Travel plan idea blog

New Year's Eve in Boston

Since my sister lives in Boston, I was there for July fourth 2004. Now I'm going to Boston for New Year's Eve 2004 and New Year's Day 2005. We plan to buy some first night buttons.

Basically, First Night gives you access to a range of performances in the following categories: Dance, Family Festival Performances and Exhibits, Film
Classical Music, Popular (Rock, Pop, Standards, R&B) Music, Roots (Folk, Blues, Gospel, Jazz) Music, World Music, Sculptures and Outdoor Events, Theatre, Comedy and the Spoken Word, Visual Arts and Exhibitions.

After that, we spend a bit more time with my sister and then we have to go to New York to visit Immigration who are making it extremely difficult to renew my wife's immigrant visa(green card). Then we plan to spend at least one night in New York.

We're going to New York from Boston via Amtrak. Apparently the ride is quite nice, but at $56.00 one way (off-peak) it's certainly no bargain!

Naturally I'll let you know how it goes in a few days.

Sponsored by Family Travel Articles at the Casual Traveler

Posted by James Trotta at 11:58 PM | Comments (1)

Health care in rural Thailand

In a word, don't trust hospitals in rural Thailand. Now a disclaimer: I've never been to a hospital in Thailand. I only know one person who has had a negative experience in a Thai hospital. So I'm not saying all Thai hospitals are bad or anything like that. I'm just pointing out that when you travel, medical facilities may not be what you're used to.

Here's the story. My friend was doing some adventurous travel in Thailand when she cut herself rather badly. Nothing life threatening, but serious enough to send her to the hospital for stitches. She reports that the hospital was incredibly dirty.

To make a long story short (she thinks because the hospital was so dirty), she got an infection and decided that rather to risk a stay in the hospital, she would fly to Korea. Needless to say, a commercial flight with a bad infection is no fun at all. If you can afford the international travel, you should strongly consider a few extra bucks for insurance that covers medical evacuation.

Posted by James Trotta at 9:42 AM | Comments (3)

Americans need international travel medical insurance

Why do Americans need medical insurance abroad? If an American citizen becomes seriously ill or injured abroad, a U.S. embassy or consulate might help finding medical services and informing family or friends. According to the Department of State, they can also assist in the transfer of funds from the United States. However, payment of hospital and other expenses is the responsibility of the traveler.

First, know what medical services your medical insurance will cover overseas. If thie answer is nothing, go shopping for international health insurance. If your health insurance policy does provide medical insurance worldwide (or at least wherever you're going), carry both your insurance policy identity card as proof of such insurance and a claim form.

Also check on medical evacuation insurance: many health insurance companies will pay "customary and reasonable" hospital costs abroad, very few will pay for your medical evacuation back to the United States. Medical evacuation can easily cost $10,000 and up, depending on your location and medical condition.

Much of this travel medical insurance information was taken and adapted from the US Department of State.

Posted by James Trotta at 8:55 AM | Comments (0)

Europe getting expensive for Americans

Here's an interesting article dicussing how a weaker dollar affects various aspects of the travel industry. For example an American woman living in France who gives Americans tours and gets paid in US dollars claims to be hurting. So do many Americans who work in embassies and consulates in Europe. I know they make good money, so I don't feel sorry for them no matter what the exchange rate is.

European companies in the tourism industry are seeing smaller profit margins as they try not to pass on the cost of the rising Euro to American tourists. Meanwhile, Americans are headed elsewhere. For example a trip to Prague is about 1/3 cheaper than a trip to Rome. Go further into Eastern Europe and I'm sure prices will also decline although finding the right plane tickets becomes more difficult.

Also interesting is that European tourists are more likely to come to America now that their money goes a bit further. This is expected to be the first year since 2000, that we see an increase in the number of European tourists.

Posted by James Trotta at 2:37 PM | Comments (3)

Traveling with extended family

Here's an article that suggests cruises for large family vacations. I would have to second that. When I was young my parents took my sister, me, and the grandaprents on two different cruises. I enjoyed both of them.

There's something for everyone on a cruise and the food is usually great. My sister is a vegan and even she was happy with the food they prepared especially for her. Plus as the article says, you don't need to do too much planning to go on a cruise.

The only thing you ahve to watch out for is sea sickness. One of the cruises i went on put all the women in my family in bed, but for some reason me, my father, and grandfather were unaffected. This was a New York to Bermuda cruise, so I might suggest flying down to Florida and then taking the cruise. The bad spots were off the Carolina coast.

Posted by James Trotta at 8:36 PM | Comments (2)

Is the US trying too hard to prevent us from traveling to Cuba?

The US claims that they are keeping money out of the hands of Fidel Castro's oppressive government, but I feel that the Cuban travel ban limits my personal freedom. I believe that through learning about other cultures we can understand other people. Through understanding we can reduce prejudice and become more open-minded.

Now the US is banning its citizens from dealing with foreign travel agencies that can arrange vacations to Cuba:

Treasury cracks down on Cuba tour firm
Cuban travel agency sanctioned (this paper, the Washington Times, requires registration.

Posted by James Trotta at 4:21 PM | Comments (5)

Using JAL frequent flyer miles

JAL miles expire after two years so my wife and I needed to make sure we used ours. The nice thing is that you can spend the miles long before your flight. For example, our miles would have expired by January 15th, 2005, but we bought our tickets and spent our miles a while back. So on January 15th we'll be flying business class for the first time. Naturally, I'll let you know how it goes...

I still like JAL, but remember that it's not easy to use your frequent flyer miles last minute.

Posted by James Trotta at 2:17 AM | Comments (1)