Travel plan idea blog

How friendly is pet friendly?

This article on pet friendly hotels and resorts reminded me to update you on some upcoming reviews.

First, the dog friendly, B&B in Vermont. Their dog policy is similar to Wyndham Andover Hotel where my parents stayed during the Boston area antique car show vacation mentioned a few weeks ago.

Dog policy: we are dog owners ourselves and we enjoy having dogs stay in our cabins. There are many forest trails for you to walk - your dog will love it! The rate for dogs is $5/night per dog, with a $10 minimum (however, as mentioned above, we have waived that fee). Our policy on dogs is that any damage or major cleaning (at our discretion, and we may hire professional help to do it) and loss of business will be billed in addition to that. The dogs must be calm, quiet, obedient, and friendly to people and other animals (there are free ranging chickens on the property). They should be on a leash outside the cabin. Dogs are not allowed on the furniture. You should take them with you during the day when you leave unless you can crate the dog and it won't bark while you are gone. We ask that you scoop any droppings on footpaths (we provide scooper). Thank you.

So it seems that many pet friendly hotels or B&Bs require dogs to be crate trained. If your dog sleeps with you in the bed you'll be breaking the rules in many hotels.

And on Wednesday I go to Punta Cana and the all-inclusive Sirenis resorts. My biggest concern at this point is how much protein powder mix to bring and how to bring it... Of course I'll be reviewing Spirit Airlines (with a very critical eye) as well.

19 month old baby kicked off plane for threatening words "bye bye plane"

I didn't like it when an annoyed couple got booted off a cruise. I didn't like it when a coughing girl got kicked off a plane.

I really don't like it when babies get kicked off planes.

Did you hear about the passenger who was kicked off an airplane for repeatedly saying "Bye-bye, airplane" while the flight attendant was giving the safety demonstration?

According to an AP wire service story, the toddler (19 months old) was looking out the window and waving goodbye to a taxiing aircraft. The flight attendant became so agitated over the child's words, she had the plane return to the gate and the mother and child removed from the aircraft.

Now I love safety. I don't complain about taking my shoes off, having my bags searched a few times, waiting on long security lines, I don't even complain too much about not being allowed to bring water or other drinks on board.

But isn't kicking a 1 and a half year old off the plane a bit much?

According to this news story, the flight attendant was on some kind of crazy power trip. The flight attendant suggested baby benadryl and lied saying that the mother was threatening. All Kate Penland did was refuse to drug her toddler.

If you ask me, Continental Express and Express Jet Airlines have a flight attendant that needs firing and owe the mother, Kate Penland, and her baby, a very sincere apology. I mean their flight gets delayed 11 hours and then their flight attendant goes nuts on a baby?

I have much less sympathy for the mother who was kicked off a Freedom Airlines / Delta flight for not covering up her breastfeeding with a blanket. I don't care if you're in the second to last row, I don't want to see any breast feeding.

Gay honeymoons vs. honeymoon apartheid

This British writer is insulted that so few honeymoon brochures and websites are targeting gay couples:

Try entering "gay honeymoon" in, say, the Virgin search engine. And don't expect much back.

Isn't this a teensy-bit insulting? Why don't these big operators seem to want our pink pounds?

Then she turns idealist and says straight and gay couples should go on the same honeymonns:

But isn't it a shame that we have this honeymoon apartheid - if only to stay safe - this segregation between straight and gay? Wouldn't the world be a better place if love were love, no matter whether it's a bride and groom, two brides or two grooms. Couldn't we all just go on holiday together and have a great time? Shouldn't gays be included in the mainstream travel brochures?

I just don't understand the last sentence - it seems to me that if this author really wants the same honeymoons for all couples (straight and gay) then the mainstream brochures already include vacation options for gay and lesbian honeymooners.

On the one hand we want brochures to include gay honeymoons, but on the other hand, we want the same honeymoons for straights and gays.

On the one hand we want results when we search for "gay honeymoon" - on the other hand, we don't want honeymoon apartheid.

It seems to me that anyone looking for lesbian honeymoon stuff in travel brochures or searching for gay honeymoons online actually wants honeymoon apartheid. If you want to take a honeymoon regardless of it's straightness or gayness, just do a search for honeymoon or pick up any honeymoon brochure.

But if you're searching for "gay honeymoon" I have to think that you want something different from a "straight honeymoon".

Now that's fine. I don't blame people for wanting something different. But I do criticize this author, Sarah Graham, for confusing me with poor logic.

Priceline.com customer service and fraud protection off to a very weak start

Yesterday I wrote about an apparent case of fraud involving fake reservations that were emailed to me (but were in my father's name) and I alerted Priceline.com via the form on their website.

I labeled the problem fraud, but the reply I got was from customer service, airline@cs.priceline.com. It was an entirely inadequate form letter that didn't address the fraud issue at all.

Dear Mr. Trotta,

Thank you for taking the time to send us an e-mail. We understand that
you feel that you did not make any reservation for a trip with Priceline
and it is fraudulent e-mail.

Our records indicate that you are neither an authorized contact nor a
reservation holder on the request.

In order to maintain the security of our customer records, you will need
to provide at least two of the following pieces of information before we
can answer specific questions regarding this request.

- Email address used to submit a request
- Last 4 digits of the credit/debit card used to place the request

If you can provide this information, we will address any specific
questions about the request; otherwise we will only be able to answer
general questions.

We thank you for understanding the security measures we have instituted
for your protection.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,

Vimesh A.
Customer Service Specialist

Now how am I suppose to produce the email address used to submit the request or the last 4 digits of the credit/debit card used to place the request if I didn't place the request?

