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Qorianka Travel & Experience - All You MUST Know Before You Go (2024)

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Qorinka Travel & Experience provided a seamless and fulfilling experience to Laguna 69. The tour... read more

I had Markus as a guide for the Santa Cruz trek and had a great time! The sleeping bag I rented was... read more

A few years ago, I did the Inca Trail and I enjoyed it a lot, but I must admit that this trek Santa Cruz has surpassed it in scenic beauty, it was four really good days, even though we had rain, but everything was very well compensated, especially the way through the Santa Cruz valley...amazing!. Thanks Romer!...Qorianka

Qorinka Travel & Experience provided a seamless and fulfilling experience to Laguna 69. The tour guides are exceptionally informative and allow for all abilities. My partner and I highly recommend Qorinka.

I had Markus as a guide for the Santa Cruz trek and had a great time! The sleeping bag I rented was super warm, all the gear worked well, and the food was so good on the trek. It was easy to navigate booking with a group as a solo traveler, which sometimes I tricky. Communication was super fast and kind. Overall I would definitely recommend this company! My trekking group was smaller compared to some other groups, which I appreciated. And they take good care of the mules by not loading them up with too much weight, unlike some of the other companies we saw on the trail.

This was one of our favorite hikes in Peru. It’s incredible hiking up a glaciar in just a day hike. The views are amazing and the guides were super helpful and knowledgeable.

I really enjoyed the trip with Quorianka. The service was excellent, very personal and uncomplicated. Any time!

Route, views and difficulty were perfect. The team: Eliseo, Emily and Christian were outstanding. Equipment and food was good. 1) In terms of food, some high calorie rich and fat food is a must for a long hike. Thing about nuts for example. 20 grams per person a day would be very nice. 2) now I spoke with Romer face to face about the route. I think it is good to speak to all clients before such a big trip. So we know exactly what to expect. This can be done on the phone or in real life. 3) the ending. We where dropped off at 3pm without any lunch and a nice goodbye. A final lunch would be very suited to finish such a big trip with the whole group.

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Great service, and trustworthy!

I did both the Laguna 69 and the Pastoruri glacier tour with Peru Qorianka - unforgettable experiences! Romer was very friendly and showed me all the possible hikes tours in the region. Fair prices and a good service, I'd definitely recommend the agency (and Romer and Ana's B&B, Casa de Ana)!

Date of experience : October 31, 2019

Qorianka Travel & Experience

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Qorianka Travel & Experience - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Qorianka Travel & Experience

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QORIANKA TRAVEL & EXPERIENCE (Huaraz) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

Fixed departures 2024 Home / Salidas en Grupo

Offers on Trekking and Tours in Peru, join our scheduled departures 2024!

June 17 2024

8 dias: Huayhuash fast highlights trek

17 june - 24 june Ubicación: Cordillera Huayhuash

Precio por persona USD 650.00 Opción de reservar con un depósito como pago inicial USD 195.00

June 23 2024

10 dias: Huayhuash full circuit trek

23 june - 02 july Ubicación: Cordillera Huayhuash

Precio por persona USD 750.00 Opción de reservar con un depósito como pago inicial USD 225.00

6 dias: Essence of Huayhuash

23 june - 28 june Ubicación: Cordillera Huayhuash

Precio por persona USD 550.00 Opción de reservar con un depósito como pago inicial USD 165.00

July 13 2024

13 july - 22 july Ubicación: Cordillera Huayhuash

July 30 2024

30 july - 08 august Ubicación: Cordillera Huayhuash

30 july - 04 august Ubicación: Cordillera Huayhuash

August, 2024

August 11 2024

4 dias: Santa Cruz Trek

11 august - 14 august Ubicación: Cordillera Blanca

Precio por persona USD 350.00 Opción de reservar con un depósito como pago inicial USD 105.00

