Nervous & Excited: My First Solo Trip in 20 Years!

Nervous and Excited - My First Solo Trip in 20 Years!!!

So I am leaving to go to Cuba tomorrow, really early in the morning, to be at the airport at about 5:30 am. The last few days have been absolutely nuts, 16 hour days just to take care of work and get ready for the trip... And for the first time in a long time I am really nervous before a trip.

Over the last few years all my trips have basically been to nice, predictable and safe places like Canada, New England, Florida, California, Spain, tourist areas in Mexico. All these trips have been with my husband and/or friends.

Now I am venturing to a real 3rd world country - Cuba - and it's my first solo trip in 20 years! The only other time I went on a trip by myself was 20 years ago when I booked a package deal to Spain's Costa Brava (my fascination with Spain started early....) all by myself.

I have already had some encounters with Cuba's realities, and I have realized that I am definitely dealing with an unusual country here. I have been trying to reach the University of Havana, where I am going to study Spanish for the next 2 weeks. Tried to reach them by fax, phone, email - absolutely no luck!

I've tried to reach the hotel I am going to and I also tried to reach a couple of bicycle rental places listed in travel books with some questions regarding renting a bike. Again, absolutely no chance of getting through! There is no dial tone for a long time and after about a minute or so I heard some noises in the line and then some faint recorded voice that I couldn't even understand.

I admit this has me a bit scared. I know the savvy world travellers among you are going to chuckle since you have probably traveled to India, Africa, Asia, all places that are vastly different from the Western world that we are used to.

But I am a bit spooked since I haven't really ever gone to a country where I am going to be almost completely cut off from Western communication, where basic goods (apparently toilet paper, soap and aspirin, among other things) are hard to get.

So even packing has been a bit stressful for me since I figure if I forget something it's going to be hard to get it in Cuba. Not like our recent trip to Quebec, where I just headed to a discount store after I realized I forgot to pack my underwear! (Can you believe that? I forgot to pack my underwear on a trip, that was a first-timer too...)

My suitcases are almost packed. I am bringing my bicycle helmet, my bicycle lock (all things that they don't have in Cuba) and for the first time in my life I have put together a travel emergency kit with basic medications (aspirin, Polysporin, Imodium, bug repellent, bandages, etc.) since apparently basic medical supplies are hard to get in Cuba as well...

And, I am excited to say, I have made some arrangements to meet with locals so I will really have a chance to dive into the culture and find out what life in Cuba is really like. Through a friend of mine I am going to link up with "Pedro" (no idea of his last name) who is supposed to meet me tomorrow at my hotel to give me a quick tour of Havana.

On Saturday I am heading out on a Viazul bus to Vinales in the province of Pinar del Rio, to connect with Sandra, who came recommended through Jeff Minthorn who I interviewed earlier. Sandra owns a "casa particular" (basic bed and breakfast) and she is a tour guide who takes tourists on hikes in her beautiful province.

Again, another first-timer for me: the opportunity to truly connect with locals and to get to know their life-styles, their experiences and views of life. Everybody I talked to has told me that Cuba is a very safe country and the people are amazing.

So despite all the butterflies in my stomach, I look forward to this possibly life-changing trip with nervous anticipation and curiosity.

I just hope I'll be able to find an Internet cafe somewhere in Havana (apparently another thing that's not easy to find) so I can stay in touch.

Hasta luego (next time from Cuba)......

SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

The Adventurer Next Door: My Friend Leslie in Antigua

The Adventurer Next Door - My Friend Leslie in Antigua

My good friend Leslie recently had a chance to go on a trip to Antigua. Although on a package deal, she managed to get in a few adventures off the beaten track and explore the island in her own ways. Here's her story:

1. You went to Antigua very spontaneously. How did that come up?

The decision to go to Antigua was perhaps not as spontaneous as was the timing of our departure. A coworker friend approached me one day in late 2004 to say that she was thinking of visiting her mother, who lives in Antigua, and wondered if I might be interested in joining her on the trip. We briefly discussed travel time frames and agreed that Mar/April would probably best suit us both. The first week of Feb, this same friend appeared at my elbow on the Thursday evening to say that she had just seen an incredible “last minute deal” and could I leave on Monday? (Apparently, I could!)

2. What was your first impression of Antigua? What is the island like in terms of size, main towns and landscape?

One of my initial impressions of Antigua was an unusually green one as the country had received a high volume of rain in recent weeks; the island was just lush! The terrain is hilly boasting a rain forest area and 365 (I can only assume from the handful I experienced) beautiful beaches! It takes about an hour to drive from north to south across the island and we did a four-point tour of pretty much the entire island, complete with lunch and "locations of interest", in about five hours.

