Travel plan idea blog

How many countries have you visited?

Do you consider yourself to be well-traveled? You probably haven’t been to as many different countries, states and territories as Charles Veley. According to this web site he has visited almost every place in the world – a total of 627 states, territories, countries and provinces. I’m amazed that he has somehow found the time to do this, as he’s only 42!

According to infoplease, there are 194 countries in the world today, although it depends upon your definition of a country. The 673 places are arrived at by listing not only every country, but all the US states, Canadian provinces, territories, island groups and disputed territories.

The web site lists places I have never heard of and will probably never visit – the Lesser Sunda Islands, Karnataka, Redonda and Pukapuka. Some of these places don’t even have scheduled air or boat service – and some of the places on the list I wouldn’t want to visit such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Rwanda.

The site also needs proof of visiting the country, in the form of a passport entry stamp, airline ticket or credit card receipt. So if your plane lands there but you don’t leave the airport, it doesn’t really count! Speaking of exotic and hard to come by passport stamps, Budget Travel’s web site has a slide show of some of the most unusual.

It seems as though it would take almost as much time and effort to visit every county in the United States – all 3086 of them. But apparently, there are people who do just that and call themselves the Extra Mile Club. And the club doesn’t need proof that you have been to the counties – they are prepared to take your word for it. By the way – in Louisiana, counties are known as parishes and in Alaska, they are called boroughs.

But with all his 627 places visited, there is no mention of Mr.Veley having visited the self-proclaimed nation of Sealand, which declares itself to be the world’s smallest country and is currently up for sale.

So which reader of this site has visited the most countries? I thought I was doing well at 21 countries, but obviously I have some way to go...

Guest entry by Mancunian

Vegas massage therapist speaks

Here's a moderately interesting article from the point of view of a Vegas massage therapist who complains about being grabbed and mistaken for a prostitute, customers who are sick or dirty, not getting a 20% cash tip, and customers who complain that women don't give good deep tissue massages.

The Nuit Blanche taking place in Toronto this Saturday

Thank you to Hannah for this tip on the Nuit Blanche taking place in Toronto this Saturday.

When I got Hannah's email I had no idea what a Nuit Blanche was, but luckily she sent some links as well. This article is are very good, explaining that this is a kind of arts festival where artisits exhibit their work in Toronto's open space, apparently transforming the city. It's also pretty big:

123 museums, galleries and other art-oriented organizations are opening their doors Saturday night.

There are more than 195 installations or events, about twice last year's total....

New areas are being explored, from the Distillery District to the Bloor-Lansdowne area. Ryerson University and George Brown College have joined last year's academic participants, the Ontario College of Art & Design and the University of Toronto. Pick up the program around town or have a peek at scotiabanknuitblanche.ca.

And here is the Scotia Bank website for this event.

Philadelphia's marketing to get more sophisticated

I blogged a while back on the Philadelpha advertising slogan: Get your history straight and your nights gay in Philadelphia.

I thought it was clever so this article made me feel a little bad when they said that the city of brotherly love is getting more sophisticated than the old slogan. I suppose I don't try to sell myself as sophisticated much anymore anyway.

One interesting number from the article is that the ads worked for Philadelphia:

Philadelphia saw a $153 return for every dollar spent on its marketing campaign, according to a 2005 gay tourism survey. But now, more than 75 cities around the world have gay tourism campaigns, as do travel companies like Orbitz, Travelocity, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

Travel agents booking most cruises and tours

Did you know that "travel agents book 87 percent of all cruises and 81 percent of all tours and packages"? I thought that was an interesting stat from this article on travel agents and the return of some of their business.

Speaking of booking cruises here's a list of things might make you want to book way in advance or wait until the last minute.

Curacao Caribbean holiday for those with kidney disease requiring dialysis treatments

I thought this article was very interesting. We were speaking about travel business concepts not too long ago. Here's another pefect example of an underserved niche market:

Those who live with kidney disease often require dialysis treatments that last as long as three hours, three times a week. It's a gruelling schedule that tethers patients to their clinics, making travel virtually impossible.

That's all changed – at least in Curacao – thanks to Jacob Gelt Dekker. An entrepreneur who has not only developed two of the finest hotels on the island, as well as the Museum Kura Hulanda, a world-renowned display of black history, Dekker saw a need and filled it.

Building the centre beside his luxury resort made it possible for travellers with kidney disease to enjoy all the amenities of a five-star hotel without missing a treatment.

Beijing getting ready for 2008 Summer Olympics

Beijing has been in a frenzy of activity trying to prepare for the 2008 Olympics, which begin in just under a year from now. New buildings have been built, old ones have been renovated and the main airport has been given a much needed facelift.

Perhaps more importantly, the Chinese have declared next year’s games to be the “Green Olympics” and large parts of the Olympic venue will supposedly run on wind and solar power.

The Chinese have also started to train thousands of volunteers to help deal with the athletes, workers, press and other visitors expected. And many Chinese employees have even been given lessons in how to be more polite to foreigners! Taxi drivers in Beijing are also being taught some English so they can better assist foreigners and immigration officers are also being taught some “people skills.”

The immigration officers may need their people skills, as the 2008 Olympics are expected to attract around 550,000 foreign visitors to Beijing alone. In fact, by the end of 2007, China is expected to have overtaken the United States as the 3rd most popular tourist destination in the world.

If you are visiting China, it’s now also a little bit easier to visit Tibet, thanks to the recent railway line that links Beijing and Lhasa. The railway line – a masterpiece of engineering – stretches around 2,500 miles between Lhasa and China’s capital city Beijing and the journey time is around 48 hours.

