Paradise Found

Christina Waters

The High and the Flighty: A forest of chaise lounges and a soothing pool form the bedrock of Camino Real’s sybaritic escape scenario in Puerto Vallarta.

Zihuatanejo’s Hotel Villa del Sol and Puerto Vallarta’s Camino Real are two ways of saying “tropical paradise” in fluent Mexican

By Christina Waters

For over a decade now, we’ve fled winter’s chill by heading south into the heart of Mexico’s caressing tropical warmth. Almost by accident, we found two resort sanctuaries, each occupying sheltered beaches 1,500 miles south of where we live–the Camino Real south of Puerto Vallarta and Hotel Villa del Sol on Zihuatanejo’s Playa La Ropa.

Each of these impeccable getaway retreats offers outstanding beaches of soft, white sand, landscapes of fragrant flowers, and body-surfable waves of clear, warm water. At each, jungles of banana and coconut palms grow right down to the edge of the water and regional dining is only a few feet down a hibiscus-perfumed path. The two resorts are in many other ways as radically distinct as they are seductive.

Wedged into an idyllic pocket of the Bay of Banderas, between the town of Puerto Vallarta and Mismoloya beach–still famous as the cinematic location for Night of the Iguana–the gleaming whiteness of the Camino Real emerges from plantings of palms and a riot of bougainvillea. We love this place for lots of reasons, most of which involve sun, water, tequila and prawns.

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Romancing the Romanesque: Scouring France in search Crusader ruins.

An Idiot’s Guide to the Universe: How to keep Europeans from thinking you’re completely hopeless.

Queer Across the World: Transcending homophobia in search of another buck.

Packing Heat: Paranoid or not, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for danger when you travel.

Virtual World: Armchair travelers can feed their wanderlust on the web.

It’s a sumptuous layout, with ubiquitous blue-glazed tilework and polished teak decks jutting out to capture the last rays of sunset. Every spacious room seems practically suspended over the beach itself, and there’s cable TV in every room. A new multi-story addition (tastefully hugging the cliffs on one side of the perfect private beach) offers the corporate meeting rooms and retreat facilities crucial to staying competitive in the business/leisure market.

Once sophisticated enough in tone that you wanted to make sure you’d packed a jacket and maybe a nice linen dress for la hora feliz, the Camino Real increasingly attracts a more casual, 30- to 40-year-old crowd, many with families.

Amberjack in a Banana Leaf

La Perla, the hotel’s upscale restaurant, specializes in gourmet Mexican dining. Many of its spectacular creations utilize ancient recipes and regional exotica like the smoky-flavored huitlacoche corn fungus that’s tucked into delicate crepes tied with scallions. Breakfast here is served al fresco–terrific egg dishes, spectacular fresh-squeezed juices and acres of ripe fruit–as the sun begins turning the sand shades of pale pink.

We finish up quickly and stake out our favored chaise lounge on the wide terrace between the pool and the ocean. When waves start picking up, we catch a few before diving into the pool to lazily tour all of its undulating nooks and crannies.

You’re never in danger of going thirsty here, thanks to the staff’s strategic sense of timing. Before you can even wish for a giant coconut filled with fresh watermelon, ice and rum, it’s delivered to your chosen turf.

Puerto Vallarta is a charming town to stroll around, and we used to do the Yelapa cruises, back when the remote beaches of this mythical hippie outpost were still clean and hustle-free. But now we park ourselves at Camino Real and stay there for our entire vacation.

However, a newish seafood restaurant just south of downtown PV, Balam, is definitely cause to get up out of that deck chair and put on street clothes. I spent my birthday in January feasting on garlicky prawns in their shells, freshly caught amberjack steamed in a banana leaf, and the house specialty, a fish broth laced with fresh prawn sausages so good we ate it even in 90-degree heat.

Balam’s tortilla chips come with an addictive, fiery black vinegar and garlic salsa, and the beers are served in tiny ice buckets. It’s a destination restaurant that we start dreaming about before we’ve left the airport.

Reservations for the resort are available by calling 800/7-CAMINO.

