February 2011

by Judith Anshin, Contributing Editor

We are pleased to present, below (in random order), the winning entries to the latest essay contest announced by ITN Publisher Armond Noble in his October ’10 “Departure Lounge” column. The topic was “I Love London” and the challenge was to communicate that in up to 300 words.

Each winning entrant will receive a 50-dollar gift certificate for Magellan’s Travel Supplies (800/962-4943).

ITN asked subscribers for advice on renting apartments outside of the US. A number of comments were printed in the December ’10 and January ’11 issues. Presented this month are things to consider and questions to ask a property owner or rental agency when booking a particular apartment, plus concerns about payments. Later issues will list dos and don’ts, practical matters and appraisals of specific apartments.

Yvonne Michie Horn, Contributing Editor

Like it or not, as a traveler I’m an outsider. Unfamiliar traditions, off-kilter frames of reference, the constraint of feeling the need to pack in as much as possible in a given length of time — no matter how I long to be an insider, an outsider I’m destined to be.

As a “country counter” avidly trying to reach my personal goal of traveling to 100 countries, I added El Salvador (number 70) to my list in January 2010. To be truthful, it had not been at the top of my list of destinations to visit, not because I didn’t want to go there but because I had not thought about going. It was almost by accident that I ended up there.

Bali is a beautiful Indonesian island, and our guide and driver, Merta (e-mail mertagct@telkom.net*), made it a place my husband and I could feel at home, Feb. 24-March 20, 2010.

My wife, Marilyn, and I enjoyed a truly wonderful tour of Ireland with Aidan Murray, owner of Harp & Shamrock Tours (Danielson, CT; 800/227-2577), whom we discovered in ITN’s The Mart section.

We took the 12-day/10-night tour “Splendor of Ireland” in October ’09. We were part of a 12-person group, all experienced travelers. The tour price, which included everything except a few lunches, was $2,595, land only (2011 price is the same).

My wife and I and four of our friends booked a cruise on the eight-person barge Horizon II of French Country Waterways (Duxbury, MA; 800/222-1236).

I enjoyed Lew Toulmin’s October 2010 “The Cruising World” column, reviewing various cruise lines, but since he has not sailed with Holland America Line (HAL) and I have done at least five of their cruises (from 1997 to 2009, Alaska twice; Australia to New Zealand; the Baltics, and the Mediterranean), I want to share some of my observations.