If you can’t make it to China, but you find yourself in London during the next few months, one of China’s most famous attractions can be found there. Several of China’s famous terracotta warriors, dating from around 200 BC, are on loan to the British Museum until April 2008. London is also the host city for the Olympic Games in 2012, in case you are planning four years ahead.

Guest entry by Mancunian

By the way (it's me James Trotta again) - I just wanted to add a few notes from my own trip to China. Firstly, the immigration officers did need to work on their people skills. One guy was giving someone in our group a hard time (over nothing) and when the person who speaks Chinese approached to translate the immigration officer got pretty mad. Not that all US immigration officers are pleasant to deal with either...

And of course it brought back some memories of a young Chinese woman stripping my pajamas off of me in front of my wife.

Who represents consumers when it comes to the future of the FAA?

Not long ago, I blogged a little about US air traffic control. Here's another article on the subject, focusing on how consumers are not really represented. Even if I had a vote though, no one knows how the new proposals will affect ticket prices. However if they make air travel safer / easier then I guess we have to be in favor of the new plan:

"Under the FAA's funding proposal, most ticket taxes and fees would disappear, replaced in large part by higher taxes on jet fuel and new fees assessed on commercial and private jets."

I love making private jets pay more. Why should my economy class ticket help pay for the air traffic control helping some rich person's private jet take off?

Position Announcement: Tourism Studies Specialization in tourism geography with an emphasis on tourism planning and development

This is a position announcement I heard about for California University of Pennsylvania, "A proud member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education"

College of Science and Technology

Position

Tourism Studies Specialization in tourism geography with an emphasis on tourism planning and development. Online teaching experience is an asset.

Rank and Salary

This is a tenure track faculty appointment. Salary is competitive and commensurate with academic preparation and experience. An excellent fringe benefits package is included.

Application

To be considered, applicants must submit in hard copy all of the following:

Letter of application highlighting the applicants' qualifications in teaching, research, and service;
A full curriculum vita;
Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended (unofficial transcripts are acceptable for review purposes);
Names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of three professional references that have current knowledge of the applicants' abilities in teaching, research, and service.

Please submit via regular mail (please no email or faxed applications). Veterans should forward a copy of form DD214 to the Office of Social Equity, 250 University Ave, Box 9, California, Pennsylvania 15419.

Application Deadline October 19, 2007. Electronic submissions are permitted.

Send complete application except DD214 (if veteran) to:

Dr. Susan Ryan, Chair, Search Committee
Department of Earth Sciences
250 University Avenue, Box 55
California University of Pennsylvania
California, PA 15419

Phone: 724-938-4531
Fax: 724-938-5780
Email: ryan@cup.edu

Integrity, Civility, and Responsibility are the official core values of California University of Pennsylvania, an affirmative action/ equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities, veterans and the physically challenged are encouraged to apply.

Videos of Switzerland

I got an email about some films of Switzerland at MySwitzerland.com:

Switzerland offers great experiences whatever the season, indoors and outdoors, come rain or shine. Some holidaymakers regularly make their best experiences available on our video portal.

Body flying - Another fun thing you can do in Switzerland: dressed in a special suit, jump into a wind tunnel and fly like a bird.

Arosa light show - This summer Arosa offered a very special spectacle – a breathtaking colour show near the lake accompanied by the song «I want it all». Why not come and see it for
yourself next summer?

The Alpamare near Lake Zurich is great fun all year round - This video shows all the fabulous experiences that are to be had in the waterscape - with or without family. A perfect excursion destination - even on dull autumn days!

I was especially curious about that last one, the lake, because I'm not sure if that's the lake where I go to see fireworks when I'm in Zurich for New Year's. Be careful if you're at work though - I'm pretty sure I saw a woman's butt in one sauna scene...

Anyway, I did find this video of Zurich's fireworks from last year:

Zurich Fireworks - Click here for the funniest movie of the week

Reader needs ideas for a one-night weekend getaway to PA or upstaet NY for fall foliage

I recently heard from Gerry who needs ideas for weekend getaway with the wife:

I'm looking for ideas for a single weekend night getaway (kid-free) with my wife (Saturday night only) for sometime in Oct. I'm in the north Jersey area and probably would head off to PA or upstate NY for fall foliage and hiking, but can only do one night, so that rules out all the nice B&B's which require a two night stay this time of year. Any thoughts on a reasonably priced getaway?

So far people are recommending Niagra Falls, which is a bit too far from here for a one night stay. People also recommended Mohonk Mountain House. Mohonk Mountain House looks nice, but has that two-night minimum which is the problem I keep running into. Too bad since I hear they are really good for foliage and hiking, you probably won't find anything much nicer, plus the advantage that if the weather is crappy, they have a great sports facility/spa. Disadvantage = price. Plus the two night minimum stay...

One friend said I could always do the Finger Lakes for a Wine Tour. Good idea, but still a bit far for a single night stay. I'm probably only looking for a 2.5 hour drive from Manhattan max. New Paltz was a good idea, but the single night requirement is killing me...

The Finger lakes B&Bs all have a minimum 2 night stay. I've been through that looking for a one night stay.

I was told to think about the Delaware Water Gap. There is the Shepard House B&B, and the Deer Head Inn. The Deer Head is a great place for jazz. About a 1/4 mile down the 611 or up Mountain Road, is trail access to the Water Gap recreational area. There also is a B&B located on Mountain Road directly across from the trail access. My friend can't remember the name, but he stayed there and it was great. He also said there was no minimum stay!

