Ten Steps To Care-Free Carry-On Packing

By Betsa Marsh

Everyone has a luggage horror story. The new suitcase mauled in the conveyor system. Cases mysteriously lightened of their loads in airports along the way.
        
Then there’s the joy of going to a gala captain’s dinner or a crucial business meeting in the same clothes you’ve worn for 30 straight travel hours.
        
Carry-on has always been the way to go, and now, with many airlines charging for every checked piece of luggage, it’s even more important. With a bit of packing strategy and a dash of shampoo on the road, you can roll your way through any trip, carry-on only.

1. Pick your colors.

Nearly every complexion on the globe looks good in either black and white or navy and ivory. Hold a bit of black, and then navy, fabric up to your face and decide which suits you better. That color becomes the foundation for your travel wardrobe.
        
With black or navy slacks and blazer, you can add a rainbow of shirts or blouses underneath. Men can add splashes of bright color with light-to-pack ties, women with scarves and jewelry.

2. Scan your plan.
          
Hang all the clothes you plan to pack in a line-up, so you can see them all at once. If you don’t have the hanger space, lay them out on a bed or table.
        
Instantly, you’ll start seeing color combos that work together. That navy top can work with that skirt or those slacks. Those black evening slacks can handle any party all week. Change your tops and jewelry or shirt and tie and you’ll look new each night.

3.  Fight the shoe fetish.

I love shoes as much as the next traveler, but I stick to a two-pair rule when I’m packing: one for walking all day, one for dressing at night. It’s ruthless, but you’ll thank yourself the next time you’re hoisting that bag into the overhead compartment.
        
Any exceptions? Sometimes beach and dive trips require a pair of waterproof shoes. And if you’re heading into the Amazon and your boots may get soggy every day, you’ll need a second pair to alternate. But if you’re going to Amsterdam or Tokyo, two pairs will do.

        
4. Discover the magic of accessories.

Yes, we all know the ability to accessorize is what sets us apart in the animal kingdom. It’s even more vital with a travel wardrobe.
        
Women have it easy: Layer some silk scarves into your suitcase and tuck necklaces, pins and earrings into your jewelry roll and you have endless variety with very little heft. Drape the scarves around your hanging wardrobe (Step 2) and you’ll see all the possibilities.
        
Men, too, can mix it up lightly with ties, dickeys and cravats. They might sound old-fashioned, but a turtleneck or cravat suddenly appearing under that day’s shirt can make you look dressed for dinner.      
 
5. Test-drive your roll-aboard.

Luggage is getting lighter, yes, but there are still weight differences that can have a big impact on your muscles after you lift and pull a case for hours on end.
        
When you shop, lift each piece above your head in the store. Can you hoist it easily? Then imagine adding 20 pounds to it.
        
Do the wheels move easily? Does the handle telescope quickly?
        
Even if you’re buying luggage online or by phone, check the listed weight first and find something in your house that weight. Lift it over your head a few times and add the imaginary—or real--20 pounds. Is this the bag for you?

6. Roll, baby, roll.
        
Your slacks and blazers will need to lie flat for their trip, but most of your clothes will fit better in the suitcase if you roll.
        
Smooth slacks and blazers, turned inside out for folding, into the bottom of the case and secure with the suitcase’s stretch ties or a large piece of cardboard. It’s movement that causes wrinkles.
        
Then, roll your tops, T-shirts, shorts, nightwear and knit clothes individually, like you’re rolling tiny sleeping bags. Tuck the rolls around the edges of the suitcase, interspersed with shoes in shoe covers, your toiletry bag and any other items you absolutely need.

7. Use every inch.
        
Just when you despair of getting everything in, stop and look for secret compartments.
        
Your extra pair of shoes will hold nearly all your rolled socks. Your camera bag, especially if you shoot with an SLR, may hold nearly all your rolled underwear—and cushion your camera as a bonus.
          
8. Roll-aboard’s little buddy.

Is your suitcase bulging? Better stop, take it with you onto the scales and see where you stand. If you’re over your airline’s weight limit per bag, you might be in for a penalty. Air New Zealand once forced me to remove dirty laundry from my overloaded suitcase and carry it around the Auckland airport in a clear plastic bag, so try to avoid these little embarrassing moments.
        
If you really have to take those items, shift them to your small carry-on, the one you’ll tuck under the seat in front of you. This is the place for your valuables, your medicine, your toiletries, your three-ounce liquids, your camera, your overnight bag for “sleeping” on a plane. The essentials that you’ll need within reach. And don’t forget the food—rice cakes, dry as they are, have saved me many a time stranded in an airport at 2 a.m.

9.  Don’t be above a little laundry.

Women are usually horrified when I suggest they wash out a few things on the road. “It’s my vacation! I’m not doing laundry!”
        
Point taken. But all you really need to do is splash a few things in the sink with a bit of shampoo, roll them into a clean bath mat, stomp all over them to squeeze out the water, and voila! Laundry done.
        
If that’s too much trouble, toss them in the shower with you, squish them around with your feet, and your work’s done. And there’s no reason to waste one of your three-ounce containers on laundry detergent. Shampoo has surfactants, too, that lift dirt out, and even the lowest-budget hotel has some form of shampoo.
        
Toss in inflatable hangers to speed drying and reduce hanger-shoulders and you’re good to go.

10.  Plan an exit strategy.

Congratulations! You’ve packed ruthlessly tight for your trip and did it all carry-on. But does that mean you can’t buy anything anywhere?
        
Of course not. At home, tuck a collapsible bag in your luggage and use it as your day bag during the trip. When you find you need it for carrying your purchases home, spread everything out on your last hotel bed. Put all your essentials and valuables—which probably include your souvenirs du jour—in your roll-aboard and collapsible bag, which is now your new carry-on.
        
Relegate your oldest, dirtiest clothes and gear to your original carry-on, the one bag you’ll check. Don’t put in anything you can’t live without. Label it inside and out, and if you’re reacquainted on the other end, it will be a miraculous surprise and a great ending to a fabulous trip.  

And now, for extreme packing…

Celebrating Throw-and-Go Travel
By Betsa Marsh
        
Our rented Mercedes was roaring along, as Mercedes are wont to do, and the skyline of Zurich had already popped into view.
        
“We need to find a roadside park or a rest area,” I told my husband behind the wheel. “We need a trash can.”

Not for the normal detritus of a road trip--the orange peels, the candy wrappers, the parking meter stubs. It was the end of the trail on this 25th-anniversary trip, time to turn in the car, and neither one of us wanted to show up at Avis with a truck still littered with old sweaters, nightgowns, socks and underwear.

 

 

 

 

 

More Rules for Ruthless Packing
        
I don’t always pack with an eye toward an empty suitcase on the return trip, leaving lingerie throughout Europe as I did in our Throw-and-Go road trip. But I am adamant with myself about one thing: If it doesn’t fit in one roll-aboard suitcase, it doesn’t go.
        
That’s true whether I’m headed to Indianapolis or Istanbul. One bag, no checking, no worries. Long ago I adopted Wesley Price’s “Three Rules of Professional Comportment for Writers”: “Never make excuses, never let them see you bleed, and never get separated from your luggage.”
        