August 13 2024

9 dias: Alpamayo Cedros trek

13 august - 21 august Ubicación: Cordillera Blanca

August 17 2024

17 august - 24 august Ubicación: Cordillera Huayhuash

August 22 2024

22 august - 31 august Ubicación: Cordillera Huayhuash

August 26 2024

26 august - 29 august Ubicación: Cordillera Blanca

October, 2024

October 04 2024

04 october - 13 october Ubicación: Cordillera Huayhuash

October 07 2024

07 october - 16 october Ubicación: Cordillera Huayhuash

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QORIANKA TRAVEL & EXPERIENCE: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

America’s Best Beaches, Top Mexican Resorts And More Travel News

Plus: How airlines select wines, IV drips on vacation and how to travel with a digital ID.

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13 Mexican Hotels With Authentic Temazcal Experiences

W hen it comes to experiencing the real Mexico, it doesn’t get more genuine—or much warmer—than spending time a domed sweat lodge known as a temazcal. From the Nahuatl word temazcalli—or “house of heat”—a temazcal (which is traditionally overseen by shaman) helps detoxify the body, reduce inflammation, improve circulation, aid digestion, among other health benefits. The W Mexico City is the only hotel in the nation’s capital that features a temazcal but don’t sweat it if your travels take you elsewhere. Here are 13 Mexican hotels with authentic temazcal experiences .

Should You Get An IV Drip On Your Vacation?

While most people’s idea of a vacation drink usually involves a margarita, Aperol spritz or another favorite cocktail, a growing number of vacationers are seeking out IV drips to combat jet lag or general overindulging. According to The Global Wellness Institute, some 7,000 medical spas and IV drip centers administered wellness IV drips in 2023, including many companies that have locations worldwide. Here's what you need to know about getting an IV drip on vacation .

This is the published version of Forbes’ Passport newsletter, which offers a first-class guide to luxury travel. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox every Friday.

The 10 Best Beaches in America

Every summer, Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman (aka Dr. Beach) ranks the best beaches in America using 50 criteria, including sand softness, number of sunny days, and cleanliness. This year, Leatherman ranks Duke Kahanamoku in Oahu, Hawaii as the top beach in the United States—with Coopers Beach in Southampton New York and Wailea Beach in Maui rounding out the top three.

Should you ever forget your ID while traveling—it happens—the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) now accepts digital driver’s licenses at 27 airports across the country (including one in Puerto Rico). But not any digital driver’s license works will do—it must be compliant with TSA technology. Here’s what you need to know about flying with a digital ID on your phone .

How Airlines Select Wines and Champagne

The next time you’re debating whether to have a glass of Sauvignon Blanc or Chablis aboard a flight, consider the amount of effort that goes into selecting wine and champagne for an airline. Not only do carriers have to select bottles that passengers will be familiar with, but they also have to consider the volume available, how the altitude will affect the taste, and of course the price per bottle. Here’s what sommeliers look for when selecting wine and champagne for airlines .

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Qorianka Travel & Experience

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Air travel has gone to the dogs — literally. Here’s what to know about BARK Air

Rachel Treisman

BARK Air officially launched this week, completing its first flight from New York to Los Angeles on Thursday. It also flies to London and aims to add more routes in the coming months. Joe Gall/BARK hide caption

Flying with your dog in first class may sound like a far-fetched dream for many pet lovers. But a new boutique airline launching this week aims to make the “white paw experience” a reality.

BARK Air describes itself as “the world’s first air travel experience designed specifically for dogs first, and their human companions second.”

“BARK Air has taken the white glove experience typical of a human’s first-class experience and redirected all that pampering to pooches – from booking to arrival, to in-flight services and disembarkation, dogs will truly be the VIPs and treated to a positively luxurious, curated experience,” it said in an announcement last month .

Grounded: Emotional Support Animals No Longer Guaranteed Free Flights

BARK Air officially got off the ground on Wednesday afternoon, when its inaugural flight ferried six dogs of varying breeds — from Chihuahuas to a Golden Retriever — and 11 humans (both passengers and crew) from New York to Los Angeles.