He said it's 5 minutes further up to the Appalachian Trail. He said to avoid the famous Bushkill Falls. Too hard on your calves and it's so overcrowded and they charge you 9 or 10 bucks or something like that. If you're lucky to know the area well enough, you can find Jacobs Ladder water falls.

William Penn falls is another one no one knows of, a secluded spot where you can have a picnic. This is all according to my friend though. Brownie's is located right across the street from the Deer Head is a great restaurant/watering hole. Plenty of antique shops if you don't feel like hiking and you always have the Crossings Outlets in Tannersville about a 15-20 min. drive west down 80. Or you could head a little further north to the Milford, PA area.

Another beautiful hiking area in the Water Gap is Worthington State Forest on the Jersey side (1st exit). Crater lake which is a glacial lake is a must see.

The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Mass is supposed to be a good bet. My friends stayed there earlier this month and really enjoyed it. The food is very good and the facilities are exceptionally relaxing. Rates this time of year are quite reasonable and it's a really easy drive. Either take I-87 up to I-90 or, for a nicer drive, take I-84 across to route 7 and go up through Connecticut to Stockbridge, MA. Is Stockbridge good for Autumn leaves?

Also, what about Cooperstown? Is it more than the baseball Hall of Fame? I heard about the Otesaga Resort in Cooperstown right on the lake. Or drive a little further and hit Mirror Lake Inn in Lake Placid or the Sagamore in Lake George.

And if anyone has heard about Journey Inn, they are in Hyde Park, across the street from the Vanderbilt mansion. Never been there - is it any good?

I also wanted to check out New Hope, PA - LOTS of B&B's and tons of restaurants all with their own themes and twists. I have a friend who stayed at the Porches on the Tow Path B&B which was very affordable and the location right in the middle of the shopping/railroad/tow path was good.

But another person told me to go to the Lambertville inn in Lambertsville NJ where all rooms are suites with fireplaces, supposedly reasonable priced and include room service breakfast, it is also right across from New Hope.

So anyway, I've talked to too many people and gotten so much advice I have no idea what to do. So I figure I'll ask everyone for more advice so I can be even more confused. LOL. If I have to get away from Fall foliage, Cape May is still quite nice this time of year. Plus it is now technically off season and might be cheaper.

Well, that's the email. Can anyone tell Gerry what to do?

SATW travel writing courses, welcome news for domestic air travelers, old news for air travelers

Thank you to Jill for the following tip: the Society of American Travel Writers Institute for Travel Writing and Photography will hold a conference in Orlando In January.

The SATW Institute offers a weekend class that promises to teach you how to become a travel writer. So, if you're free from January 25 to 27, 2008, and can make it to Orlando, Florida, I hope you let us know how well they do:

The one-weekend institute (Friday-Sunday) is for writers, travel writers and experienced travelers who want to learn travel writing for articles and guidebooks or who already are travel writers and want to improve their performance. This travel writing course teaches how to prepare article queries and book proposals, how to negotiate contracts, how to work with editors, how to organize your time, how to self-publish your own books, and how to publish your travel writing on the Internet.

I guess I could contribute a thing or two to publishing your stuff online. I've learned a lot about web site development and maintenance from running this blog...

By the way, another item of interest to most people who fly in the US is this article on how airlines are trying to improve on the terrible service they provided this summer.

And while we're on the subject of US air travel, I may as well flirt with danger (meaning politics again) and share this article on how Clinton and Gore had a plan to overhaul the US air traffic control system. Like so many government projects, this one never materialized in any meaningful way. This issue should sound familiar...

And since the US system is so problematic, here's some advice on how to avoid a few of the hassles waiting for you:

Avoid connecting flights altogether
Build longer layovers
Shun chronically late flights
Call your airline, frequently
Book the first flight of the day
Scout alternate flights
Line up, but call too
Prepare for the worst
Know your rights

This previous entry on avoiding delays may also be helpful.

Marriott International Inc.stock and business outlook

I don't usually write about stocks here, but I thought this article on Marriott International Inc. was worth a mention.

It might be a case of good for shareholders but bad for customers though:

While Marriott used to rely on third-party sites such as Expedia.com to sell rooms online, the lodging company discovered that by pitching the rooms itself, it could save money, raise prices and increase earnings.

Earnings will climb to $1.93 per share this year and $2.32 in 2008, Donnelly estimates.

To attract guests, Marriott created incentives to book through its Web site, awarding points that can be redeemed for free rooms. The points can't be earned on third-party sites like Hotels.com and Orbitz Worldwide Inc.'s Orbitz.com.

Now if Marriott prefers selling on its own website because it gets to raise prices, what's in it for consumers? Nothing more than rewards points?

Anyway, if you're an investor the article is bullish:

The shares will climb an average of 27 percent over the next year, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Profit this year is predicted to surge 29 percent, the biggest increase in four years, to a record $781 million.

I guess someone has to benefit from Marriott raising their prices when they sell rooms via their own website...

A few articles to get you reading & thinking

I'm entertaining my Parents-in-law today so I hope you don't mind if I'm a bit brief...

We've had a few discussions on this site about when (and if) to use travel agents. If I were gay, I would use this travel agent. He says he works hard for his clients and he has been to 120 countries so he has a bit of first-hand travel experience...

Most of the article is about gay/lesbian travel. There seem to be lots of cruise options.