The case in point is a green, leather-trimmed Battenkill canvas roll-aboard. With chewed wheels, a few tenacious stains and a missing tab or two, it’s been in places and through traumas that the Orvis Company never envisioned when it offered me a lifetime guarantee. Whose life, mine or the suitcase’s, it didn’t stipulate.
        
We have been through a Whitman’s sampler of travel problems together, and I find the tattered edges of its world weariness somehow comforting, whether I’m stranded on the Pacific isle of Truk waiting for a dive boat, or listening for the midnight train on a dark, frosted platform in Moscow.
        
With dutiful nightly wash-outs, a magician’s stash of scarves, and a few basic wardrobe components, I can live out of the Battenkill for an unlimited number of days. With the age of steamer trunks and porters just something for nostalgic movies, a few tips may help streamline the packing process.

MAKE IT MANAGEABLE
        
Be certain that the suitcase you pick--and I do mean just one--is the right size for you, physically. I’m not thinking of your extensive wardrobe, I’m thinking of what you can lift comfortably into an overhead bin. Try it out in the store--add a few other smaller suitcases inside the model you’re testing--and weight it down as it would be in real travel. Then try bench pressing it over your head into an imaginary overhead compartment. If you’re struggling and staggering in the store, it’s definitely time to find a smaller, lighter case.
        
Soft-sided roll-aboards are lighter than their hard-sided brethren, and a little bit more forgiving when you’re trying to squeeze in one more outfit. Some travelers who check their luggage want the protection of a hard-sided case, but the whole point of buying a manageable size roll-aboard is to skip the check-in process altogether.
        
To avoid a surprise confiscation and gate check of your bag as you prepare to board, compare the bag’s dimensions with the measurements suggested by the airline for the maximum size and weight to fit under the seat or in the overhead bin. Each airline has carry-on guidelines it will quote over the phone--and as many become much stricter about carry-ons, it’s wise to stay within their rules.

COLOR CODE BY CALENDAR
        
It may sound simplistic, but good wardrobe planning often begins with a day-by-day travel plan. Draw up a calendar of your trip, fill in as many of the activities as you know, and jot down the clothing requirement for each. A day’s sightseeing in Bordeaux, for instance, might mean trekking through muddy vineyards and into damp cellars, followed by a lavish dinner in a chateau. This is one time you can’t get away with adding a scarf and new earrings to the day’s ensemble and calling it dinner.
        
As you fill in the matrix, you’ll see patterns emerging where you can wear the same suit with a fresh blouse or shirt, or stretch a casual outfit with a different blazer or sweater. Staying within either a navy or black basic palette, depending upon your skin tone, makes mix and match much easier.
        
Don’t be dismayed if it looks like you’ll be wearing the same clothes again and again. That’s only a problem if you’re covering the Paris fashion shows or conducting high-level business meetings. If you’re traveling for fun, your family and friends will forgive your repetition, and the people along the way will never see you or your outfit again.

FIND A SACRIFICIAL LAMB
          
Again, it sounds simplistic, but when you actually pull the clothes out of your closet and hang them up near the suitcase, it’s time for one more bit of travel ruthlessness: There is always one outfit that can skip the trip.
        
It seems brutal, but stand back and take an impartial look at the clothes hanging in front of you. Are there any new combinations that you didn’t see on paper? Are there clothes that can be made to work together with the addition of a different scarf or tie? Finally, take one last look at all the clothes and all the shoes and ask yourself, “Do I want to lift these over my head again and again and again?” It’s amazing how quickly a few non-necessities will find themselves back among the hangers.

ROLL AND TUCK
        
It’s good advice in football, it’s good advice in travel. It’s amazing how much you can fit in a small space if you roll soft fabrics into tight little bundles and tuck them into shoes and camera cases. Rolling works best with soft fabrics that are later stretched out, such as underwear, socks and swimsuits. If you stick to light cotton knits that are easy to wash and quick to dry, you can roll your entire travel wardrobe without worry of one crease in the batch.
        
Ironed blouses and shirts are easily folded and slipped inside zip-top food storage bags; slippery bags prevent wrinkles from setting in. Suit coats and blazers are best opened inside out into a rectangle, folded in half, and secured by an internal suitcase strap. It’s the moving and bunching that causes wrinkles, not the act of packing clothes in a tight space.

DO A DAB OF WASHING
        
Most people detest the idea of any workday chore--cooking, cleaning, washing--on their vacation. But it’s remarkable how much heft in the suitcase a small amount of washing can save.
        
Socks, underwear and cotton knits wash well and dry quickly. The secret to helping tops and shirts dry quickly and retain their shape is an inflatable hanger, available on travel websites.  They weigh next to nothing, inflate in seconds, and allow air to circulate underneath and around the clothes.
        
And you needn’t pack laundry detergent: Ordinary shampoo is full of surfactants, which are designed to lift dirt up and away. If you truly can’t stand the idea of washing your dainties each night in the sink, just toss them in the shower with you. They’ll catch enough ambient shampoo and soap to be pronounced officially clean. Or, if you’re following the Throw-and-Go method, just toss them in the waste can and let the chambermaid ponder the meaning of it all the next day.

 

  

We’d done our best, touring Europe in a grand experiment: The Throw-and-Go style of packing. Inspired by friends who’d made a year-long tour around the world with just one carry-on each, I was determined that our luggage would leave heavy and return light. And we’d certainly been shedding all along our trail, dropping lingerie, sweaters, shirts and pants from Germany to Austria to Switzerland. We didn’t stay in tiny Liechtenstein long enough to peel anything off.
        
But we were on day 13 of a two-week trip, and we still had too many clothes to stuff into one little hotel waste can in Zurich. So, the roadside park.
        
My husband pulled over and popped the trunk, I scooped up the clothes and dropped them carefully in an open bin, hoping that a homeless park person, if Switzerland had such a thing, would swing by and notice that the clothes still had a few months of life left in them. For nearly two weeks we had looked in vain for the Teutonic equivalent of Goodwill or Oxfam. So I left the clothes folded at the top of the can and headed back to the Merc. 
        
The second our eyes met, we both had the same thought, in that irritating way of old married folk.
        
“Oh my God!” I said. “The Zurich police will find all these clothes and know somebody’s been murdered, but they won’t be able to find the bodies.”
        
We chuckled uneasily about our trail of evidence all the way into Zurich, to the car drop-off and our last hotel. Now we were down to one day’s worth of clothes, just the outfits we wore on the plane over. Our suitcases were luxuriantly empty, waiting for armloads of Swiss airport chocolate for everybody back home.
        
To a person, our friends had scoffed at my throw-and-go plan, two weeks’ of travel clothes that would go on holiday and never come home.
        
“That’s the strangest thing I’ve ever heard,” one said flatly when I told her about our holey sox, peekaboo underwear and sad, tired sweaters. None of it was bad enough to get us arrested for indecent exposure, but all of it had seen much better days. Some of my husband’s sweaters, like the ones we left in the Zurich dustbin, could have helped warm someone on a cold winter’s night, but most of the rest of it was too grotty even to consider giving to Goodwill.
        