I suppose we have come to expect horrible customer service and supreme idiocy from large corporations like priceline.com but this is a bit crazy.

Now I have to try to track down a phone number for Priceline because something tells me that making myself understood by email will be too time consuming while I am on vacation.

Priceline.com spam / scam plus competition from cFares

So I recently got an official looking email from Priceline.com with flight reservations from Durham to Boston and then Boston to Baltimore. I was fairly surprised since I didn't make the reservations but I was even more surprised when I saw my father's name on the itinerary.

I figured it was probably something like all those Ebay scam emails where they tell you there's a problem with your account and give you a sign in link. Of course the link goes to a page that looks like Ebay but really isn't - just some scammers who want your password.

I did a search for Priceline.com spam, but got mostly people complaining about Priceline. A lot of people hate Priceline, but obviously many more still use them.

Then I did a news search for Priceline.com and found this thing on Cfares which is pretty interesting. It's supposed to be a wholesale club for travelers (like Costco you pay an annual membership). The author of this article seems to think it works pretty well.

Anyway, back to the email. I didn't find anything that sounded similar to my experience during my web searches so I went to Priceline.com (and typed it in myself instead of following a link from the possibly fake email) to alert them to problem.

I'll be keeping you updated as I learn more about this possible scam involving spammy emails pretending to be from Priceline.com.

Traveling to the world's tallest buildings - where do you go?

It's difficult to keep track of the world’s tallest building – the title seems to change almost every year as various cities compete with each other to claim the title – a sort of unofficial status symbol. I still have an old reference book called “The Book of Wonders” which lists the Empire State Building as being the world’s tallest building. And a recent episode of the CBS reality show “The Amazing Race” showed contestants racing to the foot of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – at the time the show was produced, the world’s tallest building.

Currently, the world’s tallest building is the Burj Dubai tower in Dubai, which has just taken the title from the Taipei 101 building in Taipei, Taiwan. At the moment it’s around 1680 feet tall – but apparently it’s going to be even higher, possibly around 2,275 feet. Its finished height is a closely guarded secret – possibly in case somebody tries to surpass it at the last minute. As of now the world’s tallest building is a rather unattractive skeleton of steel girders – the windows and exterior decoration have all yet to be added.

Dubai already boasts what is perhaps the best hotel in the world, the Burj el Arab hotel, the only 7-star hotel in the world. I suppose it must be quite a coup to have both the tallest building and the most expensive hotel! However, some reports suggest that the skyscraper is being constructed by Indian migrant workers who are slaving away in the sweltering heat and working for minimum wage – this rather detracts from the prestige a little bit.

London is also alarmingly obsessed with tall buildings. Future developments in London mean that the historic Tower of London may be so hemmed in by tall buildings that it may have its historical value threatened. Many visitors to London already feel that the view of the Tower is spoilt by nearby modern buildings. The United Nations is considering adding the 900 year old building to its Heritage in Danger list.

Londoners may learn to love their skyscrapers – most famous buildings were not well liked at the time they were built. The Eiffel Tower – for many years the world’s tallest structure - was originally intended to be a temporary structure to celebrate the world’s fair. At first, Parisians hated the tower, describing it as an “iron monster” and the “world’s largest lamppost”. It was only saved from demolition as it was considered perfect to use to support radio antennae.

Of course, now every trip to Paris lists the iron monster as a must-see attraction.

Guest entry by Mancunian

How do I get my passport in time for vacation?

The government or at least one person in the government is apologizing for the passport delays that have ruined so many travel plans.

Meanwhile, I've heard from a few people about how to get your passport in time: talk to your congress person.

Here are some quotes:

My wife, daugter and I went to a local post office and handed in our passport applications. 12 weeks later we are still waiting and we are supposed to leave for Italy in 2 weeks (all booked and paid for). When we tracked it online, all it said was "currently being processed". We were told at the post office it would take 8-10 weeks and we did not need to pay extra to expedite.

We are really getting worried. We do have insurance with the tour company, but I do not think the airline tickets are covered because we booked seperately to save money. Anybody have an idea on what I could do to get my damn passports!

Answer 1: This worked well for a friend of mine - they called their local congressman's office and they were able to expedite the inquiry process. Contact your local congressman quickly. His office can definitely help.

Answer 2: There's a hotline you can call... My father actually works for them. I wouldn't expect great things.

Answer 3: Go with your Congressmans office. With all the recent inquiries into passports, they have to give it so many days before they can start calling on your passport. With two weeks to go, I have absolutely no doubt that you will get yours in time. Just stick with your Congressman's office. Trust me, I work for one.

Answer 4: I went to my congressman last week and three of the four of my family members passports arrived this week, it would have taken less time if that didn't have to correct the spelling of our last names...I'm still holding out for the last one but I am confident it will get here in time...I also applied on March 17th.

Finding good deals on flights and flying to outer space

Jet lag is catching up to me so it's 10:20 and I need to work out and get some sleep. All I have for you is a bit of information on finding good deals on flights and finding the most expensive flights possible.

This article goes into some depth about saving money when you book a flight.

Related blog entries:

Are US airlines broken?
I hate Spirit Airlines
Extra charges on airline tickets

I don't think that applies to booking space flights, but if you have $200,000 to spend why be a bargain shopper?

Related entries:

Outerspace weddings
Space flight costs

Korean Air flight was fine (plenty of water but not quite enough food)

My flight went fairly well - thank you for all the comments on my preperaing for a long flight blog entry. I wasn't really able to sleep much but I was mostly comfortable.