Here we have a handful of free vacations for US soldiers. I hate mentioning the war because we tend to get at least one crazy comment about it every time (not surprising that war makes people emotional though) and it leaves me open to criticism about not supporting our troops. In reality though, injured soldiers like the guy in this story need more support from the US. 23 free vacations isn't enough when thousands are dead or injured, is it?

Blowing Rock might be a funny name, but it sounds like a nice place for a vacation home. Apparently there are about 1,500 full-time residents but more like 10,000 people in the summer. Supposedly this place can compete with the nature spots we're talking about on the post from the other day.

What British people can do when travel plans go bad - do Americans have any recourse?

From this article, I get the impression that British travelers who are unhappy with their travel agents get taken care of much better than Americans in the same situation.

For example this story talks about a British couple that had planned a trip to Egypt. Then they had to cancel when they found out the flight schedule had changed. The travel agent (Thomas Cook) offered them a full refund plus 50 British Pounds (about $100).

That sounds wonderful to me - I can't even begin to imagine an American company giving you a full refund. Something a little extra for your trouble is just out of the question, isn't it?

But the British couple said 50 pounds wasn't enough - they wanted 10,000 pounds. Now that's American thinking!

This left the British couple with two choices:

Disappointed holidaymakers have two options: arbitration through the Abta (Association of British Travel Agents) scheme, where a third party hears both sides and makes a decision resolving the dispute; or going through the courts.

In America, I think the only real choice is calling one of the newspaper travel troubleshooters or trying the troubleshooting process out on your own. I don't know of an arbitration system, and going to court would probably be too difficult and expensive. And with the troubleshooters, you're lucky to get your money back. You're lucky to get any money back, really.

So the British couple in this story went to arbitration and lost. Honestly, what were they thinking asking for 10,000 pounds?

Now some people complain that Abta favors travel agents (considering the name stands for Association of British Travel Agents, I guess this wouldn't surprise me) but statistics show that many travelers do win even if their rewards are not as big as their claims.

BOB, FAT, MOO and SIN – all about airport codes

If you have flown, you have probably noticed the 3 letter code that’s put on your baggage label that the airline attaches to your checked bags. The point of this is so that the baggage handlers know where your bags are going to – although the system doesn’t always work! These standard 3 letter codes are also widely used by pilots, controllers and others in the aviation industry.

If you had the above codes on your checked bags, they would be going to Bora-Bora, Fresno (California), Moomba (Australia) and Singapore respectively. But be careful of airport agents putting the wrong code on your checked bags – a bag going to Salt Lake City (SLC) can easily end up in Santiago, Chile! (SCL) And Madrid (MAD) can be confused with Chenai, India (MAA).

Airport codes are designated by IATA and there are over 10,000 airports around the world with designated codes – they range from primitive landing strips to major international airports.

Some of the codes are obvious and are familiar to people who don’t work in the airline industry - JFK (Kennedy, New York) and LAX. (Los Angeles International) But some codes aren’t so obvious unless you know the story behind them...

The code for Chicago O’Hare (ORD) comes from the airport’s old name. An aircraft factory known as Orchard Place once stood on the spot, later it became an airport and the name was changed to Orchard Field. And MCO (Orlando) doesn’t stand for Mickey and Company – the code comes from the name of the Air Force base that once was on the spot – McCoy Field. Cincinnati (CVG) airport isn’t in Ohio at all – it’s actually in neighboring Kentucky, near the town of Covington.

Canadian city codes are the most illogical and confusing – apparently, when it came to assigning codes, all the obvious ones had already been taken! So Canadian city codes all begin with the letter Y – Calgary is YYC, Vancouver is YVR, Winnipeg is YWG and Montreal is YUL.

By the way, many airline jobs require you to commit to memory a long list of the most commonly used airport codes, which can be quite a challenge!

Guest entry by Mancunian

What's the most striking nature scene you've seen on vacation?

First, I apologize for not blogging yesterday - I had to finish off a paper on how repetition is wrongly associated with only Behaviorism when (if done properly) it is actually cognitive...

Anyway, back to blogging and dreaming of vacations.

I love nature and everything, but I'm not so sure I see the appeal in bird watching. I like birds (when we were in Vermont we looked for humming birds while eating breakfast since there was a feeder just outside the window) but I can't focus an entire vacation on looking for one type of bird...

These guys on the other hand, organized a vacation to go look for Himalayan snowcocks. Depsite the name, they only had to go to Nevada which is easier than India or Nepal...

I was thinking about a trip to India's Corbett National Park to see the nature (as research for a book I plan to write one day). And I do enjoy hiking - I've published a few hiking vacation ideas on this blog. This one in Banaue comes to mind.

Speaking of nature, we should all be this lucky. I'd settle for a lot less in a a vacation home...

Also on the subject of enjoying nature on vacation, here's an article on declining numbers of campers in Yosemite and other parks. There's a place I'd like to go camping but I understand why they are closing campgrounds:

A few generations back, 80 percent of Yosemite visitors spent the night, said park spokesman Scott Gediman. Now just 20 percent do, a sure sign that people's vacation patterns are changing. They're taking fewer days off, planning shorter excursions. Research shows that in the park, hotel-style accommodations are king.

Who knows? While I claim to like camping I could see myself in a hotel just as readily...

Of course, camping would be cheaper as this article on saving money reminds us.

And while we're on the topic of parks, here's a Yellowstone vacation itinerary. I would love to go to Yellowstone, Yosemite, see the Grand Canyon, etc.

