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Dear Globetrotter:Welcome to the 507th issue of your monthly foreign-travel magazine.

What kind of travel do you do? Are you independent all the way, nothing more than a backpack? Or do you enjoy going on group tours, the more, the merrier? Perhaps you and your travel partner want the assurance of having a guide but prefer the flexibility of a private, customized tour. Others love all that cruising has to offer.

Whatever it was that you did on your last trip, there are other people reading this magazine who would benefit from something you could tell them.

“Don...

Dear Globetrotter:

Last summer, Tim Ramstad of Brightwood, Oregon, wrote, “Any plans to bring back the ITN-logo hat? Lost mine on a trip from Portland to Jamaica.”

When we told him “No such plans,” he wasn’t deterred. He decided to create his own and requested a graphic of the ITN logo that was on the original hat.

In late October, he recounted what he did next, writing, “I went online to REI.com and found a hat that looked similar to the original ITN hat I had. It was offered at half price, and, with shipping, I paid $24 to have...

Berlin had been on my travel bucket list for more than two decades when, in May 2017, the opportunity for a 3-day visit surfaced as the final leg of a 14-day “Baltic States & Berlin” group tour offered by the New York-based tour operator smarTours (800/337-7773, www.smartours.com).

The tour cost from $2,899 per person, double occupancy, including air from New York’s JFK, four dinners and taxes. Traveling on a partially hosted basis, I was part of a group of 15 adventurers.

In the case of Berlin, I purposely avoided the destination studying I typically...