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What books or movies inspired you to travel to another country (outside of North America and the Caribbean)? ITN asked that question and received many responses, which were printed in the June through September 2005 issues. Here are a few more.
If you have suggestions to share, write to A Novel Approach to Travel, c/o ITN, 2116 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818, or e-mail editor@intltravelnews.com (please include the address at which you receive ITN).
Purchasers of travel insurance are frequently disappointed (and/or irate) when a claim is denied, often swearing never to use that insurance company again and writing to ITN suggesting that its readers do the same.
In such cases, the policy holder usually receives a form letter from the insurance company stating, “We regret that we are unable to provide benefits under the coverage purchased for the following reasons.” The letter then will quote the applicable text from the policy, usually the paragraph(s) describing the “covered reasons” and/or the “exclusions” from coverage.
by Roger Canfield, Contributing Editor
My wife, Mary, and I were in Cairo in January ’05 when we learned that our daughter Julie, back in Arizona, had been diagnosed with breast cancer. We became frequent customers in the Cairo Marriott gift shop, where they sold phone cards. The problem with the phone cards was that they each lasted only three minutes on calls to the States.
Clean, modern and well-equipped, Venice, Italy’s, Marco Polo Airport (www.veniceairport.it) provides a convenient gateway to the city, but the transfer between the airport and your hotel certainly won’t be the highlight of your visit.
Any good, recent guidebook should detail the choices and direct you to the websites of the various service providers. During an October ’05 visit to Venice, my wife and I learned a few lessons that will help you know what to expect and make the right choice.
In ITN’s October ’05 “Person to Person” section, on page 126 Mr. William Suter asked for information on reasonably priced ways to get to the cruise ship pier near Osaka, Japan, from Kansai International Airport (KIX). I would like to give some suggestions.
First, be aware that near Osaka, which is farther inland, there are two ferry terminals near each other on the coast. KIX itself is on a manmade island.
Charles Treadgold’s letter about taking maps to Peru’s Taquile Island (Nov. ’05, pg. 44) got me thinking about other things that would be most appreciated by the people there. I visited in 1992, but from what I have read about the place it seems not to have changed much.
On our visit to England, April 30-May 9, ’05, it was full spring with lovely weather. The exchange rate was the only chilling factor of the trip!
My wife and I drove a rental car through Slovenia, May 20-28, ’05. We traveled from Venice and drove most of the interesting roads in Slovenia, which is full of beauty in all varieties and can be visited at a very reasonable cost.
We contacted the Slovenian Tourist Office (2929 East Commercial Blvd., Ste. 201, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33308; phone 954/491-0112) and they sent us a booklet called “The Countryside, Tourist Farms” which gave information about booking accommodations at Slovenian tourist farms, called kmetij Slovenije.
Beth Habian’s article “Spain… plus Italy and Corsica — Cruising the Mediterranean with Swan Hellenic” (Nov. ’05, pg. 6) was right on target. The Minerva II offers a unique cruise experience. My 15-day Black Sea cruise, Aug. 20-Sept. 3, ’05, greatly exceeded my expectations.