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by Chris Springer, Contributing Editor

“The Travel Book: A Journey through Every Country in the World” (2004, Lonely Planet. ISBN 1741044510 — 444 pp., $39.99 hardcover).

This hefty coffee-table volume earns its definitive title. Assembled by the editors of Lonely Planet guidebooks, “The Travel Book” devotes one page-spread to each of 230 countries and territories around the globe. This simple, egalitarian concept produces a new world order that is strictly A to Z. For once, places like Chad, Dominica and Vanuatu get their due.

Each country is presented in a handful...

by Deanna Palic (second of three parts, jump to part 1, part 2, part 3)

One of the most interesting aspects of our January ’06 MSC Lirica cruise was the opportunity to mingle with passengers of diverse nationalities. French, Spaniards, Italians, British, Dutch, Swiss, Austrians, Germans, Montenegrins, Canadians, Israelis, Puerto Ricans and Venezuelans rounded out the passenger roster. American passengers were primarily from the Midwest and the East Coast.

Shipboard announcements, which are not broadcast into the cabins, were in five languages: Italian, French, English, German...

“You can leave earlier if you travel standby on Delta,” the reservation agent told my cousin, Marcus, when he called Northwest Airlines about his JFK-to-Seattle flight.

“Fantastic! What a terrific service,” he commented.

He wasn’t quite so happy a few days later when he checked his seat assignment for the return trip to JFK online and found that his booking had vanished into thin air.

When he called the airline for clarification, he was informed that the original booking from JFK had been canceled as a “no show” and, as a result, the return had been wiped out.

I...