Travelers' Intercom

June 2014 issue

Eye on true chip-and-PIN cards
By José Kirchner

I’m a Senior Moderator on Flyertalk.com, the website for frequent flyers. The site has, possibly, 80 Moderators and four Senior Moderators.

I read the collection of letters under the heading “True Chip-and-PIN Cards Issued in the US” (March ’14, pg. 40) and wanted to point out a spreadsheet in Google Docs that is kept and continually updated by Flyertalk members. 

For anyone seeking a true chip-and-PIN card, this is the most comprehensive data sheet I’ve seen. Listing numerous financial institutions and the charge cards and debit cards they offer, it indicates whether each...

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August 2014 issue

A look at literary Dublin
By Irma Gurman
Christ Church Cathedral — Dublin. Photos: Gurman

Dublin is a city with a fascinating history dating back to the Vikings, yet modern Dublin is a city of culture and literary greats.

George Bernard Shaw was born in its Portobello neighborhood. Oscar Wilde lived there and loved it. William Butler Yeats was born there and is still celebrated, and James Joyce followed his most famous character, Leopold Bloom, through a day in Dublin.

My husband and I decided that in May 2014, after touring Ireland for two weeks with Grand Circle Travel (Boston, MA; 800/221-2610), we would spend several days exploring the city on our own.

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May 2014 issue

‘Greenland & Wild Labrador’
By Linda Jessell

Are you looking for a trip that few have taken and which includes natural splendor, archaeology, hiking, history, native culture, music and lots of laughter? My husband and I experienced such a trip, the 14-day “Greenland & Wild Labrador,” Sept. 5-18, 2013, offered by Adventure Canada (14 Front St., South Mississauga, Ont., L5H 2C4, Canada; 800/363-7566). We booked it through the travel agency Great Canadian Adventure. 

From Toronto, we flew by charter aircraft to Greenland, where we boarded Sea Adventurer, soon donning lifejackets for the first of many Zodiac...

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May 2014 issue

Praise for tummy fiber
By Evenyl Roemmich

I read the subscribers’ accounts under the title “Maintaining a Special Diet While Traveling” (Feb. ’14, pg. 42). My methods of preparing food while traveling seem pretty elementary, but for anyone suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or other digestive problems and thinking they just can’t travel anymore, perhaps the following suggestions will help.

I have been lactose intolerant for some 30 years. Little did I know the yogurt I loved in Egypt at that time was what made me so sick, but now IBS has been a side effect of radiation from cancer treatment. I can’t eat anything...

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March 2014 issue

Turkmenistan — dangers and annoyances
By David J. Patten

Turkmenistan was one of the “five ’Stans” that I visited on a group tour of Central Asia, Oct. 4-27, 2013. If you are planning to travel there, you may wish to take note of my experiences.

We were given advance notice that the tour director scheduled for our trip had had his Turkmenistan visa denied and that we would have a different tour director, Elena, in that, our final country before returning to the States. We also learned that another person in the group had his visa denied, so he and his wife would not be continuing on the trip with us. Elena later stated...

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March 2014 issue

Mexico and Guatemala + Honduras
By Nili Olay

My husband, Jerry, and I took a 7-week trip to Mexico and Guatemala, April 23-June 8, 2013, that focused on the Mayan world and also took in nine Spanish-colonial cities.

Starting in the Yucatán Peninsula in MEXICO, we decided to spend five days first on the Mayan Riviera at Esencia. This fabulous resort is a bit out of our usual price range, but we were glad that we splurged. It is a small resort, with personalized service and extremely comfortable beach cabanas on a quiet beach. I heartily recommend it.

We stayed two nights each at the Lodge at Chichen Itza and the Lodge...

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January 2013 issue

Wildlife not guaranteed
By Marilyn Armel

I read the subscriber’s article “Searching for Wildlife in Three of India’s Top Tiger Reserves” (Aug. ’12, pg. 44), in which the writer described his disappointment. About four years ago I went to the same parks in India but in reverse order, although, except in Kaziranga, I stayed in different camps. I saw seven different tigers, one for 20 minutes as he walked ahead of and behind us.

Outside of a place like the Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where the animals are in enclosures, it is dumb luck to see a tiger anywhere. It’s not like Chief’s Island in Botswana where the...

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November 2013 issue

Uses ‘new-looking’ currency

A note about the subscriber’s letter “Took New Bills to SE Asia” (Aug. ’13, pg. 50) — for years, I have been getting newer currency before I travel, and I’ve found that the bills do not have to be brand new and never used. They just should be clean, with no marks, not wrinkled or folded, and no older than about Series 2009, or five years from the year you are traveling. I ask my small-town bank a week in advance and get the currency easily.

I last visited Southeast Asia in 2002. I went to Mongolia and Bhutan in 2007, Papua New Guinea in 2008 (where I was able to use US bills instead...

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