Just as we’d been saving for years for this anniversary trip, I’d secretly been squirreling away the flotsam of our closets. A knit tunic past its prime? Perfect for a one-way ticket. My husband’s shirts and pants that were getting ragged at the collar and shiny in the seat? Europe, here we come.
        
As with most of my schemes, he rolled his eyes and indulged me as I scavenged torn sox and underwear from the trash, washed them yet again and tucked them into a travel bag deep in the closet. Years later, when I pulled some of the retro shirts out for their last hurrah, my husband had totally forgotten he’d ever owned them.
        
But he soon got into the spirit of the game the first night in Frankfurt, holding up his holey underwear and saying, “Do I have to wash these or can I throw them away?” Like Marie Antoinette making a dessert suggestion to the masses, I threw wide my arm and said, “Throw them away!”
        
As goofy as he thought my plan was, he came to embrace it when it meant that every other night he could skip the handwashing that he hated. One night, yes, he did have to wash out his threadbare unmentionables one last time, but the next night he could toss them to the wind.
        
Sometimes, life’s joy seems best expressed not in clinging to our sad little possessions, but in letting them go. Funny, I seem to have an empty suitcase here--did somebody mention chocolate?

 

The Carry-On Packing Check List

By Betsa Marsh

Making a list and checking it twice—Santa’s not the only one who lives by check lists before he bundles up his goodies and heads out of town.

Everyone has his own quirky list, but a lean, mean check list —ideally for carry-on only--can get you started.

Documents

√ Passport, plus one copy to carry in a separate, secure place and one to leave with a family member or friend who will be available throughout your trip to fax you a copy.

√ Visa, ditto.

√ Government ID, such as a driver’s license

√ Health insurance card

√ Travel insurance cards and 800 numbers

√ Print-outs of e-tickets

√ Airline and hotel contact numbers

√ Frequent flyer and hotel loyalty account numbers

√ Travel agent or tour company contact numbers

√ Scuba certification card or other specialty licenses

√ Complete itinerary and contact information at home with a relative or friend

Money

√ Money belt or neck pouch

√ Foreign currency

√ Wallet with only essential credit cards, IDs; carry their numbers and 800 phone numbers in a separate, secure place

√ ATM or debit card for international withdrawals

Medications

√ Prescription medications counted to the length of the trip + one week, for possible emergencies. ALWAYS PACK ALL MEDICATIONS IN YOUR CARRY-ON BAG, NEVER IN CHECKED LUGGAGE—just in case you HAVE to check luggage.   

√ Copies of your prescriptions

√ Over-the-counter medications counted to the length of the trip + one week

√ An extra pair of eyeglasses, and the prescription

√ First aid kit with antiseptic ointment, adhesive bandages, elastic bandages for ankles

√ OTC medications for upset stomach, traveler’s diarrhea, allergies, sleeplessness, motion sickness

√ Insect repellent, depending upon the destination

√ Sunscreen

√ Moleskin for blisters

√ No Jet-Lag pills to prevent jetlag

√ Toilet seat covers and travel wipes

Electronics

√ Phone

√ Camera

√ Computer        

√ Chargers

√ Converters

√ Adapters

√ Extra batteries and CF cards

√ Film

√ Hair dryer, curling or flat iron

En Route

√ GPS

√ Maps

√ Guide books

√ Neck pillow

√ Snacks, including protein bars, nuts

√ Water

Gear

√ Rain jacket and/or hat

√ Umbrella

√ Inflatable hanger

√ Water bottle

√ Plastic bags

√ Mini-flashlight

√ Alarm clock or alarm cell phone function

Comforts

√ A photo from home

√ Your own pillow

√ Sandalwood incense to allay jetlag

√ Earplugs

√ Eye shade

√ Your favorite soap

√ A good book

INDIANA

Revel in Your Bad Hair Day!

Split ends, frizz? Rejoice, it’s Bad Hair Days in Columbus Aug. 21 and 22, with special shopping, an outdoor fair and Bad Hair Day judging. Register your locks, or just enjoy ogling—and don’t miss “Hairspray” at Yes Cinema--let's all sing along with the karaoke version. Just $2, or free with a receipt from any downtown retailer or eatery. Heck, buy some shampoo and you're covered.

                                                

PENNSYLVANIA

Welcome to Cubicle Hell in ‘The Office’

Fascinated by Scranton, Pa., after four seasons of the NBC show “The Office”? Join a Fan Tour every Saturday through August. The four-hour tour begins at the Mall at Steamtown and ends at Poor Richards Pub, always a favorite for the Dunder Mifflin employees’ happy hour outings. You’ll see Farley's, The Bog, Paper Magic, Cooper's, Penn Paper building, Alfredo's, and many other Scranton highlights. From $25 for those under 21; $35 for those who will have drinks with lunch. After August, the tours continue the second Saturday of each month.

                                                   

ANTARCTICA

Blog to Win a $20,000 Trip to Antarctica 

Quark Expeditions has launched a competition that will entitle one adventurer and a companion to travel to Antarctica at no cost. To enter, you must post one entry of no more than 300 words that captures the imagination of blog readers around the world. The competition is open to anyone 21 years of age or over as of June 19, 2009. The $20,000 expedition includes return airfare for two from the successful competitor’s closest international gateway; one night of hotel lodging in Ushuaia, Argentina, with breakfast; a Main Deck Twin Cabin aboard Lyubov Orlova for 11 nights, including all shipboard  meals; and all excursions in the Antarctic Peninsula as described in the daily program. To enter or vote visit www.blogyourwaytoantarctica.com. Competition closes noon EDT Sept. 30, 2009.

                            

OHIO

Win $1,000 in Put-In-Bay Video Challenge Contest

Turn your island memories into cash this summer by entering the Put-in-Bay Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau’s “Video Challenge”.  First prize is $1,000, plus an island getaway package. For inspiration: On Aug. 11, the island’s bartenders take to the streets and the Round House Bar for the annual Bartender Olympics, with a parade and lighting of the Torch at 7 p.m. On Aug.14, more than 20 Barber Shop Quartets will perform at the Annual Barber Shopper Concert at Perry’s Victory & International Peace Memorial at 7 p.m. From Aug.19-23, the U.S. Brig Niagara will make a return visit to Put-in-Bay, celebrating Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s birthday. The ship will be offering Day Sails and tours, and will also be the backdrop for a Chamber of Commerce fundraiser on Aug. 23. For full contest details, click here.

                                            

BRITISH COLUMBIA

 

Make ’Em an Offer at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort

 

Clayoquot Wilderness Resort www.wildretreat.com is known for tailoring guests’ experience to meet their needs, and is now negotiating to overcome travel obstacles. Some families, for instance, would like to bring grandparents along to share the experience with grandkids. The resort says grandparents can stay for free.  Others mention the flights to Vancouver are what are holding them back. Clayoquot Wilderness Resort is offering to pay for those flights. They will also work with you on extra spa treatments, extra days and even hotel stays to meet flights. Rates at the eco-luxury resort start at $4,265 for a four-day experience.