The Very Important Pups were treated to chicken-flavored puppuccinos, special cupcakes and a shoe — on a platter — to snack on, according to BARK Chief of Staff Katharine Enos. She told NPR over email that there was “no drama on board.”

“Brooklyn (dachshund) and Eddy (golden) [were] friends and played and the little dogs took nice long naps most of the way,” she added. “After lunch it was nap time for everyone. No potty accidents on board or stolen food either! Everyone felt connected in the way we were obsessed with our dogs.”

Introducing BARK Air: A 100% totally real airline for dogs. We're dog people, and we are tired of there being no truly dog-friendly options when it comes to air travel. Now booking the best-in-class dog focused flight imaginable at https://t.co/eZqVYMC5W3 pic.twitter.com/bzcY2rSO4h — BARK (@bark) April 11, 2024

The airline is a subsidiary of BARK, the company behind dog-focused brands like the subscription service BarkBox. Co-founder and CEO Matt Meeker says he’s been working towards this idea for over a decade.

He was inspired by his late Great Dane Hugo, who traveled with him often but could never fit on a plane — like many non-lap dogs, Hugo would have had to fly in the cargo area rather than the cabin. (Meeker even flew from Florida to New York in a cargo crate to show how disorienting that experience can be, as part of Bark Air’s promotional campaign.)

Many airlines have tightened restrictions for emotional support animals on board in recent years. The logistics and cost of travel can be a highly emotional issue for many families who don’t want to leave their dogs behind when relocating, let alone vacationing, Meeker says.

“We don't think of ourselves as selling dog toys or seats on an airline,” Meeker told NPR in a phone interview. “We think of ourselves as selling awesome emotional experiences with your dog.”

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The cdc issues new rules for bringing dogs into the u.s., aimed at keeping out rabies.

It’s also an expensive one: BARK Air flights between New York and LA cost $6,000 for one dog and one human (or one human and two dogs collectively under 50 pounds) in each direction, and one-way flights between New York and London go for $8,000.

Potential customers were quick to bemoan the cost, with one social media user joking that her pup would need to start selling “paw pics” to make it work.

Meeker acknowledged that “the price is high, and it’s too high.” But he said innovations, especially related to transportation, often become less expensive over time — and he hopes that will be the case with BARK Air, too.

“We have pretty clear ways of bringing those prices down if the demand is there, and that’s what we aim to do,” he added. “We want to make this affordable and accessible for as many dogs as possible.”

The airline aims to pamper passengers, both pups and people

The airline doesn't have dog size or breed restrictions but only allows humans over age 18 (or 126 in dog years). Joe Gall/BARK hide caption

On BARK Air, the drinks come in bowls, leashes replace seat belts, champagne is made of chicken broth and the bathroom is, well, anywhere.

“When they feel they need to go, they go,” Meeker said of the dog. “And then we clean up after them. And then we clean the plane between every turn.”

It’s one of the many unique perks — and logistical challenges — of an airline for dogs. BARK has partnered with a New York-based charter company called Talon Air, which provides the pilots, flight crew and plane, a Gulfstream V.

The jets accommodate 14 human passengers, but BARK is capping them at 10 to offer extra space. Meeker says it aims to make the experience as comfortable as possible for dogs, starting “even before the flight.”

BARK Air will do a “pup intake” to learn about the dogs’ temperament and preferences. On the day of the flight, humans are advised to show up an hour early to the terminal, where they’ll present their ID and walk straight onto the plane.

Do your kids want a dog? Science may be on their side

“And so what we've bypassed there is a busy commercial airport and a very rigid TSA environment, and treating the dog as just another piece of luggage,” Meeker said.

Dogs and humans get served their meals — and stow away their toys — before the flight takes off to avoid potential territorial disputes. Once in the air, dogs are offered perks like a spa treatment and blankets covered with pheromones for extra comfort. Meeker says the in-flight crew is trained in dog CPR and “fear-free behavioral practices.”