The main town, St. Johns, had a visitor’s core but was a little confusing once you ventured outside the main tourist area (an area seemingly designed to persuade the many cruise ship passengers that dock there to part with their vacation money).
My very first initial impression of Antigua, perhaps unfortunately, was of the area surrounding the airport itself. Directly around the airport has been built up by an American (?) who is purchasing large portions of the island. The area/ architecture/ impression, although very luxurious, is not really representative of the rest of the island.

3. Where did you stay? Did you go on a package vacation?

We stayed in Dickenson’s Bay at a resort called Rex Halcyon Cove. Our package included flight and accommodation only, no meals. (Rumour had it that the food at the resort was uninspirational anyway.) Our first evening, we stumbled around a bit looking for a convenience store to buy some supplies for the room (crackers, pop, etc.) and a place other than the hotel to eat. We were just turning back from an unsuccessful search when we found a tiny store and a fabulous beachside restaurant, called ironically enough “The Beach”, which we frequented for the rest of our stay. The rooms at the hotel were very clean and the front desk staff was extremely friendly. Unfortunately, where our room was located was very noisy; we backed on to the service area of an adjoining resort.

4. You mentioned that your trip felt almost like 3 vacations in one. Please tell us more about that.

The trip seemed to have multiple components to it based on the activities we enjoyed and the company we kept. The first two days were very touristy; we explored St. John’s and roamed our resort area.

The next two days, we (just my friend and I at this stage as grandmother and granddaughter had gone off together) made some connections with the locals and fell into a wonderful tour of the island with a sweet, young Antiguan man. He took us to his sister’s restaurant, on one of those gorgeous Antiguan beaches, for lunch and then that evening, he offered to take us along to hear his brother-in-law’s band play at another resort down the road from our hotel. Lastly, our final days were spent in English Harbour sleeping on a sailboat and communing with all the ex-patriots living around Nelson’s Dockyard.

5. For a few nights you stayed on a boat as well. How did that come about and what was it like?

Living on the sailboat for a few days was a very unique experience - three adults, one child, two cats and a dog all in a confined space! My coworker’s mother has been living in Antigua for 14 years now and her boat is her home. We used little, two-man dinghies to paddle to and from the shore each morning and each night. Although fully equipped with galley and head (toilet), accommodations were a little tight to spend too much time on the sailboat particularly as it rained for the better part of our stay at the harbour.

Now, the head on the boat was an experience in itself – happy thing I am not claustrophobic! The toilet was a tiny closet that you had to step up into from within the cabin of the boat. I was instructed (and good advice at that!) to step up and in with my left foot so that when my right foot followed suit, I would automatically be swung accordingly to ‘take a seat’. This process caused me to knock my head on several occasions on the inside roof of the toilet and at 5’ 8”, I am not as monstrously tall as that might make you imagine me to be! Closing the door once seated simply became optional given the warmth (and sorry but toilets and heat virtually always equal smell) of the tiny cubicle and the lack of knee space – it was simply easier to leave one leg dangling out the door. Modesty went pretty much out the window!

My first night on the boat, with not much persuading, I slept snuggled up in a sleeping bag on the back bench in the cockpit of the boat. It was fabulous to sleep under the stars! I didn’t even much mind when it started to drizzle in the early hours of the morning. What was a little harder to ignore was the accumulation of drizzle that began to drip off the rigging and torpedo my head. Torpedoed or not, it was a fantastic experience!

That first night on the boat, we also experienced a rare treat. The harbour waters were so still that night that the lights from the other boats around us could be seen as near mirror images on the surface of the water. My coworker’s mother was so excited when she discovered this view that she ran around the boat and woke us all up to see it. It was a lovely sight.

6. You also had a chance to interact with some of the locals. What did you learn about life in Antigua?

One of the most interesting things that I learned about Antigua was the closeness of community. The stories I heard while staying in English Harbour were often about the community rallying together to do good by one of their own or about local business men and their successes. On such a small island, the locals seem to know almost everyone.

7. What is your favourite memory of this trip to Antigua?

There are many very good memories of my trip to Antigua but my favourite remembrance of my holiday is a feeling. It is a warm, sunny feeling I experience when I remember all the things that we did and the people we met over the course of our stay.

Thanks, Leslie, for sharing all those pleasant experiences with us. Good luck for your next adventure (one of which will be our kayaking weekend this summer..)


SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

Preview: My Friend Leslie in Antigua

Coming Up: The Adventurer Next Door - My Friend Leslie In Antigua

Just recently, my good friend Leslie went on a very spontaneous trip to Antigua with a friend from work. It was a simple package deal and they booked it almost last minute. On this trip Leslie had a chance to explore the island, meet some locals and even to spend several nights on a boat through her friend's connections.

This interview will show you that it's possible, even with a simple package deal vacation, to get out there and explore the local destination.

Antigua is a beautiful tropical island in the Caribbean. At 14 miles long and 11 miles wide, It is the largest of the British Leeward Islands and was Britain's most important naval base in the 18th century. It's highest point us Boggy Peak (1319 ft) in the southwest of the island. Antigua's coral reefs attract snorkellers and scuba divers from all over the world, also because of the many shipwrecks off its coast. It has an expansive winding coastline and beautiful secluded beaches.

SQ.
www.travelandtransitions.com
www.textronics.com

Preview: A Special Adventure: 2 Years in Provence

A Special Adventure - Two Years in the Province

Just yesterday I had a chance to meet a very nice couple, Dan and Judith, two professionals in their fifties. Dan has a background in advertising and is a passionate photographer, while Judith is a consultant in the field of project management.

Through really interesting and fortuitous circumstances, Dan and Judith bumped into an American woman who was on an extended work assignment in Toronto and was looking for long-term accommodation. On the other hand, she had also a vacation home in the South of France that she was willing to trade free of charge against a house in Toronto.
In this upcoming interview you will be able to read about how this unusual home exchange came about. You'll also hear about Dan and Judith's adventures in the Provence and their connections with local French culture. Their two years in France have inspired them so much that they are now looking for a retirement property in France.

Come along on this beautiful, life-changing journey to the gorgeous South of France.....

SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

Cultural Insights - Karla Darocas talks about Spain - Men, Women, Family, Church, Even Pets

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Cultural Insights - Karla Darocas talks about Spain - Men, Women, Family, Church, Even Pets

Of course you know by now that I have a true fascination for Spanish language and culture and Spain continues to one of my favourite destinations. Spain is a fascinating country, a modern Western European country, anchored in a long history that was shaped by many different cultures, first and foremost the Ancient Romans and the Moors.

This contrast between the modern and the traditional has always fascinated me and I thought I'd ask a local to give me a bit of an idea of what Spanish life and culture is really like today. So here is Karla, my expatriate friend from Ontario, providing us with her own personal and frank insights about life in Spain:

Hi Karla, nice to talk to you again and thanks for the opportunity to give us further insights into life in Spain.

1. Machismo is a Spanish term and most Latin countries are known for their male-dominated attitudes. Does machismo still exist in Spain and if so, how does it manifest itself? What is the role of modern women in Spain, what opportunities and hurdles do they face? What is today’s relationship between men and women in Spain?

Machismo is a problem in Spain. The current government is taking drastic steps to bring about solutions. Modern women have lots of options – if they are educated… however, there is an entire generation of women – who didn’t get an education. Education is at the root of domestic problems all over the world – not just in Spain.

2. Last year you launched a “Stop domestic violence campaign” through your Women in Business Club – www.wibc-spain.com. Please tell us a bit about the background of that campaign and what is involved.

Women who have moved to my area were not aware of the domestic problems of their newly adopted country. In reality I find that most people who move to Spain don’t have any clue about the culture, history, politics – nothing. Any way, our local government had set up a Women’s Shelter and was running an aggressive program. The Shelter needed help to survive finanicially. I set up a club of women to help these women. While we were fundraising we also raised awareness.

3. You once made an observation that pets are treated very poorly in Spain. Please comment on that.

These problems stem from the same root – no education. Animals are not domesticated by most Spaniards. They don’t see animals as “pets”. There is a primitive attitude towards animals. The don’t believe that an animal can have a spirit, hence they treat them without respect.
This is not all of Spain, but the parts of Spain were life has been hard. Spain has been through a lot over the past years, and the people have had to socially reform very rapidly. There are many in the city centers who have adjusted to a peace time lifestyle while others in rural areas have not.

4. From what I understand, the role of the family is very important in Spain. How does it compare to family life in North America?

Families in Spain – well – I think they are just as dysfunctional as any modern family anywhere in the world. I haven’t come across a “normal” Spanish family yet.

5. Spain used to be a very religious country. What is the role of the Catholic Church today?

I have no idea what is the role of the Church anymore. They don’t seem to be getting their way – if that is what you mean. Same sex marriages are going to be approved by the new government, and already 10 day divorces are available. The Church has revoked a bit, but not much. I guess they will have to undergo reforms – like the rest of Spain – in order to stay in the EU.

