by Lew Toulmin

Where can you wake up to a 21-gun salute, sail with some of the world’s best yachtsmen, watch exciting yacht races just offshore, visit the summer palace of Queen Victoria, attend a nautical evening church service with the Duke of Edinburgh and pub crawl and party late into the night? Only one place: Cowes!

For 51 weeks of the year, Cowes is a quiet, yachty town of 19,000 on the north side of the Isle of Wight, just off the south coast of Britain. But during the...

by Alan M. Spira, M.D.

A few months ago I spoke about Avian Influenza, or the Bird Flu (Dec. ’04, pg. 85). The disease is related to human influenza but is not the same as the usual flu, which causes trouble in people on a yearly basis. Bird flu, however, poses a small but real threat to travelers and the population in general. If the virus is fully able to jump species, that is, readily infect people as well as birds, then it can rapidly spread through populations because humans don’...

by Linda Ledray

QUESTION: I was just beginning to plan a long-awaited trip to Thailand before the tsunami. I was going to spend a full week in Phuket, as I love to snorkel and relax and read on the beach. I have heard differing opinions about travel to that area now. Do you think it is wise and safe to go so soon? Will I be taking needed supplies away from the locals? I just don’t know if it is the right thing to do now, especially as a solo traveler, or if I should wait another year...