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Featured Member Blog Posts – April 2010 Archive (39)

Travel Superstars I'd Like to Have a Drink With

From time to time I need some help in keeping up with the twists and turns of travel, so I thought of a few travel "heroes" I'd like to have drink with and talk travel.

I’d first set a date with Travel Weekly's Editor in-Chief, Arnie Weissmann, a terrific writer whose editorials always leave me wanting more.

TW is the travel industry’s publication of record, and Arnie’s one of…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 30, 2010 at 12:00am — 1 Comment

Single Parent Travel: Second-Class Travel Citizens

Travel’s Second Class Citizens

Can you imagine the travel industry, limping along in this sclerotic economy, not catering to the needs of an important travel niche market: Single Parents?

This travel cohort feels like second class citizens.

They’re not swingers.

Not looking for wild parties.

They want quality vacations that let them connect with other single

parents, and they want attention paid to them and their kids.

They want the travel…

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Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 29, 2010 at 11:30am — No Comments

Buttocks, Beaches and Breasts: Medical Tourism

Medical Tourism: Beaches and Buttocks

People travel for many reason.

They travel to see the ocean, to meet people or to shop…

and now they’re shopping for a new nose or bigger breasts all while seeing the sights.

Medical tourism is the latest trend in the search for the perfect body or a money saving medical procedure like replacing a hip or getting your teeth straight.

Or for costly medical procedures for the uninsured and… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 28, 2010 at 2:00pm — 2 Comments

A Few Words About Malawi

Danielle Nierenberg is blogging everyday from across Africa for the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet blog. She is also writing with her partner Bernard Pollack at her personal blog: BorderJumpers.

In Malawi, we visited the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre, a project supported by companies like the Body Shop,…

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Added by bernard pollack on April 28, 2010 at 1:12pm — 1 Comment

News just in … Red wine starts off GREEN!

You can tell when spring has finally sprung when you take a look at the new growth on the freshly pruned vines in the countryside around Montefalco.

New growth - Sagrantino…

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Added by Giselle Stafford on April 28, 2010 at 10:38am — No Comments

With Few Reservations: Travels at Home and Abroad

Forty-eight engaging commentaries by "a modern day Mark Twain," sociologist, photographer, and prize-winning travel journalist, Peter Rose. Included are accounts of excursions on land and sea and portraits of places and people from Cape Cod to Cape Horn. There are captivating photos, stories about playing gumshoe in Honolulu, tour guide in Amsterdam and taxonomist in China, descriptions of windjamming in Maine and…

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Added by Peter I. Rose on April 26, 2010 at 5:00pm — 1 Comment

What’s the Difference Between a Kid and a Carry-on Bag?

What’s the Difference Between a Kid and a Carry-on Bag?

Judging by the new round of airline fees, probably not much!

Southwest Airlines opted not to charge for carry-ons (other airlines opted out too), but then announced it was doubling the fees it charges unaccompanied kids to fly.

There has always been a fee for “UM’s aka/Unaccompanied Minors, as they’re called in the biz, but Southwest’s jump from $25.00 to… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 25, 2010 at 5:30pm — 2 Comments

Bruges, Belgium

I posted this at The Travel Doc. I took this photo a few years ago in Bruge, Belgium. This was before digital cameras and I took this the first week of a 5 week trip. I had to wait 2 months to see it. The photo is 3'x4' and hangs framed on my wall. Should my home catch on fire, it would be one of the first…

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Added by Lisa Teller on April 22, 2010 at 12:30pm — 2 Comments

A Few Words About Rwanda

By Borderjumpers.org, a blog by Danielle Nierenberg and Bernard Pollack

We’ve taken some long bus rides in Africa. We spent eight bumpy hours on a bus from Nairobi to Arusha and another eight from Arusha to Dar Es Salaam. The longest so far, though, has been from Kampala, Uganda to Kigali, Rwanda.

Once we finally arrived, we quickly realized, that we've never traveled anywhere quite like Rwanda.

