Just back from my trip to Africa — Tanzania actually — with a 36-hour stopover in Dubai (UAE). I discovered the secret to a true vacation; get unwired. Seriously. Two plus weeks without mail — e, voice and snail — is a real getaway. I recommend it to one and all.

I hadn’t taken a two-week vacation since biking around Peloponneses and Zakynthos in Greece back in (gulp) 1985. What a difference that second week makes to unwinding. Even more so doing it unplugged.

I’m not the only one who stays wired. At Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain in Arizona recently, almost every other person lounged by the pool working on his or her PDAs — including my traveling companion Melanie Young. And in a conversation with Laura C. this week, she admitted to even checking her BlackBerry during her honeymoon in St. Lucia last year.

Unplug when on holiday. Get away and unwind. It’s what vacations are all about. Okay, okay. I’ll get off my soapbox….(for now)…

In the next few weeks, I’ll be blogging about Dubai (with such a building boom, it’s said to currently have in use 20 to 25 percent of all the cranes in the world) and Tanzania, highlighted by my safari to the southern Selous Reserve and relaxation at Blue Bay Resort on the beach in Zanzibar, where Eric is doing his internship.

Stay tuned for more details, recipes, menus and photos…