Features

After purchasing a time-share in August ’03, I started reviewing the large catalog with listings of hundreds of time-share properties around the world, including information on availability, amenities, nearest airport and more. I have been traveling internationally for some 30 years and thought a time-share would give me greater selection for accommodations abroad.

International exchange

On a point system, my companion and I purchased a studio unit in Napa, California, near where we live, to use as an exchange property for an international location. After paying maintenance...

—by Carol Coverly, South Yarmouth, MA

Mid-August seemed like a good time of year to visit friends in Minsk. The weather was perfect during our 5-day stay in 2005.

Lufthansa was the only commercial airline with a daily flight into Minsk International Airport. The terminal, a half hour’s drive from the capital city, was undergoing renovations, which hopefully will make Minsk a more welcoming international destination.

Entry requirements

My husband and I were met by three young women who had stayed in our home during the summers of 2002 and 2003. Since it is not...

Trucks, lined with tourists sporting assorted hats like exotic crested birds, raced jeeps to the gatehouse in Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan, India. After securing route assignments, the drivers fanned out like beaters on a tiger hunt over dirt roads pockmarked by monsoon rains. My daughter, Anna, and I were among the lucky few in a jeep.

We zipped past colorfully saried women and children processing to temples hidden within an ancient fort, its stone fortifications snaking across the hilltops above us like the Great Wall of China. The worshipers called, “Hello, hi,” and...