Travelers' Intercom
Seat pitch
The website www.seatguru.com lets you see the seat layouts and dimensions (with comments) for each airline’s planes. I didn’t see a table listing the dimensions; you have to look it up plane by plane for each airline.
Security-friendly packing
Now that we have the TSA randomly going through our baggage, I pack clothes in gallon-size zip-lock bags.
Recommended Cape Town guide
Selwyn Davidowitz, who owns I Love Cape Town (4 Ostende, 296 Beach Rd., Sea Point, 8005, South Africa; phone +27 [0] 21 439 1778, www.ilovecapetown.com… or, in the U.S., phone
Oslo-Stockholm train in summer
I read Rick Steves’ 2007 “Scandinavia” guidebook looking for tips on transportation between Norway and Sweden. I decided to try the train, booking passage from Oslo to Stockholm (a 5-hour journey) for July ’07.
Travel clocks, timers and timepieces
Here are a few follow-ups to the collection of letters in the July ’08 issue, pages 44-49.
Surprise mini-bar charge
My Florida cousin, Beverly, and I returned March 18, 2008, from a 2-week trip to the Azores, where we visited four of the nine islands. This was arranged by Abreu Tours (New York, NY; 800/223-1580, www.abreu-tours.com) and cost $3,002 per person, including airfare.
Tried Odysseys Unlimited
My wife, Dorothy, and I were trying to decide which tour company to take for a tour of the Chilean fjords and Patagonia.
Hiring a day guide
My husband, Steve, and I have had very good luck with hiring our own private guides when disembarking from a cruise ship, rather than paying the exorbitant prices for the line’s shore excursions.
Easter Island dining
My partner, John, and I, were on Easter Island, Feb. 6-11, 2008, attending this year’s Tapati Festival. In Hanga Roa, the island’s only town, we found that restaurants often serve only one item.
Pros and cons of tour group audio systems
I suspect that many ITN subscribers have had some experience with the relatively new audio systems used by tour groups to allow better communication between guides and group members. I believe it might be worthwhile to exchange some thoughts on this subject.
Antarctica & Chile with Smithsonian
We took a magnificent 14-day tour of Antarctica and the Chilean fjords with Smithsonian Journeys (Box 23182, Washington, D.C. 20077-0843; 877/338-8687, www.smithsonianjourneys.org), Jan. 9-23, 2008.
NEXUS US/Canada pass
ITN readers who often travel between Canada and the USA before continuing overseas might wish to invest $50 for a 5-year NEXUS (866/639-8726, www.nexus.gc.ca) border pass, which facilitates travel between those two countries.
The standby list
William Lewis of Johns Island, South Carolina, and his wife missed their US Airways flight out of Los Angeles after their Thai Airways flight arrived late from Bangkok.
Traveling to Bali
Tourism in Bali, Indonesia, continues to make strides toward normalcy, but there are still peaks and valleys with bookings.
Wheelchair traveler
I like to travel. As a full-time wheelchair occupant, having had a stroke 10 years ago, I want to pass along a few observations for handicapped travelers.
In lieu of loo
We did the tour “Unforgettable Spain and Portugal” with Grand European Tours, Oct. 3-17, 2007. The tour itself, starting in Madrid and ending in Lisbon, was very good (I just looked at the pictures again) but for one thing.
Aboard Peter Deilmann’s Heidelberg
Together with four couples, my wife, Ana Maria, and I traveled through the rivers and channels of the Netherlands and Belgium, May 10-17, 2008, on a cruise aboard MS Heidelberg booked with Peter Deilmann Cruises, or Deilmann Cruises Europamerica (Alexandria, VA; 800/348 8287,
Insurance came through — fast
After 50 years of traveling, my wife, Alma, and I, both 82, had our first experience with the need for medical insurance on April 17, 2008.
A visit to Madeira
I spent seven days in Madeira, starting May 22, 2008. This trip was offered by Sun Holidays (7932 W. Sand Lake Rd., Ste. 302, Orlando, FL 32819; 800/422-8000 or 407/345-0100, www.sunholidaytours.com). Kristen Molloy handled my reservations and did a superb job.