It was my privilege to visit Tiya as part of a trip to Ethiopia with Spiekermann Travel Service (Eastpointe, MI; 800/645-3233) in January ’11. Tiya is regarded as the most important of the 160 archaeological sites in the Soddo region south of Addis Ababa.

Thirty-six huge stone monoliths, 32 of which bear strange carvings of swords and other signs and symbols, stand clustered in the tall grasses of a large field less than a kilometer outside the small town of Tiya. The stelae...

I am so grateful to ITN subscriber Nancy Anderson (Feb. ’07, pg. 67), who told of her excellent experiences with Mehmet Ozbalci, owner of Turfantastik (Millet cad. Inan Is Hani No. 5/610, Aksaray, Istanbul, Turkey; phone [90] 212 589 33 25). I had kept her article, as I knew I wanted to visit Turkey.

When I Googled Mehmet’s name and saw that he was the tour operator retained by several well-known US, Canadian and Australian photo-tour companies, I was even more anxious to...

Sure, we know that US passports are good for 10 full years. Well, almost! In some cases, it’s 9½ years.

Many travelers are not aware of the “six months rule”: your passport must be valid for six months beyond the end of your intended trip. If it isn’t, don’t expect to get past the airport check-in counter when heading overseas.

In another nightmare scenario, what if you reached your intended destination halfway around the world only to be...