Madeline's Messages

More about Rental Cars

2010-11-11T19:38:00.002-06:00

Why are rental cars so expensive? The price doesn't sound too bad when you rent it, but after airport facility fees and six or seven types of taxes are added, the prices for a compact car without power windows and door locks is horrendous! We have decided to drive our own car on our next vacation within the US - even paying two or three nights in a hotel room is much cheaper than renting a car at an airport. And we are not bound by airline reservations, so if we want to come home early, we can do so without paying the airlines a change fee. And the best reasons to drive yet -- no damaged luggage and no weight restrictions.

St. Maarten

2010-11-11T08:57:00.000-06:00

Sailing on the Sea Princess

2010-11-07T17:11:00.000-06:00

A Close Encounter with Hurricane Tomas

2010-11-06T19:49:00.010-05:00

On Saturday, October 30, as we were preparing to go ashore at Martinique on our southern Caribbean cruise on the Sea Princess, our captain came over the intercom in the cabins. We knew it was serious as the cabin intercoms were never used unless there was an emergency or something vital that the passengers needed to know. He told us that the stop at Martinique had been canceled because a hurricane had developed and was already threatening the eastern side of the island. The captain explained that he did not want the ship to be stationery during a threat of a hurricane. Instead, he headed the ship north as fast as it would go to escape potential high winds, heavy rains, and rough seas. The photo on the left shows the wake left as the ship headed north and we could see by the water that the ship was really traveling fast.

From our balcony on the back of the ship (we were upgraded to a suite two days before we left home) we could see the threatening skies and rain clouds behind us. The captain indicated that we might be able to stop at the island of Dominica, north of Martinique, but the port was closed. He continued north past the island of Guadeloupe where it was safe. The water had been quite rough near Martinique and Dominica but got smoother as the ship sailed north. Bill and I sat on our balcony and watched the water and the clouds.

That night the captain again spoke to us through our room intercoms. He told us about the damage in St. Lucia and let us know that we would not make our scheduled stop there on Sunday, October 31st. Instead, he would try to make a stop at Dominica and even had the shore excursion office schedule tours for Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, as the ship approached Dominica, there was such a swell that the port was not letting the pilot boats guide the Sea Princess into the port. The harbormaster said that the ship could try to dock without a pilot boat at the northern pier, but the captain decided that with the swells, he did not want to take a chance of damaging either the ship or the pier. He had even asked about going ahead to Barbados and getting there early so we could spent an afternoon there, but both the Princess home office and the Barbados authorities didn't think that was a good idea, so we spent another day at sea.

Saturday morning , I had removed my seasickness patch because the heat and the sweat had irritated the skin. Unfortunately on Saturday night, I had a horrible case of seasickness and ended up going to the ship's store to get Dramamine. I decided that I would rather have irritated skin than seasickness. At one point Saturday evening, the water was so rough that the flowers fell off the table in the living room of the suite. Fortunately they landed right side up.

We spent most of Sunday circling from the north to the south of the sea near Dominica. We were not even sure at that point that we would be able to sail to Barbados where we would leave the ship and fly back to Miami. Finally around 1:00 p.m., we started south and were able to continue and docked at Barbados early on Monday, November 1st.

Upon arriving at the Barbados airport, we discovered that, because of the storm, the American Airlines computers were down. They finally came back up, but we stood in line for almost two hours before we could get checked in. Unfortunately, the ticket counters in the Barbados airport are not in an air-conditioned area but rather in a big, open-air, shed-type facility, and it was extremely hot. We did make our flight to Miami, but I'm not sure that all of the people in the very long line got checked in in time to make the flight. The van driver who took us to the airport said that there was roof damage and power outages in Barbados, but St. Lucia got the worst of the damage.

When we booked this cruise over a year ago, we did not even think about hurricanes happening the last week of October. Of course this has been a very crazy weather year. We do appreciate the captain's watching out for the safety of his passengers.

Nickels and Dimes

2009-07-21T20:21:00.002-05:00

It seems as if the common carriers (airlines and cruise ships) want to nickel, dime, and dollar you to death. Take, for example, our last cruise. We thought it was all paid for. However, when we got our final bill, it was a shock. Sure, I like shopping on the ship, but $10.50 a night per person to tip all of the people who supposedly helped you? To me, this is just a way for the ship company to make extra money to pay the salaries of the crew. When we first went on cruises, we had envelopes given to us so we could give the cabin attendant and dining room staff tips. Now we can't even get good service in the dining room because the staff already knows they will be tipped, no matter how good or bad the service is. We always gave our cabin attendant extra because every one that we have had on the many cruises that we have taken has done a superior job. No wonder cruise ship jobs are so lucrative to people who are not US natives!

Shore excursions are another very expensive added expense. Why do you have to have a gourmet meal during a shore excursion? The restaurants on the shore excursions try to make the meal as ethnic as possible - then passengers get ill and are confined to their cabins for stomach problems caused by eating unfamiliar food. No wonder nobody would eat the chicken feet in China! And why do we get taken to very expensive shopping venues to purchase items that must be shipped home instead of going into the local marketplaces?

Up to now, we have not paid for luggage to fly either domestically or internationally. Now we are told by our airline that for our October trip overseas, we must pay $50.00 for a second checked bag. That defeats my purpose of taking the 22-inch carry-on onboard, putting a backpack in my large suitcase, checking the carry-on full of items we have purchased on the way home, and using the backpack as my carry-on. I just hope we can really squash Hard Rock bears in the one suitcase along with clothes, shoes, everything else we've bought, etc. Or we'll just have to shop less.

And you would think that you would get a gourmet meal on the plane for the price you have to pay for a turkey sandwich and can of Pringles. Think again!

We just need to remember that there are a lot of hidden costs in travel. And although we do pay a fee and a higher exchange rate, it is still good to get foreign money in the US - beats standing in line at airports to exchange money at even higher exchange rates than you originally paid in the US. You'll have your train or taxi fare in hand when you need it.

Very Thankful

2009-06-30T14:36:00.002-05:00

I am thankful that the delegation from my church who were supposed to spend 9 days in Honduras are safely back in the US. It must have been a harrowing experience to be in a country where the government was overtaken, knowing that you had to find your way home the easiest and fastest way possible. According to the emails and Facebook messages that I have received, the group left their location in the southwestern part of Honduras and rode in an old school bus traveling very fast over very mountainous roads. They were stopped at eight checkpoints and arrived at the Tegucigalpa airport only 10 minutes before the plane to Houston took off. One of the members said it was really scary for a soldier with an assault rifle to board the bus and demand to see your passport in a language you didn't understand.

Bill and I went on a mission trip to Honduras two years ago. Although we stayed in the capital and worked at a medical clinic, we were told to not even walk down the street unless we were in a large group. For a couple who walks in cities all over the world independently, this was quite a change. One night we decided to go to a fast-food restaurant across the street from our 5-star Marriott and quickly changed our minds. I am not used to being in a place where all businesses have an armed guard and the majority of buildings have razor wire on them.

The best part of the trip was seeing the people of Honduras and helping them. These people are so thankful for our help. One lady was so happy with the used eyeglasses that she got that she gave all of the ladies in the group a gift. Mine was a crocheted doorknob hanger in the shape of a dress and it now occupies a prominent place in my china cabinet. The children are precious. You can see my video for Honduras at http://www.mlbuchanan.com/Honduras2007.wmv. The video is also on YouTube under my name Read2gro for those people who cannot access .wmv files. We taught them Bible lessons at the clinic and they were so excited to go home with a Jesus puppet made out of a paper bag. We went to the hospital with stuffed animals for the children who were patients and the parents swarmed around us to get them. This makes me very appreciative of what I have in the United States.

I hope that in the future, this military action in Honduras does not prevent Americans from going down there to help the people and to teach them about God. It is a very rewarding experience to be able to help others.

