It seems the recent turmoil in the markets has the readers–or at least the editors–of the Wall Street Journal pondering less expensive ways to travel. Case in point: a recent article in the WSJ discussing the pros and cons of house swapping. The bulk of the story is a Q&A with Lois Sealey, who runs […]

The Korea Tourism Organization is making it easier for visitors to find accommodation options beyond hotels. An easy-to-search section of the KTO website includes lots of English-language details on unusual places to lay your head. For instance, there are links to over a dozen hanok–traditional Korean homes, usually featuring wide porches and sloping roofs–where you […]

Not surprisingly, given that it’s one of the America’s top tourist destinations–it drew 48.7 million visitors last year, including almost 800,000 Canadians–Orlando has thousands of vacation homes for rent. Vacation homes are a great option for two types of groups that flock to Orlando each year: families visiting the famous theme parks, and golfing buddies […]

A bit of shameless self-promotion here: travel journalist Bob Fisher recently interviewed me about my book “Wanderlust: A Social History of Travel” for his excellent website, Travelosophy. Here’s a link to the podcast.

Wherever I travel, I usually make a point of going into at least one grocery store. While comparing prices and checking out the unusual items on the shelves, I always learn a lot. (In Buenos Aires, I found no starker evidence of Argentina’s currency crisis than the imported Frosted Flakes selling for three times the […]

A new site, www.VacationRoost.com, targets travellers who are interested in making the jump from hotel rooms to vacation rentals but uncomfortable with the idea of renting someone’s actual home. The site’s 100,000 properties in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean include lots of purpose-built vacation condos in beach, ski and outdoorsy locations. The site emphasizes […]

Roomorama.com, the new peer-to-peer vacation rental and room sharing service, has expanded beyond New York City to Boston, Chicago and Toronto. Listings in my old hometown of Toronto are a bit meagre at the moment, with just 24 properties. As always with any rental or home-sharing site, it pays to ask lots of questions of the […]

Looking for a studio in Midtown or a temporary pied-a-terre in the West Village? Try Roomorama.com, a new peer-to-peer service that helps travellers find short-term apartment rentals and spare rooms in New York City. Properties include a Williamsburg house owned by an actor who appeared in “The Departed,” complete with its own Zen garden, for […]

Looking for a unique place to stay in Paris, and money is no object? For rates starting at a cool 430 euro (approximately $700 Canadian or U.S.) per night, you can hole up in a 1,050-square-foot houseboat in St. Germain, complete with grand piano. Like many houseboats, it will wobble a bit if a larger boat goes […]

The concept of vacation home rentals got a shot of publicity earlier this month from Barack Obama (perhaps you’ve heard of him?). The presumptive nominee rented an $8-million home in the Honolulu suburb of Kailua for a family holiday. Hey, when you don’t own a ranch in Texas or a seaside compound in New England, […]