A Return Trip to Eden

For the ultimate in luxury getaways, we take a three-hour flight to Zihuatanejo–and the incomparable Hotel Villa del Sol. An elegantly rustic hideaway, Villa del Sol is a member of the group of fine small luxury hotels known as the Relais et Chateaux. Small wonder. Poised on arguably the most perfect beach in creation–Playa la Ropa–this place is paradise on a personal scale.

While a multi-storied complex of sun-drenched rooms and suites has been constructed back from the beach to accommodate the resort’s many annual visitors, it’s the 21 original palapa-style suites–clustered like a desert island colony around a series of pools, bars and extravagantly Edenesque plantings–that keep us coming back. Each suite feels like an apartment, with spacious living rooms a few steps down from a sleeping area highlighted by king-sized canopy beds and tiled bathrooms with showers built for two.

It’s exactly 20 paces from our private porch, where as many as four bathing suits–all mine–may be drying at once, past banana trees heavy with ripening fruit to the main terrace. Twenty more steps through a fringe of chaise lounges with individual shade palapas and across powdery sand puts us waist-deep in the pale green water, where we take the first swim of the day at dawn each morning. The air at this hour is almost opalescent pink and already 70 degrees in temperature.

On our first visit here, we created a ritual of greeting the first light each morning at exactly the spot on the beach where the sun rises through the fronds of a neighboring coconut plantation. Chest-deep in the primal waters, we’ve shared the sunrise with the soaring uracas, baby manta rays who show up with the occasional flounder, and schools of transparent nameless fish. This is adventure with all the edges smoothed.

This tropical paradise with no phones, no TV and no worries casts a spell that forces us to unwind and spoil ourselves. Our routine is sensuous and simple. What we do here at Hotel Villa del Sol is snorkel down the far curve of the tiny bay. We then stop at any number of fresh seafood restaurants perched permanently on the sand, their colorful tablecloths rippling in the breezes. The views here abundantly flaunt why this stretch of the globe is called a riviera.

We walk the beach, soaking up its changing light, watching for beautiful fish, collecting the odd shell or rock. We swim in the hotel’s two pools, and find ourselves partial to the one lined in deep blue tile that’s got its own swim-up bar but, even better, is situated right next to Orlando’s bar–the emotional heart and soul of Villa del Sol. Your particular drink order has been memorized and produced almost before you arrive.

Aerial Eyeful: Zihuatanejo’s incomparable Playa La Ropa frames the palms and palapas of Hotel Villa del Sol, an almost-secret hideaway on the Mexican Riviera that welcomes gourmets and sports buffs.

Taking the Warm, Indigo Air

Something fresh from the beautiful bay–sport fish, lobster, snapper, oysters, prawns–will be on tonight’s menu. Given the international tone of the clientele, however, the menu will also include gourmet Mexican dishes and continental fare–some steaks, some pasta, all terrific. Nightfall involves only a slight drop in temperature, so all dinners are taken in the warm, indigo air, listening to the waves.

After a day of swimming and sunning, or exploring the pretty fishing village of Zihuatanejo (Ixtapa is just too glitzy and filled with generic highrise hotels for our taste), our rooms have been tidied back into their original immaculate condition. Fresh flowers appear by the bedside and in the bathroom along with fresh bottles of mineral water. The service is not only impeccable, it’s offered graciously, with a smile.

When we do make day trips to Zihua, it’s usually to have breakfast at the charming Sirena Gorda–the Fat Mermaid–where we can stuff ourselves on fried eggs smothered with poblano chiles, refried beans, ham and local cheese, plus fresh-squeezed juice and coffee, all for $4 per person.

We’re not the only ones who’ve fallen in love with Villa del Sol. So have lots of visitors from California, New York, France, Canada and Italy, who keep turning up every winter to shed their real-world lives and become whoever they want to be for a week or two. I shouldn’t even be telling people about this sybaritic haven, but when you do visit for a winter getaway, bring a book or two, your favorite CDs, some shorts and a linen shirt for dinner, and three bathing suits. The slowed-down, easy-living rhythm of Playa la Ropa will do the rest.

