Features

by Julie Skurdenis, Contributing Editor. Photos by Paul Lalli

I consider myself a seasoned Indophile. With four previous trips to India spread out over a dozen years, I thought I had seen the best this vast subcontinent had to offer. On my fifth trip, in January ’08, I wanted to revisit a few old favorites, like the Taj Mahal, plus add something totally new.

My husband, Paul, and I chose Gujarat, a state in the northwest of India that juts out into the Arabian Sea. It turned out to be the right choice. Relatively untouristed Gujarat offers incredible diversity.

A...

by Ed Kinney, El Cerrito, CA

In the spring of 2008, my wife, Moreen, and I decided to travel to the Far East instead of what had become a frequent destination, the Middle East. To decide where, we studied articles in ITN and other publications before selecting Cambodia and Vietnam.

Angkor Wat was certainly a top priority, and we’d heard that both Saigon and Hanoi in Vietnam had resurfaced as popular travel destinations. Lastly, we didn’t necessarily want to jet between Cambodia and Vietnam, as flying restricts the opportunity to meet locals in nontourist areas, but with the...

by Bill & Betty Reed, Denton, Texas

My wife, Betty, enjoys reading travel books and is the brains behind our adventures. So far, she has done very well.

Betty is a school nurse and is, therefore, limited not only in the number of days she can take off but in when she can take them. For 2009 we decided that a trip to Prague and Budapest would fit nicely into our week off for spring break.

Beginning in Prague

Prague is a beautiful city, and several times during our visit we had to tell ourselves we were not on some medieval movie set but in a living city...