Cruises

2009-06-23T19:51:00.004-05:00

We have taken cruises to many different parts of the world. While cruising is not the ideal way to see the interiors of countries, it does have some advantages. One is that you are in the same room each night and don't have to drag luggage from hotel to hotel. Another is that you can get food on board the ship so you don't have to worry about local cuisine and its problems. Many times you don't even have to change money into local currencies because the ports will take American dollars.

However, there are disadvantages of cruising besides the fact that it is hard to see the interiors of countries. Although food is available at all times, you do get tired of it, especially if you are on a long cruise. I am not a fan of ethnic eating and on the last cruise, it seemed as if you had very little choices, even in the buffet, besides the food of the country that the ship was featuring that night. I am one of the only people who loses weight on a cruise because I find the desserts, although very plentiful, too rich for me.

Shore excursions are very expensive. It is no fun to sit on a crowded bus where the air conditioning doesn't work properly to see cities four hours away from the ship. It is also interesting to note that you are usually taken to very expensive souvenir shops on the tour where someone profits instead of being allowed to shop the local markets. On one tour in Marrakech, we were taken to one of those expensive shops where few people purchased items; yet were rushed through the souks where we would have enjoyed bargaining with the local merchants. Also the tours guides that are on the shore excursions may be great guides or may be mediocre - it's just the bus you are assigned to that determines who your guide may be. See my post on tour guides a while back.

Lunch on shore excursions can be an interesting experience. The tour companies try to make the food served indicative of the native cuisine. That is fine in Israel, where we were served regular meats and vegetables raised on a kibbutz, but in China, it is a different story. I always like to know what I am eating and how it is seasoned. A sample menu should be provided along with excursion information.

Embarking and disembarking can be the best or worst part of the cruise depending on port regulations. I loathe being forced out of my room on disembarkation day only to sit in a public area for three hours waiting for my color to be called. Most of the time embarkation is not a problem but once someone in line let an entire busload of people get ahead of us and another time we had to wait outside in the hot sun for over a hour.

We have chosen anytime dining on our past two cruises. This means that we supposedly eat when we want and with whom we want to eat. However, to get a table for two means making a reservation first thing in the morning. Otherwise you will get stuck with someone who takes the entire time to go through one course. And the waiters won't start the next course until everyone has finished the present course. I am just not in the habit of taking two hours to finish a meal. After a 9-hour tour, it is a lot easier to eat in the buffet, where you get the same food as in the formal dining room, just not the presentation. Fine with me.

Balcony cabins are great. You can take pictures as you come into port, sit outside in privacy, and have a great window to view the ocean. But you can look out over someone else's balcony or they can look down over yours, depending on the architecture of the ship. And 90% of the time, your balcony is near that of a person who smokes the smelliest cigar ever known to man.

You think you got a deal on your cruise? You will think again when you see your shipboard account at the end of the cruise. In addition to your expensive short excursions, bargains from the gift shop that you couldn't do without, and the cost of soft drinks and bottled water (if you forget to purchase it in port on the previous stop), the cruise line tacks on a daily resort fee that is usually $10.50 to $11.00 per person per day. It can get expensive on a longer cruise. Some people have shipboard bills higher than what they actually paid for the cruise, especially if they spend a lot of time in the lounges (which we don't).

I do enjoy cruises. I like someone else making the bed, cleaning the bathroom, and cooking my free food. I like looking out at the ocean. I like going to bed at night feeling the rocking of the ship (if it isn't too much). But the points above are points to consider when booking your next sea vacation.

You Can Get Help Sometimes

2009-06-11T20:35:00.002-05:00

Travel is fun, but there are also problems associated with it such as late planes which are usually very crowded, lost luggage, and other incidents which I have mentioned in my blogs. However, on recent trip to Europe, we encountered several outstanding airline employees whom I want to mention because of their positive attitudes of helping passengers out in times of need.

In March, I went to Paris to visit a relative. I really dreaded coming back through Charles de Gaulle airport because of the problems my husband and I had trying to board our flight. I made sure I got to the airport in plenty of time for my 9:00 a.m. flight - even taking an expensive taxi rather than the train (mainly because Daylight Savings Time took effect the night before and I didn't want to be in the RER tunnels at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday). Air France has really improved their international flight process and it was very easy checking in.

Oops! When I checked in I forgot that I had two jars of Mirabella jelly in my carry-on. Of course security would not let me take those on the plane. I went back to Air France's check-in area to see if I could get my luggage back. Of course they said no. I explained my dilemma and they told me I could check my carry on, which, unfortunately, was one of those bags that you fold up when you leave home and open up when you buy too many souvenirs to put in your suitcase. I was very worried but the personnel actually took the jelly jars, wrapped them in several layers of plastic as well as the extra clothes that I had in my carry-on, put the bag in two sturdy plastic bags, and checked them. When I got to Atlanta, everything was fine. Since I had to open my checked luggage for my heavy coat after Customs and before rechecking it for my connecting flight, I put the plastic bag with the jelly in my checked luggage. Guess who had a TSA card in my suitcase when I got home.

In May, we flew to Portugal to get on a cruise. When we got to Atlanta, we found out that the connecting flight to Newark, where we had to go to get our Lisbon flight, was over two hours late. Consequently, we would miss our connection. I went to the Continental ticket counter where I received excellent service from an employee who spent over a hour trying to find an alternate solution. She was successful, although we got to Lisbon late in the afternoon instead of mid-morning. She also told me how to make sure my luggage got on the correct flight and when we arrived in Lisbon, our luggage arrived, too. Unfortunately, some of the items in the luggage got wet because of a storm in Atlanta while we were waiting for our new flight (I'm sure the checked baggage was in the carts on the tarmac waiting to be loaded) but I was so glad to have the suitcases that I didn't complain. After all, it was easy to spread the clothes out in the hotel room to dry.

I applaud airline employees who go the extra mile for passengers. It makes a trip a much more positive experience.

Watch Out!

2009-02-13T20:50:00.004-06:00

The worst part of any trip out of the United States is trying to re-enter the United States. I'm not really talking about the customs process itself, but the attitude of people in other countries who make you feel like a criminal for just wanting to get home.

After checking a piece of luggage on your way out of the United States, you are directed to take it to a large scanning device so it can be x-rayed to make sure that you don't have any forbidden articles in it. On a recent trip, my luggage was opened and searched, but fortunately I did not find out about it until I opened it later on and found a little card from the TSA letting me know that my bag was one of those picked for searching (probably because of the toiletries I had in it). However, leaving another country to re-enter the United States is another story. Several times we have had to stand in long lines only to have the luggage that we wanted to be checked hand searched only after the searcher put on rubber gloves to make sure that he or she didn't pick up any diseases from our dirty underwear and other clothing that filled our suitcases.

At a recent hand check of carry-on luggage after the scanner at security saw something weird, the searcher mentioned scissors that I carried in a cosmetic bag. It was only after I showed her the scissors had a dull point that I was allowed to re-pack it. She did take my sewing kit and safety pins, which had survived many other trips, and wanted to take my alarm clock. Now why would a simple sewing kit, safety pins, and an alarm clock be dangerous? Fortunately I got to keep the alarm clock but I had a bad taste in my mouth for being hassled like that.

Why can't the countries of the world unite in deciding what is permissible to take on a plane with you? Why can we take a bottle of water purchased after we go through security in the United States and why can we take an opened bottle of water purchased anywhere in Mexico on a domestic flight, only to have it taken away before boarding the plane that will take you to the U.S.? In Europe, you can buy water and have it put in a sealed bag to take on the plane, but I had a hassle with the representatives of another country and finally produced a doctor's card which said I had had stomach surgery and had to have water with me. This bottle of water was taken away at U.S. customs when I arrived in the U.S. but at least I could buy another in the airport for my final flight home.

It is really hard to pack to visit other countries because you never know what is allowed and what is not. I can imagine how our enemies are laughing at us behind our backs because of the hassles we go through before we reach the friendly skies.

