For any keen travelers based in Britain--with very, very deep pockets--the UK Times has created a list of somewhere to go for every single weekend of 2008. This seems like the ultimate tool for lazy planners who want to travel but can't think of ideas. The only problem will be that if there are too many of you, every place they recommend will be booked out when you arrive.
Unfortunately we found this list it a bit late and forgot to take the transatlantic shopping trip to New York, but perhaps we'll still squeeze that in this week, before we take off for next weekend's luxury ski trip in the Pyrenees.
The list thoughtfully takes national holidays into account (you get a longer holiday at Easter in Andalusia, for example) and finishes the year up with a 4-day weekend break spending Christmas on safari in Kenya. Here's hoping the African nation is a bit more peaceful before next Christmas arrives.
We all know the drill. We find a clown car-sized vehicle online that can get us from Point A to Point B for $34.99. When we get up to the counter, taxes, gas, insurance and (for some of us) the under-25 fee pushes the cost well above the $150 mark. Suddenly an afternoon on the open road costs more than a round-trip flight on a budget carrier. What went wrong?
For starters, many of us insure something that's already insured. Rental insurance is a waste for car owners because most auto policies extend to rentals. Just make sure the rental car is worth about the same as the one you own. A policy on a $500 '89 Oldsmobile will only cover up to $500 in damages to that $60,000 Lincoln Navigator you rented to drive up and down the Jersey Shore. Next time, you won't let those girls in bikinis sit on the hood.
However, car-less renters need to suck it up and pay the extra $40 for basic collision and liability coverage. In the worst-case scenario, an uncovered driver could be accountable for the total cost of the rental vehicle and any other cars involved in an accident. Now that'll ruin a trip.
Jaunted contributor Judson recently faced this summer's nightmarish airline delays and debacles. His "How I Got a Free Trip" report from the front lines:
Using common sense is hardly a travel tip but phrasing something like advice makes it sound less like bragging. But I do have to brag: I scored a free round trip ticket from US Airways. Yes, in this day and age of constant delays and dropped flights, keeping your travel time flexible can make the frazzled neurotic American air transportation system grovel at your feet.
Making it through an overnight flight with your sanity intact is a delicate art. Sure, there are lots of uncontrollable variables that can throw an already unpleasant travel choice into a tailspin -- Clay Aiken's feet, an overexcited geek podcasting next to you, or simply having a middle seat.
However, in our experience, there are at least a few ways to make an all-nighter at 35,000 feet somewhat bearable.
Between extra security hurdles and flight delays, the "arrive one-hour before departure for domestic; two for international" rule seems to be moot. We found ourselves dedicating two, then three hours to traveling to, and waiting for our flights, until we said: Enough!
Here are a few tips to reducing the time you need to spend waiting to take off. Some seem intuitive, but combined, they can add hours of extra flying-day sleep time.
On a recent trip to Los Angeles, a few of us NYC-dwelling editors discovered a startling truth -- every restaurant closes down around 10 p.m., just the time we Easterners are finishing up work and post-work drinks and preparing to eat.
After scouring every Cheesecake Factory-style restaurant in a 20-mile region, we stumbled upon what we later learned to be an LA institution, the open-all-night Original Pantry Café. Around since 1924, city mayor Richard Riordan bought the place to save it from demolition a few years ago. It's known for a limited menu (think steak and eggs) that diners read off the wall, and insanely fast service. The restaurant, though it only has 84 seats, serves up to 3,000 people daily.
Its location, on South Figueroa Street is close to both the Staples Center, Dodger Stadium, and L.A. Convention Center.
Usually, airlines taunt us. When we have a connection to catch or an important meeting to make, the flight is oversold and the airline bribes passengers with free tickets, cash, and upgrades. Despite our poor, economy-class existence, we are forced to refuse. Finally, we perfected the art of scoring free stuff for taking a bump almost whenever we fly.
Cameron Diaz was caught making an unwitting faux pas while being filmed for MTV Canada abroad this week. Her crime? Wearing a messenger bag printed with Maoist slogans -- in Peru, a country where Communist terrorist group the the Shining Path has been responsible for some 70,000 deaths and disappearances since the 1980s.
Diaz wrote in a statement to the press, "It was certainly never my intention to reopen what I now know is a painful wound in this country's history." The incident is definitely making us look at our travel wardrobe with new eyes.
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by amandak
