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August 2010 issue

No phones ringing

I read the letters about “getting away from it all” and not maintaining contact when traveling (Nov. ’09, pg. 52 & Feb. ’10, pg. 58). I think the writers miss part of the point, as all of them admit to leaving an itinerary with someone.

My husband and I have been traveling internationally for nearly 50 years, and we do not leave any indications with anyone about how to contact us, no matter what. When my four sons were still at home, the instructions I would leave with the oldest was, “If anyone gets sick, put them in the hospital. If they die, bury them.”

I suppose I...

January 2011 issue

For South America arrangements

For my grandson, Kent, and myself, in the fall of 2009 I booked June ’10 tours with Overseas Adventure Travel (the 16-night “Machu Picchu and the Galápagos” plus the optional, five-night “Amazon Rain Forest of Peru”). I purchased our air separately, planning to spend a few days in Bolivia before the tour began.

In December I was notified by OAT that they were canceling the tour. They offered a substitute date, but it conflicted with our Bolivia plans and Expedia wanted $1,000 per person to change the flights.

Fortunately, I knew a travel agent in Lima, Gustavo A. Méndez Banda...

March 2010 issue

Assessment of Black Sea cruise

ITN was mailed a copy of the following letter, sent by a subscriber to Value World Tours.

I would like to pass on our comments re a Black Sea cruise-tour my wife, Marie, and I took on the MS Taras Shevchenko, May 20-June 3, 2009 (including a two-day post-cruise stay in Istanbul), with Value World Tours.

We had opted for a suite on board and were glad we did. The accommodations were very comfortable, with two sofas, TV, fridge, tub, full-size shower, etc.

The suites all were on the upper deck where the smaller, 62-seat Odessa restaurant is located, so we were surprised...

July 2010 issue

Funniest Thing for July '10

Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.

This month’s winner is NED JOHNSON of Seneca, South Carolina:

On a trip to Kenya, a van picked us up from the airport and was taking us through Nairobi to our hotel.

Sitting in front of me was a lady over 80 years old who was on the tour...

January 2005 issue

Trip to Argentina

We took a trip to Argentina, March 23-April 4, ’04, booked through our travel agent, Keka’s Travel (9600 NW 25th St., Ste. 4-C, Miami, FL 33154; phone 800/593-5352 or visit www.kekastvl.com).

We flew Aerolineas Argentinas round trip from Miami to Buenos Aires for $2,182.50 per person in business class. It was a good flight but with poor service and mediocre food, I felt.

Our Argentina package, arranged by Keka’s with Tourmedal (c. Pellegrina 833-6° P. Depro. “C” C1009AB6, Buenos Aires, Argentina; phone [54-11] 5237-0384), cost $798 per person and included 12 nights’ hotel...

April 2010 issue

Turkey on the cheap — in Fethiye

I traveled solo and on the cheap in Turkey for nearly all of May ’09. I described my visits to Bodrum (Oct. ’09, pg. 14), Selçuk (Jan. ’10, pg. 30) and Marmaris (March ’10, pg. 47). Heading south along the Aegean coast, I next hit Fethiye; the bus trip — a great way to see the country — took three hours (TL16, or near $11), and again I used the Pamukkale Bus Company (phone 0 232 892 3961).

I got a room at the Ideal Pension (I.Karagözler Zafer Cad. No:6 48300, Fethiye, Turkey; phone +90 [252] 614 1981, fax 612 8049) for TL25 ($17) per night, including breakfast and free WiFi. I had...

November 2010 issue

Standout suitcase

My suitcases are black, just like everyone else’s, but in 29 years of globetrotting I have never lost a piece of luggage.

My secret? I go to a fabric store and buy tubes of fluorescent paint, the kind used to paint designs on T-shirts. My current colors are hot pink and bright yellow-green.

On each of the six sides of the suitcase I paint a simple design: a sun with the center circle in yellow-green and the rays hot pink. I make it eight inches or so across on the wider surfaces and four inches on the smaller sides.

Whenever I walk through the airport with my wheeled...

May 2010 issue

What Makes Madrid “Madrid”?

In a writing “contest,” ITN posed the question “What makes Madrid “Madrid”? The window for submissions is closed, and in the last two issues we printed a few of the entries. Here are a few more. Other cities will be the subjects of future essay contests, with more prizes.

On our first morning in Madrid, my brother looked out over the city and exclaimed, “Where are the monuments like in Paris and Rome? What is there to do here?”

How to explain to him that Madrid is a different city?! It is the people and their culture that make it so special. So I began to show him the beauty...