Columns

As mountain gorillas foraged, visitors watched — Rwanda. Photo by Marilyn Marx Adelman

Dear Globetrotter:Welcome to the 512th issue of your monthly foreign-travel magazine, the one that showcases travelers' experiences, knowledge and opinions. Any subscriber can write in, and we print no articles or news about destinations in the US. Just anywhere else!

Someone reading this magazine would benefit from something you learned on your last trip. The littlest thing might save someone time or money. Jot off a quick email so we can share it.

In addition to...

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Brazil’s Santa Catarina guinea pigs live on a 10-acre stretch of land on a small island and may have the smallest range of any mammal.

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I would like to share valuable information recently supplied by two travel insurance sources.

First up is a table of advice from InsureMyTrip (800/487-4722, www.insuremytrip) to which I have added some information and tips of my own [in italics — Editor].

Top Reasons Travel Insurance Claims are Delayed or Denied

CLAIM ISSUE TIP Reason for canceling a trip is not covered under policy. Review the policy with a licensed travel insurance expert prior to purchase.... CONTINUE READING »
Save your places of interest with the star button.

After my 2-part article "They're Called Smartphones for Good Reason" ran in the February and March 2018 issues, a number of readers wrote with suggestions and comments about using smartphones for saving critical itinerary information and navigating with maps, especially while offline.

The following are the most helpful tips, along with my own comments. All my comments pertain to using an iPhone with iOS version 11.4.1 and the latest update of Google Maps as of 8/8/18....

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Wave Rock, near Hyden, Western Australia, is 110 meters long. Photos by David Bentley

An Aussie friend, David Bentley, recently completed a coast-to-coast journey solo from northeastern Australia to the far southwest in his faithful Troopy (78 Series Toyota Land Cruiser). This article is edited from his daily reports. — Randy Keck

Day 9 (May 15, 2018) — Having departed Kalgoorlie, I'm currently about halfway down the Holland Track, which runs from Coolgardie to Hyden in the southwest of Western Australia. It's another iconic 4WD track which has been...

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You can see prime examples of fascist-era architecture in Mussolini’s E.U.R. suburb just south of Rome.

The sweeping impact of fascism in the 20th century can be felt to this day in the many monuments and memorials across Europe that remind us of those horrific years.

You can trace fascism's roots to the turbulent aftermath of World War I, where masses of angry people rose up, and their charismatic leaders manipulated that anger. Both Benito Mussolini in Italy and Adolf Hitler in Germany turned fringe movements claiming to be the...

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The abbey structures at Fontenay have remained virtually untouched by the outer world.

The French countryside is littered with medieval monasteries -- stony, quiet and atmospheric. Some are in a state of ruin; others are still home to peaceful monks or sisters going about their religious work. Still others are intact but now open only as museums. A little history can help visitors breathe life into these serenely remote monuments.

Monasteries arose in Europe as refuges from the dark chaos that followed the collapse of the Roman Empire. In many ways, when ...

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A bike ride between Levanto and the sleepy village of Bonassola offers up views of the Italian Riviera’s stunning coastline.

When it comes to basking in the beauty of Italy's Riviera, the Cinque Terre is tops for me. But there's much more to this region on the Mediterranean coast than those famous five villages.

A handful of charming towns lie within an hour of the Cinque Terre, with posh ports set against rugged mountain backdrops that have drawn poets, authors and romantics over the years from Lord Byron to Elizabeth Taylor.

To the north of the Cinque Terre is a trio of beach...

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