Travel Briefs

October 2009 issue

Pictures on iPhones

Available for iPhone (OS 2.0 or later) or iPod touch (with version 3.0 or before), the application “1,000 Words” shows simple pictures on the phone screen to help people communicate overseas.

Topics are organized into 12 categories, like money, activities, help (SOS), dining, hotels, etc. Simply tap the category, scroll through the pictures and enlarge the one needed to show to another person.

The app can be downloaded for 99¢ from the App Store and does not need Internet access to function.

January 2009 issue

Venice by wheelchair

The book “Venice: Easy Sightseeing: A Guide Book for Casual Walkers, Seniors, and Wheelchair Riders” (ISBN 1419698745) contains 14 sightseeing routes each a 3- to 5-minute walk from a boat dock. There are maps plus descriptions of wheelchair-accessible paths, elevators and bathrooms.

It is available from Amazon.com for $15.99 plus $3.99 shipping, or from bookstores.

July 2009 issue

Passengers of size pay double on United et al.

United Airlines (www.united.com) announced in May that “passengers requiring extra space” now must purchase a second seat.

United’s new policy reads, “For the comfort and well-being of all customers aboard United flights, we have aligned with other major airlines’ seating policies relating to passengers who: • are unable to fit into a single seat in the ticketed cabin; • are unable to properly buckle the seatbelt using a single seatbelt extender; and/or • are unable to put the seat’s armrests down when seated.”

If there are any unused seats on a United flight, then a customer...

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May 2008 issue

Thai junk cruise

The Rayavadee Resort (One Premier Corporate Park, Soi Premier, Srinakarin Road, Nongbon, Prawet, Bangkok 10250, Thailand; phone 66 2301 1850 or fax 66 2399 1060), on the coast of Thailand’s Krabi Marine National Park, offers excursions to the park’s tropical islands on the 54-foot Pla Luang, a renovated Siamese junk.

For two people, half-day excursions cost 14,000 baht (near $462) and full-day excursions, 16,000-18,000 baht ($528-594).

September 2009 issue

Zürich New Year's

Every New Year’s Eve in Zürich, 150,000 people attend an open-air festival with food stalls, bars and music. Fireworks at midnight. Contact Zürich Tourism (P.O. Box CH-8021 Zürich, Switzerland; www.zuerich.com).

August 2010 issue

Netherlands Antilles disbanding

The five Caribbean islands that make up the territory of the Netherlands Antilles, in the West Indies, have voted to change their status and, as of Oct. 10, 2010, no longer will be one political unit. 

Curaçao and Sint Maarten will govern themselves as autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Opting for closer ties to the Netherlands, the islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius and Bonaire will be special municipalities and governed directly by the Dutch government, although it has not been decided if they will adopt the euro or not as well as certain more lenient...

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October 2010 issue

Video camera rental

Adventure Eye Video Systems (42354 Deluxe Plaza, Ste. 13, Hammond, LA 70403; 866/558-2387) offers rentals of four types of digital video cameras: standard; high-definition; wearable POV (point-of-view), and snorkel mask cameras. Including shipping both ways, rental of each costs $100 for 14 days (upon receipt) with a full damage waiver or $75 without waiver. A 4GB memory card is included.

January 2009 issue

Unusual Hotels of the World

Unusual Hotels of the World showcases on its website www.uhotw.com 149 “avant-garde” lodgings around the world, organized by location, price and “wow factor.”

Example — the Old Jail in Mount Gambier, South Australia, built in 1866 as a prison and now a hostel; from AU$22 (near US$15.50) per person for a dormitory bed. Another — the Woodpecker Hotel, a tree house in a large oak in Stockholm, 40 feet above a public park and accessible by rope ladder; $250-$350 per night.