Water was no problem. I think it helps that I actually drank water instead of soda or wine. Also, I was probably awake every time they came around with drinks since I couldn't sleep. I'm sure the people around me, who all seemed to sleep annoyingly well, were more thirsty than I was.

There was less food than I expected for a 14 hour flight. We had a meal shortly after takeoff, then a banana several hours later, and then a while later breakfast (I was pretty surprised that choosing eggs actually meant getting a salmon omlette - I don't really like salmon). Luckily I had some hard boiled eggs to snack on, but I was still pretty hungry. I think I'll bring more eggs plus a protein bar or shake (well I'd bring the powder and the mixer and have them fill it up with water on the plane) for the return flight.

We did have personal monitors and could start, stop, and pause movies whenever we liked. I saw Bridge to Terabithia (not so good, sad), 300 (not so good on a tiny screen but probably good on a big one), and Wild Hogs (had a few funny moments). Sure I'd have been better off sleeping, but it didn't work out that way.

Anyway, now I'm at my parent's house trying to stay awake late enough to take my little sister (the one getting married) to a Harry Potter premeir event at midnight tonight. Since it's 10:00 PM Friday night now, I'll probably work from 10:30 to 11:15, take a shower, and then go to the Harry Potter thing.

Meanwhile, I have a couple of articles for you.

Brazil's politicians are still facing criticism following the recent plane crash there. This is a topic I'll have to research more since a friend of mine and I are actually planning a business venture involving tours of Brazil.

Here we have an article on family resort vacations. These are all resorts in the US.

Speaking fo traveling with kids, I can take one more question about traveling with kids in Europe for my upcoming interview with an expert.

Normally I run these things through a word spellcheck, nut my parents' computer is acting funny and spell check doesn't work. Please forgive any typos...

Two places to find a bargain this summer: the world's longest yard sale and Alabama's unclaimed baggage center

If you live in the United States, you have probably come across at least one yard sale this summer. Most of them are small affairs, held in somebody’s front yard, garage or perhaps larger ones held in church halls, community centers or schools. But if you want to experience the so-called world’s longest yard sale, head to the Southeast

The yard sale stretches for almost 600 miles, from Covington, Kentucky to Gadsden, Alabama. It’s also known as the Highway 127 corridor sale, as it stretches along that rather picturesque highway. It’s impossible to estimate how many vendors and visitors the event attracts, but if you want to be part of it, this year’s longest yard sale takes place from August 2nd to August 5th.

The Highway 127 corridor sale might mix well with one of the following trips since they also involve Kentucky and / or Alabama:

Road trip from the movie Elizabethtwon
Coal mine tourism
NASCAR infield party at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama: Constellation movie tourism

Another place to find a bargain is at the unclaimed baggage center in Scottsboro, Alabama. This place is a sort of vast second hand store whose stock consists entirely of things people left on planes, or bags and contents that were lost or never claimed. The store was found in 1970 as a part time business, now it covers an entire city block and is a full time venture and apparently is quite a tourist attraction.

It’s hard to believe that people can leave musical instruments, computers, expensive jewelry and false limbs on the plane – but you can find them all in here, along with books, clothes and household items.

So how does your luggage end up here? Most bags are simply delayed rather than permanently lost, but if your airline does lose your bag, after about 90 days the airline will declare your luggage officially lost. At this point they have to offer you compensation if they have not already done so. If you are never reunited with your luggage, there is a reasonable chance it may end up in the unclaimed baggage center.

And the airlines seem to be losing more bags than ever before which means even more chance of finding a bargain at the unclaimed baggage center.

Guest entry by Mancunian

I'm in the airport waiting for my flight, a 14 hour Seoul to New York leaving at 7:30 PM and arriving at 8:40 PM... At least it will be almost time for bed when I arrive...

What do you do before a long flight?

Tomorrow I fly 14 hours from Seoul to New York. It's a Korean Air direct flight. In the past I never really paid attention to the day before the flight, but as I become more health conscious, I think more about how to prepare.

So today I did some weight lifting. They say that your body needs sleep to build muscle and I plan to get plenty on that 14 hour flight. Not that I ever sleep real well on flights, but there's not much else to do...

Tomorrow before the flight I'll probably go for a run and do some yoga. Hopefully that will make it easier for me to sleep somehow.

I also hope that I won't get too restless. The theory is that if my body needs lots of rest to recover from all the exercise it had to handle, I can rest without thinking about how much happier I'd be if I had more space, somewhere to walk to, etc.

Here's an article on how most people gain weight on vacation. That's actually what I want, but of course I want to gain muscle, not fat.

Speaking of adding muscle, I plan to bring some hard boiled eggs on the plane. I'm sure Korean Air will feed me but I'm on a high protein diet and I don't think that's one of the special meals you can request...

What do you think of my plan and what tips do you have for getting ready for a long flight?

Do you have any questions about traveling in Rome with kids?

I don't have kids, but I do think everyone should spend some time walking around Rome, even if Rome's hotels are expensive. The city is just too romantic (yes also busy, noisey, and polluted) thanks to all the wonderful things to see.

However, there must be people with kids wondering how to make sure the whole family enjoys this must-see city.

If you're one of those people then this is your lucky day! I've arranged an interview with the author of Rome with Kids, J.M. Pasquesi.

