Southern (and Central) California Here We Come! The Frommers to Speak in Sacramento (January 16) and Los Angeles (January 18)
Posted on 01/13/2014, 11:00 AM
Yes, our jaunt around the United States continues on thanks to Allianz Travel Insurance, our sponsor on this books tour! This week both Frommers will be hitting the road, to get out the word about the new Frommer guidebooks. On January 16, I will be appearing at Time Tested Books (1114 21st Street) in Sacramento at 7pm. My talk will be on the sneakiest strategies to save money on travel at w...
A Week on an Unusual Coastal Island of Florida is Not to be Compared with Paris or Bali, But Still Has Its Merits
Posted on 01/12/2014, 10:15 PM
Slightly more than a year ago, I published a blog in which I listed my own ten favorite vacation destinations. I named them in no particular order, and took pains to avoid saying that the first to be named was my single favorite vacation place. That first-named happened, by sheer accident, to be Sanibel Island, Florida, while appearing later in the list were such minor, inconsequen...
Evidence is Accumulating that It is Not Presently Safe to Travel Independently—On Your Own or with a Single Companion—in Egypt
Posted on 01/11/2014, 9:30 AM
On a number of occasions this past year, I have been asked my opinion on whether it was now safe to visit Egypt. And each time, I have answered: no, based on numerous reports, it isn't. And I added my heartfelt regret over that conclusion, because of my own several memorable and rewarding visits to Egypt in the past. These cautions were immediately challenged by several users ...
Pay $56 a Night to Cruise from L.A. to Japan via Hawaii! Plus 5 More Cruise Deals That Won't Last Long
Posted on 01/07/2014, 2:00 PM
Princess Cruises' Sapphire Princess Once again, we asked the folks at AllThingsCruise.com to fill us in on the best bargains in cruises at the moment. Here's what they suggested, where to book them and what, in the opinion of the sellers, makes each one a steal. Unless specified, all prices are the lowest possible for an inside cabin, and are based on double occupancy. These specials ma...
A Quick Round of Tips for Travelers Stranded by the Polar Vortex (Or In Any Weather-Related Delay)
Posted on 01/07/2014, 10:45 AM
Its ugly at the airports of America this week with tens of thousands of travelers stranded. If you're one of them, or are scheduled to travel later today or tomorrow, here are some tips: -Keep checking your airline's website; it will be near impossible to get through be phone in many cases. And many airlines are now allowing passengers to check where the plane is coming from, so click tha...
Polar Vortex Grounds 18,000 Flights! Here's Why That's a Good Thing
Posted on 01/06/2014, 9:45 PM
It's very cold in America right now. The average temperature in the Lower 48 is lower than 48—it's just north of 23 degrees. As weather reports of the Polar Vortex came out, many airlines announced contingency plans. Many of them cancelled flights to make sure their equipment ended up where it needed to be to resume normal operations later in the week. But only one of them, JetBlue, poin...
Just Two Days Ago, We Learned What It Is Like to Live in a Country Without a Decent Rail Network
Posted on 01/04/2014, 12:15 PM
Birmingham train depot: First world infrastructure? As I write this, we have gone two days beyond the realization of what it means to have no decent system of rail transportation within the United States. Just two days ago, hundreds of thousands of Americans were stranded in their vacation locales by an extraordinary weather event of blizzards, high winds, and unprecedented low ...
Blowing Into the Windy City: Pauline Frommer to Speak in the Chicagoland Area on January 9 and 11
Posted on 01/03/2014, 4:15 PM
I'm excited--make that thrilled--to announce that the second leg of our book tour, celebrating the launch of the NEW Frommer guidebooks, will kick off in the Chicago area on January 9 and 11. I'm hoping that lots of Frommer's readers will brave the chill to come out and talk travel. I'll be discussing: *Sneaky strategies for saving money on all sorts of travel (from airfares to luxury safa...
A Book-Length Treatment of Touristic Excess is Required Reading for Anyone Interested in the Future of Travel
Posted on 01/03/2014, 4:15 PM
It isn’t likely that your local bookstore will be selling a copy of Elizabeth Becker’s “Overbooked”, a devastating critique of the impact that travel has on certain major destinations. Although it garnered excellent reviews, it is not the page-turner that results in best-sellers. But it is a unique discussion of issues that most travel writers and commentators carefully avoid. So if you...
Some Changes, Large and Small, That Will Confront Travelers in 2014
Posted on 12/31/2013, 4:30 PM
As the recession continues to fade (and that’s a “finger’s crossed” statement), travel companies of all stripes are coming out with new offerings. And more folks are hitting the road—but doing it in slightly different ways. As I stare into my cloudy crystal ball, here's what I see for the near future: 1) More—and often flashier—cruise ships: The coming months will see the debut of six new...