Traveling Light

2009-01-22T15:57:00.002-06:00

In March, I will get a real experience in traveling light. I will be going to France for a few days to visit a relative and since I am traveling alone, it is imperative that I take as little as possible. It is very hard for someone who weighs under 110 pounds to be loaded with multiple bags to try to carry on a plane, through the Atlanta and Charles de Gaulle airports, and on the RER and metro system in Paris. Therefore I pledge to take one 18-inch carry-on and 1 large healthy back bag for my three nights in Paris.

Fortunately, there are clothes made for travelers that do not wrinkle and can be washed and hung to dry overnight without problems. Unfortunately, these clothes are a little heavier than twill pants but fortunately not as heavy as jeans. I have pants in several colors since I also wear them for dress occasions and they are comfortably large, since they don't come in a size smaller than Chico's Size 0 (regular size 4-6). I hope I can squeeze an extra pair of shoes in my luggage as well as makeup, toiletries, sleeping attire, underwear, etc.

Fortunately I have been to Paris before and know where I am going. Last time I went alone I had no problems with a backpack and a 21-inch carry-on going over there but when I went to board the plane to return to the U.S., the official told me I would have to check one of them because the backpack was too large and too full to be considered a personal item. I had several things in the backpack that I definitely did not want to leave at the mercy of U.S. Airways (we had had problems before with checked luggage coming through Charles de Gaulle) so I ended up going to the restroom and completely repacking. Fortunately I had a small healthy back bag in my luggage that I had used as a daypack so I was able to get everything in that and the backpack and check the 21-inch. When I got to Philadelphia, I was able to get it to take as a carry-on on the plane back to Alabama since it would have to go underneath the communter plane anyway. I was very appreciative of this since I wanted to change clothes before leaving Philadelphia. I don't think there will be a problem with an 18-inch (I hope)

My husband and I are also going to try to travel light on our next cruise. He now has a travelers sport coat that he can use for the formal nights (of course I will use my traveler's clothes as well) which will eliminate a garment bag (it was amazing how his garment bag and best sport coat was torn going through Charles de Gaulle in 2003). We will try to take only what is needed and not what we think we need. I will let you know if we succeed.

More about Luggage

2008-12-04T18:13:00.005-06:00

When you are planning a trip, it is very important to think about the luggage that you will carry. After all, it is thrown around by airport luggage carriers, poked into by TSA, and pushed into overhead bins much too small for its bulk. You also need to think of your destination, the weather, clothing that is acceptable for your destination, and how you will deal with it once it is in your two hands.

My husband is always telling me that we take too much on our trips; that we have only two hands and don't need any more pieces than that. This is very true when you get to a luggage carousel and you find that your luggage has been unloaded and is somewhere in a pile with other people's belongings. We always make the mistake of having so much that we have to get a cart to haul it through customs and security and then end up leaving a coat or sweater behind. A word of warning - a cart is a big hindrance especially when everyone else in line has a full cart as well.

I do not buy expensive luggage. Why spend a fortune for designer luggage when it is going to get scratched, mauled, torn, rained on, and bent. And what should you do to identify your black luggage from everyone else's black luggage. We finally learned to tie a ribbon or a luggage strap around the bags we take to identify them from others' black suitcases. This doesn't always work because everyone else has the same idea that we have.

The airlines say that I can carry on a bag of a certain size as well as a personal item. Most of the time, my 21-inch bag has to be squeezed in the overhead bin, especially if I put something in the outside pockets. I learned that a large healthy back bag will give me enough space for necessities that I just must have on the plane. If I take my laptop, I can also put personal items inside its case and still have two good-sized places to have my necessities with me. The only problem is that if we're in an airport trying to eat or shop, we always have to be sure to keep our eyes on our belongings.

One of the problems about traveling in a car is that you are not limited to what you can take. This is great, except when we travel by car, we are usually staying in a different hotel every night which means that we make multiple trips to the car, sometimes up the one slow elevator that the hotel operates, to get all of our stuff. And of course, everything has to come inside since the hotels say they are not responsible for items left in the car.

Wheeled luggage is the best invention ever unless you happen to pull it over someone's feet. It is a lot easier to roll a suitcase down a concourse than to try to carry it. But it is very hard to close the door on a restroom stall if you are dragging a 21-inch bag behind you - there just isn't space for a person and a bag to move out of the way so the door will shut freely. And it is almost impossible to try to roll two bags at the same time. I have never been able to master using the luggage strap on the largest piece to securely hold the smaller piece without both of them tipping over. And wheeled luggage is not too great when you have to use a crowded elevator, an escalator, or stairs, because it is always in the way.

Wouldn't it be great if we didn't need so many necessities when we travel? Our son can go over two weeks with a daypack and large backpack. We need to take his advice - pack what you think you need and take half of it out.

Problems with Rental Cars

2008-12-02T16:14:00.002-06:00

We don't always take cruises or trips abroad when we travel. There are times when we want to see new parts of the U.S.A. When we do this, we usually fly to a destination and rent a car to go to the mountains, beaches, Disney World, or any other overcrowded tourist area that everyone else wants to go to as well.

We used to rent the smallest, cheapest car available with automatic transmission and air conditioning. This was before we made a round-trip drive from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon and back in one day in a Mitsubishi Mirage with no cruise control. Now we rent a compact car and let AAA upgrade us to a larger car so we can be comfortable while riding along seeing our beautiful country.Rental cars are not without problems. We try to request a non-smoking car because who wants to drive for miles in a car that stinks inside. One time we rented an SUV at home to drive to Branson, Missouri, and had to vacuum dog hair off the seats before we could even sit down.

On our last trip to Yellowstone, we had two car problems. The first was that after we waited in line for a while to check in and even upgraded, we were told that there were no cars cleaned up and we would have to wait for one to be cleaned, probably about 20 minutes (which stretched into over a hour). The second problem was that when the tires got hot, a Check Tire Monitor light came on with an accompanying beep. We went to the closest Walmart and got the tires checked, but had to listen to the annoying warning sound every time the tires got hot. Fortunately we could turn it off.

Cars are supposed to be checked thoroughly and cleaned before they are rented out again. Then why was the windshield washer fluid container completely empty on one car that I rented? Why did I have to put air in the tires? And isn't a gas tank supposed to be full, not 3/4 full when you rent it?Unless I know that I am going to use a full tank of gas, I never let the rental company charge me for a full tank up front. It is hard to really empty a gasoline tank and I usually end up giving quite a bit to the rental company when I turn in the car. I can usually find a service station close to the airport to fill up myself and I usually try to put a little more in after the pump clicks off so the gauge reads full when I return it.

I don't like General Motors cars, which most of the rental companies use for their lowest rental rates. They have a huge steering wheel, are full of blind spots, and the back window is so slanted that all I have is a slit to look through when I want to see behind me. Why did Hertz get rid of the Taurus? I liked driving that model. And I must say that Hertz was very nice when I had steering problems with an sub-compact and was 70 miles away from the airport - they brought me a Taurus that distance and did not charge me. They also let me keep a Taurus an extra day at weekend rates when I had to stay in Louisiana an extra day because of a hurricane.

Although we have been told we don't have to do so, we do take the collision insurance, even though it is expensive. Who wants a vacation ruined if you have an accident and have problems with your own insurance company who may be over 1000 miles away. We had a windshield cracked one time before we even left the airport property and when we returned the car, they said that we had no obligation since we had taken their insurance. When you compare the cost of the insurance with your own deductible, there isn't much difference and you do have peace of mind when driving in a strange area. Some car rental companies go over the car with a fine-tooth comb to find all of the scratches and dents on it so they can charge you for new dings and scratches when you return it. I don't want to worry so much about the car that I don't enjoy my vacation.

And why do car rental companies lock both keys to the car on the same key ring? My husband and I would each like to carry a key for safety reasons. At one time, the customer was given one key and the office kept the other. That made more sense.Turning in a car is much easier than getting one. A staff member has a hand-held computer which computes everything that you agreed upon when you rented the car (and maybe some items that you didn't agree upon). Be sure to check your statement before leaving the area.