But, like I said, I don't have kids. So instead of doing a normal interview, I'm going to let you ask the questions. If there's something you want me to ask, leave your question in the comments area below. Here are some possible topics Pasquesi can discuss:

- Introducing your children to art, culture and foreign food
- Top 10 things no one told you about traveling abroad with kids
- Tips for traveling safely in Europe with small children
- How to plan tours and itineraries to keep your kids from burning out
- How young is too young: Can a child really enjoy and remember a trip abroad?
- Games, stories and scavenger hunts to keep your kids engaged
- Finding family-friendly accommodations and restaurants abroad
- How and when to start planning your European family vacation

The following comes from a press release:

J.M. Pasquesi, Rome travel expert and writer, makes Italy's capital even more accessible for parents and children with her new, one-of-a-kind book Rome with Kids: An Insider's Guide (Synergy Books, July 2007), providing entertaining itineraries that reveal Rome's history and culture, along with step-by-step tours and tips to save families valuable time. Rome with Kids combines an adult's desire to become immersed in the glories of Rome with a child's desire to run, play and explore.

"Rome is largely an outdoor interactive museum," says Pasquesi. "Classical ruins are ideal for touring with children because they are so accessible."

So let's make this an interesting interview - leave your question below within the next few days.

Do you travel without your spouse?

I liked this article on how it's becoming increasingly common for spouses to vacation without their bettter halves. I know that a collegaue and I once went to Hong Kong and Taipei while my wife stayed home. It was a good experience but I definitely remember thinking that Hong Kong was a fairly romantic city (especially the ferry rides) that would have been better with my wife.

And my wife has been to Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Utah/Arizona/California without me. Those trips were half business though...

At some point, we'll probably do it again, mostly because there are some things I want to do that she's not interested in (kayaking and hiking in particular). I wonder how you feel about traveling solo when married (or traveling with friends but not your spouse) - is it healthy and normal?

Very inexpensive driving tour of Ireland

In this list of vacation deals, we have one that sounds truly amazing:

Sceptre Tours is offering an eight-day Ireland Coast-to-Coast independent vacation package with rates starting at $499 per person. Travelers must book by Wednesday for travel from September through February 2008. The package includes round-trip airfare on Aer Lingus from New York to Shannon or Dublin; six nights' hotel accommodations, including two nights at the Clare Inn (Clare), two nights at the Breaffy House (Mayo) and two nights at the Green Isle Hotel (Dublin), and weekly standard car rental.

Travel troubleshooting: on your own, in the US, in the UK

Here we have an article from Christopher Elliott, National Geographic Traveler's ombudsman and the Miami Herald's Travel Troubleshooter.

He has some advice for people fighting with bad travel companies on their own:

Don't wait. Keep meticulous records. Take a deep breath. Talk is cheap. Write tight and polite. Start at the bottom. Cite the rules. Tell them what you want -- nicely. Copy all the right people. Press 'send' or mail. Be patient. Appeal your case to a higher authority. Take another deep breath. Take extreme measures. Go to court. Know when to cut your losses.

If you want to know what it all means, go read the article.

While the advice seems solid, I do wonder how useful it will be. Even American Express Platinum Travel won't help its customers until the travel trouble shooter gets involved. In this case, they promise a room rate in US dollars but dues to currency fluctuations, the rooms ends up costing more. All the travel agent had to do was tell the customer the price in pesos along with the current exchange rate, but since the travel agent screwed up we have problems...

Then we have a British travel trouble shooter. The problems don't change too much when you're on the other side of the Atlantic.

Or the Pacific for that matter as one Air New Zealand passenger had a particularly outrageous experience. Her flight was cancelled due to weather, the Air New Zealand agent promised a refund upon returning to London, the airline contract says customers can get a refund if their flight is cancelled for any reason, and the airline refused to give the refund.

It's hard to believe, but there it is. I hope that someday my humble travel blog has enough clout to sponsor a travel troubleshooter. We sure need them with all these evil corporations out to get us...

African safari videos: buffalo fighting crocodiles and lions + more

I somehow ended up looking at National Geographic vidoes and noticed this one, an aerial view of antelope in Sudan.

This got me thinking about African safaris, which I hadn't thought about in a while but which I still plan to do one day.

I collected a few Youtube vidoes for you:

Sad and violent video of buffalo battling crocodiles and lions in South Africa's Kruger National Park:

Safari in Maasai Mara (this one loads slowly - give it some time and then start from the beginning):

Naturally, there are tons more on Youtube...

Related blog entries:

Climbing Kilimanjaro: personal experience
Mount Kilimanjaro Climb and African Safari travel plan
When to go and what to do on your African Safari

Reader needs help planning a honeymoon

Reader submitted question: My soon to be finance has put me in charge of planning the honeymoon. Any specific specific resorts/locations to recommend? I googled for vacation planning websites but didn't see anything that good. Any specific booking/planning sites out there? My original thought was to go to Italy but I don't think it will be affordable.

My answer: Firstly, this vacation planning blog is pretty good...

Seriously though, I honeymooned in Italy in 2001. It is more expensive now, and we don't know what your budget is like, but personally I wouldn't be afraid of an expensive honeymoon, even if it means spending less on the wedding. My wife and I soent 9 weeks in Italy on our honeymoon and it was incredible. Sure we were paying off loans to various relatives the next 18 months, but it was well worth it for us.

We do have a few resources on this site, including several blog entries about Rome and an interesting discussion about honeymooning in Disney World. Let's see what else we can find you.

Other people's ideas:

1. You can't go wrong with a beach like Maui, but it should really be about what you guys are into. If you like Europe but think Italy might be too expensive, some of the eastern European countries might work for you. I've not been personally, but I've heard really good things about the Czech Rep/Prague and Hungary/Budapest. It also depends on what time of the year you are planning on going...