What's the most striking nature scene you've seen on vacation? For me it might be seeing a moose in Algonquin Park (up in Canada) although seeing wolves (and hearing them howl) in the moonlight in Singapore's night safari was my first thought. I wasn't sure if it counted since it wasn't exactly "in nature"...

What's your style: gambling vacations or yoga vacations?

I have an article on yoga vacations and another on gambling vacations.

Both types of vacation promise the chance for a new life. It's just that at the casino you have hit a jackpot when you're more likely to lose money. At the yoga retreat you're supposed to find inner peace. Honestly, I'm not sure I like your chances either way.

The yoga article talks about people spending $500/night in Arizona or $8,000 for 10 days in Kerala, India. Clearly, when you spend that kind of money you get to relax but can you really buy inner peace at a yoga resort?

Don't get me wrong though. I would take the yoga vacation (not interested in gambling) - I just wouldn't expect to suddenly find inner peace.

Anyway, my question is: Have any of you been to a yoga resort or on a yoga retreat?

Botswana to benefit from movie tourism?

Here's an article on Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella, famous for The English Patient, filming in Botswana. The project is a film version of The Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency which is Alexander McCall Smith's best-selling novel.

The film should show us Gaborone, Botswana's laidback capital as well as Makgadikgadi Pans - huge salt flats in northern Botswana.

Botswana is known for spectacular wildlife, but certainly not for movie tourism.

Publicist Joey Sapieka said that visitors will be able to visit to the actual set after an agreement to keep it intact for the next decade.

"We have secured a 10-year license, which is also renewable, so people who watched the movie or read the book would still be able to tour the set for years to come," he said.

Here are a couple of videos. Honestly, neither Makgadikgadi Pans nor Gaborone looks all that great compared to the wildlife:

Botswana Makgadikgadi Pans (not English)

Botswana- Streets of Gaborone

Safari Zambia & Botswana

Medical tourism makes the news again

Here's a story about a woman who saved 20,000 on some facial cosmetic surgery by getting it done in Mexico.

We know that medical tourism is a growing trend and we know that sometimes it is risky (not that it isn't risky in the US as well). Naturally, US doctors say that it is riskier to travel abroad:

But Dr. Carl Lentz, a Daytona Beach plastic surgeon, said he is skeptical of the quality of care in operations that cater to overseas patients. He said he treated a patient who went to Costa Rica for surgery and came back with a saliva gland draining down her face.

In this case the woman had a personal recommendation from a friend who had used the same Mexican doctor which removes some concern. Doing your research would help relieve some concerns as well. But here are other issues.

The article I'm linking to here says that you can't sue for malpractice when you get work done overseas. They also say many doctors in the US refuse to give patients follow-up treatment. Supposedly there are liability issues but it seems to me that US doctors are refusing to treat sick people - it just seems wrong.

One scary thing the article mentions is that insurance companies might start sending people abroad to save money:

The lower charges for medical service outside the United States could present a new wrinkle in the relationship between U.S. medical providers and insurance companies as companies look for cheaper ways to pay for their employees' health care. It could mean your insurance company puts you on a plane to Thailand for the next heart valve replacement or you leave your gall bladder in India.

I don't like this, but now the insurance companies seem to try to avoid paying at all, basically leaving people to die if their treatment costs too much. I'm reminded of the cancer patient who was denied treatment and pain killers.

I'm not sure how exactly, but I guess this will tie in somehow with the whole problem of unemployment and health insurance we have in America.

Use OTBeach for your Greek vacation?

The following is a paid review for OTBeach

I plan to see how easy it is to use OTBeach for travel planning. They cover a range of destinations including Egypt, Turkey and Greece (they say) all at very competitive prices.

I figured we'd start with Greece since we recently had all those positive comments on going to Greece. Now the first thing I noticed on the Greece page is that they have lots of links to hotels in different places in Greece. So I think you might be a bit lost if you didn't already have a bit of a plan.

I scrolled down to the resorts because there were just too many hotels in places I've never heard of. The resorts are in Athens, Corfu, Crete, Halkidiki, Kefalonia, Kos, Rhodes, Santorini, and Zante.

I've heard of most of these places and I know Santorini was recommended in the recent post on Greece I mentioned above and this old where to honeymoon entry.

I decided to use what i think is the OTBeach main search engine to see what we could find in Santorini.

I really like that they have a date flexibility option - my dates are almost always flexible but not many web sites let you give them say 3 days worth of flexibility. At the top, I could choose Greece right away or scroll down to Greece - Santorini. It seems like you have to search all towns so I'm not sure what that option is for (maybe it's needed for other destinations but not Santorini).

So I tried starting October 16th with 3 days flexibility for 7 nights. I didn't choose how many stars or all-inclusive because I wanted to see how much they had to offer in Santorini.

In the next step I had to choose a flight departing from either Birmingham or Manchester so i figured I'd missed something important in the search area...

I went back and chose London airports. I didn't realize that this site was only for people from the UK (Ireland and Scotland seemed to be available).

Since everything was in pounds and I have no idea how much flights from London to Santorini are supposed to cost, I can't really review the prices on OTBeach. I did figure that Santorini is fairly popular since there was only one flight available and that was down to its "last few seats".

Apparently in Santorini you can stay in Perissa or Kamari and I don't think the website tells you how (or if) each place is different so you would want to make your plans in advance and consider OTBeach for booking to see how its prices compare with other hotel and air booking sites. Again, that's if you're flying from England or around there.

