry yet? Oh, there’s more goodness to come…

A Street Food Party in London on Travel with Kate

Kate is an on-camera host, travel expert and producer of travel media. We love her charming personality and passion for engaging with locals. Keep up with her latest journeys on her website Travel with Kate, where you’ll find enough fun videos for a marathon weekend of virtual vacationing.

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Feast Your Eyes: An Afternoon With an SF Foodie

By on October 9, 2025

What makes Samir’s Eat Like a Local in SF tour unique? His relationships with the people you meet along the way give you an insider’s look into the neighborhood’s food culture. It’s not about posh restaurants or fads, it’s about the simple beauty of good food locals love.

I could tell you all the places we stopped along the way, but I think I’ll tease you with photos instead. I can’t ruin the surprises! I will tell you that this is a tour of great food on 24th Street in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco.

We hit a variety of places - from taquerias, to a family coffee shop, to an under the radar restaurant. There were few detours along the way too. There was some ogling of fresh produce and an impromptu side trip to a few colorful murals.

My favorite stop was at a restaurant Samir used to work at. Here we hung out with a chef who is full on fanatic about food. He talked a mile a minute about obscure vegetables, gave me a few flowers to nibble on, made me a snack and basically blew my food-loving mind.

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Photos from a Bike Tour in San Francisco

By on October 1, 2025

I saw more of San Francisco in three hours than I’d seen in a month on the Bike the City in 3 Hours tour. The mobility of a bike allowed us to breeze by bus stops and traffic jams. Not to mention, the view from a bike is so relaxing. Beebe started off the tour by making sure our bikes and helmets all fit well and gave us a quick orientation about what to expect on the road. Then we were off for a crash course in the city, without the crashing part.

We visited some of San Francisco’s most iconic sites, such as the Painted Ladies, the street murals in the Mission neighborhood and San Francisco City Hall. I loved listening to interesting facts and stories at each site. I’ve impressed quite a few friends with stories I heard on this tour. Did you know Victorian houses are often colorfully painted to show of their embellishments and architectural details?

Viewing the street art in the Mission was my favorite stop. I loved weaving through the alleys to see the layers of history and art. Beebe showed us some popular artists’ work and shared a bit of the back story behind the pieces. I love looking for Bode pieces on my walks through San Francisco now.

The best part about this tour is the ability to see so many places in the city with the comfort of a bike. We didn’t have to deal with stop-and-go buses or out-of-the-way routes. We were also mobile enough to explore park trails and park our bikes at interesting stops. Without a bike, I’d stayed in the parts of the city with efficient public transportation. Now, I’ve converted. Biking is my new favorite way to explore San Francisco.

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Sailing the Bay with Captain Bob

By on September 27, 2025

One of our popular experiences in San Francisco is a private sail around the bay with Captain Bob. This is a relaxing and beautiful way to take in the city from the serenity of a sailboat. Captain Bob’s guests generously let me tag along to take in the sites with them.

At the start of the tour, Captain Bob initiated fun conversations with stories about sailing and Bay Area history. I loved his anecdotes about Treasure Island, Alcatraz and San Francisco landmarks. He takes great care of his guests by making sure everyone has food, drinks and a comfortable view. He even let me explore the bow to take some photos.

As we peacefully cruised around the bay, we saw typical sites in the bay such as, the Bay Bridge, Alcatraz and the Ferry Building. We were also lucky enough to watch dolphins leap through the water!

Captain Bob has over 35 years of experience sailing and made us feel completely comfortable as he navigated the waters with ease.

Visitors will love this experience for the beautiful views of the city and water. Locals will love this chance to relax outside of the city for an afternoon. Mostly, this is the perfect way to spend time with the people you love or would like to know more!

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Tips for the Perfect Turkish Breakfast

By on September 26, 2025

Merve and Kasper are a young international couple in Istanbul with a serious love for breakfast, the most important meal of the day in Turkey. Here they dish a few of their secrets to a homemade Turkish breakfast.

What inspired you to offer a Homemade Turkish Breakfast to visitors?

Breakfast is the most important meal in Turkish culture. I like to prepare a big breakfast to start the day off right. I have been preparing breakfast for Kasper for a long time and we thought “Why not share this tradition with others and let them taste a real homemade Turkish breakfast?” We make a great team! I prepare the food, he cleans and entertains the guests.

How do you make a Turkish breakfast?

First, prepare some Turkish tea because it takes about 20 minutes to get the flavor just right. Then, prepare a cheese plate and adorn with some dried mint and olive oil on top. Next, cut tomatoes and cucumbers into small pieces and add lemon juice, olive oil and pomegranate syrup or spices if you like. Then, prepare a plate of olives. You can spice this up with red pepper and olive oil.