2. I leave for my honeymoon on sunday. I'm doing St Lucia with Sandals all inclusive resort. The whole thing cost us about 5k including airfare and we are staying in a honeymoon suite. We have access to all three sandals resorts that are on the island we are staying at the Halcyon.

Whatever you do go all-inclusive or get a Caribbean cruise. I personally like Western Carribean (it's much less crowded in Cozumel, Isla Mujares, Belieze and Roataan), but most people prefer Eastern. Anyway, a cruise is usually stress free which is nice after a big wedding.

3. If you want intimacy and quiet solitude, go to Maui/Hawaii (big Island). Whatever you do... DON'T go to Honolulu. Too commercial and cheesy-touristy. If you are feeling adventureous look at renting a villa instead of staying at a resort. We have done both and enjoy both. At a Villa you are much more "on your own" as far as things to do but the privacy of your own pool on your honeymoon is priceless. At a resort you will meet more people and have all the resort amenities at your convenience. If your looking for privacy, go with the villa. My wife and I went to La Bagatelle Villa in Soufrie, St. Lucia. Awesome!

4. Antigua was nice for doing absolutely nothing, if relaxation is all you want. But there isn't much doing beyond sitting around. Ditto for Aruba. The best part about Aruba is the food. Great restaurants and nice people. But the beaches are very windy and there is no snorkeling to speak of. Not a very pretty island either, as it is desert, not tropical.

5. If you want something different and have the money, the Greek Islands are amazing. my wife and I went to Santorini, Rhodes and Mykonos. A honeymoon should be, in my opinion, once in a lifetime, and the Greek Islands were just that! If you can only do one, Santorini is the perfect honeymoon spot!

If you can add something, please leave a comment.

Has anyone read any Barbara Sjoholm?

Hopefully someone noticed that I missed a blog entry yesterday. Well now that I'm on vacation (the semester ended, I calculated grades, I listened to myriad complaints about grades, etc.) I'm truly busy. Yesterday it was a sick dog and a drive to my In-Laws' house. Plus I'm trying to bulk up which is harder than it sounds. It requires a lot of eating and a lot of exercise (I'm only interested in gaining muscle weight). It's incredibly hard to eat 6 meals a day, go to the gym, and live a nornmal life.

Even with all that stuff, I might have been able to blog but my In-Laws' internet connection was down...

But here I am today. I found an interesting interview with a writer I had never hreard of, Barbara Sjoholm. She talks about how traveling made her develop as a writer. It certainly doesn't work that way for everyone. I meet tons of aspiring writers in Korea who have done absolutely nothing. I guess they majored in English literature, can't handle working for a corporation (or just can't get a job), and wind up teaching English in Korea.

I guess even I am an aspiring writer of sorts (though at least I'm published - not only on this blog but also in a few linguistics / language teaching type places).

But Barbara Sjoholm had the right blend of inspiration, talent, and luck. One of her books (not her newest book) sounds pretty interesting. Called, The Palace of the Snow Queen: Winter Travels in Lapland, a nonfiction account of several winters spent in northern Scandinavia, it's about the ice hotel and other things up there in northern Scandinavia:

I took as my starting point the building of the Ice Hotel outside Kiruna Sweden. I watched the construction and went back to the hotel at various times over the winter months to observe it in all its touristy glory, until I finally watched it start to melt one April.

There are other things mentioned too, but that sounds really interesting. Of course I've thought about staying in the ice hotel, but I never considered wathing them build it. However that process is probably much more interesting than actually staying there...

Has anyone read any Barbara Sjoholm? From the interview, I'm guessing that her work is pretty interesting.

Roswell, NM celebrates 60th anniversary of alien spacecraft crashing

The small city of Roswell, New Mexico is best known for its association with UFOs. Roswell is famous for an incident in 1947 in which a supposed alien space ship crash landed in the nearby desert. The military actually reported the incident as a UFO crash and then quickly changed their story, claiming it was a weather balloon. In all likelihood, the incident was either a weather balloon or a military aircraft but that hasn’t stopped the city becoming known as the UFO capital of the world.

The city recently celebrated the 60th anniversary of the crash by hosting a UFO festival, complete with speakers, events and various alien themed attractions. Even when the festival isn't on, there are plenty of reminders of the supposed crash landing – many cafes and other businesses have an alien theme. The local McDonald's is designed to look like a giant spaceship.

And there is also a UFO museum featuring such exhibits as a replica of the crashed spaceship and a video of someone describing their abduction by aliens. The museum generates an estimated $35 million a year for the local economy.

You can even take a tour of the UFO crash site – although I can't imagine what there is to see! Tours of the crash site, which last around five hours, can cost up to $125.00 per person – for that kind of money I would expect to see a spaceship full of aliens land in front of me.

There are also plans for at least one theme park in the Roswell area which are sure to bring in even more tourists to the area.

There are plenty of non-alien attractions in the surrounding area. Roswell is located amongst some dramatic and beautiful desert scenery and not far away from the city, you can see the grave of the infamous outlaw, Billy the Kid.

Roswell isn't particularly easy to reach by air and many people drive the 200 miles or so from Albuquerque. However, American Airlines plans to begin service from its hub at Dallas-Fort Worth, from the beginning of September. Round trip fares from Chicago start at around $318, from New York fares start at around $280.00.

Guest entry by Mancunian.

If you're interested in space stuff, Huntsville, Alabama may be an option for you. Or you might consider getting married in space although it will cost you more than a flight to Roswell and a $125 tour of the UFO crash site...