And don't let a kea in New Zealand destroy the rubber around the door. This is what happened to one of my Australian friends who opened his door while waiting to enter a one-way tunnel.

I'm Having a Bad Hair Day!

2008-11-29T08:29:00.004-06:00

Most people do not worry about how they look on vacation. After all, they will never see the people that they meet again. Most of the time I feel the same way. Then why must I take makeup, three brushes, a hair dryer, special shampoo, and hair-styling essentials, even though I will probably never use them?

At one time, I had short hair and it was very convenient to blow dry it with whatever type of dryer the hotel or cruise ship provided because it always looked neat. Now with my naturally curly longer hair, I have a big decision each day - should I let it dry curly or should I blow it out straight. Even if I spend a lot of time styling it to perfection, the minute I go outside, the wind will restyle it for me, regardless of the hold feature of the hair spray that I used that morning. And of course most hair products don't come in travel-sized containers that are approved for carry-on so I must put them in my checked bags and hope the bag arrives safely at my destination. Travel-sized hair spray cans are very expensive and do not hold enough product for a two-week trip if I use it once or twice every day.

Makeup is another big concern - do I need it or not? It is always recommended that you apply products containing sunscreen on exposed parts of your body, especially in sunny climates. I found this out the hard way in Estonia, thinking it was too far north to worry about sun protection. Lip products containing sunscreen are better than regular lipstick, especially if you are fever-blister prone like I am. And why use eye makeup when your eyes are going to be hidden by sunglasses or transition lenses? And of course with makeup, you also have to take specialized cleaning products to remove it at night. And woe to you if you perspire freely because all of those foundations and tinted moisturizers will run down your face and neck and stain your clothes that you probably won't wash until you get home.

Beauty products are essential for formal nights on cruises or if you're going to church on Sunday while traveling, but that's about it. I have been on trips where I never used the makeup I brought with me. There are times I never use a hair dryer either. After all, you will never see the people you meet on a trip again so why worry about how you look?

Luggage

2008-11-27T19:23:00.006-06:00

Luggage, or too much of it, is a big concern by travelers and passengers alike. Once upon a time, people were able to check two or more suitcase and carry on two bags, plus a purse, laptop case, briefcase, etc. No longer is this true. Now it is wise to make sure your luggage is the proper weight and size before leaving home or you may have an unpleasant surprise when you get to the airport.

We were (and probably still are) guilty of trying to pack everything as well as the kitchen sink. We would try to pack for all types of weather. This is why we had winter clothes when it was 107 degrees in Moscow, and only a light jacket for March in Amsterdam. I am very thankful for all of the "traveler's" clothes on the market today because at least you don't spend a lot of your vacation ironing clothes that wrinkled in route.

I have one suitcase that perpetually seems to be overweight when we are coming back, no matter what we try to do. It is a boxy 26-inch Atlantic with extra space that can be unzipped on the lid to give us even more of a chance for excess weight. Of course at the time it was impossible to weigh suitcases when you weren't at home. We have had to go into a corner and switch items from suitcase to suitcase to carry-on to try to get the weight down. Fortunately, we now have a portable scale that we can take on trips so we can weigh the luggage at the hotel before leaving for the airport.

One time in France, I was told that I could not take my backpack and my 21-inch carry-on bag because my backpack was too big. It also doubled as my purse. I ended up going into the restroom and completely repacking since I had items in my 21-inch bag that were irreplaceble gifts and didn't want to trust them to the unfriendly skies of my aircraft carrier. I got the last laugh twice concerning this matter. In my backpack, I had a healthy back bag which I stuffed with all of the items I needed as well as those I thought I needed during the flight. When I got to the first US destination and was going through customs, I was permitted to take the bag I had checked since the remainder of my flight was on a commuter plane and the bag had to go underneath anyway. I was thankful for this because it gave me a chance to change clothes.

In the past, I have come home with more bags than I left with. In Australia, I bought so many stuffed animals and puppets that they wouldn't all fit in my suitcase. A friend was throwing away an old suitcase and I asked her if I could throw it away in the United States because I needed it for all the furry creatures that I had. I also bought a bag on a cruise ship after I bought a silk comforter in China which wouldn't fit in my overweight-prone suitcase with my too-many clothes and extras that I absolutely needed while away from home. Now I would have to pay extra for these additional pieces of luggage.

My husband is always telling me to pack light. He says that we only have two hands and do not need any more to carry than what we can comfortably handle. Our son can go on a two-week trip with only a large backpack and a daypack and get along fine. Now that we have such strict regulations on checked luggage, maybe his warnings will finally sink in. Just so we don't go to Italy in the winter any more with only a light fleece jacket.

Now, what did I forget that I absolutely need? Is it my laptop when there are Internet cafes everywhere in Europe? 2000 watt hair dryer that is absolutely not supposed to run on anything but 110 volt electricity? Three hairbrushes and three types of frizz-controlling serum? Enough medicines to fill a pharmacy? The list goes on and on.

Hotels

2008-11-25T17:25:00.009-06:00

Because we spend a lot of time traveling, we also spend a lot of time in hotels. In the United States, we have stayed in all types of hotels from the most expensive to budget. In Europe, we usually rely on our travel agency to help us get the best accommodations. However, there are still times when we have to assert ourselves once we actually get to the hotel.

There are two times in Europe where we have had to stand our ground. In Amsterdam, we were given a room that reeked of marijuana. We went back to the front desk and told them that we had requested a non-smoking room. The desk clerk argued that our travel agent had booked a regular room and we had not paid for a non-smoking room; if we wanted one, it would cost us 25 Euros more. We gladly paid it. I could not have spent two days in the marijuana-scented room. Another time was in Paris where we were told that the hotel was full and we were to be transferred to another. We had spent the last hour dragging our suitcases through the Paris metro system and then walking two blocks to the hotel so we were in no mood to hear this excuse. We finally got a room and believe it was right over the kitchen because it was so warm. Also we found out that the hotel was full of American teenagers on their spring break tour of Europe.

On another trip to Paris, my room was over a bar. And of course it wasn't air conditioned so I had to keep the window open, letting in noise and mosquitoes. And staying in a room facing an alley in London during a heat wave wasn't too pleasant, either. Fortunately, the room did provide a fan.

Connecting doors and thin walls bother me. No, I don't want to hear the baby crying or the toddler whining in the next room. And I don't want to know the personal life of the couple whose bed is head to head with ours. I'm not interested in hearing someone else's television going at midnight. And why would someone be taking a two-hour bath at 2:00 a.m.?

Please make sure the rooms are visited periodically by an exterminator so ants will not feast on a guest's leftover goodies during the night. Once we even had ants get into our cat's food. I know that flies will get into the rooms when you hold open the door to bring in your suitcases, but ants and roaches don't need to come in as well.

I like hotels that will check you in early, even if the check-in time isn't until 3:00 and you have just arrived from an all-nighter over the Atlantic. And I like rooms where the Internet service is easy to connect to, the plumbing doesn't drip, and the air conditioning keeps the room at the right temperature. I don't like hotels with running toilets, spotty Internet service, and inadequate lighting. And please put in more than one very slow elevator that is large enough for a guest and his or her luggage.

I also like hotels with cheap internet pricing that don't charge your credit card until 6:00 p.m. on the day of arrival. High on my list are hotels that give you a free breakfast with enough food to call it a breakfast, and that have enough food for the guests who decide to sleep late even if the early-leaving tour group members eat more than their share. And a special hats off to the hotels who monitor the batteries in their smoke detectors.

The "Friendly" Skies

2008-11-18T17:07:00.005-06:00

Because of all the traveling that we have done, we have spent a lot of time in airports and airplanes. The longest flight we took was from Los Angeles, California to Sydney, Australia - 14 hours nonstop. You eat, you watch a movie, you sleep, you wake up, and you discover that you still have at least 8 or 9 hours to go to your destination.