Thank you, Karla, for your sharing your candid viewpoints with us.

http://www.textronics.com/

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at http://www.travelandtransitions.com/

Ian Wright – Cult Figure and Regular Guy Next Door

Yesterday my buddy Arnie and I had a chance to meet one of my idols in person: Ian Wright, the most famous presenter of the Pilot Guides travel show. The event was sponsored by three great players in the Canadian adventure travel industry: Outpost Magazine – Travel for Real; Mountain Equipment Coop – one of my favourite travel equipment outfitters; and Gap Adventures, a major adventure travel company in Toronto. It was great to see Ian live for the first time.

In many ways, Ian has been an inspiration to me for creating this website. When I started this travel website, I set out to create my own “Pilot Guides” experience, of course without the TV show, without the sponsors or the syndication deals, just me setting off on my own discoveries several times a year and sharing my experiences with like-minded people on the web.

In the 11 years of hosting the show Ian has been part of 55 episodes and traveled to over 70 countries. I have watched his shows for years and his quirky humour, cute English accent and physical comedy really add a special twist to this travel program. Ian never shies away from participating in activities with the locals, and he often samples rather outrageous types of food on his travels, including cockroaches and sheep eyeballs!

What makes Ian unique is that he delves into the culture, often sleeps in hostels, celebrates with the locals and regularly hitchhikes on the back of a truck. Luxury travel this is definitely not, but its entertaining, funny and informative at the same time. What’s great is that Ian always shows great respect for the country that he travels to.

The Pilot Guides travel programs are broadcast all around the world and Ian in particular has a very enthusiastic fan base. He said that his biggest fans are in Canada, Taiwan and in Norway while he is less well-known in England, his own home country.

Canada takes a special place in Ian’s schedule because it’s the only country where he holds lecture tours and the venue, the University of Toronto’s Convocation Hall, was booked almost solid with several hundred admiring fans.

We got to see a slide show and Ian shared many of his humorous travel stories, but he also told us a bit about his time growing up and how his headmaster told him at his high-school reunion that he remembers that Ian always got other people in trouble. (Ian does have that mischievous twinkle in his eye, like he’s always ready for a prank...).

He also told us about how he got a job with Pilot Guides – “the best job in the world”, and that he obviously sent a pretty hilarious demo reel to the producers. He gave us the useful advice that if we wanted to get a job like his, we’d have to pay special attention to the first 10 to 15 seconds of the demo reel since they are crucial in making an impression.

At the end Ian spent a whole extra hour fielding questions from the audience. People asked him about the strangest type of foods he has eaten on his travels (he’s actually a vegetarian), his favourite animal (camels “’cause they are so rude”), his favourite places (Mongolia, Cambodia, Greenland), places he’s never been and would like to go (Antarctica, Central America).

He also razzed my own home country a bit, saying that Vienna’s museums put him to sleep and that he enjoyed the cardboard cops that are posted in various Austrian towns to prevent people from speeding. Of course you will only find cardboard versions of cops in a really sedate and safe country like Austria….

Ian also shared a couple of personal insights, that he travels much less now that he has settled down with a family, that he hosts drama classes for teenagers and that he loves painting. As a matter of fact, when I met him today at a meet-and-greet event at Toronto’s Mountain Equipment Coop store, he gave away beautiful autographed posters of his paintings entitled “Ian Wright – Painting the World”.

For me the most fascinating part of the experience was that for all intents and purposes, Ian really is a global celebrity, and he has remained just a regular guy, humble, friendly and very approachable. No wonder everybody loves him....
SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

New York City - Budget Accommodation Guide - Small Hotels

New York City is obviously one of the most popular travel destinations in the world, so the demand for reasonably priced accommodation often outstrips the supply, which makes it difficult to find a reasonable priced hotel. One of the secret tricks to getting budget accommodation in New York City is to actually find a hotel room in New Jersey, just across the Hudson River, where hotel prices are substantially less expensive than in New York City, and in particular Manhattan.

If you are looking for hotel accommodation in NYC proper, here is a listing of properties, some of which could be classified as boutique hotels, that as of March of 2005 have rooms starting at below or close to US$100 per night (be careful though, their rates for single and double rooms are often different):

Amsterdam Inn: www.amsterdaminn.com
Broadway Inn: www.broadwayinn.com
Carlton Arms Hotel: www.carltonarms.com
Hotel 17: www.hotel17ny.com
Habitat Hotel: www.habitatny.com
Harlem Flophouse: www.harlemflophouse.com
Herald Square Hotel: www.heraldsquarehotel.com
Hotel 31: www.hotel31.com
Larchmont Hotel: www.larchmonthotel.com
Murray Hill Inn: www.murrayhillinn.com
Off-Soho Suites Hotel: www.offsoho.com
Pickwick Arms: www.pickwickarms.com
Union Square Inn: www.unionsquareinn.com

Staying in New York City shouldn't break the bank, hopefully these places will help you contain your travel budget.

SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

New York City - Budget Accommodation Guide - Bed & Breakfasts

In my experience, bed and breakfasts are one of the best ways of experiencing a new place. In many cases the rates can be quite reasonable although there is an increasing number of high end luxury bed and breakfasts and inns, many of whom may end up charging several hundred dollars per night as well. At some of the more budget-oriented B&Bs you can get a simple, yet usually comfortable room, often with unique décor. Sometimes bathrooms are shared which will result in lower prices, so if utmost privacy is important to you check whether your B&B accommodation offers private bathrooms.

B&B stands for “bed and breakfast”, now obviously we have discussed the “bed” portion of the equation. As far as the “breakfast” portion is concerned, there are also a range of choices available. Some B&Bs will offer full breakfasts, some even with home-made ingredients, jams, preserves or various gourmet breakfast dishes etc. while others may only offer a simple continental style breakfast. In larger cities B&Bs may even exclude the breakfast option altogether, so if a nice meal in the morning is important to you, make sure you check whether your desired accommodation actually includes breakfast or not.

One additional advantage of B&Bs is that generally these places are owned by private individuals or couples who enjoy hosting people from all over the world. Quite often the hosts end up being quite entertaining and they can become your built-in local travel expert for the area. At any rate, be prepared for a rather personal experience since often the hosts share the house with the guests. Inns are usually larger and take on an atmosphere of a small historic hotel, so there the atmosphere will be less personal.

Here is a listing of websites that specialize in bed and breakfast accommodation for New York City:

www.citylightsnewyork.com
This website offers hosted bed and breakfasts in a range from US$ 80 to US$130. Unhosted bed and breakfasts go for between US$ 130 and US$ 300.

www.athomeny.com
At the time of writing this article, this website offered single occupancy rooms for US$75 and up while most double occupancy rooms ranged between US$125 and US$175 (and higher).

www.nyhabitat.com
This website specializes in apartment rentals and has a variety of different types of apartments available. As of March 2005 their rates were as follows:

Studio
$85 to $165
One Bedroom
$135 to $225
Two Bedrooms
$200 to $375
Special Apartments
$250 to $500

The following websites specialize in bed and breakfasts and most have search engines or pull-down menus that allow you to search for accommodation by location.

Through www.bnbfinder.com:
This website offers several properties in New York City ranging from US$40 and up:

Stay The Night (New York, NY), $60-$125
1291 Bed & Breakfast Accommodations (New York, NY), $40-$150
Regina's New York B&B in Brooklyn (Brooklyn, NY - 5 miles), $75-$150
Honey's Home (Brooklyn, NY - 10 miles), $75-$150
Berry Preserve Bed and Breakfast (Asbury, NJ - 54 miles), $95-$130


Through www.bedandbreakfast.com:
This website offers quite a few bed and breakfasts that start below US$100 per night and their listings are divided between Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. I have picked out the ones that come in at the lower end of the scale although you will find a lot more properties that offer rates in the range from US$100 and up.

Chelsea Lodge - Manhattan, NY, Rooms: 20 Rates Per Night: $95 - $110
Bed and Breakfast NYC - Manhattan, NY Rooms: 5 Rates Per Night: $95 - $225
1291 Bed & Breakfast Accommodation - Manhattan, NY, Rooms: 23 Rates Per Night: $65 - $85
Rooms in Soho Loft - Manhattan, NY, Rooms: 2 Rates Per Night: $90 - $110
Bed and Breakfast Mont Morris - Manhattan, NY
Efuru Guest House - Manhattan, NY, Rooms: 4 Rates Per Night: $60 - $125
Room in East Village - new york, NY, Rooms: 1 Rates Per Night: $80 - $100
The Harlem Flophouse - Manhattan, NY, Rooms: 4 Rates Per Night: $75 - $100
Bibi's Garden - Brooklyn, NY, Rooms: 5 Rates Per Night: $65 - $125
Angelique Bed and Breakfast - Brooklyn, NY, Rooms: 6 Rates Per Night: $75 - $150
Eve's B&B - Brooklyn, NY, Rooms: 0 Rates Per Night: $70 - $125
Astoria B&B - Queens, NY, Rooms: 1 Rates Per Night: $50 - $70
The Harbor House - Staten Island, NY, Rooms: 11 Rates Per Night: $59 - $150
Victorian Manor Inn - Staten Island, NY, Rooms: 7 Rates Per Night: $75 - $120
Victorian Bed And Breakfast Of Staten Island - Staten Island, NY, Rooms: 4 Rates Per Night: $75 - $105
Victorian Villa - Staten Island, NY, Rooms: 3 Rates Per Night: $79 - $98
Hartshorne House - Staten Island, NY, Rooms: 2 Rates Per Night: $55 - $95