Fifteen…

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Added by bernard pollack on April 21, 2010 at 12:07pm — No Comments

Red Carpet Detox-Where the Stars Go to Get in Shape

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Added by Marjorie Hope on April 21, 2010 at 12:20am — No Comments

Escape to Paradise-Ultra Rich Playground for a Fraction of the Cost!

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Added by Marjorie Hope on April 21, 2010 at 12:13am — No Comments

Two Bunch Palms: Palm Springs Eco-Spa Hideaway

Two Bunch Palms is an eco-spa situated in Palm Springs that offers a peaceful sanctuary of sacred spaces,…

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Added by Marjorie Hope on April 21, 2010 at 12:00am — 2 Comments

Will Travel Insurance Cover Volcano-related Travel Snafus?

No sooner do we do a piece on Travel Insurance, and a volcano blows, stranding thousands of people and ruining hundreds of vacations.

But don't worry, you read our post, bought insurance and you're covered.

Well, it seems that your claim could be denied, depending on whom you bought the insurance from and whether the company views the disaster as "weather related," usually covered, or "natural disaster,"… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 20, 2010 at 7:13pm — No Comments

Travel Fees Make Pet Owners Dishonest

From Blogger Pictures

Airline Fees Make Pet Owners… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 19, 2010 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Is Education the Key to Reducing "Irresponsible" Tourism?

Having read a recent article in the Associated Press about the lack of knowledge that travellers between 18 to 30 have about the World, I asked myself: is this ‘responsible’? Shouldn’t they know about the destinations they are going to visit? In my view, education before departure nurtures a sense of respect and responsibility towards a countries people and heritage and can have a… Continue

Added by West Africa Discovery on April 19, 2010 at 5:30am — No Comments

Boeing Says “No” To Ryanair’s Pay-to-Pee Plan

From Blogger Pictures

You have to admire the gall.

Ryanair CEO, Michael O’Leary,… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 18, 2010 at 3:46pm — 8 Comments

Schumer has it wrong. Carry-on bag taxes are paid for by passengers not airlines.

The misdirected attempt to declare carry-on baggage "essential" so that it would be subject to the transportation excise tax won't affect airlines at all. It will on add a 7.5% tax on top of the baggage fees that is paid by passengers.

Should Schumer and his cosponsors prevail (I doubt that they will), the cost of any carry-on bag will go up by 7.5 percent. The excise tax is a separate tax on top of other taxes and exclusively paid for by passengers, not the airlines.…

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Added by Charlie Leocha on April 18, 2010 at 11:15am — No Comments

Tuscany

Tuscany (Italian: Toscana) is a region on Italy's west coast, on the Tyrrhenian sea. It is one of the most popular places to visit in a country that is itself one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. There are several reasons to visit Tuscany: some of the most important ones are seeing Renaissance art in Florence, eating Tuscan food and tasting the excellent local wines, and after all this enjoying a day at the beach in Viareggio.

Read more… Continue

Added by Italy Video guides on April 18, 2010 at 3:30am — No Comments

Nicaragua: Now Open to Curious Travelers

After the Revolution: Nicaragua Opens its Doors to Curious Travelers

By Kaleel Sakakeeny

In a ramshackle yet proud artisan studio in the dusty town of San Juan de Oriente, a young boy about 15 casts pots using his feet for power on an old throw wheel. The wheel hums, the clay spins and the pottery that evolves is astonishingly intricate yet elegantly simple.

His younger sister tends to a new littler of seven puppies, and his even younger brother… Continue

Added by Kaleel Sakakeeny on April 16, 2010 at 11:00am — No Comments

Gastrotraveling.com Celebrates 1 Year Anniversary!

A few weeks ago I was reminded why I started gastrotraveling.com and why I continue working hard to write fresh content. After all, isn’t my tagline simple enough?: “A Better Understanding of Food Through Travel” Well probably not. First of all, here’s what I’m not. I’m not a food critic, columnist, celebrity chef, or culinary expert in any way. What I am is a writer who is extremely interested in learning about the ever evolving way we interact with… Continue

Added by Steve Mirsky on April 14, 2010 at 9:30pm — No Comments