Dear reader, the most common question I’m receiving these days is “Will I need a passport?”

The government policy on this varies depending upon the destination and has changed several times within the last year, but the simple answer is this: if you are interested in traveling to any of the places mentioned in ITN, you must have one.

You can find a passport application form at www.travel.state.gov/passport/forms/forms_847.html.

A passport certifies your identity and your...

by Philip Wagenaar, M.D.

It was Friday, August 25th, 2006. Our Holland America cruise ship, the MS Amsterdam, had docked an hour before in Tórshavn, the capital of the 18-island Faroe archipelago, under a deep fog cover.

Our tour

Dressed warmly against the cold, my wife, Flory, and I snuggled down in our toasty tour bus as we traveled north on the stunning, winding ridge road toward Nordradalur (North Valley), situated on the southern part of Streymoy, the main island...

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 371st issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.

In Kiev, Ukraine, racially motivated attacks by skinheads have increased, the U.S. Embassy stated in November. These have been occurring mostly against people of Asian, African or other non-European descent, without provocation, in downtown areas frequented by tourists.

In fact, people of color have been the victims of harrassment by both locals and police, who stop them on the...