The airline has no dog size or breed restrictions, but humans must be over 18 (aka 126 in dog years). Once on board, humans are advised to keep their dogs leashed as much as possible and ask before approaching others’.

Meeker, who traveled with his dog on two recent test flights between Florida and New York, says people hoped the dogs would misbehave for purposes of the experiment — but they did anything but, even during moments of “pretty significant turbulence.”

“They calmed everyone down, they floated around, they'd take someone’s seat,” he said. “A strange dog, like, not your dog, would wander up, sit on the couch next to you, put their head in your lap, and it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s great.’ ”

He added, “I don’t know why I’m surprised by this, but the dogs made it magical.”

Demand already appears to be taking off

BARK Air is partnering with charter company Talon Air to offer several flights per month. Some are already sold out for June and July. BARK hide caption

Meeker said the initial reaction to BARK Air’s launch has been “really overwhelming and positive.”

BARK Air is offering about four round-trip cross-country flights a month, with several already sold out for June and July. It’s already planning to expand its routes, starting with a New York to Paris trip beginning in the fall.

“About a third of people apparently buy their air travel six months in advance,” he said. “So we just published our schedule through the end of the year in order to serve that crowd better.”

The airline is soliciting requests for additional destinations, and Meeker said it received over 15,000 in the first week alone.

How to keep your pets cool and safe during a heat wave

They’ve heard from military families who are moving, people who travel for business and New Yorkers spending summers outside the city — all of whom want their dogs there too. Meeker also noted significant demand from snowbirds who want to go south with their dogs for the winter and many requests for flights in and out of Chicago.

“We're just processing that information and choosing the dates, and we're learning a lot,” he added.

He hopes the forthcoming data will allow the company to make more cost-effective decisions soon.

“We’re probably doing this the most expensive way we could, which is chartering a private plane from a private owner,” he explained.

The next step would be to make a longer commitment with the charter company, leasing the plane for a month or even a year to bring down costs. Even better would be buying and outfitting a plane. Meeker has his eye on a Boeing 747 model with a back half dedicated to cargo that could serve as an additional source of revenue.

He says this team already has a design that would feature private cabins with lay-flat beds, a central “dog park” and a bar, for dog and human socializing, respectively.

“That’s the dream,” he added. “But it’ll take a little bit of time to get there.”

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Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue

Block your calendars for the first IRL Minecraft adventure!

What would you do if you found yourself inside Minecraft? Start punching trees? Build yourself a mortgage-free cozy cabin? Scream in horror at what lies beyond the bedrock beneath your feet? Before we get all existential, let me reassure you: there’s no way to enter Minecraf– *picks up phone* Wait, there is? And it’s a ton of fun? And there’s no void?! *hangs up* Great news, buddy! 

Today, we’re announcing Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue , the first ever real-life Minecraft adventure! This is an interactive and immersive touring experience that will travel to different cities around the world, produced by Experience MOD and Supply + Demand. Villager Rescue is a collective quest in which you must save a large group of villagers from an... unpleasant fate.  

This rescue mission will take you and your team through multiple biomes, where you’ll get to meet mobs (yes, some hossstile ones too), gather resources, explore the environment, and more. Minecraft Experience is designed to be interactive, but you can also just spectate, encouraging your fellow adventurers and enjoying the scenery! 

Enter the Minecraft Experience in Dallas, Texas! 

The first stop on the Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue tour will be Dallas, Texas, opening this year on September 20 . Want to be the first one to step into the real-life Overworld? Sign up for the pre-sale at MinecraftExperience.com from May 29 to receive priority access to the Experience tickets. You won’t have to wait long either – pre-sale tickets will be available for purchase just two days later on May 31, so set your alarms! If you’re the kind of person to snooze through said alarms, don’t worry if you miss the pre-sale. General ticket sales will start on June 3 for everyone else – so you won’t miss out on any of the fun. 

Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue is a blast to attend with anyone – including friends, family, colleagues, frenemies, or that nephew who never takes off his Steve costume. Children need to be accompanied by an adult but if you’re over the age of 16, you can also come by yourself and be teamed up on the spot. We highly encourage dressing up for the occasion, but make sure your outfit won't get in the way during the adventure (yes, that means leaving the Enderman stilts at home). Of course, the Experience space is wheelchair accessible and fully compliant with ADA regulations, and you can also reach out to [email protected] if you need specific accommodations. 

Check out the official website for additional info as well as FAQs, including directions to the Dallas venue, age limits, and more. To stay up to date with the latest news and upcoming locations, sign up for the mailing list on MinecraftExperience.com . This way you’ll be the first to know when Minecraft Experience spawns near you! 

Today’s free Character Creator item

What’s better than frolicking among the cherry blossoms? Literally nothing – but wearing the Cherry Shawl comes very close! Now you can bring the cherry grove with you wherever you go, from the snowy tundra to the fiery Nether. Does the shawl smell like cherry blossoms too? No, but you can figuratively sniff out this floral fantasy of a garment by launching Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, then heading straight to the Dressing Room, where it’s yours to claim. 

And with that, somehow, the final day of our celebration has snuck up on us. It’s time for me to reluctantly stop eating two-week-old cake and blasting my obnoxiously loud DIY birthday horns. Did I just hear a collective sigh of relief from the entire studio? Must’ve been the wind. While the formal celebration is coming to an end, we’ll never stop being thankful for the amazing community we’ve created over these past 15 years – nor will we stop trying to surprise you. Here’s to 15 more years of happy Minecrafting! And beyond that, who knows? It’s up to you how you shape our world. 

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The state of tourism and hospitality 2024

Tourism and hospitality are on a journey of disruption. Shifting source markets and destinations, growing demand for experiential and luxury travel, and innovative business strategies are all combining to dramatically alter the industry landscape. Given this momentous change, it’s important for stakeholders to consider and strategize on four major themes:

• The bulk of travel is close to home. Although international travel might draw headlines, stakeholders shouldn’t neglect the big opportunities in their backyards. Domestic travel still represents the bulk of travel spending, and intraregional tourism is on the rise.
• Consumers increasingly prioritize travel—when it’s on their own terms. Interest in travel is booming, but travelers are no longer content with a one-size-fits-all experience. Individual personalization might not always be practical, but savvy industry players can use segmentation and hypothesis-driven testing to improve their value propositions. Those that fail to articulate target customer segments and adapt their offerings accordingly risk getting left behind.
• The face of luxury travel is changing. Demand for luxury tourism and hospitality is expected to grow faster than any other travel segment today—particularly in Asia. It’s crucial to understand that luxury travelers don’t make up a monolith. Segmenting by age, nationality, and net worth can reveal varied and evolving preferences and behaviors.
• As tourism grows, destinations will need to prepare to mitigate overcrowding. Destinations need to be ready to handle the large tourist flows of tomorrow. Now is the time for stakeholders to plan, develop, and invest in mitigation strategies. Equipped with accurate assessments of carrying capacities and enhanced abilities to gather and analyze data, destinations can improve their transportation and infrastructure, build tourism-ready workforces, and preserve their natural and cultural heritages.

Now boarding: Faces, places, and trends shaping tourism in 2024

Global travel is back and buzzing. The amount of travel fell by 75 percent in 2020; however, travel is on its way to a full recovery by the end of 2024. More regional trips, an emerging population of new travelers, and a fresh set of destinations are powering steady spending in tourism.

There’s no doubt that people still love to travel and will continue to seek new experiences in new places. But where will travelers come from, and where will they go?

We share a snapshot of current traveler flows, along with estimates for growth through 2030.

