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LIVING & TRAVEL

4/5-4/10: Share Your Favorite Travel Tips!

Do you have an eye for a bargain when you travel? Do you always get the best seats on a plane? Share your favorite travel tips with us! Here's one for starters: Plane food is always awful, but the vegetarian meal is usually less awful. Call ahead and tell them you're a veggie.

dawnh - Buy tickets about 2 months ahead of time. Always go through a ticket agency. Never buy straight from the airline. Trains are usually cheaper. When going to another country, where you don't know the language, just smile.

nzietz - When flying across several time zones, eat little, drink no alcohol, but get plenty of other fluids.

Fresher - If you need a vacation...take a cruise. Most people think cruises are expensive, but if you travel in october or november, they're quite affordable. My girfriend and I took off from LA last year for a five day/four nights cruise down the West Coast, besides the beautifull sunsets, the ultra-excellent food, the "will do anything for you to please you" staff, the remarkable stops we made, the friends that we write to and call and the incredible cheap price, everything was lousy...

Canadian_Guy - After arriving at a hotel in another country always tip the bell hop well. (usually above their wage) Establish a good surface level relationship with them. Bell hops have good tips about who is staying where in the hotel, and where the cool places are in town.

Walker - A dealing-with-airlines tip: try to reserve a seat in the emergency exit row. It not only gives you extra leg room, but emergency exit passengers are allowed to board first -- so you are guaranteed storage space for your luggage (which you carry on, of course).

bobbrorsen - Take your own pillow..everywhere..always.

sim - Always fly Qantas whenever possible. It's the absolute best airline there is when it comes to service.

KMorrison - Get one of those blow-up pillows that shapes around your neck. They cost $4-$5 and are worth a million! They keep your head straight so you don't get a crick in your neck, and it won't fall into your next door neighbor's lap. Also, keeping your head upright generally keeps your mouth closed so you don't snore! (Maybe you should buy two pillows, one to offer to your seatmate!) Always order a special meal ahead of time (I like the seafood platter), and if you travel lots, pop for the membership in your frequent airline club. Expensive, but you wait for flights in so much more comfortable surroundings!

wilmer - If you want to go on a cruise and you can leave at the last minute, call a major cruise line 2 to 3 days ahead of sailing time to see if there are any passages open that have been cancelled at the last minute. If you talk to one of the supervisors, usually they will be glad to fill the cabin at a reduced rate. Also if you really want to see the world try a freighter, usually about $100 per person per day, for double occupancy. Search the web. I've forgotten who, but do a search for (freighter travel) and you will find an agency that deals with freighters only. Cruises are usually from 15 to 120 days.

Silence - I have found the perfect way to go to the beach every summer. We go to Ocean City, Md about two or three times a summer...if we can convince people to go with us, that is. What we do is get a camping site in Deleware. It costs $12.50 a night and you can put up to 7 people on the site in two tents. They have electricity and fresh water...along with a bath house. What is nice about it is that from there you can go to their own lake and swim, fish, or just float around...or you can head out to Bethany, Rohoboth, or Ocean City. A nice summer all around and it doesn't cost us the fortune it would if we rented a hotel. It usually cost us about $15.00 a person for a week. The other benifit is that you go to the grocery store and cook your own food. Saving on the eating out costs that you would alos pay at the hotels and motels... Well, that is just my tips for how to do things on the East Coast.....

BirdDog - I live in Central Florida and work in the tourism industry. If you plan on visiting this area I will be glad to help in any way I can. e-mail me at [email protected]

mboss - Never make hotel reservations. Never choose a hotel listed in a 'travelers' guidebook. Figure things out when you get there.

Rigby - 1. Chewing gum -- a must-have on any trip, especially on airplane trips and mountainous regions. 2. If you travel by air, pack in your carry-on these things: travel toothbrush/ toothpaste, basic-makeup (female), a change of clothes, batteries, deodarant, and things you deem valuable (credit cards, cash, jewelry,etc). See, nowadays lost luggage is as common as bad jokes, and you need the very basics, so that you won't suffer as much. And you'll smell better.