                                             

PARK HYATTS WORLDWIDE

Go For A Free Spin on Park Hyatt Bikes

Park Hyatt Hotels is launching a Bicycle Valet, with   free bike rentals up to four hours. The concierge will give you a city biking map, bike lock, helmet, kickstand, and bottled water. Participating hotels are: Moscow, Sydney, Beaver Creek, Beijing, Toronto, Paris, Milan, Dubai, Mendoza, Goa, Hamburg, Zurich, Washington DC, Saigon, Istanbul, Seoul, Melbourne, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Tokyo and Canberra.

                                             

BARBADOS

Free Hotel Weddings Make Taking the Leap Easier

Elegant Hotels Group in Barbados is giving brides and grooms free destination weddings in 2010. Couples can qualify for the new Free Wedding Packages at five Caribbean beachfront hotels and resorts dotted along the west and south coasts of Barbados: Turtle Beach Resort, Crystal Cove Hotel, Colony Club Hotel, Tamarind Cove Hotel and The House. The Free Wedding Packages includes a wedding coordinator, marriage license and registration, services of magistrate/ priest/ minister, local transport to/from registration office, bride’s bouquet & groom’s boutonniere, best man, maid of honor and/or witnesses if required, a bottle of champagne for the wedding ceremony,  a single-tier wedding cake, and all taxes and gratuities.

                                           

COLORADO

Denver Brews Up Its First Beer Fest

Known for its hand-crafted brews, Denver is stepping up with the first Denver Beer Fest Sept. 18-27. The fest is set to coordinate with Oktoberfest on Larimer Street Sept. 18-20 and Sept. 25-27, and The Brewers Association’s 28th Great American Beer Festival (GABF) at the Colorado Convention Center Sept. 24-26, recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as offering the largest number of beer’s tapped of any place on earth.

                         

ANTARCTICA

One Small Voyage… Sail with Neil Armstrong

Astronaut Neil Armstrong will be on board the National Geographic Explorer on an epic, 26-night journey to Antarctica. The Adventure Life Voyages trip leaves Nov. 16. The fare starts at $18,450 per person; voyage cost includes charter flights Santiago/Ushuaia/Santiago.

                          

NORTH CAROLINA

Biltmore Unfolds Its Second Annual Flower Carpet  

The living tapestry of more than 100,000 plants will draw travelers to the South Terraces of Biltmore House from Aug. 14-30. This year's design was created by a Biltmore employee and was interpreted from stone carvings and intricate details from around Biltmore House. The design reflects a fleur-de-lis motif found on a stone pillar outside the house, inspired by the Chateau de Blois in the Loire Valley of France. The plants will be Scaevola Top Pot Blue, Salvia farinacea Evolution, Begonia Prelude Rose, Marigold Janie Bright Yellow, Zinnia Profusion Fire, Iresine Purple Lady and Dusty Miller New Look. The estate will open for Flower Carpet Evenings Aug.14, 16, 21, 22, 28 and 29, with soft lighting, sunset views and live jazz.

                         

VIRGINIA

Can It Really Be? ‘Virginia Is For Lovers’ Hits 40

Time flies, and Virginia is celebrating its popular tourism slogan with travel deals, 40% off at more than 200 destinations. There is also a list of 40 free things to do, directions to wineries printing special labels for the party.

                                         

HAWAII

Hawaii.com Lists Its Favorite Family Resorts

The website Hawaii.com has tracked some of the most popular family-friendly resorts on Oahu, the Big Island, Maui and Kauai, with rates starting at $145.

                                         

MEXICO

Save with a Fourth Night Free at Hacienda Xcanatun

Hacienda Xcanatun outside Merida is offering Mayan Healing Packages, with a free fourth night for $750 per person, double occupancy. The package includes:transfer from Merida airport to Hacienda Xcanatun, four nights’ lodging in a superior room, while paying for only three (upgrade on availability), full breakfast daily, two massages, one facial, and one spa manicure or pedicure, per person, and a personal rock crystal to increase positive energy from treatments. Carolina Martinez, a Maya therapist, is fluent in the ancient healing secrets passed along by her grandfather, a respected shaman (healer). She mixes many of her own products from natural herbs and flowers. Through Dec. 15.

                                          

SWITZERLAND

Those Famous Watches Are Now Set for 30 Hours

The Victoria-Jungfrau in Interlaken has introduced the “30-hour day.” You can now stay 30 hours for each night you and check in whenever you. For instance, arrive at 11 a.m. Saturday and stay until 5 p.m. Sunday. Or book three nights and you could arrive at 5 p.m. Friday and leave 11 a.m. Tuesday, effectively getting that fourth night free. Through Dec. 31.

                                            

WASHINGTON, DC

Volunteers Save on Their Hotel Bills

In response to President Obama’s program, “United We Serve,” The Savoy Suites Hotel and The Carlyle Suites Hotel are giving you an opportunity to pay for a portion of your visit with the hours of service that you volunteer to organizations in your hometown. For every five hours you volunteer, these two hotels will refund 50% of your room bill per night. If you choose to donate the dollars instead, book your reservation online under the “Serve America & Stay in DC” package and the hotels will contribute 50% of your room rate (excluding taxes) to any volunteer organization of your choosing located on VolunteerMatch.org. 

                                              

CHINA

Save up to $400 on China Spree’s Middle Kingdom Tour

China Spree in Washington State is offering discounts of up to $400 on its 12-day Middle Kingdom Tour to Beijing, Xian, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Shanghai. The rate is $1,899 per person from San Francisco until August 31; $1,799 in September and October; and $1,499 in November and early December, a $400 savings.

                                              

OHIO

Win Nights at Ohio State Park Resort with Your Photos

Seven Ohio State Park Resorts are sponsoring a photography contest through Nov. 1. Visitors to Burr Oak, Shawnee, Hueston Woods, Maumee Bay, Punderson, Salt Fork and Mohican State Parks can enter the contest by submitting digital images that capture park experiences. Photos can be submitted in any of the following categories: park activities, action and adventure, kids and family, lodging and cottages and flora and fauna. Contest judges will choose the winning shots based on creativity, photographic quality and effectiveness in conveying the beauty or unique character of the Ohio State Parks. One grand prize winner will receive a two-night Buckeye Package that can be redeemed at any of the seven locations. The package includes two nights in a double or double lakeview room, dinner for two, breakfast each morning and a gift shop certificate worth $100. One first place winner in each category will receive a two-night stay and breakfast for two at any resort, and one second place winner in each category will receive a one-night stay. For complete details, click here. www.atapark.com/photocontest.

                                               

IRELAND

“1939 Packages” To Celebrate 70 Hotel Years

Ashford Castle in County Mayo traces its roots back to 1228, but this year it’s celebrating 1939, when the estate, once a country home for the Guinness family, first opened as a hotel. In the three-night celebration called "1939, What a Year!" guests receive: three nights in a lakeview deluxe room with a free upgrade to a Junior Suite, breakfast for two each morning, one table d'hôte dinner for two in the castle's George V dining room, one dinner for two in Cullen's at the Cottage restaurant located on the estate, a one-hour falconry lesson for two, a one-hour boat trip for two, an historical walk through the estate, a limited edition print by world-renowned Irish artist Rick Lewis, a copy of the Irish Times front page from a date in 1939 and a classic movie from 1939 to view in the room. The price is $2,756. Through Dec. 22.


