Columns

August 2006 issue

A cruise director for all nations
By Lew Toulmin

Frederic Jansen is the tall, handsome, energetic and always upbeat cruise director of the Star Clipper, which sails in the western Mediterranean, the eastern Caribbean and transatlantic. He has delightful manners and a charming sense of humor. I interviewed him in January ’06 on board the vessel, which is one of three tall ships in the Star Clippers (U.S. office in Miami, FL; 800/442-0551 or www.starclippers.com) fleet; see last month’s column.

Q: Tell me about yourself, Frederic.

A: I was born in Belgium and am 33 years old. I am the youngest in my family, with two older...

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April 2006 issue

Cruising up the Shannon through the 40 shades o’ green
By Lew Toulmin

(First of two parts, jump to part 1, part 2)

I close my eyes and picture the emerald of the sea,

From the fishing boats at Dingle to the shores of Donaghadea;

I miss the River Shannon and folks at Skibbereen.

The moorlands and the meadows with their forty shades o’ green.

— Johnny Cash (1961)

As the song says, I can’t stop thinking about Ireland — the glistening River Shannon scrolling out in front of our cozy vessel, the quiet villages, the glorious countryside, all set amidst those incredible 40 shades of green.

Taking command

My...

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November 2006 issue

Routine Immunizations

(First of three parts)

No one likes getting shots. Travelers are particularly averse to jabs. So why bother? Protection.

Immunization, which is interchangeable with “vaccination,” aims to protect you from disease which can be debilitating or fatal. This is done by introducing a weakened or inert (read: dead) form of the germ (and, soon, cancer) so that your immune system sees the enemy and prepares for battle before the war begins. When the real thing gets into your body, your immune system has had time to make bullets specifically aimed at that germ, and so you have either...

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May 2005 issue

Reviewers’ Corner

“Cycle Europe, 20 Tours, 12 Countries” by Jerry Soverinsky (2004, MBI Publishing Co. ISBN 0760318697 — 400 pp., $19.95 paper). When you are motivated to spend a couple of weeks on an adventure on wheels through Europe, this is the “bible” you must take with you.

How does this book differ from other guidebooks? It is highly readable because of its rich mixture of humor. It also makes planning vacations easy because of the abundance of road detail.

I was impressed with Jerry Soverinsky’s skill at inviting the reader to hop on his bike and pedal through his favorite parts of...

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June 2006 issue

Boarding Pass
By David Tykol

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 364th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.

The results of a recent study are based on the typical expenses of business travelers rather than tourists, but Oslo is now reportedly the most expensive city in the world, displacing Tokyo. Trailing those two are Reykjavik, Osaka, Paris, Copenhagen, London, Zürich, Geneva and Helsinki. The rankings were derived by the consulting firm Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), based in London.

Other firms arrive at different rankings. Mercer Consulting (New York; www.mercerhr.com) still...

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September 2006 issue

Calling abroad made simple
By Philip Wagenaar

(Second of two parts, click here for part one)

In last month’s issue, I discussed two categories of subscriber telephone numbers (SN).

The first one uses a National Prefix (Nat. Pref.) for domestic calls and has the configuration z-bbb-xxx xxxx, where the “z” is the Nat. Pref. (the long-distance prefix, which is a “1” in the U.S.), the “bbb” is the area/city code (AC) and the subsequent digits comprise the local number (LN).

The second category uses no National Prefix.

SNs consist either of a local number or of an area/city code + a local number. For...

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December 2006 issue

Travel-specific immunizations

(Second of three parts)

In the last issue, I covered routine immunizations, telling which ones and how many to get as well as when to get them prior to going on a journey. In this issue I will cover the recommended travel-specific immunizations worth considering before traveling abroad.

Hepatitis A: this is the most common vaccine-preventable travel disease. Immunization consists of two doses six to 12 months apart. The duration of protection is 10 to 20 years — and perhaps longer, but this is not yet proven.

Hepatitis B: this is a routine immunization for children,...

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October 2006 issue

Travel insurance and medical evacuation

In case a traveler is injured abroad, medical care will be necessary and all initial care will be local. The quality of care can and will vary greatly, and if the trauma is severe, hospitalization and surgery may follow. Not every case demands evacuation; high-class medical care can be obtained in many developing nations. The difficulty lies in finding or making one’s way to such care when sick or injured.

There are many common misconceptions regarding medical care while traveling. The most common one regards health insurance: domestic American insurance does not pay for the care...

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