Travelers' Intercom

My friend Sue and I, both in our eighties, are always looking for a destination to which neither of us has been. Therefore, we were delighted when our travel agent recommended a cruise on the Douro River, which originates in northern Spain and flows west across the northern part of Portugal into the Atlantic at the city of Porto.

We booked the cruise through Uniworld (Los Angeles, CA; 800/733-7820) and on May 26 flew to Lisbon. We spent three nights in that charming city, then were bused north to Porto, where we boarded the Douro Spirit, our home for the next seven days, May 29-June...

I read the letters on “coping with medical needs overseas” in the March, April and May ’11 issues. I am 81 and, after my having prostate cancer for 20 years, in May 2010 the cancer became active, causing both inability to urinate and then incontinence, mainly during daytime hours.

A traveler, I flew to Frankfurt from Cleveland in September ’10 by US Air economy class and spent 10 days with a former exchange student, now a doctor, in Kehl, Germany. I then drove to Munich and went with friends by car to Croatia to spend a week with them in a private home in the Istria area.

On...

In the letter “Scoping Out Bargain Airfares Online” (June ’09, page 15), the writer runs through an interesting litany of what he had to go through to achieve a reasonable air travel expense from Los Angeles to the Philippines.

I applaud his diligent work, however I have learned to deal with equally challenging air travel arrangements by relying on my travel agent, Cheri Schwartz of Tubby Lohmer’s Travel (1826 Tower Dr., Stillwater, MN 55082; 651/439-3522, e-mail cheri@tubbystravel.info).

Ms. Schwartz has access to better flight information and fares than I do, and her $50...