Hotel Villa del Sol–Playa La Ropa, Apdo. Post. 84, Zihuatanejo, Gro. 40880, Mexico; FAX: 743/4-27-58; Phone: 0-11-52-743-4-22-39.

From the April 25-May 1, 1996 issue of Metro Santa Cruz

This page was designed and created by the Boulevards team.
&copy 1996 Metro Publishing and Virtual Valley, Inc.

Queer Skies

By Bruce Mirkin

Gays and lesbians may be some distance from achieving full equality in this country, but there’s no question that the group has evolved by leaps and bounds as a market niche. One of the clearest signs is the growing boom in gay travel services. Queer-oriented resorts, cruises and more have been around for years, of course, but they used to be the province of small, specialty companies. Now the big boys of the travel industry are going after gay dollars.

Jim Boin, owner of Yankee Clipper Travel in San Jose and vice president of the International Gay Travel Association, says gay and lesbian travel opportunities have increased dramatically in recent years. There are some 1,200 members of the IGTA today, up from just 300 in the late ’80s.

Yes indeed, girlfriend, we have arrived. All-homo holidays in the Caribbean, London, ski resorts or just about anywhere you can name are within your grasp, provided you have the disposable income.

MetroActive Goes Trippin’ . . .

Don’t Miss Saigon: Playing the Pacific Rim by bike requires stamina and good wheels.

Cruising Oblivion: Life aboard a cruise ship is a lesson in scheduling and snoozing.

On the Road: Traveling doesn’t have to mean planes and trains. Automobiles and thumbs can get you pretty far.

Southern Sunshine: Paradise found on Mexico’s tropical beaches.

Romancing the Romanesque: Scouring France in search Crusader ruins.

An Idiot’s Guide to the Universe: How to keep Europeans from thinking you’re completely hopeless.

Queer Across the World: Transcending homophobia in search of another buck.

Packing Heat: Paranoid or not, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for danger when you travel.

Virtual World: Armchair travelers can feed their wanderlust on the web.

Not everyone finds this prospect appealing, of course. As a Bay Area gay journalist, I go days without significant contact with heterosexuals, so spending a week on a cruise ship surrounded by fellow queers doesn’t exactly rate as special. In fact, sometimes getting out among the hets can be refreshing.

But there are destinations, like Palm Springs, where a gay-oriented tour or resort may be the only way to go. Straight Palm Springs, the town that elected Sonny Bono mayor before sending him (shudder) to Congress, is heavily populated by retired ex-Brentwoodites driving Lincoln Town Cars and wearing designer tennis outfits, even though they almost never play tennis. Right alongside, in the neighboring community of Cathedral City, is a thriving gay community with a multitude of quite appealing gay resorts, restaurants, and nightspots. It’s like a parallel universe, and I sure as hell know which one I’d rather visit.

Sometimes, though, it’s the gay side of the universe that makes me cringe, especially the travel promoters who treat gay men as though we only think with our crotches. Take the 1995 brochure from Atlantis, an outfit that books all-gay vacation packages at various Club Med locations: it’s full of gorgeous young men with perfect bodies, usually clad in skimpy Speedos. No one is over 30, no one has a receding hairline or love handles, and virtually everyone is white. Give me a break.

Fortunately, the trend is away from that sort of hormone-driven promotion. RSVP, the gay cruise line that has now branched out into resort vacations, has mercifully dropped the buffed-boys-in-Speedos emphasis from its new brochures.

But the real news, explains travel agent Brad Hudson of Travel Zone in San Francisco, is the move by mainstream vendors into the gay travel market with “knockout products targeting the gay community: Virgin Vacations taking their London packages and substituting passes to Heaven for a city tour or something like that–giving them a gay identity and marketing them as gay products. Within the past year everybody’s getting on the bandwagon.”

A glance at Virgin’s literature suggests the company has pretty skillfully plugged gay-oriented add-ons into otherwise conventional tour packages, but how good a deal this is remains an open question. A London/Paris vacation, including three days in each city with a high-speed train link via the Channel tunnel, costs $985 (tourist class) with a San Francisco departure on the “straight” package. The gay version, seemingly identical except for an unspecified number of passes to gay clubs, “special discounts at gay-friendly London restaurants,” and a copy of a London gay travel guide, goes for $1,119.

