7 Days; 7 Travel Stories

1.Six Intriguing UK Travel Sites

Directline-holidays.co.uk offers an email service that alerts users to holidays that match their preferences.

Green Escapes.co.uk is a new site that promotes non-flight holidays and places to stay that are run by people dedicated to caring for the environment.

TourismforAll.co.uk is a goldmine of information for travellers with reduced mobility.

HotelChatter.co.uk has a listing of the best geek hotels in the world.
CallUma.co.uk is a new translation/interpretation service that can offer assistance in 140 languages, 24 hours a day. Annual membership costs from £19.50 a year.

http://www.city.mobi/.co.uk offers a database of 600 free city guides that are designed to be browsed on a mobile phone. London Times.

2. Ten Quirky Adult Vacations

http://www.travelandleisure.com/ list of the top 10 quirkiest camps for adults.
Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp - New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and London. Campers learn the ropes from their rock 'n roll idols including Joe Walsh, Slash, and Max Weinberg.

Gladiator Training Cavalieri Hilton, Rome. Over this three-hour course, participants learn ancient gladiator combat techniques and history while wearing the traditional costume and brandishing authentic gladiator-era replica wooden and iron weapons.

Elephant Mahout Training Four Seasons Tented Camp, Northern Thailand. For this half-day to three-day adventure, participants work side-by-side with local mahouts, who are expert trainers in the 2,000-year-old Thai tradition of elephant care.

Wine-Making Camp Sonoma and Napa, California. The Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines Crush Camp allows wine lovers to get out in the vineyard with winemakers for three days to harvest, crush and blend wine.

Space Camp Huntsville, Alabama. The three- to eight-day program simulates astronaut training and an actual shuttle mission in as realistic a setting as possible.

Ghost Hunter University Hotel Maison de Ville, New Orleans. Christopher Moon, licensed paranormal investigator and publisher of Haunted Times magazine, teaches the basics of ghost hunting.

Crossword Puzzle Creation, 7-day Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Holland America ship, Statendam. Editor of Newsday's syndicated crossword puzzle and author of 125 books, Stan Newman teaches participants how to improve their crossword-solving skills, strengthen their vocabulary, and recognize the tricks over at least 10 hours of instruction.

African Vet Safaris South Africa. The four- to five-day Brothers Safaris program allows guests to work beside Dr. Peter Brothers, a passionate South African veterinarian who specializes in wildlife species.

Gondolier Training Hilton Molino Stucky, Venice. For three hours travelers can step into the shoes of a professional gondolier to learn the mechanics of rowing and maneuvering the vessel, the perfect stance to maintain balance, and the aesthetics of gondolier etiquette.

Poker Camp - Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Connecticut, and Biloxi, Mississippi.At the World Poker Tournament Boot Camp, poker lovers spend a fantasy weekend immersed in poker strategy with poker celebrities including T.J. Cloutier, Clonie Gowen and Mike Sexton. Reuters

3. Five Travel Myths

The Frommer’s share their Top 5 travel myths with ABC News.

Nowadays, there's no need to stock up on foreign currency in advance of departing, and no reason to assume that you'll get a better exchange rate in the United States than abroad.

Just two years ago it held true that you could get the best prices on travel by booking at the last minute. Thanks to record levels of travel, sold-out flights and better search engines, it's no longer the case.

Don't expect that someone at the destination can be relied upon to explain what you're looking at. Do your homework and bring a guidebook.

Just because a hotel charges five-star prices doesn't mean you can expect a five-star stay.

Cruise lines often want you to book shore excursions onboard or before your trip but typically a better deal can be found when you get off the ship.

4. Those Good Ole Days--NY Air Shuttles On The Wane?

Airline execs acknowledge that today’s air shuttle service between NY-Boston-Washington is a far cry from the service pioneered by Eastern Airlines in 1961, when passengers could waltz up to the gate without a reservation minutes before takeoff. Eastern also guaranteed a seat to anyone, even if it meant rolling out an extra plane. In the last few years, security lines, delays, and the end of the guaranteed seat policy have undermined the shuttles basic formula. Add to that, competition from Amtrak and a horde of bus lines. NY Times

5. Fertility Tourism

Medical experts revealed at least two couples every month are traveling from the UK to clinics in India where local women can earn up to 16 times their annual wage to have babies for comparatively wealthy foreigners. In some cases the pregnant surrogates live together in hostels attached to clinics.

The overall costs to the couple are similar, at around £10,000 in the UK and overseas. Susan Seenan, from the charity Infertility Network UK, said there were questions over the practice overseas that could lead to the exploitation of desperately poor women. But Dr Kaushal Kadam, from the Rotunda clinic in Mumbai, said: "Surrogates do it to give their children a better education, to buy a home, to start up a small business or a shop. This is as much money as they could earn in maybe three years. I really don't think that this is exploiting the women. I feel it is two people helping each other." scotsman.com

6. Does Size Really Matter?

Like many things in the secretive world of super yachts, it’s length is hard to pin down. The yacht in question is now being built in a shipyard in Germany. The Eclipse is said to be 531.5 feet long, nearly six and a half feet longer than the Dubai, an 11,600 ton behemoth that now holds the record as the world’s largest yacht. The Dubai is owned by that country’s ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. The owner of the Eclipse is rumored to be Roman Abramovich, a Russian tycoon. NY TImes

7. Eco Echoes

A site that lists more than 2,800 eco-friendly hotels worldwide, http://www.environmentallyfriendlyhotels.com/.

Among the innovative ways hotels are making stays more eco-friendly. Apex City of Long Hotel has an environmental blog updaing customers on the hotel’s most recent green initiatives. Ibis Porte Clichy Centre in Paris features a photovoltaic façade that draws solar power. The Lenox in Boston is one of the first hotels to offer climate-neutral rooms and offset carbon emissions for electricity by 100 percent. The Old Bangkok Inn steers guests away from gas-guzzling taxis toward alternative forms of transport and the interior of each room is make of salvaged teak.

If you want to know how seriously a hotel is taking environmental issues to heart, here are six questions to ask.

Does it have any renewable energy sources, like small hydro, solar, wind or geothermal systems?

Does it avoid using harsh chemicals, such as scented laundry supplies, carpet cleaners and air fresheners?

Does it donate things to charities, like food scraps and old sheets and towels?

Does it practice energy conservation: long-life light bulbs, good insulation, energy-efficient appliances?

Does it support local causes and community conservation efforts?

Does it try to educate its guests about being green, either on its Web site or through material provided in the room? NY Times

Rich’s Weekend Reader is published by AndTyler222 Communications. All rights reserved. Information from various sources and mostly rewritten. andtyler222@verizon.net http://www.itinarod.com/