November 2010

by Philip Wagenaar (Part 4 of a series)

by Sandra Scott

Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.

This month’s winner is RAY JONES of Bend, Oregon:

My suitcases are black, just like everyone else’s, but in 29 years of globetrotting I have never lost a piece of luggage.

I’m an old lady whose early travels were during World War II. When my parents realized that railway stations would no longer have porters, I was told to pack only what I could carry. That not only introduced a weight limit, it put a premium on size, too, for smaller was easier to carry.

I learned to pack into every inch of a suitcase. Heavy, bulky items go in first, to the rear at the bottom. Other odd shapes go in next, nestled with any underwear and socks/stockings that haven’t been stuffed into shoes.

Sadly, the primitive bridge in Irian Jaya’s (West Papua’s) Baliem Valley, described by two readers in the October issue (page 42), no longer exists.

I have traveled extensively overseas and have never run into any problems using my US credit cards. I usually use my Capital One Visa, as I think I get better rates with it. I never use debit cards.

I read the subscribers’ experiences with chip-and-PIN cards (Aug. ’10, pg. 16). My wife. Jean, and I were in London in June ’10, and the only times that we could not use our magnetic-stripe credit cards were when using machines to purchase train tickets or upgrade our Oyster cards.

In both situations, we were able to go to the ticket office and make the purchase with an agent, who swiped our card through a machine and had us sign the charge slip.

Before traveling anywhere, the closing times of shops and banks there and the days on which they will be open or closed should be learned.

by Larry Taylor; Fullerton, CA. Photos by Gail Taylor.

In my opinion, El Nido (head office, Makati City, Luzon; phone +63 2 894 5644, www.elnidoresorts.com) is absolutely the world’s best tropical island getaway.