Features

December 2015 issue | Appears on page 30

Using a variety of travel resources to design an outstanding trip to Asia at an unbelievable price
By Jann Segal

I always told myself I would not write an article about how I effectively combine hotel and airline points to create great trips. I figured that if I did, the travel industry would change how they do things to make it much more difficult. Well, they have started making things difficult anyway, so after creating the most exotic and wonderful Asian trip to celebrate my 61st birthday in the fall of 2014, I figured there was no time like the present to share with travelers in the ITN...

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December 2015 issue | Appears on page 40

Enjoying the food, art and celebrations of Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta
By Evenyl Roemmich

For the last several years, my companion, George, and I have vacationed in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, sometime between September and December. Early December is now our favorite time. The weather is near perfect, the town is not yet crowded and the attractions are numerous.

So on a rainy morning during the first week of December 2014, we left San Francisco on a direct Alaska Airlines flight. Three-and-a-half hours later we were in 85-degree temperature, and that would remain the high...

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November 2015 issue | Appears on page 6

Focusing on Guatemala’s ‘living Maya’
By Ken Mallory

The thump of bus tires on cobblestone streets announced our arrival in the city of Antigua, Guatemala. Six miles to the south, Volcán de Agua peered shyly through its cloud cover, reminding visitors that this is a land of volcanoes and welcoming our small photo-tour group to the Highlands of Guatemala, where our leader, Jim Cline of Jim Cline Photo Tours (San Diego, CA; 877/350-1314, jimclinephototours.com), promised to show us its remarkable landscape and share a more intimate view of a...

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November 2015 issue | Appears on page 18

Lounging in Laos — Ensconced in the comfort of everyday life in Luang Prabang
By Margo

We are two senior females (ages 69 and 71 during the late-2014 travels chronicled here) who escape the Michigan winters for warmer temperatures. When deciding on our travel destinations, Carole and I tend to look for affordable locations with good public transportation, though, instead of taking public transit, we often simply walk from place to place — a favorite pastime for us. 

Our plan

Carole and I do not consider ourselves adventure travelers, and our main...

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November 2015 issue | Appears on page 32

Apartment living on the Portuguese island of Madeira

By Rosemary McDaniel

When my planned walking tour of the Portuguese island of Madeira was canceled due to too few participants, I decided to go on my own, Oct. 21-Nov. 4, 2014, because I already had my air travel arranged. Looking for accommodations, I found the website HomeAway.com and, after several unsuccessful tries, was finally referred to the owner of the SeaView Lido Flat (listing No. 1399790), Frederica Marques (fredsmarques@gmail.com). 

Located in the São Martinho area, west of the capital...

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November 2015 issue | Appears on page 40

Touring Tanzania’s Southern Circuit
By Joseph Lambert

The game parks of northern Tanzania are legendary: Serengeti, with its magnificent migrations; Ngorongoro, with its impressive concentration of game; Tarangire, with its climbing lions and giant termite mounds; Lake Manyara, with its flamingos, and, of course, Kilimanjaro, with its namesake mountain dominating the horizon. However, the very popularity of these parks creates their main drawbacks: overcrowding and commercialization. 

Fortunately, the southern half of this...

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October 2015 issue | Appears on page 6

Touring the Dead Sea and the impressive archaeological sites of Jordan’s Petra

By Jackie Hoell

In mid-May 2014, my husband, Bob, and I began a ’round-the-world trip using the frequent-flyer miles we had accumulated during 10-plus years of commuting. Our second of six booked stops was Amman, Jordan.

Getting settled

With two pieces of carry-on luggage each and our previously acquired Jordanian visas (JOD40, or $56, each), purchased through Allied Passport & Visa (Washington, DC; 877/393-3745, allied passport.com), we breezed through Passport Control and...

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October 2015 issue | Appears on page 20

There’s always more to see in Paris!
By Margo Wilson

After six visits to Paris over 42 years, the last of which was in 2010, I announced that I was “done” with Paris. But when my husband, Thom, and I were scheduled to begin a river cruise in Paris in April 2015, I couldn’t resist adding on three days at the beginning of our trip. 

Then my research began. What could we do that we hadn’t done before? What was new or different? 

Consulting my bulging file of articles culled from magazines and...

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