Buying travel insurance, La Costa Resort, 7 wonders of the world voting finished

A few people commented on travel insurance on a recent post about travel agents. Apparently the issue is more confusing than I thought according to this article:

Don't buy travel insurance, says Consumer Reports. Do buy travel insurance, say consumer advocates Clark Howard and Ed Perkins. Don't buy travel insurance, says the Consumer Federation of America. Do buy it, says your travel agent.

What's crystal clear though is that you can't afford to get really sick on vacation without insurance. Fore example, medical evacuation costs a fortune. If you remember that lawyer flying around the world with TB, an air ambulance between Denver and Atlanta cost $12,000. Make it an international flight and you're talking about a lot more.

This writer talks about La Costa in Carlsbad and while it doesn't sound like my kind of thing (especially at $400/night) the author says it succeeds as a family vacation spot. Even though the author enjoyed, any praise is lukewarm:

Sure, it's a big resort that demands planning, but it's navigable if you work the system.

Still, great hotels shouldn't force you to attend to matters on your own. Just ask my aunties.

So that La Costa place isn't on my to do list, but I suppose the new 7 wonders of the world ought to be:

Chichén Itzá, Mexico
Christ the Redeemer, Brazil
The Great Wall, China
Machu Picchu, Peru
Petra, Jordan
The Roman Colloseum, Italy
The Taj Mahal, India

So far the only one I've seen is the Colloseum in Rome. I'll actually be seeing one of the losers this summer (Statue of Liberty) and another this winter (Eiffel Tower). And Angkor Watt in Cambodia is another loser pretty high on my list.

Which of the new 7 wonders have you seen?

Teching children in the Dominican Republic

As an educator, I probably should do some volunteer teaching somewhere. One day I will... For now I'll settle for reading volunteer experiences like this one.

A past blog entry on learning Spanish while volunteering in Guatemala got a few comments from interested readers. I wonder if anyone from our little community actually did go to Guatemala...

300,000 to 400,000 Americans seeking healthcare abroad in 2007?

Here's a Forbes article explaining medical tourism's rise in popularity in the US. With so many people uninsured and healthcare so expensive, it's really no surprise:

Almost 45 million Americans, or slightly more than 15 percent of the population, are currently uninsured, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics from 2005, the latest available.

Woodman estimated that more than 150,000 Americans traveled abroad for health care in 2006. The number is projected to double in 2007, he said.

"That 150,000 number is conservative," he said. "Some experts say 400,000." Among the top destinations: Southeast Asia and Mexico, with many other countries, such as Costa Rica, expected to be the next popular destinations for medical care.

That article has some advice, a few quotes from doctors, but if you're considering medical tourism, you'll need more. I recommend Patients Beyond Borders.

Does the fact that Americans are traveling to Thailand, India, Singapore, Mexico, etc. for healthcare mean that the US system is broken?

Pagudpod, the Philippines: A Hidden Paradise in The North

Imagine traveling by land from 11 in the evening to 2 in the afternoon the following day, during the Holy Week at that, just to go to a beach that friends and family swear to be as marvelous as Boracay; one of the most popular beaches and tourist destinations in the Philippines. Well, if traveling for hours on end will get me again to Pagudpod, Ilocos Norte so be it. Pagudpod's powdery, white sand and crystal clear blue waters can rival any beach in the world. Plus, it isn't that commercialized yet, so the beaches are very clean and even if the resorts are all booked, you wouldn't notice it.

As it was the Holy Week and we didn't have a reservation, we ended up staying at a house which we rented from a local near the beaches so we didn't have the view of the beach. We had to pay an entrance fee of 30 Philippine Pesos (about $0.80) to get into Saud beach resort. The beach was nothing short of dazzling. There was an assortment of locals and tourists swimming and soaking up all the heat the sun could offer. Thankfully, it wasn't like Boracay where you have to fight for sunbathing space since Boracy's sand is literally littered with sunbathers.

There were several beaches there that offered only sand space where you can bring your camping gear and set it up right on the beach; though that option is only perfect for those who don't have kids as it gets very hot during the nights and the bathrooms were relatively far from the camp site. If you do decide to bring kids, make sure to bring mosquito nets and mosquito repellents.

Our second day called for fresh water, so after a few hours on the beach, we headed to Kabigan falls, a 15 to 20 minute drive from where we were staying. An affordable fee of 15 Philippine Pesos (about $0.40) per head will get you in. We had to trek for 30 minutes through not-so-steep steps and some streams on the way to the falls which made it even more exciting. The falls itself was nothing short of majestic as it falls 120 feet into a natural basin where you can swim or just relax on the surrounding boulders.

On our third day, we decided to visit the famous Blue Lagoon or Maira-Ira beach where surfers hangout. Oddly enough, we didn't see any surfers and we didn't see anyone who rented out surf boards - maybe it's not surfing season. Nevertheless, we rented an open cottage where we ate our food. There are no hotels surrounding this area so renting cottages is your only option.

The waves there were higher and more aggressive than the ones in Saud so we spent the whole day body surfing until our bodies ached. What sucks about this place though is that there are no bathrooms, so we asked to use a local's bathroom near the area and gave them a generous tip.

Sadly, all things must end at some point and we had to go home the following day. On the way home, we decided to stopover the neighboring town of Bangui, where you can see for yourself the magnificent wind mills that provides sufficient amount of the electricity in Ilocos Norte.

For those who haven't been to Pagudpod, I strongly suggest that you book reservations at least 2 months in advance, especially when you plan to go there during the Holy Week as there are only a few resorts. You can also opt to travel by air by catching a plane from Manila to Laoag and then catching a 75 km bus ride to Pagudpod.