The major gay travel vendors generate some gripes as well, especially around price. “The gay travel products tend to be more expensive for comparable things,” Hudson notes. And unfortunately you can’t always compare prices just by looking at brochures. Major non-gay cruise lines like Carnival discount heavily from their published fares, often as much as 50 percent; what’s in the brochure is what you’re going to pay with RSVP.

The increased cost doesn’t necessarily amount to price gouging in the form of what could be considered a gay travel tax. RSVP, for example, charters the ship from Carnival, which raises the cost. It also books separate gay-focused entertainment for the cruise so you won’t be subjected to, well, the performers you normally get on a cruise. All things considered, it’s not a bad deal.

“Where else can you take a week off and step into a world where you’re the majority instead of the minority?” asks Jim Boin of Yankee Clipper Travel in San Jose.

It’s a good idea to ask lots of questions and make sure you understand all such policies before you book. Of course, taking your time and getting lots of information is always a good policy before booking any expensive vacation. A knowledgeable gay travel agent is a good place to start, but even he or she can’t be expected to tell you everything: some small, popular gay inns won’t pay commissions, so travel agents quite understandably aren’t in a hurry to send you there.

Locally, plenty of travel agents advertise in the gay press, but if you need to locate one, the International Gay Travel Association at 800/448-8550 will gladly provide a list of members.

Another information source worth checking out is Out and About, a gay and lesbian travel newsletter published 10 times a year. Subscriptions are $49 per year. Write to 542 Chapel, New Haven, CT 06511.

There’s also a burgeoning amount of information available online. America Online, for example, has a gay travel forum (keyword “GLCF Travel”) with an array of message boards and a weekly conference. Similar forums are popping up in lots of places.

So take your time and definitely shop around. Me, I’m going to spend my vacation gawking at the hets in Bakersfield.

From the April 25-May 1, 1996 issue of Metro

This page was designed and created by the Boulevards team.
&copy 1996 Metro Publishing and Virtual Valley, Inc.

How to Pack

By Rick Sine

‘Whenever Barbara Brandt travels in her car she takes her Smith & Wesson,” chirps an article by ranking paranoiac Paxton Quigley.

The author of Armed and Female, Quigley teaches thousands of women how to shoot handguns in her seminars with the deadpan title “Women’s Empowerment in the ’90s.” Last but not least, she’s a flack for Smith & Wesson itself.

In April’s issue of Handguns Magazine, Quigley serves up a champagne-bucketful of hints on personal security away from home. Though not aimed exclusively at women, the liberal references to “rapists” make the audience clear: the increasing number of professonal women travelers. A few tips gleaned from Paxton’s lengthy treatment:

When you park at the hotel, make sure you’re giving your keys to an actual hotel employee, instead of a car thief posing as one. Don’t park in a hotel space that has your room number: thieves could track your comings and goings. And check in with a fake name.

Check to make sure that a burglar or rapist doesn’t get into the room posing as room service. (“Some have phony breakfasts for you, others don’t, but the result is the same. As soon as you open the door, he will rush in and overcome you.”)

A “Please Make Up This Room” sign on your door indicates you aren’t around and could invite thieves.

When you leave your room, leave on the light and the TV.

Watch for peepholes behind mirrors in the hotel health club.

When at a high-rise hotel, stay on the third to sixth floor. “The first and second floor are vulnerable to burglars and rapists. Floors above the sixth are not readily accessible to most fire equipment.”

“Be aware that people eavesdrop on airplanes and may target you as someone with valuable corporate information or ties to a wealthy company. Americans traveling overseas tend to be friendly and unintentionally give away personal or sensitive information.”

Don’t pack your pepper-spray canister in your luggage, because air pressure may cause it to leak and run out on your clothes. “If you’re flying, I suggest you buy a canister at your destination point, and if you don’t use it, give it to someone as a present when you leave.” (A delightful gift!)

