Arranging a short-term rental of an apartment, house or cottage in a residential neighbourhood is one of my favourite ways to “feel like a local.” (Above is the apartment we rented for a week in Buenos Aires.) But the prospect can be a bit intimidating. Unlike booking a room at an international chain hotel through [...]

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Sightseeing Dodge the museum masses: There will always be crowds at the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay and other wildly popular museums. Head to these hot spots early in the morning to get a good spot in line (bring a book and be prepared to wait, unless it’s the middle of winter). Alternatively, try one of [...]

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For 20 years, I used single-lens reflex (SLR) film cameras, but I’ve been using various point-and-shoots since about 2002, waiting for the price of digital SLRs to come down. Recently, the wait ended. And now, as the proud new owner of a DSLR, I’m avid to reacquaint myself with all the bells and whistles an [...]

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Sorry I’ve been so incommunicado lately. I’ve been on holidays. I’m actually still out of the office for a few more days, but I came across some information on a travel writing workshop in New York’s Hudson Valley that I thought might interest some readers out there. The instructor is Bob Haru Fisher, a columnist [...]

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Looking for travel tips and ideas from fellow vagabonds? Not surprisingly, travel-focused social networking sites are springing up all over the place. Traveldudes is aimed at the backpacker crowd and, along with general travel tips, has numerous reviews of hostels, B&Bs and other accommodations. Members can post travel diaries as well. Dodo is a similar [...]

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Many travellers who arrive in a foreign destination without a vehicle head straight to the rental car counter at the airport. While that can be the best strategy in some situations–if you’re visiting a largely rural place, for instance–I’d argue that in many cases, you’re better off taking public transit. Depending on the place, it’s [...]

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It’s not easy being green, and it’s not easy blending in with the locals when you’re travelling, either–particularly if you’re surrounded by a very different culture. But camouflaging yourself can have all sorts of benefits. You’ll feel less conspicuous, so it will be easier to relax. You won’t stand out as a target for pickpockets [...]

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OK, I hear you saying. First she writes about some posh resort (see my post earlier today about reggaelates), and now she’s writing about bus tours? Isn’t this the blog for people who want to get beyond the usual tourist spots? Bear with me. These bus companies appear to go far beyond the usual “And [...]

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I’ve heard of people travelling from city to city as serial house sitters, but I’d never heard of someone doing so as a pet sitter…particularly when the “pets” in question include rabbits and chickens as well as the more common dogs and cats. But a recent story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune profiles Minnesotan Anne Estes, [...]

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The current online issue of The Atlantic Monthly includes an article by Lisa Abend on the charms of learning Euskera, the ancient Basque language that has no apparent links to any other tongue. Whenever I read about people studying a language–any language–abroad, I’m immediately gripped by a desire to run away to another culture. I [...]

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