Travelers' Intercom
Favorite B&B in Rome
During my frequent travels over the past 20 years to and through Rome, Italy, most recently in April 2019, I’ve stayed in a small B&B named Residenza Risorgimento (Piazza Risorgimento 59, Rome; phone +39 06 686 4375, residenzarisorgimento.it/en).
Protecting a bank account from theft
I travel alone, so I always carry two ATM cards when traveling, a Charles Schwab Visa debit card and a Fidelity Cash Management Visa debit card, in case one is pickpocketed. I always notify Schwab and Fidelity about my travel plans so the cards won’t be blocked when I try to use them overseas.
Mobile Passport Control app
As my tour group was being driven to the airport in Turkey (June ’19, pg. 20) for our various flights to the US, one member asked, “Do you all have the Mobile Passport Control app?” We all shook our heads ‘no.’ “You have to download it,” he continued.
Tahiti Airport Motel
At the end of a South Pacific cruise with Ponant, my wife and I stayed the day at the Tahiti Airport Motel (Faa’a, Tahiti; phone +689 40 50 40 00, tahitiairportmotel.net) on March 19, 2019.
High praise for Kenya guide
On a 17-day private tour from mid-August into September 2018, my wife and I had a guide in Kenya who was certainly the best guide I’ve had in my 10 or so trips to Africa over the past three decades.
Ethnobotanical Explorations - Shaman in Belize
On a cruise with Oceania Cruises (855/327-9575, www.oceaniacruises.com) in December 2018, I took a shore trip in Belize. On the tour, which had a title something like “Jungle Walk With a Shaman,” we met Aurora Garcia-Saqui, who has a store selling herbal medicines.
Adventure in the North Caucasus
In the mid-’90s, Russian friends invited me to Moscow to see some of their old slides from travels in southwestern Russia. On the wall of their living room, they showed slides of parts of the North Caucasus, specifically, Chechnya and Dagestan.
AROHA New Zealand Tours
My traveling companion, Judy, and I visited New Zealand in January 2019 on a tour with Tauck (Wilton, CT; 800/788-7885, www.tauck.com), which had a wonderful itinerary, covering primarily the Queenstown and Wellington areas. It was a great experience.
Avoiding a dead car battery while away
When I bought my Toyota Prius in 2007, the salesman showed me that by pulling a particular fuse, I would never have to worry about coming home to a dead battery after a trip. Even after a trip as long as three months, I just pop the fuse back in place (it takes two seconds) and the car starts up like normal.
Women’s travel tops
Lands’ End (800/963-4816, www.landsend.com) has swim tops for women that are called Rash Guard. If you wear them swimming, they act as a UV protectant. However, these wonderful tops are also great as travel clothing.
Medical waiver requires full coverage
In the letter “Tips on Booking Hotels and on Insurance” (March ’19, pg. 14), a subscriber wrote, regarding travel insurance, “I used to purchase insurance on every air ticket; the airlines made it so convenient.
‘Very satisfied’ with dental care in Cuba
While flossing my teeth in Cienfuegos, Cuba, I accidentally pulled off a dental crown. I called my dentist, who recommended finding a dentist in Cuba to re-cement the crown ASAP. He said if I waited until I returned to the US, my teeth might shift and I could require an expensive new crown.
Travelers recommend Bali driver
My husband, Richard, and I were in Indonesia and needed a car and driver on Aug. 13, 2018, to take us to the Bali Zoo and the Bali Bird Park from our hotel in Sanur.
With Fidelity, no FTF at ATM
I want to share with ITN readers how I save on ATM fees. First of all, I never use a currency-exchange desk — either at the airport or in the city — because of the unfavorable exchange rate and fees. Besides, ATMs are ubiquitous.