Some reasons to visit Liverpool, UK

Liverpool is very much in the spotlight at the moment. The often overlooked UK city celebrates its 800th birthday this year, and next year the city has been voted European Capital of Culture. Liverpool is in good company – past holders of this title include Paris, Florence, Madrid and Prague.

Unless you’re a big Beatles fan, you may not think a visit to Liverpool sounds very exciting. However, Liverpool has a proud seafaring legacy, reflected in its fascinating maritime museum and thriving waterfront, an exciting bar and club scene, and some of the best shopping in the North of England.

And whereas most cities are content with just one cathedral and one world class soccer team – Liverpool has two of each. Even if it is not football season, Liverpool Football Club offers a guided tour of its famous soccer stadium and a visit to the impressive trophy room.

If you are going to Liverpool to follow in the footsteps of the Beatles, there is plenty to see. Your first stop should be Matthew Street, a narrow alleyway in the center of town, and the site of the famous Cavern Club, where the Beatles first performed. Matthew Street has several pubs and used record shops as well as a themed shopping mall.

The other major Beatles attraction is a museum called ‘The Beatles Story’ which chronicles the group’s rise with displays of old movie clips, memorabilia and music. You can also take one of several guided bus tours which take you out into the Liverpool suburbs to see the houses the Beatles lived in, where they went to school and the inspirations for many of their famous songs.

In addition to all this, if you happen to be in Liverpool next year, the city has over 70 special events organized so far, including concerts art exhibitions and films. One of the highlights promises to be the start of the Tall Ships Race, featuring around 300 replicas of old-fashioned sailing ships which takes place in July 2008.

And a few miles up the coast from Liverpool, the world’s greatest golf championship – the British Open - takes place at Royal Birkdale, from July 17 to 20th. If you are planning to attend, start saving up - daily admission tickets seem to cost at least $140!

Guest entry by Mancunian

Personal note - Liverpool sounds really great - I wonder if we can add it to this England vacation plan.

Some of everything: visas for crime victims, Sandals losing divers, social networking

I have a good mix of articles for you today.

Illegal immigrants in America are being offered a limited number of visas if they were the victims of a crime and help law enforcement with the investigation. It seems that many illegal aliens were afraid to report these crimes to the police because they feared deportation. In true government fashion, the law was passed 7 years ago but the visas are just now being made available. Well, 30 days from now.

The same article has a scary story about a border patrol guard facing murder charges for allegedly executing an illegal immigrant who had surrendered while trying to cross the border.

Here's a story about British families getting a free Sandals vacation. Of course, on their first Sandals vacation (Sandals Grande Antigua Resort & Spa), the Sandals dive team left without them - leaving them in the ocean somewhere.

Luckily the two British men were vacationing with their wives. And luckily their wives were waiting for them to return - when the women noticed their husbands weren't on the boat they called for help. I guess the men were rescued with no real trouble.

I do have a couple of previous blogs on Sandals including one on Selling Sandals vacations and this honeymoon advice blog entry where Sandals was recommended.

This article mentions a few social networking sites for travelers. I'm on Facebook if anyone wants another Facebook friend... I might sign up for Myspace one of these days. As for the travel social networking sites, I'm not sure. I don't think I know anyone who uses them. Does anyone use any of these?

Asmallworld.net - international user base, and users try to meet up when on the go.
FlierTalk.com - frequent fliers.
World66.com - users share travel advice, creating a kind of wiki.
Dopplr.com - business travelers share travel schedules.

Who do you trust for travel insurance?

I've never had travel insurance, and luckily I've never needed it. However, we see many travel writers strongly recommending travel insurance. Perhaps if we knew which insurance company to trust...

Here's a story about a couple who couldn't travel because their passports arrived to slowly. Their travel insurance didn't cover anything - quite a shock to the couple who spent money on insurance, couldn't travel, and couldn't collect from insurance.

I can probably afford to lose some money on a flight or something, but what really scares me is emergency medical evacuation because that can cost a fortune.

We do have a little British advice - I wish I knew of an American company that offered an annual travel insurance policy that covered me every time I travel.

While everyone in England recommends it, in America we don't see that so much. Speaking of England, I read that "47 per cent of UK holidaymakers still did not bother to take out any travel cover before their trip" which leaves 53% of the people buying travel insurance. I wish I had a statistic for America, but I'm willing to bet it's much much lower than 53%.

According to this article Consumer Reports isn't a big fan of travel insurance.

That same article reinforces what I said before about medical evacuation though:

Dr. Leon Reinstein of Baltimore says he has been buying travel insurance for overseas trips ever since one of his patients needed to be evacuated 10 years ago from the Bahamas after breaking her hip. That 90-mile ambulance evacuation to Miami cost $25,000.

They did also mention one family that had a good experience with Travel Guard insurance when a hurricane hit their vacation spot.

So basically they say buy travel insurance when:

1. You're spending a lot of money on your trip and losing sleep about something happening
2. You're traveling when there's a risk of bad weather
3. If you're afraid of spending tens of thousands of dollars on medical evacuation

I guess #3 would be especially important to people who are going rafting or something similar - something where there's a better than average chance of getting injured. Also with #3, you don't necessarily need travel insurance to get medical evacuation coverage.

Iquazu Falls & Torres del Paine National Park: 2 reasons to plan a trip to South America

Here's a great article from Newsday that really makes me want to visit South America. A travel plan should include 2 natural wonders, Chile's Torres del Paine National Park (jagged mountains and fields of ice) and Argentina/Brazil's Iguazú Falls (lush jungle paths and plummeting walls of water).

