I went on a very interesting 19-day trip to Mongolia, July 1-19, 2007, with Nomadic Expeditions (Monroe Township, NJ; 800/998-6634, www.nomadic expeditions.com). The president of the company is Mongolian-American. They also have an office in downtown Ulaanbaatar.

The cost of the main trip was $3,575, and an extension to the extreme western province in the Altai mountain range cost $1,550. Airfare was not included.

Mongolia is a fascinating place. Approximately half the people...

On a trip my wife and I took to Europe in May ’07, we picked up a car at the Frankfurt airport that we had reserved over the Internet from National Car Rental. As always, I scrutinized the car carefully before signing the form that claimed it had no damage.

Three weeks later we returned the car, and at the sign-out station when the man scrutinized the car, he found a tiny scratch on the front bumper. He and I went down on our knees to examine it. He wiped away the road film and I, too...

We took a wonderful vacation to Sumatra and Java, Indonesia, Jan. 17-25, 2008, through Floressa Bali Tours (Jalan Gandapura III K / 16 Kesiman, Denpasar 80237, Bali, Indonesia; phone +62 361 467625, fax 467347 or visit www.floressa-bali.com).

I cannot say enough about the professionalism of their guides, the safe transport, the wonderful accommodations and our personalized itinerary, which included ecotourism and cultural tourism.

We started by visiting Medan on Sumatra, then...