We here at Metro have compiled a few tips of our own:

If you’re forced to walk alone at night through the city, we suggest posting snipers on the top of buildings along your path. The aerial view allows them to pick off burglars and rapists before they get anywhere near you.

Public bathrooms are notorious for their tendency to attract perverts, snoops and thieves. We suggest that you always hold out until you get to your hotel room, or–if all else fails–wear diapers during long trips.

Groucho glasses are always worth a pocket in your Samsonite. The growing employment of private eyes by spouses makes them especially useful during those romantic outings with your paramour. Like the pepper spray canisters, these also make a great parting gift when you leave for home.

Finally, remember that caution is the best defense. Just because the SWAT team has promised not to shoot, and just because the people on the megaphone say they’ll do their best to ensure your safety, that doesn’t mean it’s safe to leave the house unarmed.

MetroActive Goes Trippin’ . . .

Don’t Miss Saigon: Playing the Pacific Rim by bike requires stamina and good wheels.

Cruising Oblivion: Life aboard a cruise ship is a lesson in scheduling and snoozing.

On the Road: Traveling doesn’t have to mean planes and trains. Automobiles and thumbs can get you pretty far.

Southern Sunshine: Paradise found on Mexico’s tropical beaches.

Romancing the Romanesque: Scouring France in search Crusader ruins.

An Idiot’s Guide to the Universe: How to keep Europeans from thinking you’re completely hopeless.

Queer Across the World: Transcending homophobia in search of another buck.

Packing Heat: Paranoid or not, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for danger when you travel.

Virtual World: Armchair travelers can feed their wanderlust on the web.

From the April 25-May 1, 1996 issue of Metro

This page was designed and created by the Boulevards team.
&copy 1996 Metro Publishing and Virtual Valley, Inc.

Idiot-Proof Travel Tips

By Christina Waters

The Big Picture
Book big cities in advance. Leave smaller towns and villages for spontaneous decisions. We always have the front and the end of the trip reserved way in advance. Do not attempt to just breeze into a city like Paris without a hotel confirmation in your hot little hand. You need to know that you’ve got a base camp from which to reconnoiter, a place to refuel after that long flight. Once you get into the countryside traveling from town to town by car or rail, you or the nice person at your hotel’s front desk can call a day or two in advance to the next town or hotel where you would like to stay. Unless there’s a convention or feast day (more about this later), you’ll invariably find lodgings in your price range.

Give Good Reception
Make friends with your hotel’s receptionist. Learn this person’s name on the very first day. Make small requests–like finding a map or getting the name of a good restaurant–and then praise/thank/tip them lavishly. They’re yours for the rest of your stay. The person at the front desk can be your ally in maximizing your stay.

Seal of Approval
Tip the housekeeper faithfully. Leave small change on the bedside table. Then you can ask for extra pillows.

Clothes Encounters
Everything you take will wrinkle, so don’t worry about it when you pack. However, it’s true that knits–T-shirts (the kind that fit neatly, not the oversize beer-logo kind), elastic-waist pants and walking shorts, sweaters, one decent dress–really do travel well. Take a pair of jeans, the universally correct attire. If it’s winter, I bring everything in black. In summer, I switch to khaki. Then throw in some bright accessory and you need never think about your dress code again.

Roll With It
Roll-aboard luggage will save your life. It certainly won’t hurt your back, either. Roll-aboards even do well on cobblestones. Invest in one, and take along one soft, nylon bag. More than two pieces of luggage and you’re asking for a world of stress.

Don’t Leave Home Without Them
You must always have with you: plenty of little packages of Kleenex; your favorite antacid, analgesic (I stock ibuprofin), and allergy pills; a bathing suit; presentable shorts; a soft hat (a baseball cap is good); sunscreen; sandals; extra underwear and socks; a Walkman with a few favorite tapes; a notebook.

Walk This Way
Take four pairs of shoes–comfortable shoes–and rotate them, wearing at least two pairs each day.

Hour of the Munch
When you hit a town, immediately locate the nearest epicerie or grocery and load up on bottled water, beer, hard cheese, fruit, bread and wine for the hotel room. You will be so happy you did, since few restaurants are open at 3pm, the universal munchie hour.