                                                  
FINLAND

Talking Trash

Never has tossing your rubbish been as fun as in Helsinki this summer, when trash bins chat you up. Eight bins around the city will talk to you when you pop in garbage—in Finnish and Swedish, of course, but now also in Japanese, English, German, Polish and Russian. Simo Frangén, a popular Finnish TV celebrity, is the voice of the multilingual trash bins along Esplanadi, Senate Square, Sibelius Monument and Temppeliaukio Church.

                                      

USA

Teachers Rule at Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is offering teachers across the country a “Time Out For Teachers” rates of $75 at most of its hotels and $125 per night in New York and Florida. The rate is good for Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights, and a valid teacher, coach or administrator ID is required. When booking online, enter TOT in the rate code box. Through Sept. 7. 

                                      

FLORIDA

A Month of Pampering in Miami

Thirty of the city’s spas are offering $199 treatments for $99 during July, the second annual Spa Month. Some of the new spas for ’09 are Agua in the Mondrian Hotel, Biltmore Spa in the Biltmore Hotel, Lapis Spa at The Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Spa at Casa Grande at the Casa Grande Suite Hotel and Canyon Ranch Miami Beach Wellness Spa at Canyon Ranch Miami Beach. Treatments include aromatherapy facials, Oriental foot therapy, a 30-minute body polish followed by a 30-minute back massage, a 90-minute "ocean wrap" and a milk and honey massage with organic scalp treatment.

                                                   

IRELAND

Co. Wicklow Bargain at Powerscourt

The Ritz-Carlton, Powerscourt, which rose from the ashes of a grand mansion, is offering a six-night getaway from $699, including travel from major US gateway cities, a manual-shift car rental and, of course—a free pint of Guinness. Wicklow, just south of Dublin, is justly called the Garden of Ireland, and the Powerscourt gardens add to that allure.  

While you’re there, take advantage of all the free activities across the country.

 

                                                  

ARIZONA

Grand Canyon ‘End of Summer’ Sale

The National Park Service will waive fees at its properties Aug. 15-16, the kickoff weekend for the “End of Summer” package at the Grand Canyon’s Maswik Lodge and Yavapai Lodge. The rate at Maswik Lodge is $165 per night and includes breakfast for two, a Sunset or Hermits Rest tour in the morning or afternoon, and gift shop discounts. Yavapai Lodge is $150 per night for the same package. When booking, use the promo code Summer. Through Sept. 10, except Sept. 5 and 6.

                                                  

KANSAS

Ready-Made Adventures

From cowboys to dinosaurs to the world’s largest ball of twine, the state of Kansas has packaged some of its most memorable sites into nine vacation adventures that start at less that $30 per day per person. Don’t miss the Old Cowtown Museum or the world’s largest hand-dug well.

                                                    

INDIA

$1,100 Discounts on Fall Tiger Safaris

International Expeditions has discounted two departure dates for Indian tiger safaris this fall by $1,100 per person. Travel on Nov. 6 or Dec. 18 and the 18-day guided safari is $5,798 per person, which includes all accommodations, 43 meals, guides, transfers for group flights, local transportation, park entrance fees and tips to porters and waiters for included meals. The trip visits Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, the Taj Mahal and Kanha and Bandhavgarh National Parks, India’s signature wildlife areas.

                                                    

MEXICO

Save $1,234 at Four Seasons in Punta Mita

The Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita is making it as simple as 1, 2, 3, 4 to save money—book four nights and receive $1,234 in resort credit. Room rates start at $415 per night.  

                                                    

ST. MAARTEN

Room Bargains for Families and Couples

Sonesta St. Maarten Resorts is offering a “Double Date Package." Book one double-occupancy room, get the second for 45% off at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino or Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort & Casino. The whole foursome receives free room upgrades and a free meal. Through Dec. 15.

                                        

SOUTH AFRICA

Save $850 on Wayfarers Adventure

The 12-day Wayfarers program of walks, game drives and wine tastings, from Cape Town to Johannesburg, is now $7,645 per person, based on double occupancy. The Nov. 1-12 program is led by Chris Hague, founder of the Wayfarers, and his wife Malle, who was reared in South Africa. The walkers will go to the Bushmans Kloof reserve and the Madikwe Game Reserve.

                                                      

TENNESSEE

Enter to Win a $75 Gas Card for the Smokies’ 75th Birthday

Pigeon Forge is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with a contest to award 75 families each a $75 fuel card, a $75 parkway attractions pass, a list of 75 fun activities in Pigeon Forge, Dolly Parton’s tribute CD to the Smokies called “Sha-Kon-O-Hey!,” and two tickets to the Dollywood theme park. Register at “Parkway to the Park;" registration ends July 15. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most-visited national park, and one of the few that’s still free.

                                        

North Carolina

Free “Kids Day” at Nags Head

Kitty Hawk Kites in Nags Head offers Kid’s Day each Wednesday through Labor Day. Children and families can join in free activities such as kite making, toy demonstrations and water balloon launching from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Members of The Lost Colony offer face painting and a chance to meet the cast of the 2009 performances. Kids Days are also offered on other days at Kitty Hawk Kites locations in Corolla, Hatteras and Avon.                                   

                                                    

INDIANA

Free Times at Indianapolis’ Most Popular Attractions             

Indianapolis is tracking some of its most famous attractions for free admission times. The Children’s Museum is free 4 p.m.- 8 p.m. the first Thursday of the month; Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art will be free July 4 and Labor Day. The Indianapolis Zoo offers discounts on the first Tuesday of the month, through November; the Indiana State Museum discounts its admission price from 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. the third Thursday of each month. The Indianapolis Museum of Art is always free.

                                      

SWEDEN

On the Trail of Inspector Kurt Wallander

Fans of the current PBS Masterpiece Mystery series starring Kenneth Branagh as Inspector Kurt Wallander will love to follow his melancholy path in Sweden. Ystad is the home of Wallander’s creator, Swedish mystery writer Henning Mankell, and the self-guided "In the Footsteps of Wallander" walking tour leads travelers from Mariagatan, where Mankell lives, to Fridolfs konditori, his favorite stop for a beer and a herring sandwich. For a bit of peace, stop by Backåkra, the farm built by the late Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjöld.

                                      

CALIFORNIA 

San Diego North Gathers Its Free Fests and Events

From the painted hydrant walking tour in Carlsbad Historic Village to a Stone Brewery Tour in Escondido to the San Diego Archeological Center, the region has gathered its best freebies in its calendar of events at San Diego North.

                                         

NEVADA

Third Night Free at Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel

The Renaissance Las Vegas, a AAA Four Diamond Award Hotel, is offering a third night free with a two-night stay, with rates starting from $109. The “Triple Your Fun” getaway package is valid for mid-week and weekend stays in a deluxe standard room, with no blackout periods. Book online and use promotional code: ES7. Through Sept. 7.