Flying used to be a pleasant adventure. Now flying is an adventure, but usually not at all pleasant. The first hurdle takes place when you get to the airport. After waiting in line to check in and having your suitcase weighed, you have to take your suitcase back and around to a security device that makes sure it is safe for travel. Then comes security - showing your ticket and ID and hoping that everything you packed in your carry-on meets TSA guidelines. I don't like taking off my shoes and walking through security in sock feet so I usually wear sandals and go through barefoot - at least I can go in the restroom and wash my feet before boarding the plane.

There are several things that bother me after I get on the plane, especially on long flights. One is when people don't stay in their seats and clog the aisles talking to people seated near me. I don't appreciate having someone's rear in my face while they engage in social chitchat. Another is children running up and down the aisles. What if there is turbulence? And pets on planes? On one trip, the dog belonging to the people seated behind us whined loudly when put in his cage. It seemed that his tranqulizer did the opposite of what it was supposed to. The flight attendant finally told the owner that the rest of us had a right to get some sleep and to bring the dog to the galley. I think the dog spent the rest of the flight there. And we must not forget the crying babies, the loud children, and of course, the slow restroom lines.

Question: Why should passengers sit for hours with the leftovers of their meal in front of them? It seems to take forever for some flight attendants to come back and pick up the trays. They serve dinner and drinks, then coffee, then coffee again, etc. before coming back to pick up remains.

My real pet peeve on a plane is when the flight attendant asks everyone to pull down the window shades so people can see the movie. What if I am not interested in the movie and want to look out the window?

And don't forget the end of the trip. Why is it that people who are in a hurry to board a plane, don't have connections, and who want the seats in the front are the slowest when it comes to getting off?

And in the airport again? Why do they have 25 stations for customs officials and only 5 are staffed? Hopefully all of your luggage arrived with you and that getting ground transportation isn't too much of a hassle. We've checked in at car rental counters and then had to wait over an hour to get our car, which was reserved months in advance.

Now that you've cleared the hurdles of getting there, have a great stay at your destination.

Souvenirs

2008-11-08T17:52:00.008-06:00

When we first started traveling, we would go into souvenir shops and buy souvenirs to take back home. Then we realized that when we got home, most of the souvenirs would end up in a drawer or closet and we would never look at them again. We started rethinking our souvenir strategy and decided to buy only those items which we would use or which we would be proud to display in our home. We also try to buy only those souvenirs which are made in or are unique to that country.

When we started cruising, we noticed the plethora of jewelry that is available in any port wherever you stop in the Caribbean, Alaska, or Mexican Riviera. Sometimes you even get great deals on your jewelry. We also noticed that cruise companies have favorite merchants that they want their passengers to use. I enjoyed buying Star of David pendants in Israel because that meant a lot to me. I had a cartouche with my name in hieroglyphics shipped to me from the ship's jewelry shop. This was because I was able to get better quality and know what I was getting instead of going to one of the ship's choice of souvenir stores. At least jewelry doesn't take up a lot of space in a carry-on bag or purse and doesn't add weight to your luggage. My students tell me that I like to wear my souvenirs when they see me with jewelry that I bought during my travels.

The natives of any country that you visit make it very convenient for you to purchase their product. At many ports, they have markets set up or are on the dock showing you their items. Sometimes they get downright pushy, as in Egypt, shoving postcards in your face. After a long day in Cairo, it was all we could do to walk from the bus to the ship because of the merchants blocking our path trying to sell us merchandise. It was late, we were hungry, and shopping was the last thing we wanted to do. We waited until the next port where the sellers were not as pushy.

You have to be careful when buying souvenirs. Of course in China, you want items made in China. I have a beautiful silk comforter and robe that I treasure. But you still don't want to buy cheap, poorly-made items. In other countries, you don't want to buy anything made in China; you want to purchase items made in that country. By the way, I had to buy another piece of luggage to get the comforter home. Fortunately they weren't charging for a second suitcase at that time.

Of course souvenir merchants know how gullible their customers are and that's why they are in business. I was glad to see a souvenir shop selling sweat shirts in Queenstown, New Zealand. I thought it was summer there and it was cold that far south. I still wear that shirt 10 years later. In Australia on that same trip, I bought so many animal puppets that I had a "borrow" a suitcase from a friend who was throwing one away.

The merchants in almost all countries love taking American money or credit cards for their merchandise. The only exception was Croatia, who wouldn't take either dollars or Euros. Just be sure to notify your bank that you will be traveling abroad. We ran into trouble in Turkey and had to go to the ship to call our bank to let them know that our transactions were OK.

Visiting Relatives

2008-11-07T18:02:00.006-06:00

Bill and I usually don't plan our trips around visiting relatives, but meeting relatives on my mother's side in France was a highlight of our French trip. Previously, I had gone to Paris by myself (a feat of bravery) to visit a then 90-year-old cousin of my mother's who has compiled a very thorough and accurate family history. I wanted to meet with him while his health was still good and he was still able to remember things about the family. A year later my husband and I visited France again and were able to visit my grandmother's birthplace, Duppigheim, a small village outside of Strasbourg. It was very exciting to see where my grandmother grew up and to visit the Jewish cemetery, where our cousin was thrilled that the grave markers had not been destroyed by the Germans. We then took a train to Paris where Bill was able to meet our family historian.

We have also visited relatives in Brussels, Belgium, who are very delightful. During our visit, we were able to see another couple from Bordeaux, France, who had previously visited us in the United States. They were surprised when we said that there were no guards at our Jewish temples and synagogues in our country.

In my great-grandmother's family, five of the nine children came to this country and four stayed in France. The relatives that we met on our trip are descendants of those who stayed. Over 50 were killed during the Holacaust and several hid in the mountains until it was safe to return. One interesting story is that of the historian's niece, who is my generation. Her father and mother were warned that the Nazis were in the village where they fled, asking about Jewish people there. They put their son in a Catholic convent and left the daughter, who was an infant and very sick at the time, with a woman in another village, and disappeared until it was safe for them to return. Maurice, the historian, is still alive because he spent all of World War II in a German prison.

My father's family is from Lithuania and I would love to visit there one day. Many of his relatives were also affected by the Holacaust.

Ancient Ruins

2008-11-05T19:06:00.005-06:00

You cannot travel around the Mediterranean without seeing ruins of the ancient civilizations that once called this area their home. People in Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and Italy are very proud of their ruins that let others know about how ancient their history really is. We in the United States have an extremely brief history compared to the people in that part of the world. Some civilizations, such as the ancient Egyptian civilization, is even mentioned in the Old Testament!

In Greece, the Acropolis, which houses the Parthenon, and the Temple of Zeus teaches us how advanced these people were. Today, the Greeks are so proud of their history that they are spending a lot of money trying to reinforce these old ruins so they won't crumble into dust. The ruins of Ephesus tell us that people even around the time of Christ had very advanced medical care, shopping, entertainment, and knowledge. Egypt is very proud of the Roman ruins that they have excavated; in fact, they found an old ampitheatre when they were getting ready to build the foundation of a new building, so they abandoned the new structure and excavated the entire ampitheatre, and made it a place for viewing. Athens stopped building an air vent for a subway when builders found ruins and now they have the ruins on display.

Americans do not seem to be as proud of their historical buildings. For example, the Birmingham train depot, a magnificent structure, was torn down to make room for an expressway. The Birmingham News building was torn down for a parking lot. What will Americans have to show future generations about their ancient history?

Zapped by Electricity

2008-11-04T13:23:00.003-06:00

Electricity in other countries is not like electricity in the United States. The currents are 220 volts (the same as a clothes dryer or electric stove in the U.S.) and the plugs may be small round holes, large round holes, or slits slanted toward each other. The plugs in England are huge, just like your dryer plug at home. The only appliance that I have had any luck with overseas is the battery charger to my Sony digital camera, which works on both 110 and 220 volts. However, I did have to have the correct plug to fit into the wall. All of this makes me think twice before taking anything electrical overseas.