Water Rights
Always carry bottled water in your travel bag–you have no idea when you’ll find that little grocery store. To be safe–I do this even in Paris and London–brush your teeth in still water (l’eau minerale sans gas), drink the bubbly (l’eau minerale avec gas or gazeuse). Wherever you’re traveling, make sure you can order bottled water in the appropriate language (e.g., agua mineral sin fizz).

Oh Happy Days
Check ahead for any big regional festivals–Ascension Day literally closed down France for three days on my trip last summer–before you assume that you can visit that cathedral/museum of your choice. You may be competing for space with villagers from the surrounding hills and their entire extended families.

Close Encounters
Everything closes on Sunday, except museums, so plan accordingly. Take that trip to the Louvre or Rodin Museum on the one day you can’t genuflect at some temple of cuisine. Everything closes–even churches and tourist bureaus–between noon and 2pm. There’s a reason. That’s when everybody is enjoying a long, leisurely midday meal. That’s when you should be eating too.

Late Breaking News
Do not be alarmed at the late European dinner hour. Go with the flow, snack in your hotel room to prevent the crankiness that comes with low blood sugar. You will not actually be laughed at if you make a reservation for as early as 7pm, but the action only starts after 8pm. (I’ve seen families with very small children arrive at their tables at 10pm.) In summer, Europe stays light until 10pm, so expect to stay on your feet way into the evening. Even if you get a late start in the morning, you can continue sightseeing up until dinner.

Who’s Vault Is It?
ATMs are really the way to go. If your bank card belongs to the CIRRUS or STAR programs, you can get money pretty easily in cities. Take along some travelers checks, too. And when you change into local currency, always get more money than you think you’ll need. There’s always a fee for each transaction and banking hours are erratic (Ha! is that an understatement) in France.

When in Rome (and Especially Paris)
Even if it’s not your normal habit, stop often at cafes. Order a beer or coffee–it gives you access to good restrooms and lets you sit and check out the local action. During an all-day sightseeing marathon, two cafes in the morning, three in the afternoon is a good rule of thumb. Trust me, with all the walking, you need to stop and rest, regroup, look at maps and just chill out.

Carnet Knowledge
The first time you hit the Metro (the subway, not the newspaper) in Paris, stop at the ticket window and buy a carnet, a batch of 10 tickets. That way you don’t have to stop each time you want to ride the subway and buy new tickets.

Native Ingenuity
When in doubt, order the daily special, plat du jour, always the best, freshest and cheapest lunch/dinner available. Ordering half bottles–dèmi boutaille–of wine (ubiquitous on French menus) lets you sample intriguing, locally made stuff without getting roaring drunk and without breaking your budget. Should you wish to get roaring drunk, of course, there is more than enough wine in Europe to accommodate you. Then call a cab.

Snap Judgments
Go ahead and take snapshots–you’ll absolutely adore having these images for years to come. Don’t be afraid to ask people to take a picture of you in front of your favorite world-famous landmark. Never bypass the chance to climb up a church or castle tower–the view from the top is worth the effort. But don’t for a minute think that you, above all other tourists throughout the ages, will capture the definitive shot of the Eiffel Tower. It’s been done. If you want the best images for your scrapbook, buy postcards as you go. Don’t send them, keep them–or send them to yourself at home.

Make Book on It
Above all, invest in the thin Michelin green guide for major cities, e.g. Paris, Rome, Athens. These guides are terrific, filled with history, architecture, local color and maps, and are light enough to justify packing and hauling all over Europe.

Bon voyage!

MetroActive Goes Trippin’ . . .

Don’t Miss Saigon: Playing the Pacific Rim by bike requires stamina and good wheels.

Cruising Oblivion: Life aboard a cruise ship is a lesson in scheduling and snoozing.

On the Road: Traveling doesn’t have to mean planes and trains. Automobiles and thumbs can get you pretty far.

Southern Sunshine: Paradise found on Mexico’s tropical beaches.

Romancing the Romanesque: Scouring France in search Crusader ruins.

Queer Across the World: Transcending homophobia in search of another buck.

