Destinations
ASHFORD CASTLE, IRELAND
SILVER HILTON STEELHEAD LODGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA
LOYTON LODGE, ENGLAND
PRONAY CASTLE, HUNGARY
VENTOSILLA PALACE, SPAIN
MAGIC WATERS, CHILE
LOS OMBUES LODGE, ARGENTINA
EG-UR RIVER TAIMEN CAMPS, MONGOLIA
ARHVAMMUR LODGE, ICELAND
CEDAR LODGE, NEW ZEALAND
GRAND SLAM LODGE, MEXICO
THE DELPHI CLUB, BAHAMAS
BY FAR THE MOST
interesting international trips I’ve made in my life—from the windswept wilds of Labrador, to the vast Russian tundra, to the endless aquamarine flats of the Bahamas, to the verdant Chilean rainforest—have occurred because of my obsession with fly angling. Fly fishing (and bird hunting, for that matter) does not happen in ugly places, as they say. So while, yes, I have made some overseas trips without my fly rod and visited many of the world’s great, vibrant cities and lingered in awe in their famous museums and savored every bite I’ve had in their great restaurants, I have always preferred letting my fly rod guide me into the wilds of a different country. These trips have become indelible in memory. I think of Bruce Chatwin’s great line in his travel book, that “travel does not merely broaden the mind. It makes the mind.” I like to think that my mind has been made by engaging with the flora and fauna—and the locals who love them—in the different countries I’ve traveled, something that gets you to the very essence of a place. ¶ Staying at a lodge, as opposed to a do-it-yourself trip, often makes the most sense when it comes to sporting travel, given that we are short on time (with work and family and other obligations and, in a larger sense, on this earth). Yes, some parts of these lodges are not exactly rugged, but usually those features—amenities like the bedding, for instance—are the things from home that you don’t mind having along. But the best sporting lodges will immerse you wholly inmaking your mind.