The way we travel now

Which trends are shaping traveler sentiment now? What sorts of journeys do today’s travelers dream about? How much are they willing to spend on their trips? And what should industry stakeholders do to adapt to the traveler psychology of the moment?

To gauge what’s on the minds of present-day travelers, we surveyed more than 5,000 of them. The findings reveal disparate desires, generational divides, and a newly emerging set of traveler archetypes.

Updating perceptions about today’s luxury traveler

Demand for luxury tourism and hospitality is expected to grow faster than for any other segment. This growth is being powered in part by a large and expanding base of aspiring luxury travelers with net worths between $100,000 and $1 million, many of whom are younger and increasingly willing to spend larger shares of their wealth on upscale travel options. The increase is also a result of rising wealth levels in Asia.

We dug deeper into this ongoing evolution by surveying luxury travelers around the globe about their preferences, plans, and expectations. Some widely held notions about luxury travelers—such as how much money they have, how old they are, and where they come from—could be due for reexamination.

Destination readiness: Preparing for the tourist flows of tomorrow

As global tourism grows, it will be crucial for destinations to be ready. How can the tourism ecosystem prepare to host unprecedented volumes of visitors while managing the challenges that can accompany this success? A large flow of tourists, if not carefully channeled, can encumber infrastructure, harm natural and cultural attractions, and frustrate locals and visitors alike.

Now is the time for tourism stakeholders to combine their thinking and resources to look for better ways to handle the visitor flows of today while properly preparing themselves for the visitor flows of tomorrow. We offer a diagnostic that destinations can use to spot early-warning signs about tourism concentration, along with suggestions for funding mechanisms and strategies to help maximize the benefits of tourism while minimizing its negative impacts.

Six trends shaping new business models in tourism and hospitality

As destinations and source markets have transformed over the past decade, tourism and hospitality companies have evolved, too. Accommodation, home sharing, cruises, and theme parks are among the sectors in which new approaches could present new opportunities. Stakeholders gearing up for new challenges should look for business model innovations that will help sustain their hard-won growth—and profits.

Unbundling offerings, cross-selling distinctive experiences, and embracing data-powered strategies can all be winning moves. A series of insight-driven charts reveal significant trends and an outlook on the future.

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Biden travels to Europe to commemorate the defeat of dictators

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden leaves the campaign trail this week and flies to France for the 80th anniversary of D-Day, where he’ll give speeches touting American alliances that beat back dictatorships bent on world conquest.

Biden is in a long string of presidents who have delivered that sort of message over the years as they built and sustained a Western bloc rooted in free markets, democratic governance and individual freedoms.

As yet unknown is whether he'll be the last.

The race between Biden and Republican Donald Trump is a toss-up at this stage, and if Trump returns to power, there are no assurances he would keep the basic pillars of the post-World War II order intact.

As president, Trump considered pulling out of the NATO alliance , which has been a bulwark against Russian aggression since the depths of the Cold War, according to his former national security adviser John Bolton. A senior Trump White House official said in an interview that Trump came within a "wisp" of dropping out of NATO at a summit meeting in Brussels in 2018.

More recently, Trump said he would let Russia to do " whatever the hell they want " to European countries that didn’t spend enough on military defense.

The trip is a chance for Biden to draw policy distinctions with his opponent while also demonstrating to skeptical voters that, at 81, he retains the stamina and acuity to negotiate with his counterparts, some of whom are decades younger.

His speeches will inevitably offer an implicit rebuke of the “America First” approach that Trump championed in office.

“This is a very important opportunity for President Biden to reaffirm our NATO alliance and emphasize that the world is really on the cusp of a turning point,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. “We are living through the middle of the fight for democracy and freedom over authoritarianism.”

Biden will speak in Normandy on Thursday, the anniversary of the June 6, 1944, beach landings that presaged the liberation of Europe and the defeat of the Nazis.