Other bed and breakfast directory websites that you may want to check include the following:
www.bbdirectory.com
www.bestinns.com
www.bbonline.com
www.ibbp.com
www.iloveinns.com
www.newyorkbedandbreakfast.us

If you have never tried b&b-ing, check out this way of travelling. You might like it too....

SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

New York City - Budget Accommodation Guide - Hostels

Hostels generally offer dormitory no-frill style accommodation, separated by gender, with shared bathrooms. Most hostels offer real budget type of accommodation with only the very basics. Some hostels do offer private rooms, however, and occasionally these rooms may even have a private bathroom. Many hostels offer shared kitchens and living areas and some also have Internet access on site. Hostelling is a popular way for students and young people to travel, but most hostels nowadays don’t have age restrictions any longer which means even middle aged individuals and seniors are welcome to stay. It’s a bare bones way of traveling, but one of the benefits is that it does offer the opportunity to connect with other like-minded travelers. Often the atmosphere at hostels is very informal, casual and friendly, so even when traveling as a single person it should be quite easy to make new friends.

Some of the hostel websites also offer message boards, travel stories and various travel-related services such as travel insurance, rail passes, adventure tours, flights & car rentals. One very nice feature of some of the hostel websites is that they offer ratings of hostel properties that were completed by previous travelers, providing some insight into the quality of the property in question. Hostel websites generally allow you to search for availability by date and to make a reservation online.

As of March 2005, dorm-style accommodation can go for as low as US$ 25.00 per night, with most of the properties charging between US$30.00 to $40.00 per night. Private rooms range from about US$27.50 and up per person, with most of the properties coming in between US$35.00 and to US$ 70.00 per night per person.

Here is a list of some of the main hostelling websites:

www.hostels.com
The Hostels.com website indicates that it features the most comprehensive selection of hostels on the internet with almost 7,000 hostels listed.

www.hostelsclub.com
Hostelsclub refers to itself as a young and dynamic company providing the budget traveler with an online booking engine for destinations all over the world: Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Oceania, and Africa. Hostelsclub offers a wide range of accommodation choices for all budget travelers.

www.hiahy.org
Hostelling International (HI) operates a network of more than 4,000 hostels in over 60 countries. Their website indicates that the USA they offer the largest network of quality hostels.

www.hostelweb.com
Hostelweb specializes in the Western United States with over 67 hostels in 11 western states. Obviously not a choice for NYC, but certainly a good reference for western US travel plans.

www.hostelworld.com
Hostelworld.com provides online bookings at thousands of hostels worldwide. You can check out their hostel reviews, view photographs and read detailed descriptions of all their hostels. You can confirm reservations at a selection of youth hostels, independent hostels and international hostels in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Oceania.

Happy hostelling....

SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

Hello from Quebec (Magog) - 2

So I am cheating a little, I am already back in Toronto, writing this little summary of the second half of our trip to Quebec. While we didn’t ski on Wednesday because it was too friggen cold, we did have a beautiful day of sunshine on Thursday, albeit a little on the cool side (about minus 15 Celsius…).


La Cathedrale de Sherbrooke.

Well, it was certainly a perfect day to go skiing on Thursday and we chose to go to Jay Peak in Vermont, just south of the Quebec border. It took us about an hour to drive to Jay Peak from Magog and getting through the US border was very quick. And the US border officials were very friendly and even cracked some jokes with us.

Jay Peak is the largest ski resort in the area. We had skied Mount Orford (1770 feet vertical drop), Owl’s Head (1770 feet vertical drop as well) earlier in the week, but Jay Peak clocks in at 2153 feet in vertical drop. It feels like a real mountain, with the rocky outcrop on the highest peak and an aerial tram (or gondola) that ferries skiers up to the highest point.

