Tagged: travel

Some Reflections on the Lessons That a Life in Travel Has Taught

The end of the year is a time for reflection, and I've beenthinking of the travel lessons that countless journeys have taught me.Here are a few of the tactics that I…

Pauline Frommer: Lessons I Learned From My 2013 Travels

The more I travel the more I learn. And sometimes the lessons that hit home are about the travel process itself. So without further ado, here are my top head-smacking realizations of…

And Now, For a Change of Pace, Let's Look at All the Good Things That Are Happening in the World of Travel.

The holidays are here, and for many, that means counting blessings. So instead of devoting a column to the problems of travel—and there certainly are many—I’d like to celebrate…

Study Finds Remarkable Benefits For Educational Travel by Teens and Tweens

In 2000, Reid Bramblett, a writer and long-time scout leader in Pennsylvania, took 9 members of his Boy Scout troop to Europe for nearly a month (along with two other adults). One of…

We've Told You Where to Go in 2014, But Which Destinations Were Most Searched in 2013? The Answers May Surprise You

Let me start this blog by stating that there's no evidence that the number of searches for a destination will translate into more visits for said destination. But it is a fascinating…

White House Tours Are On Again....For Now. Why You'll Want to Book Sooner Rather Than Later

Though it hasn't been publicly announced, word has leaked out--as tends to happen in Washington, DC--that the White House is now holding tours again. The website has been updated…

A New Online Travel Agency Allows Users To Hold Airfares, Without Full Payment, For Up to 21 Days

It was only a matter of time, it seems, before someone applied the rules that have long governed the “art” of Wall Street trading to the highly unstable airfare market. That…

Government Shutdown: What Travelers Can Still Do, and What's Closed

There are lots of long, explaining articles about what's causing the shutdown, but they don't make it easy to figure out what's closed for travelers and what's open. We'll make this…

Schussing Savings: No It’s NOT too Early To Book Your Winter Ski Trip

No white stuff: less green stuff—that’s the crude equation that rules the ski industry. It was a point driven home in the winter of 2011-2012, when snowfalls that were 50% lower than…

Why Just Take a Vacation When You Can Work Your Way Around the World....And Travel Indefinitely

Travel doesn’t have to be pricey. Thanks to the internet, an entire class of working travelers has emerged, men and women who trade “sweat equity” for free room and board on the…

Decoding Three Common Travel Tips on Dining, Timing and Packing

When it comes to tips on how to travel better and more affordably, there are some old-chestnuts that always apply. But though they sound obvious, many actually require insider…

Travel Freebies Of All Sorts from Services To Entrance Fees to Hotel Nights

There are few lovelier words in the English language than "free" and "travel". Combine them and you have a blockbuster of a phrase. Here are a few of the good deals--all very…

The How-To's of "Couch Surfing" From a True Expert

Last September, I got a call from a dear friend who’d just gotten a job playing harp in the orchestra of a Broadway touring production. Erin was hoping to save money on the road by…

A Nightmarish Incident on a Recent Cruise May Cause Vacationers to Rethink Buying Insurance Directly from the Cruise Line

By now, you likely have heard the story of elderly couple who were put off an Azamara Cruise ship in a small town in Turkey, when the 89-year-old husband fell and broke his hip.…

What’s the Best Vacation For Your “Stage of Life”? How Age Can—and Should—Affect Your Travel Plans

“Man is by nature a social animal”, wrote Aristotle. And though he wasn’t commenting on vacations, his observation certainly applies:  who one travels with can be as important to the…

3 Sneaky Ways To Save Money on Lodgings When You Hit the Road

Sometimes you have to get creative, and perhaps even bend the rules, when looking to save money on travel. That’s particularly the case for lodgings, as hotel rates have increased a…

Way To Stay Classy, Ryanair! Wait Until You Hear What's In The Airline's Training Manuals

The same airline that once declared it would install pay toilets (that didn't happen), has been instructing its flight attendants to avoid making change for passengers when they buy…

Looking Ahead to Fall Travel: Places To Head and Strategies for Saving Money

Forget what your kindergarten teacher taught you, at least where travel is concerned. There aren’t four seasons, there are three: high season, low season and the period we’re about…

Gambling for Freebies: What You Need to Know If Your Vacation Will Include Time at a Casino

Gamblers are a superstitious lot. They know that only a rube counts his money at the table, walks in the main door of a casino or whistles as he cranks the one-armed bandit. But even…

The Wonders of Alaska (In One Relatively Compact Area): Meet the Kenai Peninsula

Alaska is massive. Intimidatingly so. Transpose its outline on a map of the lower 48 United States and its north-south boundaries would stretch from Mexico to Canada, poking up…

What is a Transatlantic Crossing on the Queen Mary 2 Like? Our Readers' Questions Answered

Last week, I took what many consider the voyage of a lifetime: a transatlantic crossing on an ocean liner. There's only one ship left on the seas that was specifically designed to…

Scrimp vs. Splurge: When Does Spending More Actually Improve a Vacation?

Several years ago, an author I’d hired to do a chapter in a guidebook returned it to me with a major tourist sight missing from the text. He explained that he’d left this particular…

The Ever-Growing Popularity of Multi-Generational Travel

Few organizations are as savvy as Disney when it comes to anticipating travel trends. So when its tour arm, Adventures By Disney, announced that it would be offering its first tours…

Pauline Frommer To Host a Tour of Taiwan This October

I usually travel alone or just with my family. But once a year, on behalf of the radio network my father and I work with, I host  a tour somewhere in the world. Last year it was…

Solo Travel: New Resources and a Few Tips

I’m a big fan of solo travel, but that may be because I don’t have to travel alone all the time. I have a husband and kids, so they come along when they can. But as a travel writer,…