While on a Mediterranean cruise with Holland America in May ’07, one of our stops was Dubrovnik. We were fortunate to have hired, online, a wonderful driver, Tomislav Radulovic (e-mail tomislav@taxiservicedubrovnik.com). Tom met us at the ship when we docked and was exceptionally pleasant and informative. He speaks English quite well.

His cost without a guide was €180 (near $242) for three to four hours; it’s more if you want a guide. The tour was based on our interests and needs. He...

Most folks know that bags are inspected at airports and, if necessary, checked bags are opened. If a bag is locked, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) may chop the lock off, unless it is a special TSA-approved lock which they can open. These special locks are available at TravelSmith, Sharper Image and the like, usually for $10 and up.

I found TSA-approved locks in the hardware department at Wal-Mart: four to a package for about $8, keys included. Packs of two were...

Richard E. Smith of Long Beach, California, opened up the topic of tipping on tours (April ’07, pg. 4). Questions he asked included 1) “Should the cost of tipping be included in the tour price?,” 2) “Should there be an existing standard for tipping adhered to by most tour companies?,” 3) “Should an escrow tipping account be set up for each traveler, to be refunded partially or in toto (the reason being that some cheapskates never tip a penny)?” and 4) “Should travel companies be required to...