Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Commuters Zip Along in New Jersey
By Linda Tancs
At busier transit hubs across New Jersey, commuters using rail and light rail services have another option to choose from to reach their intended destination–the Zipcar. The rentals, some of which are hybrid vehicles to benefit the environment, can be reserved online from NJ Transit for pickup at Metropark, Princeton Junction, Morristown, Montclair University, and Liberty State Park. Prospective users will need to complete an application for membership in the program and will receive a Zipcard to retrieve their reserved car. Customers must also return the rental to the station from which it was taken. Cars can be reserved by the hour or by the day at fees ranging from $8 to $73, respectively. Avis says they try harder. Move over.
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Stretching the Dollar in the City of Light
By Linda Tancs
Few expenses irk travelers more than transport costs from airport to inner city, and the pain is more keenly felt when the traveler’s currency is trading downward (like the U.S. dollar). Thanks to Paris’s still relatively new light rail at Charles de Gaulle Airport, you can transfer free among the terminals, and catch the Roissybus to L’Opera Garnier for less than $15. Transfer there via cab to the inner city for less than $10. That’s a savings of $50 or so from the price of an airport cab. What to do with that extra cash? Why not order the plat du jour at that sidewalk cafe you’ve been meaning to visit. You’ve earned it.
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A Cool Trip
By Linda Tancs
As record breaking heat grips the northeastern U.S. this late spring (spring!), it’s time for our collective mindset to turn to cooler climes. How about Iceland? Coming in this time of year at a delightfully cool 56 degrees fahrenheit in Reykjavik, you can run, hike, swim, bike, kayak or glacier hop without breaking a sweat. And it shouldn’t hurt that Budget Travel cites Iceland as one of few places where the U.S. dollar goes further. Of course, budget is a relative term. If fuel costs, airline downsizings and surcharges have you staying closer to home, then you can always enjoy Icelandic culture vicariously through the Puffin cam on the tourist board’s website.
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Ted, You’re Grounded
By Linda Tancs
In a move surely not surprising, United Airlines is abandoning its low-cost carrier, Ted. Founded in 2003, Ted’s expanding route map and low fare guarantee will meet the executioner’s axe as fuel costs continue to spiral and forecasters predict airline losses in the $2B range. Ted, meet Maxjet, Eos, and Silverjet. Just goes to show that economic tides don’t play favorites.
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Tourism Survey Measures P’s and Q’s
By Linda Tancs
How well tourists mind their p’s and q’s was the subject of a recent survey of hoteliers commissioned by Expedia. The results for American tourists (ranking eleventh overall) are mixed, scoring high points for generosity and low points for tidiness and civility. German tourists scored highest for neatness while the Italians and French topped the best-dressed list. Americans, whose fanny packs and white tennis shoes apparently do little to impress the front desk, are number one on the traveler’s equivalent of Blackwell’s worst-dressed list. So how does one become a model tourist? You’ll need to ask the Japanese, who ranked first overall.
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The Pretzel’s Demise
By Linda Tancs
After hearing that US Airways is abandoning the pretzel snack on domestic flights, I decided to check out their food offerings online. On “select” flights (suggestion: call ahead for confirmation), here’s a sampling of their mouth-watering options (sans pretzels): fruit and cheese plate, turkey ham on sweet Hawaiian luau bread (aloha!), and a classic chicken Caesar salad.
Readers, I’d like you to rate the meals you’ve had on a domestic flight–from 1(lousy) to 5 (great, or at least pretty darn good). The results, best to worst, will be tallied and posted.
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E-Ticketing Touted as Cost-Saving Measure
By Linda Tancs
You may have noticed that, effective 1 June, paper airline tickets have gone the way of the dinosaur. In a move initiated by IATA about 3 years ago, e-ticketing is now the standard for processing passengers. According to IATA, this move will save the industry over $3 billion per year in expenses. Now the question is: as carriers realize the savings to come through effecting electronic transactions, will we see an elimination of the checked bag charges now being widely introduced by carriers, a reduction in surcharges, and–better snack foods? Stay tuned.
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The Aqueous Paradise of Venice
By Linda Tancs
World famous for its canals and gondoliers, Venice is an aqueous paradise often emulated but never rivaled. Find out what it is about this city that charms so many. Visit Travelrific® Travel Show.
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Moving at a Glacial Pace
By Linda Tancs
A glacial pace is taken to mean a slow, lumbering movement. Not that there’s anything wrong with that– unless we’re talking glaciers. Ice movements in New Zealand and Greenland are causing some consternation among naturalists and scientists alike, not to mention the uncertain effect on tourism. Consider this: New Zealand’s 2 million-year-old Tasman Glacier in Mount Cook National Park is losing 500 meters each year, an uncomfortable progression for a skiing destination touted as the ultimate New Zealand alpine adventure. On the other side of the world, Greenland’s glaciers have been shrinking for 100 years, losing some 150,000 tons of ice each year. That’s bad news for Disko Bay, where adventurists travel to marvel at a colossal collection of floe. Better get there before the glaciers leave town.
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Hiawatha Lives in Ironwood
By Linda Tancs
At the door on summer evenings
Sat the little Hiawatha;
Heard the whispering of the pine-trees,
Heard the lapping of the waters,
Sounds of music, words of wonder;
‘Minne-wawa!” said the Pine-trees,
Mudway-aushka!” said the water. – “Hiawatha.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Hiawatha still hears the lapping of the waters–from his bird’s-eye view of Lake Superior–in Ironwood, Michigan. There, bearing an appellation that reads “World’s Tallest and Largest Indian,” stands an 18-meter high statue of Hiawatha, a chieftain credited with founding the Iroquois Confederacy. Fans of roadside americana such as this can get directions here.
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Travelrific® Travel Journal 