"I never realized it before," says Matt, watching the Statue of Liberty drift out of sight, "but I've always wanted to go on a cruise."

And really, that's the meat of it. You've got a rum punch sweating on the balcony, a blissfully open itinerary, and zero pressure to do anything except enjoy yourself--an easy task when you're on a ship as well-equipped as the Norwegian Epic.

Just look at this thing!

Full disclosure. I'm no stranger to reality TV. In fact, I love it. Gimme Gossip Girl, The Hills, and America's Next Top Model any day of the week over some dry documentary or bad cooking show.

So let's just say when the CW started running trailers for the new show Fly Girls, I set my DVR to record it immediately. Fly Girls follows five easy-on-the-eyes Virgin America flight attendants as they jet all over...well, the nation. Keep in mind, VA doesn't fly abroad. And VA is fully embracing the show, complete with a launch party fittingly held at 10,000 feet. Check out this Gadling video. (Guess my invitation to the event got lost in the mail.)

Recently I discovered How I Met Your Mother, which means I was the second-to-last person on Earth to get obsessed with it. This show nails what it's like to be a young adult in the city. And so far my favorite episode has been "Murtaugh." In it, Ted says he has a list of things he is now too old to do, like pull an all-nighter or drink from a beer bong. The list is named after the main character in Lethal Weapon, Roger Murtaugh, who famously says, "I'm gettin' too old for this sh*t." But the item on Ted's Murtaugh List that resonated the most with me was: Crash on a friend's futon for the night instead of getting a hotel room.

Many a traveler has planned a trip simply to sample local tipples; the popularity of the Napa Valley wine trail is a testament to that. So how about blazing a brewery trail in one of the urban hubs leading the pack in American beer making?

These eight cities, known for their high concentrations of high-quality breweries, are perfect destinations for tasting beer, Napa-style. Channel your inner barfly and get ready for hops from brewery to brewery.

Ah, the Hawaiian luau, so much a staple of the Hawaiian vacation experience. Before I actually went to one, I pictured a giant big fat pig roasting on a spit. I envisioned scantily clad men and women dancing near tiki torches under the stars and moon. And I imagined there’d be lots of loud shirts and goofish tourists scarfing down umbrella-clad cocktails.

Some of that vision was myth, and some was, indeed reality, as I found out last month at Waikiki Starlight Luau at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort & Spa. So what really goes down at a Hawaiian luau? Read on, and I’ll give you the luau lowdown.

Please join us in welcoming William Mullins and Leslie Banker to The Window Seat. They are the co-authors of Britannia in Brief: The Scoop on All Things British and their guest blog reveals the top rock sites in London.

When you marry a Londoner who loves music as much as he loves his native city, excursions around the city follow a different narrative than the usual guidebooks. That’s how I know that Notting Hill was the neighborhood where Jimi Hendrix finally kissed the sky and where the riots occurred that inspired the song “White Riot” by the Clash. We were in London last spring doing research for our book, Britannia in Brief, and as we walked for miles William noted a few of his favorite music destinations in the city.

Visiting the Big Green Apple this St. Patrick's Day? You'll need more than a four-leafed clover and an Irish grandmother to find the pot o' fun at the end of the rainbow. Use the itinerary below to make the most of your day.

10am Sleep in, Danny Boy. It's going to be a long day.

11am Okay, lazy bones, up you go. And don't forget to wear green and some comfortable walking shoes.

12pm Time to linger over a long Irish breakfast. Dine at Tir Na Nog, Fitzers, or the Wheeltapper Pub. Not only will you get your fill of black and white pudding, Irish bacon, and Irish oatmeal, you'll stay near the parade. This is no time to be wandering off.

The Window Seat recently had the chance to chat with Melanie Asher, owner and distributor of the Peruvian brandy, Machu Pisco. As the drink gets more and more popular here in the U.S., I asked Melanie all about the pisco sour and the Peruvian heritage that stands behind it.

The Window Seat: First of all, what is a pisco sour?
Melanie Asher: The pisco sour is a quintessential Peruvian cocktail, made with pisco, a Peruvian brandy and sour mix. Oddly enough it was invented by an American in the 1920s who travelled to Peru and liked his piscos so much that he decided to stay and open the Morris Bar where the pisco sour was born.

TWS: Why is a pisco sour better than a margarita?

If you're still looking for Mr. Right or Ms. Walks-on-Air this February 14th, you might wonder if your chances would be improved by a visit to Valentine, Texas or Valentine, Nebraska. Recently a single friend suggested I write a travel blog called: You Don't Have to Go to Alaska to Meet the Man of Your Dreams. She wanted me to figure out where the most single men live so that she could vacation accordingly.

Karaoke might be the perfect ice breaker for travelers. Whereas 100 years ago, travelers used to gather around the inn piano for a good old-fashioned singalong, we now can find an instant sense of camaraderie beneath disco lights and the LCD screen. Plus, even if you’re a total bomb at the mic, the beauty of karaoke on vacation is that you never have to see any of your audience again.

Today you can find karaoke almost everywhere (except for North Korea, where they banned it in July). Finland, of all places, holds the world record for the most people singing karaoke together at one time (imagine 80,000 people singing heavy-metal hit “Hard Rock Hallelujah” in an attempt to usher in the “arockalypse” to Helsinki).

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member angelsil.