                                                      

CANADA

Discounts on Attractions, Shopping in ‘Much More Toronto’

The Fairmont Royal York is offering a new “Much More Toronto” package, with rooms starting at $129. The Much More booklet includes savings on Inuit art and spa services, meals and wine tastings, and admissions to such Toronto icons as the CN Tower, Bata Shoe Museum, Casa Loma, Art Gallery of Ontario and Gardiner Museum. Through Sept. 7.

                                          

ILLINOIS

Free Tours of President Obama’s Hyde Park Neighborhood

Volunteers with the InstaGreeter program, a free visitor service offered by the Chicago Office of Tourism, will lead free tours of Hyde Park every Saturday now through  Aug. 29. Just stop by the Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave., between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. for a one-hour walkabout of the area, which also includes the University of Chicago, Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Oriental Institute and the DuSable Museum of African American History. Visits are given on a first-come, first-served basis with no reservations needed. Groups are limited to six.

                                        

Sonesta Hotel Collection

Summer AAA Kids Eat Free Promotion

In addition to up to a 20% discount for AAA card members at each hotel, Sonesta  will provide a free children’s meal for a child under 12, free from the children’s menu. This promotion is available all summer long at participating Sonesta hotels and resorts. In addition, the Boston/Royal Sonesta will celebrate Summerfest now until Labor Day with a second room for $99. Book online and kids eat free.

                                                      

OREGON

Portland’s New Courtyard in Renovated Downtown Office Building

The new Courtyard by Marriott -- Portland City Center in the downtown business district is offering an $89 introductory rate through June. The hotel, in the former Toronto National Building, is expected to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.  

                                        

MICHIGAN

Traverse City Hotels Heat Up with ‘Sizzling Summer’ Packages

The Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau is reprising its popular “Sizzling Summer Special,” with rooms at more than 25 hotels, motels and resorts starting at $52.50 per person per night, midweek plus tax, based on double occupancy. The packages also include free play at local casinos and discounts on dining, golf, spa services, boat rentals, hot air balloon flights and tall ship sailings. Through Sept. 10.

                                         

ANTARCTICA

Quark Expeditions offers 50% off teen rate Dec. 19

Quark is offering dads or moms who travel to Antarctica with their teens, on Clipper Adventurer from Dec.19-29, 50% off the cost of the teenager’s berth, when the parent pays the per-person brochure rate. The more teens who travel with a parent, the greater the savings.

                                          

GERMANY

Creative Deals in Historic Towns

Germany has created several seasonal discounts:

   *  The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bamberg has nine privately owned breweries serving more than 50 different sorts of beer. Stop in an in-house brewery and sip for only $3.50 a pint. The "Discover Bamberg" package includes two overnights in a double room, an audio guided city tour, entrance fee to a variety of Bamberg’s museums, such as the Franconian Brewery Museum, and a typical Franconian sausage-meal with a pint of smoked beer for only $136 per person.

   * Coburg, three hours north of Munich, offers an overnight in a castle-turned-youth hostel for only $20, and a bit of tradition in the Bavarian Hotel "Goldene Traube" for $77 per person. Munch on famous Coburg sausage, grilled on pine cones, for less than $2 each.

   * The Nuremberg Convention and Tourist Office offers a special package including accommodation and a typical Nuremberg sausage meal for $60 per day.

   *  Rothenburg ob der Tauber offer rooms at the Hotel Rappen, next to the town’s main gate, from $56 per single or $75 per double room.

                                          

BERMUDA

$400 for Island’s 400th Anniversary

In honor of Bermuda’s 400th birthday, The Reefs resort is offering a special resort credit based upon the time and length of your vacation, good now through Aug. 21. Book by Aug.17 for four or more nights and receive a $400 resort credit.

                                                        

VIRGINIA

Discounts at Colonial Williamsburg

Colonial Williamsburg is reintroducing its Summer Saver Package: for $599 plus tax, a family of four can book a five-day, four-night Colonial Williamsburg vacation worth more than $1,000.

 Some of the summer programming highlights:

   * The 30th Anniversary of African American Programming, including African American Summer Sampler Weekend July 18-19;

   * The street drama, The Revolutionary City®, returns with “Get Revved!!!” for kids, plus Building a Nation!; Revolutionary Stories, Collapse of Royal Government: 1774-76; and Citizens at War.                                  

                                                        

TEXAS

Freebies in Amarillo

Amarillo has a summerful of free admissions and events, including the Amarillo Zoo, Amarillo Museum of Art and The Galleries at Sunset Center. To celebrate its 75th anniversary, the Palo Duro Canyon State Park will be free July 4th and 5th.

                                                       

Washington, DC

Save 30% on a three-night weekend stay

Washington.org has brought back its popular Staying Power package promotion, with hotel rates as low as $107 per night. Increase your "staying power" by 30% when you book a three-night stay including a Thursday or Sunday night.

Participating hotels include the boutique Beacon Hotel, starting at $119 per night, the family-friendly L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, from $129 per night and the luxe Fairmont Washington, D.C., starting at $189 per night.

Destination DC also lists 100 Free (and Almost Free) Things to Do in DC.

                                         

ACROSS AMERICA      

Wild Getaways for Less at National Refuges

The National Wildlife Refuge System, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is the world’s premier system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America’s fish, wildlife and plants. There is a national wildlife refuge within an hour’s drive of most major cities.  

The System has rounded up some free and inexpensive outings for the summer at refuges from Maine to Washington.

                                                      

MISSOURI & ILLINOIS

“Stay Longer” Promotion at Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, Chicago

Guests can stay two nights and receive the third free at Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis and Four Seasons Hotel Chicago.

The St. Louis hotel also offers a free direct shuttle service from the hotel to Busch Stadium for a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game.

In Chicago, the concierge offers discounted VIP tickets to the Real Pirates exhibit at the Field Museum, and children’s VIP savings book for Navy Pier, home of the 150-foot-high Ferris wheel

                                                      

PENNSYLVANIA

Gettysburg to Commemorate D-Day Anniversary Weekend

June 6 is the 65th Anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Nazi occupied France in World War II. A special program, “Eisenhower and the Men of D-Day,” will be presented 11:15 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. June 6 at the Eisenhower National Historic Site. It then will be reprised daily during the summer season, mid-June to mid-August.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, led the 1944 D-Day invasion. The Allied victory resulting from the D-Day landings signaled the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany.

The program provides an opportunity for visitors to learn about Eisenhower’s role as Supreme Commander and his concern for the men that fought under his command. Visitors will have an opportunity to learn about the infantry that made the D-Day invasion through a hands-on experience with the equipment and uniforms they wore.

                                         

TENNESSEE

Print Out Coupons for Family-Size Savings

Pigeon Forge in the Great Smoky Mountains has created dozens of coupons for discounts on attractions, dining and country cabins—even savings on Dollywood and the Zorb ride, the fine art of rolling down a hillside in a clear rubber ball.  

                                         

TEXAS

Dallas Discounts

Visit Dallas has coupons for food, drink and rental car—even $2 off admission to the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

                                         

 MINNESOTA

St. James Hotel Offers Outdoor and Spa Packages

St. James Hotel in Red Wing has golf packages starting at $199 per couple, and trekking recreational packages starting at $159. The spa package, which includes an overnight stay for two and a choice of a one-hour Swedish massage or a one-hour European facial at Refined Skin Medi-Spa, is $280 per couple.