Laptops are a no-no. I have taken mine on a plane to places in the United States and to Honduras on a mission trip, but they can be a pain in the neck. You have to take it out of its bag going through security and you can't use it for internet in most airports without paying for it. Cities overseas have numerous internet cafes which allow you to check your messages for a very cheap price. Yes, some of the keyboards very from ours, but there is usually a helpful assistant in the internet cafe who can help you. Some hotels have computers where you can check internet free or for a very low price. Cruise ships have internet cafes and, although they are not cheap, they are very convenient and you can buy a package that gives you a certain number of minutes. Don't take a chance ruining your laptop. Even electronics store personnel don't always know the correct plug/adapter combination to use overseas.

I have a new hair dryer that works on both voltages if I can get the screw to turn from 110 to 220. However, most hotels overseas have hairdryers, even if they don't put out the heat that mine does at home. I guess I'll just go around with frizzy hair since the wind will get it anyway. Cruise ships don't really want you to use powerful hair dryers since they tax the electrical capacity that the ship has to generate. I almost burned up a hair dryer in Australia trying to use it with the converter.

For a while, I had to use a nebulizer. I couldn't use it for two days in Beijing since I didn't have the converter or plug for it and couldn't wait on the last day to get to the ship so I could plug it up. Beijing is very polluted which played havoc with my asthma.

So it is better to leave your converter at home and use the appliances provided by hotels and computers that are manufactured for the foreign currents. After all, you will probably never see the people you meet again so don't worry about your hair. And all of this electrical stuff does take up room and add weight to your suitcase.

Tour Guides

2008-11-03T17:59:00.009-06:00

You come into contact with numerous tour guides when you travel as much as we do. Even if you are traveling independently instead of with an organized tour from start to finish, taking a local tour is the best way to see some of the sites unless you want to rent a car and drive there yourself (and I don't recommend renting a car because the traffic is horrendous in some of the countries we have visited). I would rather put my trust in someone who knows the area and is familiar with the streets and traffic patterns.

Tour guides come in many shapes and sizes and with different personalities. One of my favorites was a young Chinese man in Dalian, China, just starting out in the tourism business. He had a delightful personality and everyone loved him. He gave me his email address and I am still corresponding with him; he calls me his American mama. The tour guide in Beijing, China, had retired from the Chinese tourist association but still guided tours when he was needed. He was very knowledgeable about Chinese history and customs, and was very good at keeping us away from beggars and pickpockets during a crowded tourist season. The tour guide that took us to Nazareth and Galilee was a Jewish man, but whose knowledge of Jesus and his ministry was fantastic. The guide that we had in Aruba was great and even sympathized with us when we told her we were from Birmingham, the same area where Natalee Holloway was from.

Some tour guides can be very annoying. For example, the one we had in Taiwan had a habit of repeating the last sentence that he said. After a few hours, we were tired of this. The tour guide that took us to Stonehenge filled in the time when he was not giving us facts with trivia, when all we wanted to do was rest or sleep. He also had a habit of rolling his r's to show off to make us think he was a typical upper-crust Englishman. The guide in Split, Croatia, spoke in a monotone that sounded like a child in school memorizing a piece of poetry. She also used "uh" in about every other sentence and had no interaction with the people on her tour. The Russian tour guide was very cold and would not let us stop to use the restroom in the airport - her answer was "use the one on the plane." You can imagine the poor flight attendants trying to work around the line in the aisle.

I have some advice for tour guides. You are, in fact, a teacher and you are teaching visitors about the country that you are so very proud of. Be aware that you have a captive audience on a bus full of people who are usually jet lagged, have had too much to eat, or who have not slept well in strange beds. Let them know that they are welcome and give them a reason to want to hear what you have to say. After all, your tips reflect on how well you pleased your passengers.

When Are We Going to Stop? I Need to .....

2008-11-03T15:54:00.006-06:00

No, this is not something inappropriate, but using the restroom in other countries can be a great adventure. One of the most favorite pictures of the students in my China video is a picture of the "squatty potty" or toilet on the floor. I explain to them that China has so many people that it is easier to clean the floor toilets by mopping rather than having to clean our familiar Western toilets individually. At least the ones that we encountered in China, Japan, and other Far Eastern countries flushed like ours, only you had to squat (both men and women) rather than sit.

In Moscow, we found the restroom (called "toilet" in Europe and Australia) down in the basement of Gum Department Store, which is now a large mall filled with high-end stores that ordinary Russians cannot begin to afford. We knew that there would be a "babushka", or grandmother-like lady wanting to take money for the privilege and we had one-dollar bills to give her. However, this lady chewed us out in Russian for even thinking of giving her foreign money and tried to tell us where the money changing booth was and of course we couldn't understand a word she said. Knowing we were running out of time since we had to get on our bus, we went and found our guide. She gave us the correct amount in very small change saying that the ladies did not like to give out change. We got chewed out again becuse we had such small change, but she did allow us to go in. When we got in, we discovered that the "toilet" was a hole in the floor, with two metal strips for our feet. Of course, there was no way to flush it and everything ran down into a trench. No paper either, so we got out our handy Kleenex.

In Europe, you always pay for the privilege in a public restroom and a man might encounter a cleaning lady or lady taking up money. In Egypt, you are given one square of toilet paper as you go into the fairly clean restroom and you have to pay as you leave. In Dalian, China, I was trying to help my friend who uses crutches (fortunately this was an American fixture) open a stuck door and the entire door came off the hinges! I have taken a lot of teasing for this. At the original Olympic stadium in Athens, the restrooms were marble!

In some countries, the plumbing is so primitive that you are asked to throw your used paper into a trash can next to the toilet. Most of the time, I forgot since I was in the habit of throwing it in the toilet at home. How would you like to clean these bathrooms?

The one complaint I have about restrooms in all countries is that why do tour companies plan their stops at places with the least number of ladies' toilets and the maximum number of buses and tourists. I hate spending all of my stop waiting in line to use the facilities.

A Shouting Match in Shanghai

2008-11-03T09:31:00.003-06:00

One of the stops on our modern Shanghai tour was riding the maglev train, a train which runs 268 miles per hour. Our tour guide told us that we would ride from a station in the city to the airport, get out long enough to take pictures, and get back on the train for the ride back. It was very interesting to see how much faster we were going than the cars on the adjacent highway while riding the train.

When we got to the airport and got off the train, our group was met by a lady who works for the airport station. She told the guide that we could not just get back on the train but would have to go to the entrance, go through the turnstile, and then board. The guide and the station lady got into an extremely loud shouting match in Chinese and eventually a policeman had to come and separate them. We were able to get back on the train without going back to the entrance.

After we got on the bus, the guide explained to us that this happened all the time and she couldn't understand why there were problems getting back on the train. We had round-trip tickets, purchased with the tour, and she always showed the station personnel those documents. She said the tour didn't allow time for going all the way to the entrance and back up because we would surely miss that train and have to wait for another.

A Taxi Experience in Beijing

2008-11-03T09:22:00.002-06:00

As I mentioned earlier, I collect Hard Rock Cafe bears. So while in Beijing, I wanted to go to the Hard Rock Cafe to get a bear. One of the men on our pre-cruise group in Beijing collects Hard Rock pins so he, my husband, and I decided to take a taxi to the Hard Rock Cafe, purchase our collectibles, and eat there since we knew the food was familiar. The concierge at the hotel gave us a card with the name and the address of the hotel written in Chinese so we wouldn't have any problems getting a taxi back.

We had no problem at all getting to the Hard Rock Cafe where our friend paid the taxi fare. We noted now much it was. When we got ready to go back to the hotel, we got into a taxi that was waiting in front of the cafe and our friend showed him the card given to us by the hotel. My husband and I noticed that the way back didn't look like the way to the cafe and it seemed as if we were going a long way out of the way. When the taxi driver stopped at a strange apartment-looking building that looked nothing like our hotel, we showed him the card again and he reluctantly took us a very long distance back to the correct hotel. The fare was considerably more than the fair going to the restaurant.

