Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!A Little Napa in the Holy Land
By Linda Tancs
Perhaps fueled by Western oenophiles, Israel’s fledgling wine industry is enjoying a surge in interest. And why not, considering that its subtropical climate of hot days and cool nights lends itself quite nicely to the art of winemaking. Although the epicenter of winemaking would be the Judean Hills, wineries can be found from the Golan to the Mediterranean coast. So take a break from the turf and surf and enjoy a wine tasting in a nice cool cellar or lounge. Your taste buds will surely be thankful.
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Passport Cards Offer Convenience for Travelers
By Linda Tancs
Marketed as a less expensive and more portable form of passport book, the passport card gives U.S. travelers returning from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean a wallet-sized form of entry at seaports and land borders to meet the requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. The card does not, however, replace the need for a passport when traveling by air. Like a traditional passport, the card is expected to have anti-counterfeiting features. Each card will also have an embedded radio frequency chip linking non-personal information to a secure government database at border stations. Applications for the card commenced on February 1, 2008 and delivery is expected in the spring. You can apply at any passport application facility. Find the one nearest you at http://travel.state.gov.
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Best Travel Deals Just a Click Away
By Linda Tancs
Want that in-the-know ability that your travel agent has? Well, at least with respect to airfares, you can get it with Yapta. Yapta is your online 24/7 travel consultant, offering a watch service for airfares on several major carriers. And you can enter your confirmation number to watch that fare that you booked two weeks earlier. If the price drops, you’ll be notified. Then, of course, you’ll be notifying the carrier about that refund for the difference. You know, the one they’d never tell you about unless you asked. Yapta requires a download of their software (for free), available in Explorer and Firefox versions. Visit them at www.yapta.com.
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New Era in Flight Sharing
By Linda Tancs
Okay, Virgin really needs to stop pioneering everything or else we’ll need to rename the blog Virgin Travelrific. In his latest endeavor, Branson has unveiled Virgin Charter, a flight charter company offering a less pricey alternative to private flying–those selections being plane ownership (yes, that could get expensive), timesharing (you might lose control over your selections), or jet cards (you prepay for miles you expect to fly). So if you’re looking to fly 20 or so of your closest friends to the pistes in Aspen, VC will find you the charter that puts the smallest dent in your wallet. You could even bid on an empty leg and get a bargain. Check it out at www.virgincharter.com.
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Airline Offers Online Booking Guarantee
By Linda Tancs
Delta Airlines is luring online travel junkies with an offer of a refund or a voucher if another online travel operator offers passengers an identical ticket at a lower fare than that found on the airline’s website. Read the fine print (yes, you knew that was coming!)at www.delta.com.
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Travel and Hospitality Take Hold of Environmental Protection
By Linda Tancs
Following last week’s report on Virgin’s maiden biofuel flight comes news that the airline is furthering its environmental protection initiatives by testing out zero-emissions vehicles on business traveler shuttle services. Virgin also plans on equipping planes with Rolls Royce engines to cut emissions by thirty percent. Not to be outdone, the hospitality industry is likewise jumping into the fray with Sofitel’s announcement that it will use windmills at its U.S. properties to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by two million pounds. Rock Resorts is also promoting green travel through recycling, water conservation, organic foods and a host of other policies. We’ve come a long way since the mere reuse of towels and linens.
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Alluring Bermuda
By Linda Tancs
Legend has it that if you walk through a moongate, you’ll return to Bermuda someday. Chances are, you’d return anyway. Find out why at www.travelrificradio.com.
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More to Svalbard Than Seeds
By Linda Tancs
The Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard gained national attention recently when it opened its seed vault to visitors. The vault, housed deep within an Arctic mountain in the capital city of Longyearbyen, was designed to safeguard seeds for the world’s crops to sustain life in the event of an apocalyptic event. But Svalbard, which means “cold edge,” and its capital city should be remembered as more than just a “Noah’s Ark” of sorts for farming. As with other Arctic destinations, you’ll find your fair share of reindeer, polar bears, blue ice and, between April and August, midnight sun. Also, jazz and blues enthusiasts will find festivals at the end of January and October, respectively. And around mid-March you can celebrate the end of Arctic darkness during SunFest. Just like the rest of Norway, though, prices here are outrageously expensive. Tent-based camping remains one of the most popular and cost-efficient ways to enjoy this northernmost inhabited tip of the world.
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Germany’s Natural Wonder Endangered in the North Sea
By Linda Tancs
In the middle of the North Sea, about 70 km from the mouth of Germany’s Elbe River, lies the tiny municipality of Helgoland. The smallness of the island is dramatized by the largeness of its landmark, a 47-meter high, red sedimentary rock birthed by Mother Nature affectionately called Lange Anna (Tall Anna). If the experts are right, Tall Anna will be getting a lot shorter. Claiming ongoing erosion of the 25,000 ton monolith by storm waters, experts fear that without the undertaking of protective measures likely to cost millions of euros, Nature will reclaim what it once built. And that won’t be good for tourism, considering that only about 400,000 tourists visited this destination last year. Without such a photogenic landmark to draw visitors, that number is likely to plummet further. So Nature, heal thyself.
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Travel May Affect Insurance
By Linda Tancs
One aspect of travel that most tourists probably don’t consider is the affect it will have on their life insurance. Yes, that’s right. Life insurance. Some states, like New York, Connecticut, California, Maryland, Colorado, Washington and Illinois, prohibit life insurance companies from adjusting premiums based on customers’ past or future travel plans. New Jersey is likely to follow suit. As for the rest, presumably that means you better watch your wallet if big brother deems your trek through the Himalayas to be a high-risk activity.
Travelrific® Travel Journal 