It is indeed an exciting time with International Travel News coming back to life after a four-year hiatus, under new ownership and editorial management. It is an honor, as a former longtime ITN columnist, to be a part of this important relaunch adventure.
In my Far Horizons column, I will continue to address topics of interest to international travelers, as well as report on my own international explorations.
For more than a hundred years, Timbuktu (Tombouctou) has been used as a metaphor for the most isolated place in the world. Unlike the fictional Shangri-la (invented by James Hilton in his novel “Lost Horizon”), however, Timbuktu is a very real place.
A bit of history
I enjoyed reading about Dawn Vincent’s trip to Tunisia and Algeria (Dec. ’20, pg. 6). I’ve traveled extensively in the past 23 years and have enjoyed every minute, but I especially loved Algeria and Tunisia… for their culture, Roman ruins and mosaics, food, climate and, most of all, people.
I’ve been to both countries four times, and I have to say they are my favorites in the world.
I had no problems getting there with Air France, in Premium Economy.
7-day, 6-night “medium”-level walk along 68-mile mountain pilgrimage route. Departures May 29 & Aug. 21, 2021. Minimum group, 6. Highlights: In 15th-century walled town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de Port, FRANCE, 17th-century citadel/from Roncesvalles, cross two mountain passes into SPAIN/Pamplona/end walk in 11th-century Estella. From €860 (near $1,020) ppdo. Camino Ways (Dublin, Ireland; phone +353 1 525 28 86, caminoways.com).
Last year, an enigmatic email from a friendship begun six years before on an adventurous trip to Papua New Guinea piqued my interest. My friend Knox Bell shared that Original World/Spirit of India (San Rafael, CA; 888/367-6147, originalworld.com) was looking for “intrepid travelers” for a month-long adventure into the “Ancient Cultures of the Indian Himalaya” (plus Ladakh), and he thought of me! Within 30 minutes, I had called the travel agent and I was on board.
Our friend David booked a September 2018 tour to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia with his wife, Brenda, then invited my husband, Ken, me and our friend Norman, whom we met last summer in his hometown of Glasgow, to join him. David chose a company in Tbilisi that provides small-group tours (no more than 16) for a reasonable price.
My husband, Bob, and I and nine friends enjoyed 12 fabulous days and 13 nights seeing France like locals, not tourists, with Julia and her father, Stephane, of TripUSAFrance (Arlington, VA; 703/485-6894, tripusafrance.com). During the whole tour, April 12-25, 2019, we felt like we were guests of the family while experiencing a varied and enriching itinerary.
