Delta suites to Paris, Tokyo

Interested in stretching out in a fancy new Delta One suite? Delta Air Lines has announced that select flights from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Paris will be operated on its newly upgraded Boeing 777s, featuring Delta One and Delta Premium Select, beginning Dec. 13. The airline also said last month that the retrofitted 777 cabins would be available from MSP to Tokyo starting Nov. 16. The Delta One suites offer spacious, closed-door privacy and lie-flat, memory-foam comfort, according to a review on the Points Guy. Right behind the suites, Delta Premium Select is the new, superior cabin for some international routes. Delta will also fly the suite-enhanced 777s from MSP to Seoul beginning in 2019.

Simon Peter Groebner

Vacation vs. the school year

When the school bell rings, must travel plans come to an end? Research reveals that by planning ahead, more families will actually take much-needed and longer vacations and thus reap a multitude of benefits. Taking time to create a thoughtful bucket list can make it easier to plan for meaningful vacations, those that are a deliberate reflection of your values, hopes and dreams. So before you begin listing desired destinations, ask yourself what aspects of the world — geographically, spiritually and culturally — you want to share with your family. By crafting a strategy in advance and executing early, you'll have more flight options, your pick of tour departures, the best cabins on a cruise ship and more options in popular resort areas.

FamilyTravel.com

Do the dunes of Namibia

Namibia is probably best known for its huge, brilliantly colored sand dunes. It's home to elephants that have adapted to the desert as well as zebra, giraffe, various antelope, ostrich, lion, cheetah and leopard. Adventure Life offers an immersive 14-day/13-night tour, including an outing that involves foot-tracking rare black rhinos at the Desert Rhino Camp. There's more luxe accommodations at Etosha National Park, with Ongava Lodge featuring a main lounge and dining areas that overlook a watering hole that attracts all manner of game. South of Etosha is Okonjima Nature Reserve, home to the AfriCat Foundation, which rehabilitates big cats, particularly injured or captured leopard and cheetah. Namibia borders the Atlantic, and on a visit to Swakopmund there's sea kayaking to watch seals and dolphins play in the wild. This isn't an inexpensive trip, but lodgings are first-rate, and all meals are included. Pricing starts at about $12,400 per person double. International air is extra (1-800-344-6118, tinyurl.com/ycehr2qh).

Chicago Tribune

One of Namibia’s famed sand dunes.

Mexico travel advisory

The U.S. State Department issued a new level-two travel advisory for Mexico on Wednesday. The department's level-two designation means "exercise increased caution." The new advisory reflects additional restrictions for U.S. government employees in Chihuahua, a landlocked state on the U.S. border where the advisory level is at three, meaning "reconsider travel." Yet, the timing was ominous, coming shortly after eight bodies, murdered in grizzly fashion, were discovered in Cancun, the popular beach resort where violence away from the beaches has been rising. The slayings took place outside the hotel zone. The department urges Americans to avoid travel to five states: Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas. To read the advisory, with state-by-state notes, go to tinyurl.com/ycpn4cxr.

Kerri Westenberg