                                                        

MICHIGAN

Check in for First-Time Bargains                   

The Birchwood Inn in Harbor Springs is offering a special $59 rate for first-time guests, now through May 31—just mention you saw it on PetoskeyArea.com. 

 

                                                        

VIKING RIVER CRUISES

2-for-1 Discounts, Airfare Deals and Free Wine  

Viking River Cruises is offering discounts on its 2010 river cruise itineraries through northern and southern France, central and eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, China and Egypt. For passengers who book by May 31, the bargains are:

2-for-1 pricing on the cruise portion of every itinerary, for every stateroom category (single staterooms receive a 50% discount);

A $500-per-person discount on international roundtrip air purchased through Viking; and

Free wine with onboard dinners for guests who book and pay in full for a 2010 itinerary by May 31.

                                                    

ILLINOIS

Chicago’s Ritz-Carlton Elevates Chocolate to its Rightful Place

The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, a Four Seasons hotel crowning Water Tower Place, has created a Saturday Night Chocolate Flight at its Greenhouse Café. Executive Pastry Chef Eric Estrella presents a rotating selection of weekly treats, which are displayed on a help-yourself or we'll-bring-to-you buffet from 5 p.m.-10 p.m.

You might find:

            Chocolate-dipped strawberries;

            Milk chocolate and peanut butter crème brûlée;

            Dark and white chocolate panna cotta shots;  

            Opera cake, chocolate nut sable, tiramisu in a cup; or

            Coffee and cognac chocolate truffle pops.


The Chocolate Flight is $12, $17 with a glass of Chandon champagne.

                                                  

WAYFARERS

Walking Discounts on Vienna To Prague

Wayfarers is offering an $800 discount for its Vienna-to-Prague walk for July 11-18 and Sept. 12-29. The walk is priced at US $3,895 per person pre-discount, based on double occupancy.  With a booking in full by May 29, the price is reduced by a “currency bonus” of $800 per couple, reflecting the continued strengthening of the U.S. dollar versus the euro.

The walk begins in Vienna, Austria, with stops in Cesky Krumlov, beer tasting at one of Europe’s oldest breweries, and a walk along the banks of the Vltava River, the country’s longest river and the inspiration for composer Bedrdich Smetana’s symphonic poem. The trip ends in the capital city of Prague with a walk across the famous Charles Bridge and a visit to Prague Castle, the largest ancient castle in the world.

                                                    

COLORADO USA

$99 Sundays at Hotel Monaco Denver

Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco Denver has a special “$99 Sundays” rate now through Sept. 7. Online, just enter SUN into the rate code box.

The deal includes:

Deluxe overnight accommodations at the Hotel Monaco Denver;

Morning coffee and tea service in the living room-style lobby;

Hosted evening wine reception in the lobby;

Standard high-speed wired and wireless internet access; and  

In-room “Guppy Love” goldfish companion, available upon request.

                                    

OHIO USA

Party at Your Own Pace at the Cleveland Museum of Art

To celebrate the opening of its new East Wing, the Cleveland Museum of Art has planned a summerful of special events. On June 20-21, CMA will celebrate the Summer Solstice with a three-stage bash:

Arrive at 5 p.m. and spend the entire night listening to gypsy jazz, Cleveland soul and a New York disc jockey as the drink, food and conversations evolve. Cost is $100 for CMA members, $150 for the public.

Show up at 7 p.m. for free tapas and cash bar and dance the night away. $35/$55.

Night owls can pop in at 10 p.m. and stay till 2, and everyone is $15.

                                      

SWITZERLAND

Bargains on Rails, Trails and Free Fests

Switzerland has rounded up some of its best bargains for a special newsletter. Try free biking in Bern, 3,920 miles of trails and free travel for children up to 16 with Family Passes.  

                                                               

OHIO USA

Print Inn Coupons for Father’s Day, Spa Treatments and Free Dessert

The Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls in scenic Hocking Hills is offering five discount coupons this spring, for everything from a free dessert to $50 off a weeknight stay. If you go for the dessert, make it chocolate, especially the flourless chocolate cake. Absolutely worth the calories!

                                      

 MONTANA USA

Discounts at Triple Creek Ranch

Triple Creek Ranch, a Relais & Châteaux resort in the Bitterroot Mountains, is offering a 20% discount on all stays from May 7-31, 2009. Or book a three-night stay and get your fourth night free. Discounted prices for an all-inclusive stay begin at $520 per night.

                                                  

OHIO USA

Bargains Along Lake Erie’s Shoreline and Islands

Ohio’s Lake Erie Shores & Islands® Welcome Centers are giving out value cards that can help you save on area lodging, dining and attractions.

Just pick up the card and the Lake Erie Shores & Islands Official Travel Planner, a 144-page visitors guide, from welcome centers in Sandusky and Port Clinton, or order one online.

Show the card at participating businesses such as family safari and amusement parks, golf courses, museums, island ferries, fishing charters, restaurants, wineries, shops, hotels and resorts.

The 2009 planner has a bonus Cedar Point coupon good for $5 off per person (for up to six people) on a two-day Ride and Slide admission ticket. It’s valid any two days of the 2009 operating season that are open to the general public.

Guests can bring their Shore Savings Card to either of the two Lake Erie Shores & Islands Welcome Centers to receive free lamination.  The Welcome Centers will also have a supply of cards on hand for visitors who may have forgotten to bring their travel planner with them.

                                      

BRITAIN

Get a Free Day of Train Travel

Buy a BritRail Pass at www.BritRail.com and get one extra day of travel free. This works with any of the BritRail products: the BritRail Consecutive Pass, BritRail FlexiPass, BritRail England Consecutive Pass, BritRail England FlexiPass or BritRail Freedom of Scotland Travelpass.  You can choose any validity period and opt to travel in first or standard class. 

You need to buy the BritRail Pass before June 1, 2009. It can be used anytime within 6 months of its issue date.

You can combine this free extra day of travel with BritRail’s promotional Passes, such as BritRail Party Pass (50% off third through ninth person in group), BritRail Family Pass (one child per adult travels free), BritRail Senior Pass (15% off in first class), BritRail Youth Pass (20% off in first or standard) and the BritRail Guest Pass (25% off for you and a British resident).

                                     

MICHIGAN

On May 30, Lighthouse to Shine Again After 50 Years

The South Manitou Island Lighthouse in Glen Arbor, which guided ships past the treacherous sandbars of Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes for more than a century, will gleam again May 30.

The lighthouse, a favorite destination for hikers in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, was decommissioned in 1958. In the 2008 summer season, Park Service maintenance workers restored the tower’s lantern room and spiral stairway of the tower.

A replica of the light’s original third-order Fresnel lens was created by Artworks Florida and powered by a special low-wattage bulb designed by Electro-Optics Technology of nearby Traverse City. The lens and light were installed in late fall, at a cost of $93,000, but the installation came too late in the year for a formal dedication.

For the May 30 program, the park program will begin with a special after-dark presentation at the park’s maritime museum in Glen Haven. As the sun sets, the light will be officially “switched on.”