But we did notice Jay Peak was a fair bit pricier than the ski resorts in Quebec. We had paid Can$34 for a half day at Orford, Can$15 (!) at Owl’s Head (the Tuesday and Wednesday full-day special, regular half-day rates are Can$26). Jay Peak came in at US$42 for a half day or US$56 for a full day. Good thing was they were willing to accept Canadian dollars at par as long as we paid in cash, but even so the price differential was substantial.

On the other hand, Jay Peak offers by far the highest elevation as well as the largest number of runs with 75 trails. We had a great day at Jay, we truly enjoyed all the blue and single black diamond runs although we are not daring to touch the double black diamond runs yet. It was a fabulous day and we had a gorgeous view over the Appalachian mountains set against a brilliant blue sky.

Friday morning was the second time we saw sun and I decided to drive to Sherbrooke and do a little photo safari. Sherbrooke is a rather picturesque city of about 100,000 people or so and it has a beautiful cathedral, city hall and various other rather amazing architectural jewels. Driving back on Highway 10 I came over a hill and at one point I was able to see all 3 major ski mountains (Mt. Orford, Owl’s Nest and Jay Peak) at the same time, even though the latter two were about 30 or even 50 kilometers away. That panorama was amazing.


Sherbrooke's City Hall.

Of course the snow drifted back in in the afternoon and rather than to go skiing we decided to play a late afternoon game of tennis at the Centre Sportif de Memphremagog. In the evening we had a beautiful dinner at a great little Italian spot on the main street of Magog: “La Piazetta” where we both had one of the best meals in a long time.


Architecture in Sherbrooke.

Despite my self-professed bent of adventure, I am admittedly a culinary wuss and on Friday I decided to be daring and order escargot (okay, snails) with garlic, camembert and basil. It was truly one of the must succulently delicious meals I ever had, despite ingesting a slightly chewy rendition of mollusks.

Saturday we got our stuff ready and started the drive home, naturally surrounded by snowfall, as we had experienced most of the week. Funny enough, just after the Quebec/Ontario border the clouds started to clear up and we had a clear blue sky all the way home. It took us 7 hours door to door and 657 kilometers. And it was worth every minute. This was a really nice, relaxing vacation.

SQ.


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For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
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Crying like a baby: The Motorcycle Diaries...

It has been an emotional evening tonight. In my earlier blog of today I indicated that I just heard news tonight that my friend Neil passed away, something that is going through my head as we speak.

Before I heard these news I had actually been watching the movie “Motorcycle Diaries” which has just been released on DVD. I have been meaning to see this movie for a while now, obviously because it would show great footage of Latin America, because it is about a long road trip, a true adventure - something that a travel nut like me would obviously enjoy.

But as the movie moved on to portray significant scenes of Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Alberto Granado in the workers’ selection at the mine, their visit to Macchu Picchu, their stay in the leper colony; you could really see the transformation of the characters. A transformation from a simple travelogue, coming-of-age story of two young men to their (and particularly Ernesto’s) spiritual and political awakening, planting the seed for his future philosophies and actions.

I admit I do not know much about Ernesto “Che” Guevara other than that he was a critical figure in the Cuban revolution and in Latin American politics in general. Of course I now feel I am going to have to educate myself a little better to really get to know who this famous figure might have been.

What did move me in the movie though was the portrayal of people’s hardships, the workers, the indigenous people, the outcasts in the lepers colony and that Ernesto reached out to them. And I was touched by the actor Gabriel Garcia Bernal’s extremely skillful portrayal of a sensitive young man who is just experiencing a political and spiritual awakening. A man who obviously came from the privileged class in Buenos Aires, an aspiring doctor, who dedicated himself to the cause of social justice, who didn’t shy away from refusing gloves when touching and interacting with lepers, who gave away most of the little money he had on this long road trip to a poor peasant couple who had been thrown off their land.

I found the movie extremely emotional. To be honest, I ended up balling like a baby at the end of it, I was so moved. To me the movie perfectly personifies the human condition, all the good and all the bad that we are capable of as a human race.

In light of my upcoming trip to Cuba I’ll spend some time in the next little while to educate myself about Che Guevara. Given that his name has a very strong ideological connotation, I’ll try to investigate his persona from many different angles to give myself a more well-rounded picture of this fascinating individual.

Let the world change you…..
and you can change the world.

SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

In memoriam: My buddy Neil

Neil and I met through mutual friends about 6 or so years ago. A whole group of us used to go golfing together on occasion and I took a liking to him since he was a humorous, light-hearted kind of guy. As a matter of fact, despite being in his late fifties, when I first met him, he came across almost like a teenager, a little immature, impetuous, not very serious about living an adult life….

