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Stretch Your Travel Dollar Abroad

Fall is one of the cheapest seasons to travel abroad. If you have always dreamed of exploring London, Paris or Rome, but were afraid booking a trip would drain your bank account, now is the time to act. Vacations to European destinations drop substantially once kids head back to school. According to Expedia.com, round-trip airfare to London during October and November is running about $80 cheaper than just a month ago. Meanwhile, perennial fan favorites, Paris and Rome can be visited for rock-bottom prices starting the second week in November. However, the cheapest destinations of Europe remain in Germany, Ireland … Continue reading →

Why Are Amphibians in Trouble (and What Can You Do?)

Starting on Leap Day, people around the world are celebrating the International Year of the Frog. Experts fear that approximately two thousand species of frog, toad, and salamander are in danger of extinction — many within the next five years if we don’t take action. Why are amphibians in trouble? One main factor is a fungus that comes from South Africa. Here’s how the chytrid fungus became a problem: In the 1930s, scientists discovered that the African clawed frog could be used as a human pregnancy test. Inject the frog with female urine. Within a day, if the frog produced … Continue reading →

More Tropical Island Getaways

The weather outside may not be frightful just yet, but give it a few weeks and I’m sure you’ll be dreaming of trading in your snow shovel and frozen windshield wipers for a sandy beach and frozen tropical libation. Naturally, I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend Hawaii as the ultimate sunny locale; however, I will admit this time of year the “Aloha State” can get a bit congested. As I mentioned in my previous blog there are a number of lesser-known exotic islands that have far fewer tourists soaking up the sun on their crescent shaped beaches. So, … Continue reading →

New York Post 9/11: Still A Tourist Hot Spot

There’s no doubt the September 11th terror attacks crippled New York’s tourism industry. I remember watching the news in the dark days and weeks following the collapse of the World Trade Center and hearing hotel operators say they could barely give rooms away in the heart of the city. It was an unbelievable sound bite that still sticks with me these many years later. I remember my best friend, a flight attendant for American Airlines, telling me how empty the flights to JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark were. Add that to restaurants, theaters, museums, and other local attractions that saw patronage … Continue reading →

Travel Tidbits: It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, It’s… A Swarm of Bees?

I don’t think there is a traveler out there whose heart wouldn’t race upon hearing the warning: “Prepare for an emergency landing.” So I can just imagine what passengers on board a flight from the United Kingdom to Portugal felt this weekend when they heard a “tremendous bang” after takeoff, and then the dreaded emergency landing warning. According to news reports, the “bang” passengers heard wasn’t a hydraulics problem or a piece of the plane snapping off; rather it was the sound of a swarm of bees being sucked into an engine. The good news is that no one was … Continue reading →

A New Life For The Los Angeles River

You may have seen it on the news or in a Hollywood car chase — the concrete channel known as the Los Angeles River. Most people think of it as “that box channel off the freeway.” The flood-control channel has been considered a possible alternative route to clear up clogged freeways, but is now being considered for a more natural use. Conservationists from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy would like to turn the fifty-one mile waterway into a federal wildlife sanctuary. It will take millions of federal dollars to buy up the land along the concrete waterway and destroy some … Continue reading →