Sapphire - Trains are most times cheaper, and the safety level is about the same as airplanes. Besides, you have a better chance of survival in the case of an accident. Trains also have better scenery, depending on where you are traveling.

Cleopatra - I agree about calling ahead for meals, I always do because I am a vegetarian. I did just find something interesting out from my travel agent, however. You can order just about anything you want, all you have to do is ask! My second tip is to always take either a hostel sheet or a sleeping bag where ever you go. That way no matter WHERE you end up, you'll have clean sheets. It also means you can sleep on the beach, etc. :-) If you are traveling by yourself (especially in Europe) make sure you hostel it. You'll meet lots of interesting people to travel with, of just hang outwith at night. There is a Hostel's Europe page somewhere on the web, you can check out what the best and the worst of Europe are before you go. The most important tip I have to give is: TRAVEL! See the world. Warning -- once you start, you can't stop.

KansasJack - Always take a towel, and DON'T PANIC!!

jandj - Always bring your own toilet paper, a battery-powered radio, and one more underwear than you think you actually need.

MURG - HEY! I just read that writing near the top that says plane food is disgusting.... NO WAY, mind you, I do like food a lot... ANYWAY, I went on a holiday at christmas, and QANTAS's food isn't that bad!

NSWah - Always bring along an electric heater to boil water. Use one of those universal electric plugs with the heater. A nice hot cup of coffee or tea is always soothening, especially in a strange place where you may not know the language. Think of the money you can save on coffee and tea!

Wayne_Foundation - Take the back roads.

Jason_Ain - Delta is lame. They don't even have playing cards anymore.

Callum - Don't go to Monrovia right now.

raspu - I'm argentine and organizing with a bunch of friends to buy some motobikes up in the States and cycle down to my country. We are thinking of travelling four months. The problem is that I need some information such as places that sell good and cheap motocyles (secondhand). If anybody can help us with this information please contact via email: [email protected]. Thanks a lot.

jtb - Never take a train trip overnight if you don't have a sleeper car. That was probably the most frustrating trip I've ever taken. 22 hours sitting up on a train is not what I consider part of a vacation. Which is what it was supposed to be. I was never able to catch up with the sleep I lost during the vacation, so I was dragging at the end of every day. Oy Vey.

MADMAC - If you suffer from cramped-airline seat syndrome, consider calling a company that sells hottubs and ask for a demonstration (remember to pack a bathing suit!)... They'll be happy to show you their best tub...

schatz - ALWAYS travel w/ only a carry-on bag. Chill out and look at whatever and wherever as an adventure (in other words, don't expect "there" to be like home)

Philippe - Marry a foreign national. That gives you lots of free addresses to stay at! Check out the price of business class. Sometimes it's only a few dollars more, and you can reserve your seats when you buy your tickets. Plus you get to wait in the 'other' line, which is much shorter. Get one of those pouches that hang around your neck under your shirt. Strongarm robbery is not popular in most countries, but pickpocketing is. That way, you always know where your passport and traveler's checks are. Plus, if the hotel clerk is an attractive member of the gender you're interested in, you can hold your baggage in each hand and ask that they fish your passport out for you! :-0 ALWAYS try the local food. The weirder the better. What's the point of traveling if you can't talk about some part of some animal you've never eaten before. Goes double for vegetarians! Strike up conversations with total strangers (Choosing carefully, of course!). You'd be surprised at how friendly people can be.

BrownCow - Go out west. Take a trip with your kids. A long one. Like 5 to 7 weeks. Camp, no hotels. Take the family car. And raingear. Make the kids cook. Fish. Swim. Go to a rodeo or a similar cultural event. PLan ahead, it is busy in the summer. Ride horses in Nebraska. Visit a friend you have but don't see much who lives out there. You love it. Trust me. I'm 15 and did it last summer- I loved it. Hated the idea, but loved the trip. Peace.

EKoppel - When you fly, always try and get an exit seat. In addition, if you are on a 747, don't get seats in the back because that's where all the infants are (they make a lot of noise if you're trying to sleep).