As we got out of the taxi, the doorman, a large man with a turban on his head, went to the taxi driver and asked him where we had come from. We explained to him that the driver had taken us to the wrong hotel and then way out of the way. The doorman and the taxi driver got into a very loud shouting match and the result was that we were refunded some of our money. Apparently, the doorman knew of this taxi driver and this is why the taxi driver didn't want to go to our hotel. I'm sure the driver was reported to his company by the doorman, who thankfully looked out for his guests. Anyway, I did get the panda Hard Rock Cafe bear, which sits in a place of honor in my computer room.

Eating While Traveling

2008-11-02T16:46:00.005-06:00

Eating while traveling to other countries can be a confusing experience. There are several parts of the world where you don't feel comfortable eating the native foods and others where it is an enjoyable experience. One important fact to remember is that in most countries, don't drink the water from the tap unless you are told that it is safe to do so. Instead, buy bottled water and have plenty of it on hand.

It depends on what country we visit whether or not we eat the food. In China, when we went on our day tours, we never knew what we would be served. We had tables for 8 people with a turntable in the middle. At each place setting was a saucer-size plate, a soup bowl with weird shaped spoon, a glass, a fork, and a set of chopsticks. The servers would bring the food out and put it on the turntable. Many times we did not know what it was but we learned that Chinese food in China is not like Chinese food in the United States. We could not even recognize some of the food. We would try to take a sample of each food, but I was glad that white rice and watermelon were served at the meals because I knew what they were. At one stop we were served chicken feet, which nobody ate. I was told later by a Vietnamese person at home that chicken feet are a delicacy in China and we were being honored.

In Venice, we had delicious lasagna in one of the restaurants there. In Egypt and Israel, the food that we ate on our tours were just like American food with meats and vegetables. In Russia, we had Chicken Kiev and some of the people were afraid to eat the salad because they didn't know if the vegetables had been washed with fresh water. In Honduras, we ate only the food at the hotel and snacked during the day. In Australia, we were introduced to "dim sum", food with a dumpling coating and we also tried squid and kangaroo meat. In New Zealand, we had a traditional English Christmas dinner at a farmhouse with the three meats (one was turkey but no dressing) and all of the other English trimmings, including Christmas cake (which we call fruitcake).

Many sandwiches in Europe are served with a fried egg on top. Raw beef is listed on a menu at nice restaurants in France. At the McDonald's in Venice, we were surprised to see that pigeons were encouraged to come into the restaurant to eat food that had fallen on the floor; however, it was unnerving to be eating and have pigeons flying around your head. Yuk!!!! If someone closed the door, another person would open it and let the birds in. The gelato in Venice, however, was delicious.

These are just some of the ethnic experiences that I have had. However, I would rather stick to the familiar, since I don't want to spoil a once-in-a-lifetime experience by getting sick.

Hard Rock Cafe Bears

2008-11-01T19:20:00.003-05:00

I am a collector of Hard Rock Cafe bears. Right now I have around 30 of them with the latest being from Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where we visited on our tour of fall leaves. Most of them are the standard Herrington bears but depending upon the country, there are different types. In Beijing, China, the bear is a stuffed panda bear and in Sydney, Australia, the bear is a koala bear. I have bears from places as Reykjavik, Iceland; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Niagara Falls, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, and Stockholm. They are displayed all around my computer room and I am running quickly running out of space to display them.

Whenever we are in a place with a Hard Rock Cafe and are able to get to it, we go purchase a bear. In Stockholm, we walked many blocks to get to the Hard Rock Cafe. In Athens, we were disappointed that they didn't have the large bear for sale, so we had to get a smaller keyring bear. In Destin, we visited the smallest Hard Rock Cafe in the world to get that bear. In Reykjavik, we found the Hard Rock Cafe by accident when we went into a mall there. In Beijing, we went by taxi with another fellow traveler who collects Hard Rock pins and were taken way out of our way by our taxi driver on the return trip. The concierge at our hotel recognized the driver and made him refund some of our fare because it was considerably more than the price we paid to go to the cafe.

Fortunately the bears take being squashed in a suitcase quite well.

We don't always eat at the Hard Rock Cafes when we go to buy bears but I like collecting them because they do show the places we have been. I plan to buy bears whenever I can on our future trips wherever I can find a Hard Rock Cafe.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

2008-10-31T15:43:00.003-05:00

Several years ago, my husband and I decided to go to Iceland for spring break because Icelandair was having a promotion. We knew that it would be cold for our three-day visit so we broke our own rules and took a large suitcase each with winter clothing, including a heavy coat. As the plane turned to land on the runway, all we could see was snow and cleared runway. We asked ourselves, "What have we done?"

In spite of our first impression, we really enjoyed our visit. A friend who taught school at the military base there arranged for us to have a taxi driver who took us around. He drove on the icy roads like it was the middle of summer and took us to the Golden Circle where you could see geysers, frozen waterfalls, and steam bubbling out of the ground. It was amazing. It was also 25 degrees F with a pretty nasty wind chill so I was really bundled up. In fact, when I took my hand out of my glove to take a picture of Geysir, a famous geyser, I thought it would freeze.

Icelanders swim outside in the thermally heated water. We saw the Blue Lagoon where people were having fun swimming and we even swam outside ourselves in a friend's hot tub. We learned that homes in Iceland have no hot water heaters because the water coming from under the ground is so hot, it is piped into the house just like the cold water.

When we got home, the temperature was in the 70's. What a change!

Madeline's Twenty Travel Tips

2008-10-30T16:48:00.002-05:00

Because we travel so much, we have learned several things that will make our life away from home a lot easier. I am not being negative, but want to make you aware of some of the things that I have experienced that can spoil a trip if you are not prepared. Some of them are listed below:

1. Pack light. You will be carrying or pulling your own luggage quite a bit of the time, getting it from carousels, and putting it on buses. Pack your suitcase(s) with what you think you will need and then remove half of it. Leave room for souvenirs.

2. Buy a portable scale that you can take with you to weigh your luggage for your trip home. Overweight luggage is very expensive to check.

3. Do not put valuables in checked luggage. You never know who will be going through it.

4. Don't lock your luggage. Even if you use a TSA-approved lock, security in foreign countries will break it off.

5. If you are leaving Europe and want to take a bottle of water with you, purchase it at the airport after you go through security and have the cashier put it in unopened in a sealed see-through bag. Keep the bag sealed until you get on the plane.

6. You may be served strange and unfamiliar foods while traveling in foreign countries. Food that disgusts you might be food that is served in your honor by your host.

7. It is best to listen to your guide while on a bus tour. Your guide has been trained to look out for your safety and warn you of any dangers that you may encounter.

8. Be sure to be back at the bus on time when traveling with a group. Nobody wants to wait for late stragglers.

9. Make sure you carry Kleenex with you as toilet paper is not always provided in public restrooms in other countries. Also realize that toilets in other countries may look different than those we use in the United States

10. When going to another country, leave all electrical appliances at home. Converters don't always work correctly and you may burn up your hair dryer. Since you will never see the people you meet again, you don't need to worry about perfect hair.

11. Take all prescription medicines in their original bottles in your carry-on bag. Make sure you also include plenty of sunscreen and insect repellent, especially if you are going to the tropics. Follow TSA regulations for liquids that you will carry on the plane.

12. Layer your clothing instead of taking a heavy coat. And remember that blue jeans will add weight to your luggage. Many stores and mail-order companies sell clothing especially for travelers.

13. In Europe, do not wear white athletic shoes. This will single you out as an American and a visitor to their country. You want to blend in with the country's people as much as possible.

14. Respect the people of the country you visit just as you expect them to respect you.

15. Leave valuables such as expensive jewelry at home. If you want to wear jewelry, buy cheap imitations.

16. Read about the country or countries that you plan to visit before leaving home. A simple travel guide gives you great information.