He’ll speak again Friday at Pointe du Hoc, where U.S. Army Rangers scaled sheer cliffs to take out German guns and gain a toehold on France’s northern coast. A focus of Biden’s remarks will be the defense of “freedom and democracy,” according to the White House.

There is a certain political symmetry to the speech. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan also spoke at Pointe du Hoc while he was running for re-election. He gave a memorable address that built to the rhetorical crescendo: “These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc.”

Reagan went on to win re-election in a landslide over Democrat Walter Mondale.

“Biden will probably try to hit those same notes that unify everybody,” said James Melville, a former U.S. ambassador to Estonia who spent 34 years working for the State Department. “I’m sure the political folks are looking at that [Reagan’s speech] and thinking how do they steal some of that magic.”

After meetings in Paris on Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron, Biden is scheduled to return home. Days later he’ll leave again for southern Italy, where he will attend a Group of Seven summit of the world’s most advanced economies.

Biden will be in friendly company in his back-to-back European journeys. He has forged respectful ties with many of his foreign counterparts over a 50-year-career in public office honing his diplomatic skills.

By contrast, Trump’s overseas appearances were more fraught, sometimes culminating in feuds with allies and bonding moments with authoritarian rulers.

After he said he wouldn't sign a joint statement on common values with other G7 nations in 2018, Trump voiced displeasure with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, tweeting that a news conference he had given was " very dishonest & weak ."

“He got into spats with the Canadians,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said in an interview. “The Canadians are the nicest people in the world! How do you make the Canadians mad?”

Leaders consider hard national interests when they conduct foreign policy, and whether they prefer Trump or Biden on a personal level, they grasp that come Jan. 20, they may dealing with one or the other.

The uncertainty surrounding the presidential race is the backdrop for Biden’s meetings with officials who will be watching for clues as to how the election might go.

Keith Kellogg, a senior national security official in the Trump White House, noted that in the run-up to the election, various foreign officials have come to see Trump. Among them have been Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and former British prime minister David Cameron, who now is the country’s top diplomat.

“What you’re going to see is European leaders hedging their bets,” Kellogg said in an interview. “You have former presidents and prime ministers talking to President Trump. They’re wondering what it is going to happen in the election and where they’re going to go.”

Asked whether Trump would withdraw from NATO in a new term, Kellogg said, “I don’t expect him to do something like that,” adding that Trump “does expect them to live up to what they have promised to do.”

Emphasizing that he wasn’t speaking for Trump, Kellogg suggested an alternative arrangement in which the U.S. might agree to protect NATO countries that contribute at least 2% of their gross domestic product to defense. Under such a "tiered" system, countries that failed to meet the threshold wouldn't be entitled to such protection from the U.S., said Kellogg, who is seen as potential defense secretary in a Trump administration.

Nothing enhances a president's prestige like a foreign trip. He arrives in his magnificent blue-and-white plane. Often he is greeted on the tarmac by bands, performers and smiling counterparts grateful to see the commander in chief of a global superpower.

It makes for compelling imagery in an election season, but much can go wrong. If Biden trips at any point, if he slurs his speech or —exhausted by the time change — if he appears feeble or uncertain, he would rekindle doubts about whether he's up to the job.

Whatever President George H.W. Bush might have accomplished during a visit to Japan in 1992 — the year he lost re-election — the takeaway for most Americans was that, ailing, he vomited at a dinner hosted by the prime minister.

William Cohen is a former Republican senator from Maine and defense secretary in President Bill Clinton's administration. He is a friend of Biden's who plans to vote for him and do what he can to help him win in November.

During the coming trip, Cohen said, Biden "has the burden of persuading them [world leaders] that he can carry the vote here. He has to present himself as a more vigorous, dynamic person than he has to date.

"The real issue for them [other leaders] is can he persuade the American people that it's important for him to win," Cohen continued in an interview. "And if he can't persuade the American people, then they're going to take their bets and put them elsewhere."

Peter Nicholas is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.

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