Guest entry submitted by a Filipino reader who wanted to share his vacation experience.

Past entries somehow related to the Philippines.

July 7, 2007: Lucky day to get married?

I blogged about getting married in Vegas before, but on July 7, 2007 many more couples than normal will be visiting one of those 24 hour chapels and letting Elvis lead them through their vows.

If Vegas isn't your thing, and spending $77,777 sounds lucky (rather than insane or impossible), this article suggests something special in New York:

Ritz Carlton, New York has a lucky number wedding package for just: $77,777. It includes the wedding reception for you and your significant other and 75 of your friends and relatives (total:77), plus cocktail hour with an open bar and a 7 canapés tasting.

Reception with dinner, dessert, and a custom 7 tier wedding cake. A 7-bottle champagne toast to commemorate the occasion.

Floral arrangements by celebrity florist Jane Packer including centerpieces on the 7 guest tables. 7 diamonds for the bride from Tiffany & Co.

7 manicures and pedicures for the bride and six close friends in La Prairie at The Ritz-Carlton Spa.

Luxury accommodations in The Ritz-Carlton Presidential Suite, Room 2107, for the lucky couple on their wedding night including a rose petal turndown, a bottle of champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and an Old Fashioned Rose Bath drawn by the Bath Butler.

A 7-night honeymoon at any Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the world.

Hopefully all the lucky couples getting married on the 7th are already pregnant so they can give birth before the end of the "year of the golden pig".

This article says the year of the golden pig happens once every 60 years, but if I know my Chinese calendar, it's actually once every 600 years:

And, as surely as spring follows winter, China will be facing a baby boom in the new Year of the Golden Pig, which comes around once every 60 years. China's maternity wards are being booked months in advance in expectation of the millions of babies being born this year to the newlyweds of 2006 - far more than China's maternity wards can handle. Baby-product companies are salivating over the sudden prospects of a booming market: Kimberly-Clark says the disposable-diapers market will grow 60% this year.

Brick & mortar travel agencies vs. online travel agencies

This article says that travel shoppers are starting to return to regular travel agents. They are turning away from the online travel businesses because of poor customer service.

I understand. If I had booked my trip to Costa Rica through a travel agent, I would have ended up in Costa Rica. Instead, I'll end up in Punta Cana this summer. I also would have saved myself many hours of work but I probably would have spent more money. I'm not even sure about that though.

On the other hand, the one time I did use a travel agent was when I went to Cancun. Everything was OK but we expected the travel agent to pick out something better for us. I think that if I had done the research myself I would have ended up in a better resort. One of these days I'll figure out the name but it's probably too late for a review anyway since this was in 2001.

This article on travel insurance for British travelers, says to buy travel insurance online (directly from the company), not through a travel agent. Apparently travel agencies overcharge for travel insurance (about 1.3 billion pounds worth). That includes normal agents and online ones.

Upcoming reviews: Sirenis Resorts in Punta Cana and Grunberg Haus in Vermont

Some of you may remember how evil Spirit Airlines forced me to go to Punta Cana instead of Costa Rica. Making the best of the situation I decided to review a resort in Punta Cana, but of the many emails I sent out, I wasn't getting any replies.

Sunscape the Beach commented on my blog but never replied to my email. I was certain Club Med would reply but was wrong. It seemed like none of the Punta Cana resorts wanted me to give you guys the real scoop on what to expect down there. Or every resort lost their email service...

One resort replied but they aren't opening for another year or so. Then Sirenis Hotels replied and said that they would welcome a review on their two resorts in Punta Cana, so that's where I'll be from August 1 to August 7. Like when I decided to review Plantation Bay in Cebu, I think this is an important task because online comments are very mixed regarding the Sirenis Cocotal Beach Resort Casino & Spa and the Sirenis Tropical Suites Casino & Spa. I'm not sure which one I'll be staying in, but I plan to review both. As always, I'll share my experience in some detail to bring you the definitive review of these resorts.

I've also booked 2 nights in Grunberg Haus Vermont Bed and Breakfast Inn and Cabins. Following my sister's wedding, my wife and I will bring my parents up to Vermont for a little relaxation (I hear that paying for a wedding is pretty stressful so we're buying). My parents are bringing Eagle, a Schnauzer my wife and I rescued in Korea that my parents adopted. Actually, here's the story about flying Eagle from Korea to America on JAL.

Anyway, I think that the Vermont B&B will be another valuable review. You don't see enough reviews / vacation experiences with two generations and the family dog out there. I'm sure there are a few other people like me who want to take their parents and/or their dog somewhere. I'll let you know if Grunberg Haus is the answer.

Sorry, but none of you are invited to Punta Cana or Vermont (not that I'll stop you from going when I go). And you definitely can't crash my sister's wedding. But you are invited to my other vacation activity, live action role-playing in New Jersey. Imagine a weekend of camping, dressed in medieval costumes, acting out a fantasy story where heroes battle monsters with boffer weapons (made of foam).

I know it's not for everybody (OK it's not for most people), but my wife and I (and our friends) like it. If you want to join us July 27-29 in New Jersey, leave a comment here or email me - jtrotta@gmail.com. One thing is for sure; your vacation pictures will be unique...

Well now you see how my summer vacation is working out. Live action role-playing, Punta Cana, sister's wedding, Vermont B&B. I'm pretty excited!

And I don't know where to fit this in, but here's an article on a vacation experience in the Dominican Republic.

Carnival to begin South American cruise itineraries in 2009

This article on Carnival cruises, is fairly interesting. I know that NCL already has a few itineraries in South America. It looks like Carnival will join them in January 2009.

