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There are many low-cost campgrounds in Belize.
The Boat Yard (San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize; phone 011 501 226 3245 or 501 600 2262, http://ambergriscaye.com/camping) is a private campground that is a 10-minute walk from downtown San Pedro. Camping on a private beach costs $7.50 including tent rental, $5 without.
European Boating Holidays (86 Averyville Lane, Lake Placid, NY, 12946; 866/606-5278, www.europeanboatingholidays.co.uk or call a travel agent) offers self-drive boating vacations in the waterways of France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy and Poland. No experience necessary — training is provided. All boats have fully equipped kitchens and entertainment systems.
In Australia, the Oz Tracks Pass allows six months of travel on the trains The Ghan, Indian Pacific and The Overland. Costing AU$690 (near US$606), the pass can be used to explore cities such as Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Alice Springs, Darwin and Melbourne.
Contact Great Southern Railway (Ground Floor, 422 King William St., Adelaide, S.A., Australia; phone 13 21 47, www.oztrackspass.com.au).
In Zambia, the visa requirements no longer will be waived for tourists traveling with a tour group, and visa costs have increased.
The multiple-entry (3-year) visa is the only one offered to U.S. tourists, and it costs $135. U.K. travelers pay £75 for a single- or £240 for a double/multiple-entry visa (each valid three months). All other nationals pay $50 for a single-, $80 for a double- or $160 a multiple-entry visa (three months each).
Purchase your Heathrow Express ticket online at www.heathrowexpress.com, print it out at home (or at the hotel) or have the bar code sent to your mobile phone, then board the train straightaway; you do not have to stop at the desk or at the ticket machine. The bar code will be scanned on board.
The online fare for a one-way Express-class trip is £14.50. The train leaves every 15 minutes for the 15- to 20-minute ride from Paddington station to London Heathrow Airport.
To reduce the overall delays at security gates, the Transportation Security Administration (www.tsa.gov) has started a system of Diamond Self-Select security screening lanes at select U.S. airports.
Travelers decide if they are “Expert” travelers (need minimal screening or assistance), “Casual” travelers (know the procedures but have multiple items needing screening) or “Family/Special Assistance” (need more time or help).
The new lanes are marked with signage similar to ski resorts: black diamond for expert, blue for experienced and green for beginners.
Leonardo da Vinci Airport (www.adr.it), at Rome, Italy, opened its new Terminal 5 in May solely to screen passengers of airlines with more stringent security rules. Passengers departing on the airlines American, Continental, Delta, United, US Airways and El Al will go through security checks and baggage and boarding pass check-ins in the new terminal, then take a shuttle bus back to the original main airport boarding gates for their flights.
The last link on a cross-border road system leading from Singapore to Beijing, a new all-weather highway, Route 3, opened in Laos in March 2008 between China’s Yunnan province and northern Thailand. The previous highway was closed for four months each year during the rainy season.
Talking on cell phones while driving in Kuwait became illegal as of May 1. Violators will be fined 15 dinars (near $56). The law does not apply to people using hands-free calling equipment.
A law passed earlier prohibits eating or drinking while behind the wheel.
For its 19-day Suez Canal transit cruises, visiting Egypt, the Sinai, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Overseas Adventure Travel (Cambridge, MA; 800/493-6824, www.oattravel.com) has added two new ships.
Available January-April 2009, cruises on one of the three 50-passenger ships cost $5,495-$6,395 (plus tax), including airfare from New York.