Features

—by Vernon Hoium, Minneapolis, MN

During a previous visit to Australia, I was advised that The Ghan, an Australian train which then ran from Adelaide to Alice Springs, would continue on to Darwin beginning in 2003. As it turned out, the line was not completed until February ’04. We returned in June ’06 to take The Ghan from Darwin to Adelaide.

The Ghan

To give some perspective, I should point out that Australia and the continental United States are virtually identical in size. The 2,979-kilometer trip from Darwin to Adelaide is similar to traveling from International...

by Florence Drake, Readfield, ME

I wanted to do something special for my 60th birthday. So was born the idea of a birthday trip. This wasn’t to be merely a trip to celebrate my birthday, taken when it was most convenient. This trip had to have me someplace wonderful on my birthday.

I researched our many travel catalogs. However, most itineraries would have had us either flying to or from someplace or otherwise trapped — in airports or on a long bus ride between cities — on November 5th. No, it had to be better than that.

We finally settled on Overseas Adventure Travel’...

At the suggestion of Ellen Jacobson of Centennial, Colorado, we asked readers, “What makes a good guide and why and what makes a bad guide and why?” We threw in the questions “What are some constructive ways to communicate with a guide or help him or her better their performance, deal with a specific expectation of the group or improve the progress of the tour?” and “Have you come up with ways to salvage a tour led by a poor guide?”

We requested comments of a general nature, excluding names of specific guides, but allowed that if there were a particular tour company whose guides...