17. Don't gripe if you are inconvenienced. Remember that you travel to see how people in other countries live. You don't want them to get a negative view of Americans.

18. Guard your passport well. Put it in a safe place such as in a neck or waist pouch.

19. Remember that planes do not always fly on schedule, luggage doesn't always get to its destination, cruise ships are often missed, and tours are cancelled. Purchase travel insurance before you go to protect yourself. We have had to use ours several times. Insurance purchased 14 days after a trip is booked will cover preexisting conditions.

20. Have a great time! You are traveling to learn about other people, taste different foods, and see new sights. And think about what you can tell your friends at home!

Beware of Camel Drivers

2008-10-29T16:57:00.009-05:00

Egypt was very interesting, especially seeing the Pyramids, Nile River, and Sphinx. Before we got there, our guide told us to beware of the camel drivers. Tourists want to sit on a camel (while the camel is down) to have their picture taken and will pay the drivers a few dollars for this purpose. However, once the picture is taken, the driver will tell the camel to get up with the tourist on its back and start to go around the pyramids. It will then cost the tourist quite a bit of money to get off the camel. This actually happened to the son of a friend who was on the trip with us but was on a different bus since their guide did not warn them. I did not want to get near the smelly beasts.

We took a lunch cruise on the Nile River where we had entertainment by a belly dancer and a whirling dervish. The dancer even went over to my husband and patted him on the head. I got a picture of that. I was trying to get a picture of the whirling dervish and he almost knocked me over with his very large whirling skirt. The ship's photographer got a picture of that and put it on the cruise's video.

Just getting to Cairo from the port was an adventure. We were in a convoy of many buses. Each had an armed guard with an assault rifle. There were guards in front and behind the convoy and in spaces between the buses. In Haifa, all traffic was stopped for our convoy to get through. The reason for all of this security was to encourage tourism after a tour bus was hijacked in the late 90's. The guards were also visible when we visited the tourist sites.

Viewing the Leaves

2008-10-24T19:25:00.006-05:00

As we travel through the Appalachian Mountains, I remember when we used to live in the rural area near Ewing, VA during the time my husband worked at Lincoln Memorial University. The first year we were there, I wasn't able to get a job, so I substituted in the three states in the Cumberland Gap area - Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The second year I got a job as librarian (not library media specialist as we call it today) in three tiny elementary school in Lee County, VA with the closest being 39 miles from home on two-lane very crooked roads. Salaries weren't great, but the quality of life was wonderful. Our son went to the westernmost high school in Virginia and had a great two years there. We are excited about going back to visit on our way home. Once you are accepted in that part of the country, you are a friend forever.

Even though it usually took me an hour to get to work, I enjoyed it as the view changed every day. I looked upon it as God's way to enjoy the wonderful world that He had created. As a Louisiana native, I had never seen the glorious colors of fall that I saw in the mountains. We didn't travel the world like we do now, but were able visit attractions such as Gettysburg, Hershey, PA, the Biltmore House, and best of all, got to see the play "Steel Magnolias" at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, VA, written about my home town of Natchitoches, LA, before any of the people in Natchitoches were able to see it.

Unfortunately, we were not able to remain in this beautiful area, but moved to Birmingham because of my husband's new job. However, I love to go back periodically and think about a much simpler time and a much simpler way of life. We had less money, but managed to do everything that we wanted and needed to do.

Get Real!!!!!!

2008-10-20T16:35:00.002-05:00

We decided not to take one of the ship's tours in Kagoshima, Japan, because we were tired of being on tour buses and listening to long-winded guides. Instead, we took the shuttle to downtown Kagoshima to explore the town on our own. While we were walking, we noticed people staring at us because we looked so different than they did (it is easy to blend in with the crowd in Europe as long as you don't wear white athletic shoes, but Japan is a different story). While waiting in line at the restroom in a large department store to use the "squatty potty", the lady behind me looked at me and said in a friendly voice, "Welcome to Kagoshima". I thought to myself - now how did she know that I was a visitor. Then I realized - "Get real" because there was no way that I, with my European background, could blend in with the native Japanese.

Buying a bracelet and earrings in the department store was also an adventure. The salesgirl spoke no English and I spoke no Japanese. After she gave me a bow, to show that I was an honored customer, I pointed to my wrist and ears to tell her what I wanted. We communicated in sign language and after I made my choice, she carefully cleaned the jewelry before putting it in a box and bowed again to thank me for my business. I felt that she really appreciated my purchasing something in her department, rather than having to look all over the store to beg someone to take my money like I do at home.

Art We Can Understand

2008-10-20T13:14:00.001-05:00

We went to Amsterdam several years ago and our son, who is an artist, told us we needed to go to one of the art museums. On the last day we were there, we decided we better do so and we visited the Van Gogh museum, because we could understand his paintings. It was fantastic and we enjoyed it. When we got back home, we ordered the print "Wheatfield under Thunderclouds" because we liked it and the colors went with the guest room. We ordered it because we didn't want to take a chance getting it home on the plane undamaged. We knew if we didn't go to an art museum while we were there, we would hear about it from our son.

What an Accent!

2008-10-20T09:38:00.003-05:00

My husband and I were in a shop in Rotorua, New Zealand, picking out souvenirs. He noticed that everyone in the store stopped talking and looked at us to hear me talk. I can't help it that I have a Louisiana accent, can I?

Vegemite

2008-10-19T16:47:00.003-05:00

One of the most "interesting" foods that you find in Australia and New Zealand is vegemite. Vegemite is a yeast extract, tastes extremely salty, and is spread on bread to make a sandwich, just like we spread peanut butter on bread to make a peanut butter sandwich. Children in Australia like to bring vegemite sandwiches in their lunch boxes to eat at school.

After my first trip to Australia, I decided to let my students try vegemite. I found a place to order it in the United States and put a little bit on an unsalted cracker to give to each of my students. Only one or two liked it and the rest threw it away. I did this with several classes and even brought some back the second time I went to Australia. I also had the students write a descriptive paragraph about it and never saw so many words that meant "yukky".

That was years ago and I still run into students, now grown, who tell me they remember the nasty stuff I gave them from Australia. Now I can buy it locally and I just let the students smell it rather than have them eat it. Of course, actually eating the stuff wasn't a requirement but all the students wanted to try it.

Hard to Understand

2008-10-19T16:44:00.000-05:00

This was an embarrassing moment for me, even though it didn't take place in the classroom. When I first started using email in 1994 (I got my first Internet connection from UAB and it was text only since there wasn't such as thing as a web browser then), I became pen pals with a 4th grade teacher from Sydney, Australia. Our students corresponded back and forth for a while but it was very hard since I had to type in the messages myself using the weird commands of a text-only email program. Two years later my husband and I decided to visit Australia. The week before we left, my friend called me on the telephone and it was all I could do to understand what he had to say. I had to ask him to repeat what he said several times. I had been reading his messages using my own accent (except for words peculiar to Australia) and words on a computer screen don't imitate accents. Of course once we got there and could converse face-to-face as well as observe body language, it was much easier.

When we got back to Birmingham and I mentioned that my friend had met us at the airport, one of my students said to me, "Mrs. Buchanan, I thought you weren't supposed to get in a car with anyone you met on the Internet." I had to think fast on that one and I finally said, "Well, my husband was with me and my friend's description matched the one he had sent to me a few days before we left." At least I taught that student something.

Travels with Madeline

2008-10-18T15:57:00.002-05:00

I am going to use this blog to talk about traveling. My husband and I travel as a hobby and we have been to many very interesting places in the United States and around the world. Some of the most interesting places that we have visited have been Australia and New Zealand, Iceland, Israel, Egypt, Alaska, and others. I will be posting interesting facts about the sites that we have visited as well as humorous things that we have encountered as we travel.

In 2009, we are going to the Panama Canal, to the western Mediterranean, and on a Danube River riverboat cruise. I am looking forward to learning more about the world.