Neil got a bit upset with me over the last year and a half because I had been focusing so much on work that I really didn’t have time to go out and play golf. Close to 60 years old, he was already living a semi-retired lifestyle and he liked spending time with younger, sports-minded people. As I said, he was really very young at heart.

On the other hand, my life had changed substantially. My business was growing, my husband and I had bought a house and were preparing for our big move, and I was a little stressed out with all the things on my plate. And so I didn’t spend enough time with Neil….

So we had a bit of a fight about a year ago when it became apparent that Neil was upset with me that our casual friendship and our occasional golf games had dwindled. So we didn’t talk to each other for a long time…..

Until I heard from him again in the middle of February. He called me to tell me he had been diagnosed with a terminal illness: amyloidosis. Indeed a very rare disease where the body produces proteins that don’t dissolve, but rather get deposited in various organs such as the heart, the liver, the kidneys. He also told me that he was sorry for the silly misunderstanding that we had had and that he wanted to set things straight between us. I was glad he called.

Unfortunately, Neil’s disease was first misdiagnosed as a heart problem and the correct diagnosis came too late after the disease had already wreaked too much havoc in his body. When I met him in the hospital in February, he was very ill, had lost 50 pounds while his limbs were swollen with the liquid that is produced by the disease.

All he wanted to do is get well enough to hop on a plane to fly out to the West Coast to spend his last few months (or as it turned out, weeks) with his mom, nursing him in the last few weeks of his life.

I only had a chance to meet Neil very briefly, for about an hour, in the hospital, while days later he checked himself out and boarded a plane to British Columbia. He was in reasonably good spirits and even cracked jokes, as he always had. I told him I found it amazing that he was able to accept his situation, which he referred to as a “reverse lottery”, a disease so rare that only one in more than a million ever catches it. A disease that could have been treated, stopped and reversed, had it been diagnosed early enough.

Neil explained that he wasn’t religious and that sometimes “sh…. just happens”. He had completely resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have a very short time to live. And from what I could tell, he had few emotional dilemmas over it, at least by the time I met him. At that point he probably had had a few months to come to grips with his disease.

Well, at 9:27 pm tonight I got a call from his daughter, letting me know that Neil had passed away yesterday. She had been trying get out to British Columbia for 3 days, but due to the Jetsgo (a Canadian budget airline) bankruptcy she hasn’t been able to get a ticket and she was unable to see him before he passed away, two weeks earlier than expected.

Neil, we knew each other only for a relatively brief period of time and there were some bumps in the road……. But I hope you have a chance to play many rounds of golf where you are now. Farewell, my friend.

SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.

Hello from Quebec (Magog)

So I am sitting here at the Club Vacances Magog with the wind howling outside at 45+ km per hour and temperatures of about -15 to -20 degrees Celsius, windchill factor not included.

We drove up from Toronto last Saturday and it only took us about 6 hours to get to the town of Magog in Quebec's Eastern Townships. This area, l'Estrie, is located about 1 hour southeast of Montreal and very close to the Quebec - Vermont border. There are several fairly large lakes in the area: Lake Memphremagog being the largest, there is Lake Magog and there is also Lake Massawippi.

We had a pretty nice dinner Saturday night at a local restaurant in Magog called Jacko's. Sunday we took a nice drive around to places like North Hatley (a picturesque pioneer village), Lennoxville and we took a quick drive through the major city of the area, Sherbrooke.


North Hatley, Quebec.

Monday we went skiing at Mount Orford which is just outside the town of Magog. It is the largest one of the ski mountains in the area with an altitude of 986 meters and a vertical drop of 1770 feet. It was quite a nice mountain to ski on, but the top was covered in fog the whole day and it was very windy. We had to retreat mid-afternoonish because it got too cold.


Architecture in Sherbrooke.

Yesterday we went skiing at Owl's Head, towards the southern end of Lake Mephremagog. It also has a vertical of 1770 feet. Actually we enjoyed Owl's Head better than Orford and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays they offer incredible deals: $15 (Canadian!) for a whole day of skiing, apparently the best value for skiing in Eastern North America.

No skiing today though. It is simply too darn cold. The wind is howling and snow occasionally blows horizontally across the landscape. I had romantic notions of driving into Montreal today, but the cold weather would have ruined such an outing.


Mural in Sherbrooke.

So we hope to catch a bit more skiing and maybe some sightseeing in the next 3 days. Winter arrived late here in the Eastern Townships of Quebec this year, but it arrived with a vengeance.

SQ.

www.textronics.com

For more travel articles, advice, photos, interesting interviews &
the opportunity to win a cruise on the Amazon River
visit my website at www.travelandtransitions.com.