They also have a section on visiting each place: Iquazu Falls and Torres del Paine.

It won't be easy to get to, but if this picture is any indication I think it would be worth the trip:

And let's not forget Iquazu Falls:

(Image from Wikipedia)

Disney tours worldwide (Adventures by Disney)

Adventures by Disney is a 2-year-old part of Walt Disney Co. Disney is using its brand name to sell travel to more than its theme parks and cruises. They have vacation packages throughout the world and will add eight more locations next year.

That means they will have trips to China, Australia, several destinations in America, Costa Rica, Peru, and a number of destinations in Europe.

I've never tried an Adventure by Disney vacation, and while I suspect they deliver what they promise...

Embark on an Adventures by Disney guided vacation and immerse yourself in the magic of expertly planned, hassle-free vacation experiences around the world - brimming with surprises for the entire family.

I suspect you end up paying too much for the Disney name. For example, a 13-day, 12-night China vacation will cost from $3,599 to $5,399 a person, not including air fare.

Now China can be a tough country to travel around on your own, but it can also be very inexpensive. Somehow I doubt that $5,000 (without airfare) is much of a value.

Of course, I respect Disney's marketing strategy - they would be stupid to offer cheap (less profitable) vacations because when you think of Disney you're not supposed to think of cheap...

Anyway, Disney travel VOD is another blog entry on Disney marketing. And if you do a search for Disney on this blog, you'll find lots of stuff.

Reader needs help deciding on a greek vacation

I have an interesting discussion topic for you today. There's a traveler who might go to Greece. However, he's not sure it will be worth the money because a British friend of his is very negative about traveling to Greece.

Now I'm going to publish the original concern about Greece and the British friend's letter - this will be very insulting for any Greeks but after thinking it over I've decided to publish it. First, a little controversy never hurt anyone. Second, it is part of the reader's question and as travelers we want to get to the truth - you can't really get the truth by hiding negative opinions...

The wife and I are planning a POSSIBLE European vacation for next summer with a stop in Greece (or not - we could just wind up back at LBI). I've heard mixed reviews - some people think it's paradise, while others were more negative, including this e-mail I got from a strong-opinioned Brit friend of mine:

"I used to go to the Greek Islands all the time, it's like getting a bus to Corfu or Rhodes from England... If you have ever been there, you have to s**t and then wipe and throw the paper in a basket by the toilet as the sewage system ain't that great. The locals are all idiots that try and pick up on the English girls and want to fight the English men. They get beat up, a lot, and then come back with village mobs.

You rent scooters and get killed by construction trucks. The beer used to be cheap and the food isn't great.

Its hot, very hot. The Greeks hate the English and by proxy Americans, but tolerate them as they are the cash cow that keeps their third world tourist traps humming. Without them they would be fishing for polluted fish in the Med and playing the bazouki for giggles."

Is that most likely an overly harsh assessment from someone who had a bad experience? It certainly wouldn't be a cheap vacation, and I just want to avoid making a mistake of going somewhere that's totally overrated.

Well there you have it - the question from a reader and the advice from a bitter Brit.

Personally, I've never been to Greece (and don't know what "bazouki" are) but hear mostly positive things, especially the islands. A friend did sound a bit negative on Athens: "I would recommend to you no more than 2 days in Athens as outside of the ruins there is not much to the city. It is very dirty and porn is everywhere, not the environment for kids as the porn is sold openly with vivid pictures everywhere. The islands are great and I would spend more of your time there."

But again, he said the islands were great. Nothing about locals picking fights or harassing women. I know I've heard people talk about Santorini, which is supposed to be a very friendly and beautiful place, perfect for a romantic vacation. See #5 on this old blog entry.

By the way, all this reminds me of one of the funniest movies ever, which I forget the name of. But if you recognize the following quote, name the movie it came from: "Forget France. The French can be annoying. Come to Greece. We're nicer."

Or leave a comment discussing Greece so the original questioner can make up his mind.

How stupid is the average traveler?

In an article that argues everyone needs a travel agent, John Frenaye offers as evidence some stupid comments he's heard from past clients (he is or was a travel agent).

Of course his argument that 25 stupid comments proves that everyone needs a travel agent makes him look about as smart as his dumbest clients... I'm sure some people enjoy reading about the stupidity of others but let me give you a sample so you know what you're getting yourself into if you go read all 25:

How much is a train to Jamaica? (We are sold out, but if you call Amtrak, they have space. Be sure to ask for a seat on the left side of the train so you don't miss the Lost City of Atlantis on the way down.)

What language do they speak in England? (Swahili. Would you like to purchase our "Learn Swahili in 10 Easy Steps" manual?)

Here's a continuation of what has become a recurring theme this summer - the pain US air travelers face. So the article poses a question "So why is it that we can put a man on the moon but can't fly him from Atlanta to Charlotte, N.C., without at least a two-hour delay?"

The answer, according to this article, is that the FAA is too weak to stand up to all the warring factions (airlines, labor unions, politicians, airplane manufacturers, executives with corporate jets, etc.). It's as plausible a reason as I've heard...

I guess we really will have to switch to train travel.

Starting a travel business

I thought this article was interesting because really, what could be better than traveling for a living. Sure you might have to manage your business while you travel but still...

This article is about a business person who noticed the luxury travel niche was underserved in Scotland. She filled the niche with luxury yachts and business is good. Plus I guess she gets to enjoy luxury yachts more often than the rest of us.

Has anyone here ever seen an empty travel niche and thought of opening a business?

