Columns

Bless You! Bless You! Bless You! How wonderful you are!

In late December, ITN mailed out a survey to 1,000 subscribers selected at random. It was a many-questioned survey asking about your travels in the year 2008, and the results will be presented to potential advertisers. We received 869 replies!

Almost 87%! In survey circles, that is considered better than outstanding.

To put that in perspective, another magazine (not in the travel field) that brags about how...

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Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 33rd anniversary issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine. ITN began publishing in March 1976, and 397 months later it is still inspiring travel, thanks to all of our subscribers, who write in with reports, warnings and tips for the benefit of their fellow readers. Keep it up, and we at the home offices will do our part by keeping you informed of travel news!

Early in 2008 at the airport in Delhi, India, drivers in illegal taxis and...

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by Philip Wagenaar, third of four parts

Last month I wrote about, in addition to specific French hotel groups, the use of Michelin and Logis de France guides in obtaining reservations. This month I will give an overview of homestays, home exchanges and more.

ACCOMMODATION GUIDE (continued)

J. Global reservation services

The following global reservation services can be used for many hotels in France, but you usually pay extra for their services. You also have to watch...

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Travel can make you a poet. Travel can be spiritual. You meet people on the road you’d never meet otherwise. Traveling rearranges your cultural furniture, challenging truths you assumed were self-evident and God-given. By traveling, you learn not only about the people and places you visit, you learn about yourself.

But without capturing your thoughts on paper, the lessons of travel are like shooting stars you just missed and butterflies you thought you saw. Collecting intimate details...

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by Lew Toulmin

The American Canadian Caribbean Line has its long name on the sides of some of the shortest ships in the cruising fleet. But ACCL is not short on hospitality, good food, great staff, interesting history or fascinating destinations.

In this article I will describe the line and its ships and outline the line’s international destinations, though my experience with ACCL is based on a cruise I took up the Intracoastal Waterway on the US Eastern Seaboard aboard the...

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Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 396th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine — 33 years in publication!

Though this magazine is all about world travelers looking out for each other, we also print news items that may affect travelers.

In Volgograd, Russia, an African-American exchange student survived a stabbing on Dec. 5, 2008, in what may have been either a robbery attempt or a racist attack.

Though attacks on Westerners are rare in Russia, in the...

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by Philip Wagenaar, second of four parts

Last month I discussed how to reserve lodgings in France, how to evaluate the room you are about to inhabit and how to obtain appropriate discounts. I continue this month with listings of specific hotel groups, followed by a discussion of the Michelin guide, the Logis de France and more.

ACCOMMODATION GUIDE

Below is a guide to accommodations, accompanied by my comments. In the listing of places to stay under headings A, B and C...

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One of the things that charms me about traveling through Europe is its ethnic variety. Hop on a train and two hours later you step into a different culture, different language and different heritage.

As Europe united, I feared its ethnic diversity would be threatened, but I find just the opposite is happening. In Europe there are three loyalties: to your region, to your nation and to Europe.

Ask a person from Munich where he’s from and he’ll say, “I’m...

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