I don't know if Carnival will be in South America year-round but their itineraries sound excellent from what I read in the article linked to above. NCL seems to cruise South America November through March. They have a Chilean Fjords cruise (once a month from November to March) and an Exotic Americas cruise (November = US to Santiago, April = Santiago to Boston or LA).

Carnival has gotten a lot of complaints. In this old blog entry there are 25 or 30 comments. Some are positive but some are quite negative. I was pretty harsh when Carnival decided to kick a few complainers off the boat. Talk about a bad vacation getting worse...

And Carnival is guilty of misleading advertising but so are several other cruise lines.

Some of these problems are because Carnival is a mass market cruise line. When you pay as little as possible sometimes you don't get your dream vacation. However, despite the mixed reviews, I'm going to choose NCL over Carnival.

Of course I did make up my mind years ago when I got my NCL rewards credit card, but I think if I had to decide all over again today I'd still choose NCL over Carnival. If I were given more choices, I'd have a lot to think about. For example we reviewed Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas on this blog and concluded that it would be an excellent choice.

Are US airlines broken? Delta sure failed one US soldier...

This blog author users a recent travel nightmare (thanks largely to Delta) to argue that, in the US at least, airlines are broken. The worst thing about the whole experience (for me anyway) was this part: "I shared the van with a soldier just back from 14 months in Iraq, also the victim of a cancellation, who was watching his 10-day leave tick away, his wife and two daughters awaiting him at home."

I understand that cancellations happen. And I know that everyone has an important reason to get where they were supposed to go before the cancellation. But stealing even one day from a soldier with 10 days to see his family before going back to Iraq where he's spent 14 months is just sick. The airline has to do something to make sure this soldier gets home as soon as possible. Put him on another airline or something.

Enjoy the July 4th holiday!

And don't forget to tell us about the fireworks you see.

Yes I know some of you will see this early. My blog is on Korean time, 14 hours ahead of New York. I do this so it looks like I beat all the other travel bloggers to the best news stories or because I'm a visiting professor of linguistics living in Seoul.

Antique Nash Automobiles Visit Boston Area

The Nash Car Club of America’s 2007 ‘Grand Nashoinal’ event was held in Andover, Massachusetts the end of June. Many car enthusiasts are in clubs that promote enjoyment of their antique, special interest and collectible automobiles and although there is no Nash car company today, there are still many people who love Nashes.

We drove our 1955 Nash Ambassador from New York. The weather was beautiful and the car ran great. It was about 225 miles but we weren’t even close to getting a long distance award!

People come from all over for an event like this. One member flew from Australia for the show! Some folks have known each other for years through the car club, so there’s something of a reunion feeling in the air. The good fellowship is extended to new members and everyone who comes to appreciate the cars, so it’s a really pleasant experience.

The event was held at the Wyndham Andover Hotel. There was plenty of parking so the old cars could stay together. The rooms and amenities were quite nice and everyone at the Wyndham was very helpful.

The car club members who organized the event did a wonderful job. They put together a terrific itinerary. There were pre-show events to tour Concord and Salem, Massachusetts, Canobie Lake (amusement) Park in New Hampshire, a bus trip to Boston, Massachusetts to see the USS Constitution, Old North Church, Paul Revere’s House & Bunker Hill (part of the Freedom Trail), and a bus trip to Maine & New Hampshire to see Wells Auto Museum and Stonewall Kitchens among other attractions.

Of course, the main attraction was the cars themselves. The Hudson, American Motors and Rambler clubs were also invited. There were cars from the 1920s through the 1970s. Besides the cars, there were vendors with hard-to-find parts and special items. Of course, no car club event would be complete without the commemorative T-shirts and this year's was
one of the best.

On Saturday, the cars were arranged by ‘class’, based on the year and model of the car. You can see pictures of cars at the 2007 ‘Grand Nashional’ (and lots of other antique & collectible cars) at the Nash nut.com photo blog. These are 1957 Rambler Rebels.

Everyone was given a ‘goodie’ bag when we signed in, and this contained a ballot to vote for your favorite car in each class. The ‘goodie’ bag also had a program with restaurant & gas station info, some maps and car stickers, as well as some local products – Cape Cod Chips, Table Talk mini pies, Stonewall Kitchens jam, plus candy from NECCO, Yummies, and Sleepy Mountain Maple. Sweet.

Saturday night the Grand Nashional concluded with a Banquet at the hotel. Some donated memorabilia was auctioned off to raise funds for next year’s meet in Indiana, and the awards were presented. The awards were unique. They were hand made by one of the club officers and truly represented the spirit of the Northeast. We went home happy because the weather stayed fine and our car got a 2nd place award in its class!

This article was written by my parents. You can see their other work by reading the Liberty of the Seas reviews: day 1 and day 2.

Saratoga Springs, New York: Taking the waters

Here's an interesting article on Saratoga Springs, New York. Very popular in the 1800's when travelers came from all over the world to take the waters these day's you have only one choice:

The sole survivor is the strangely quaint Roosevelt Baths and Spa, which has 42 private rooms along two wings and a drinking fountain off the lobby where the water tastes faintly like Alka-Seltzer. Last year the Roosevelt drew 14,000 baths.

If you want pure, fizzy mineral water, your bath will be around 50 degrees. I'll opt for the diluted bath where the spring water is mixed with hot tap water to make a 98 degree bath.

"Some bathers have complained that heating also reduces some of the fizz and dilutes the mineral content," and I have no doubt that they are correct since you're mixing tap water with the Saratoga Springs special stuff. But cold water is just not my idea of a vacation.