                                   

NEW WEBSITE

For Cultural and Heritage Travel

Heritage Travel, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has launched a new online community for people who share a passion for heritage- and culture-rich experiences.

                                     

VIRGINIA USA

Jamestown and Bermuda Celebrate 400 Years

Can’t make it to Bermuda for its 400th anniversary this year? Maybe you can pop into Jamestown Settlement’s special exhibition, “Jamestown and Bermuda: Virginia Company Colonies,” which presents the shared history and links between England’s first two permanent colonies in the New World. 

Guest lectures are part of the program:

June 13 – “The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America,” Lorri Glover, author and University of Tennessee Professor of History.

July 11 – “Sister Colonies: Virginia, Bermuda, and the Beginnings of English America,” Michael Jarvis, University of Rochester Associate Professor of History.

Aug. 8 – “Somewhere Beyond the Sea: Art, Artists, and Bermuda,” Tom Butterfield, Founder and Creative Director of Masterworks Foundation and Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art. 

Reservations are required for all lectures. Check out videos and more at http://historyisfun.org/jamestown-and-bermuda.htm

                              

INDIANA USA

Discounts in Spencer County

Discounts on family-friendly attractions, lodging, shopping and dining are now available on LincolnPennyPincher.com, a new website launched by the Spencer County Visitors Bureau in Santa Claus, Ind.

The site features more than 20 printable coupons offering savings at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Lincoln Amphitheatre, Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort, Santa’s Candy Castle, and Frosty’s Fun Center.

LincolnPennyPincher.com also has a list of 10 things to do with families in Spencer County for under $10.

                                                  

MICHIGAN USA

Bargains for Camping Newbies

Michigan State Parks and Recreation Areas has started a new First-Time Campers program at campgrounds across the state. For $20, first-time campers can rent all the needed gear, campsite and a guide for a two-night stay. If the new campers decide they like the experience, sponsor Gander Mountain will sell it at a discount.

                                      

AMERICAN AIR QUALITY

Check for Ozone, Short-Term and Year-Round Particle Pollution

Hikers and cyclists especially head to clear-air spots, but shouldn’t we all care about the air we breathe at home and on the road?

The American Lung Association grades air quality in America’s cities annually. For those living with asthma and other lung diseases, knowing where to find a breath of fresh air can be a necessity. Check out the ozone in your next time zone at http://tinyurl.com/d9ltal to see what cities the American Lung Association has identified as having the best air quality in each of our three key categories—ozone, short-term particle pollution  and year round particle pollution.

                                    

FRANCE

Spring Spa Packages in St. Tropez

Chateau Hotel de la Messardiere has revealed a new spa, a restyled poolside and even new mosaic artwork inside the pool for its seasonal reopening.

The 19th-century chateau, on a hilltop above the Pampelonne beaches, created the new Chateau Spa with stained-glass windows, parquet floors and a terrace opening into a garden. Rooms inside the poolside towers have taken on a Moorish decor.

The spring spa package including six nights in a superior double room, six Fitness breakfasts, a half-hour daily massage and daily beauty treatment, from $1,820.

                                               

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Girlfriends’ Getaways

Victoria Golf & Beach Resort in Puerto Plata is offering girlfriend packages through Oct. 31, for $219 per room, per night, which includes free upgrade to Junior Suite when booking a superior room (subject to availability), free mini-bar, restocked daily, breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks, free bottle of rum and fruit basket upon arrival, a la carte dinner for two at sister hotel VH Gran Ventana Beach Resort and a choice of one 25-minute spa treatment per person.

                                  

WISCONSIN USA

Mineral Point A Top Ten Cool Town

Mineral Point has been voted one of America's Top Ten Cool Towns in a national poll by Budget Travel Magazine. Mineral Point is an old Cornish mining town that played a key role in Wisconsin history and is known for its strong arts and theater community and as a hub of bike routes winding through Wisconsin’s spectacular Uplands. In 2007 it was named one of the Dozen Destinations of Distinction by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The area has been selected to host some of the Olympic Biking events if Chicago is successful with its 2016 bid.

                                  

OHIO, USA

 





Did you know?

Betsa Marsh won the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award for her story and photos about the San Antonio Toilet Seat Art Museum.

Betsa’s work has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Hemispheres, Islands, Endless Vacation, American Way, AAA Home & Away, Midwest Living and Ohio Magazine.

She has contributed to newspapers across North America: from USA TODAY and the Boston Globe to The Oregonian and the Vancouver Sun, from the Toronto Star and Cleveland Plain Dealer to the San Antonio News-Express and Miami Herald.

She’s also the author of The Eccentric Traveler, A World of Curious Adventures.

  

Discounted Stays for A’s
High-scoring students can treat their parents to a discounted stay at an Ohio State Park Resort by earning A’s. Families just show a report card and get $10 off the published room rate for each A, up to five A’s or $50.
        
The Stays for A’s program is valid through June 7, 2009, and the offer is subject to room availability. One report card per room may be applied for the discount, and families must present the original report card upon check-in. The Stays for A’s program is valid for up to $50-per-night discount.  Rooms can be reserved online or by phone. To reserve online visit www.atapark.com and use the promo code “Stay4A.” For more information: 800-282-7275.
        
The seven resorts, with game rooms and indoor pools, are:
Shawnee State Park Resort in south central Ohio near Portsmouth, Hueston Woods State Park Resort in southwestern Ohio near Oxford, Burr Oak State Park Resort near the southern Ohio town of Glouster, Salt Fork State Park in central Ohio near Cambridge, Mohican State Park Resort in north central Ohio near Loudonville, Punderson Manor State Park Resort in northeastern Ohio near Newbury and Maumee Bay State Park Resort in northwestern Ohio near Toledo.

OXFORD, ENGLAND

Discounted Classes at Oxford University
Because of the stronger dollar, The Oxford Experience will be less expensive for summer 2009. The popular one-week residential program at Oxford University's Christ Church cost about $1,900 in 2008, but the price for 2009 is only $1,485 (calculated at 1 GBP = US$1.49).
        
The Oxford Experience is July 5-Aug. 8 at Christ Church. Participants will attend the oldest university in the English-speaking world, stay in rooms where English prime ministers and poets once lived, and dine on High Table in the magnificent Hall.

There are no tests, no papers, just small study groups taught by tutors.  The 50-plus courses include such subjects as The Life of Sir Winston Churchill, English Country Houses, Charles Darwin and The Origin of Species, Enjoying the Cotswolds, History of the English Language, Exploring the Human Brain, The Life and Music of Handel, The Crusades: Cross versus Crescent, The Beatles, Popular Music and Sixties Britain and The Garden in Art.
        
The price includes tuition, accommodations and all meals (a full English breakfast, buffet lunch and served three-course dinner). Participants attending for two or more weeks are given free bed and breakfast accommodation in Christ Church over the intervening weekend(s). There are additional charges for excursions and rooms with private bath. 
        
Registration deadline is May 1, 2009, but early application is recommended as courses fill quickly.       

Check out www.conted.ox.ac.uk/oxfordexperience or write to The Oxford Experience, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA, U.K.

 

 

  
         

 

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