My most expensive vacation since my honeymoon

I now have plane and hotel reservations for my trip to Europe this winter. The rough outline of our trip is:

12/20/2007 - 12/27/2007 in Munich. We go for the Christmas market and the museums. We may not have a Christmas tree in our hotel room, but I'm sure we'll find exchanging Christmas presents in Munich romantic enough to make up for that.

12/27/2007-01/03/2008 in Zurich. Paris seemed too expensive for a city that probably isn't having fireworks. Madeira, Portugal was suggested, but we were in the mood for something more like a city than a resort considering we recently came back from a resort in Punta Cana (Punta Cana and Madeira have some of the same brand resorts). Zurich has culture and fireworks.

1/03/2008 - 1/15/2008 in Madrid. Madrid is on my dream list so I need to spend some time there.

All this is costing some serious money - this will without a doubt be my most expensive vacation since my honeymoon... But I've been working hard, skipping Starbucks, and this is what I want to do with the money I've earned / saved.

Will it be safe to travel to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup?

This report on South Africa, tourism, and the 2010 World Cup comes from a man who traveled to South Africa on business:

Here's a write up of my trip to South Africa so far, since I have some time to kill. I'll spare you hour by hour details, since I've mainly been in meetings and those are as banal in South Africa as they are in the States. Instead, here are a few notes on the country, and some interesting stories I've heard during my time here. No doubt, there are people wondering about the 2010 Worl Cup so I'll mention that as well.

The country is fascinating. We speak about developing countries - ones that are somewhere between first and third world - but until you are in one, you can't really understand the magnitude of that term: "developing countries." There are few places like this in the world: South Africa, Brazil, Egypt. Soon, Nigeria and Russia. And the dichotomy that exists between the rural, undeveloped parts and the booming metropolises of the country is remarkable.

On the one hand, you have luxury hotels, delicious restaurants and plush office buildings. Goldman Sachs and other firms of its ilk are stationed here. Google came down a few months ago to start scouting areas for its African offices. Stand in Mandela Square - at once the Wall Street of South Africa as well as its Time Square - and you feel as if you are in the States. There's a steak restaurant that boasts the finest wines and meats in the region. There's a mall with Gucci and Dolce and Gabbana; a Smith and Wollensky's; a McDonalds and a KFC; ATMs abound.

You'd feel no different than if you were in your mall back home. Go outside, and there are advertisements for Rent and the Lion King musical. Planned Parenthood is here, as is Toyota. So is ADT; every home seems to be guarded by them. It's globalization at its finest - the different areas of Johannesburg are called Brooklyn, Manhattan and Chelsea. And, above all, everything is safe. You can't walk around at night just yet, but during the day, there are no problems. The people are friendly and accommodating. Everyone speaks English, and all the signs in the country are in English, even though the most spoken language of the country is Zulu, the native tongue.

Then you head to the townships outside the city, and the atmosphere is drastically different. Gone are the investment firms, designer shops and commercial restaurants. Gone are buildings, entirely. Instead, you have huts, literally made of cardboard and metal scraps, where people live. The schools are in shambles. There seem to be no eateries - everyone eats at home, with whatever food they can come across.

It is the farthest thing from safe. The government just released its crime statistics, and the violence in the underdeveloped areas is undeniable. Most strikingly, these areas are just outside of Johannesburg, and will soon become part of the city, certainly by the 2010 World Cup. (Johannesburg is a sprawling city, and will soon become the largest in the world when it meets Pretoria, now a half hour drive away.)

Ah yes, the World Cup. The city is, of course, preparing for it. The transit system, which isn't safe or effective, is being completely revamped, and train lines are being constructed throughout the country. You can sense a feeling of anticipation amongst the locals—the World Cup will be their country's "coming out party." South Africa is arguably Africa's most prosperous economy at the moment, and though many companies are here, the country is widely ignored on the global stage. Frankly, the transition from the Apartheid government to the new one was not terribly smooth, and the country wasn't stable until around the turn of the century.

That it has made so much progress in less than seven years is truly remarkable, and it has happened so fast that the world has yet to catch up to it. The World Cup, then, is a new introduction to the world. And the World Cup in emblematic of the new South Africa: According to people of all races, soccer is played and followed mostly by the black Africans, while rugby is played by the white Africans.

But before the World Cup, progress must be made in the townships. It's a slow process, but there have already been improvements. For example, there is a private school voucher program that plucks bright kids out of the townships and sends them to elite prep schools in Johannesburg. This year, some of these students received full scholarships to the elite South African universities, such as the University of Cape Town, and American ones as well. Students from this program will be headed, on a full ride, to Amherst College, the University of Virginia, and others.

Other groups focus on black empowerment. Black Africans make up about 80% of the country's population, but in the financial sector, many of the businessmen are white expatriates and Afrikaners. This has begun to change as a result of these programs - in fact, all the major newspapers in Johannesburg are run by young, black men and women. But these are only two pieces of a much larger puzzle, and so much has yet to be done.

South Africa, is, on the whole, progressing toward a brighter future. However, it seems to be an anomaly amongst other African nations. Others, such as Mozambique, are still marred by corruption. An example: Mozambique is home to Limpopo National Park, a wildlife reserve. However, after a recent war, most of the wildlife in the region was killed. As the population of animals has been replenished, parts of Limpopo have been converted into a wildlife sanctuary, where humans can not live. As a result populations of people have been displaced to other regions, where the Mozambique government gave them land to live. (Mozambique's land use ordinates are considered hig