by Steven Emmet, Solana Beach, CA

When we decided to go to Vietnam, I naturally leafed through my old copies of International Travel News and found three travel companies recommended by other readers. I e-mailed all three and explained that we preferred meeting people to visiting museums and scenic places and we wanted to avoid visits to this famous building and that famous site. In addition, as I had spent a year there during what the Vietnamese call the American War, we did not need...

At the suggestion of Ellen Jacobson of Centennial, Colorado, we asked readers, “What makes a good guide and why and what makes a bad guide and why?” We threw in the questions “What are some constructive ways to communicate with a guide or help him or her better their performance, deal with a specific expectation of the group or improve the progress of the tour?” and “Have you come up with ways to salvage a tour led by a poor guide?”

We requested comments of a general nature, excluding...

by Marvin Herman & Judy Licata, Delavan, WI

My wife, Judy, and I, both in our late 60s, have taken many escorted tours and have also toured independently, but neither of us had been to Spain (although we had visited almost every other country in Europe). So we decided on a trip to Spain, in February-March ’06, not only to experience a new country together but to challenge ourselves, as seniors, to an independent travel experience where the journey would be as important as the...