Columns | International Travel News

February 2005 issue

New on the Bookshelf

—by Chris Springer, Contributing Editor

“Crete” by Barry Unsworth (2004, National Geographic. ISBN 0792266439 — 170 pp., $20 hardcover).

Crete has never wanted for literary attention, but this book is a welcome addition to the library of works on the place. After writing a novel set in ancient Greece, Barry Unsworth sets off to explore Crete firsthand. The storyteller in him is enchanted by the island’s myths, which, he says, “have a darkness and splendor about them that is essentially tragic.”

Rather than unrolling the entire tapestry of Crete’s past, Unsworth pulls...

September 2010 issue

Boarding Pass

By David Tykol

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 415th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.

Vacation apartments in Paris now may be more difficult to find.

The city’s government housing agency has begun enforcing a 2005 law that requires any lease on a residential apartment to be for a year or more. To be legally rented for less than a year, an apartment must be classified as a commercial property.

This law does not affect commercial short-term apartment rentals by licensed companies. It is directed toward private properties purchased with the intention of using...

January 2011 issue

Under the microscope: To do or to have done?

By Randy Keck

For countless trips around the sun, my discourse on subjects of interest to international travelers has required constant diligence to keep from lapsing into preaching to the choir. It is my choice to risk that, on this occasion.

Many ITN readers are among the most traveled humans on the planet, while countless others aspire to be included in that grouping. Few of us have completed all of our international travel goals, despite our efforts and intentions, and, for many, even coming close to completing these goals poses an impossible challenge in terms of time and resources.

...

December 2010 issue

A trio of Norwegian Viking ships

By Julie Skurdenis

by Julie Skurdenis

Three of the most remarkable ships from the Viking Age rest together in an Oslo museum. Although discovered and excavated separately between 1867 and 1904, the three ships share much in common. All date from the ninth century AD. All were found on the Oslofjord, south of Olso. All once actually sailed Norway’s coastal waters or the open sea. And, finally, all were used later on as “coffins” for burial of presumably important Viking-era individuals.

Each of the three ships — the Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune — was hermetically sealed and, thus, preserved by the...

March 2005 issue

Travel insurance industry response to the South Asia tsunami

How did the travel insurance industry respond to the Asian tsunami disaster in December 2004 and how did this affect travel insurance coverages for this period and for subsequent travel?

General travel insurance policy coverages

Claims for medical, trip interruption, trip delay and miscellaneous coverages such as baggage loss, etc., are being accepted as a result of tsunami-related losses.

Claims for trip cancellations are generally accepted only if the claim meets the clearly outlined and defined conditions in the fine print of the policy. Specifically, in natural...

August 2010 issue

Boarding Pass

By David Tykol

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 414th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.

A European Union commission released a report in June calling full-body security scanners a reliable security method.

Currently, the scanners are being used at some airports in the US, Canada, Britain and Russia. The US has purchased 150 and plans to buy 300 more by year’s end. The Netherlands, Finland, France and Italy have run trials of the machines. Italy plans to install them at rail stations as well.

To aid in locating hidden weapons, the machines can show actual body...

July 2005 issue

Car rentals and leases for the young at heart

By Philip Wagenaar

(First of three parts)

“You are too old,” the representative said bluntly. Moments earlier my wife, Flory, and I had arrived at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. When I protested to the rep, he retorted, “Just take the shuttle to the Hertz lot, where an agent will have you drive around. If you do all right, we will give you the car.”

After easily maneuvering through the crowded parking area, I was told I had passed the test!

I was reminded of the above incident when ITN’s editor asked me to respond to a letter from Mr. C. Schroeder of El Cajon, California, regarding “...

May 2010 issue

Traveling to Cuba – myth, reality and resolution

By Randy Keck

Street ball erupts with no warning in the streets of Trinidad, Cuba. Photos: Keck

(First of three parts)

I participated in a group tour to Cuba in January of this year courtesy of Canadian-based ITN advertiser ElderTreks (Toronto, Ont.; 800/741-7956). This inspiring journey indeed answered scores of long-held questions I had concerning the Cuban equation. It also left many questions unanswered and, predictably, posed additional ones.

In this three-part treatise on Cuba, I will discuss not only the amazing experience of traveling around Cuba but, specifically in this month’s article, the current although possibly changing realities surrounding travel...