Packing Heat: Paranoid or not, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for danger when you travel.

Virtual World: Armchair travelers can feed their wanderlust on the web.

From the April 25-May 1, 1996 issue of Metro Santa Cruz

This page was designed and created by the Boulevards team.
&copy 1996 Metro Publishing and Virtual Valley, Inc.

Virtually Everywhere

By Trystan L. Bass

The best travel-related sites on the world wide web cover a wide range of topics, from budget travel to cruises to foreign languages. These sites have good, solid information that travelers can actually use, as opposed to me tons of travel web sites that are pure advertisements. A word of warning — most of these sites are graphics-heavy and will usually require forms-capable web browsers.

City.Net: A comprehensive guide to cities around the world, including links to travel, entertainment, business, government, and community services information. This is a meta-list of useful guides from the cities themselves.

Conde Nast Traveler Online: Billing itself as “a source of worldly, opinionated travel advice,” the Conde Nast online site is a lot like the paper magazine (except no cover price!). Check out the Concierge area where you can find locations and hotels that match your interests. You can also peruse several chat forums and the magazine’s annual readers choice awards.

Cruise Review Library: Personal reviews of a wide variety of cruise ships, all gathered from the rec.travel.cruises Usenet newsgroup. While they are full of personal bias, these reviews give the kind of detail that travel agents never give and can help you choose just the right cruise for you.

Foreign Languages for Travelers: Tutorials on 24 languages, from French and German to Icelandic, Esperanto, and Latin. Concentrates on words and phrases the traveler might commonly encounter, and even has sound files so you can hear how to pronounce the language.

The Internet Guide to Hostelling: If you’re looking for youthful friends, boisterous fun, and low-cost accommodations, hostels may be for you. This web site has a database of over 3,000 hostels around the world. There’s also information on low cost transportation and budget guidebooks, plus a bulletin board where you can find travel companions and ride shares.

Lonely Planet Online: Online version of the popular, Gen-X style travel guides. Has plenty of fresh and feisty information about both major tourist areas as well as lots of places far from the beaten path (even Easter Island and Timbuktu). Also, their Thorn Tree bulletin board has reader’s input on different destinations.

Rec.Travel Library: This is a very comprehensive collection of international travel information based on the archives of the rec.travel Usenet newsgroups. You’ll find personal evaluations of almost every possible world destination, travel tips from experts, and frequently asked questions on everything from currency to white-water rafting.

Stanford Travel Medicine Service: Patient Information: From diarrhea to insect repellents, this Stanford clinic tells you how to take care of unpleasant illnesses that could ruin your trip. Also has tips on traveling with children and keeping the kids healthy in unfamiliar terrain.

Travel Tips From the American Society of Travel Agents: If you like to be prepared, these tips from those in the industry could be invaluable. Those in the know will tell you how to choose a travel agent, rent a car, pack your bags, tip your waiter, and avoid travel problems during the holidays.

The Weather Channel Online: Not only can you check the weather outlook for over 1,200 US cities, but you can get the snowfall and resort conditions for hundreds of US ski areas. This is particularly handy if you can’t decide whether or not to pack the expedition-weight thermal underwear.

MetroActive Goes Trippin’ . . .

Don’t Miss Saigon: Playing the Pacific Rim by bike requires stamina and good wheels.

Cruising Oblivion: Life aboard a cruise ship is a lesson in scheduling and snoozing.

On the Road: Traveling doesn’t have to mean planes and trains. Automobiles and thumbs can get you pretty far.

Southern Sunshine: Paradise found on Mexico’s tropical beaches.

Romancing the Romanesque: Scouring France in search Crusader ruins.

An Idiot’s Guide to the Universe: How to keep Europeans from thinking you’re completely hopeless.

Queer Across the World: Transcending homophobia in search of another buck.

Packing Heat: Paranoid or not, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for danger when you travel.

Virtual World: Armchair travelers can feed their wanderlust on the web.

From the April 25-May 1, 1996 issue of Metro

This page was designed and created by the Boulevards team.
&copy 1996 Metro Publishing and Virtual Valley, Inc.