Next, start making the menemen. First, cut green peppers into small pieces and saute in olive oil. After the peppers are cooked add some cut tomatoes. Cook a little bit longer and add watered tomato paste. Last, you can add eggs and cheese (kaşar, white cheese), if you like. Scramble all ingredients and add black and red pepper.

You can also prepare a plate of bal kaymak, which is a cream similar to a think yogurt with honey on top.

What are the 5 best Turkish breakfast foods?

  1. Menemen: Scrambled eggs with tomato, pepper, cheese and any other toppings
  2. Gözleme: Savory handmade pastry similar to a crepe.
  3. Bal-Kaymak: Kaymak is a thick cream, similar to yogurt. This dish is served with honey drizzled on top.
  4. Sucuklu Yumurta: Eggs with Turkish spicy sausage.
  5. Fresh cucumber and tomato salad with different types of cheeses.
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The Explore Local Mumbai Guide

By on September 17, 2025

Ruchit is a Mumbai native and hosts the Explore Local Mumbai tour. This tour gets to the heart of the Mumbai lifestyle and shows off what Mumbaikars love about their home. Here he shares with us his guide for a day in Mumbai.
Popularly known for “Bollywood,” Mumbai is often alternatively known as a ‘slum’ city since the release of the Oscar winner movie “Slum Dog Millionaire.” But that’s not entirely fair. There’s a lot more to Mumbai. Here’s what I would suggest if you have a day in Mumbai –

  1. See a few point of interest, but go local! - Hop into an overcrowded local train that takes you to the British Raj monument, Victoria Terminus Station. Just outside the station, get into a taxi (we call it taxi not cab). Drive by the waterfront Marine Drive and visit the Gateway of India and the heritage hotel, The Taj.
  2. Walk through the largest open laundry, Dhobi Ghat and the hippie area, Colaba Causeway.
  3. Scorching afternoon heat of Mumbai? – Stop by the famous Leopold Cafe mentioned extensively in the novel Shantaram. I happen to really like this retro-bar for its beers and burgers.
  4. Wondering what to do in the afternoon? – Escape the heat with some desi (local) shopping. Adorn the spirit of India with cotton attire from Fab India and accessories from Colaba Causeway shopping arena.
  5. Snack time! – If you haven’t had Mumbai Chaat (local street food) especially ‘pani-puri,’ you are definitely missing the mouth-watering taste of Mumbai! I suggest you hit the Sakari Bhandar chaat-stall, close by Amitabh Bachchan’s (a Bollywood legend) residence in Juhu.
  6. Mumbai Manhattan? Is that in New York? - Well no, we are talking about the Mumbai skyline where the property rates increase faster than the inflation rate. The view of the army of buildings is just spectacular from the Worli Sea-link.
  7. Go clubbing! – But hit some galli (street) serving more of Mumbai’s local food, like Pav Bhaji, to get pumped-up. As Mumbai is the home of India’s elite, it has quite a few crazy clubs where the bold and the beautiful hang out drinking mojitos.
  8. Hard to believe it’s the end of the day in Mumbai? – Not yet! Mumbai is tagged as a city that never sleeps. The after-party food… Food again? Yes Mumbaikars love food. The shawarma wrap at Bade Miya is the place. Open till 3am, you will often spot the elite crowd in their Mercs and BMWs, as well as working class eating at this place! Food has no race/caste, I’d say.
  9. The last pit-stop! – Sit at Marine Drive facing the Arabian Sea for the nighttime sea breeze that WILL make you feel sleepy and realize – Now, it’s the end of a tiring and fun-filled day!

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Get Shot in LA on FataLAtour

By on September 5, 2025

There’s the Los Angeles on the silver screen, the Los Angeles in television news, and the Los Angeles in reality TV. And then there’s real life in LA.

FataLAtour mixes reality in La La Land even more.

What’s it like to get shot? How do the body and mind react?

FataLAtour explores the process the mind and body endure when it believes it’s been shot. Whether the fatal wound was shot on the streets or the screen the episode will become part of your reality. Starting September 10, you’ll be able to book it here.

The FataLAtour App

The FataLAtour app alerts you whenever you are within a one-block radius of a real-life or fictional shooting. You can either follow the FataLAtour map to seek out destinations or keep the app on during your daily walks in the city of Los Angeles. Each alert shares information about the victim’s name, death details and location.

The FataLAtour Experience

Next time you’re in LA arrange a FataLAtour with David. You’ll strap on a FataLAtour (as seen in the videos) and begin walking around the city. When you approach the scene of a real life or fictional shooting, blood packs will burst, simulating a gunshot wound on your shirt. From there the brain takes over.

About Your Guide

David Leonard is a fourth-generation LA native and media artist. He worked in television news for eight years as a photojournalist and reporter. The FataLAtour is the product of his graduate work in Design | Media Arts at UCLA. Check out his personal site www.davidleonard.tv and follow FataLAtour on Twitter @FataLAtour.

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