Travel News to Use

Resources and Programs

B and Bs Online The 1999 (16th edition) of The Complete Guide to Bed & Breakfasts, Inns & Guesthouses in the United States, Canada and Worldwide by Pamela Lanier is available in print (call 800-841-2665) or online at www.travelguides.com.

Over-50 Adventures Walking the World, the first company to develop a travel and walking program specifically designed for adventure travelers over 50, will offer 25 worldwide itineraries this summer and fall. There is no upper age limit and no previous hiking experience is necessary. Contact: Walking the World, P.O. Box 1186, Fort Collins, CO 80522; (800) 340-9255, fax (970) 498-9100; walktworld@aol.com, www.walkingtheworld.com the world.

Travel and Speak Gaelic Oideas Gael offers courses and tour programs promoting Irish language and culture. For a catalog contact Oideas Gael at (011) 353-73-30248; oidsgael@iol.ie; www.oideas-gael.com.

Belgium Celebrates Belgium has declared 1999 a year to celebrate the traditions of Brussels and The Ardennes. Dozens of festivals will celebrate over 1,000 years of legends, beliefs, and popular traditions. For a program, contact the Belgian Tourist Office at 780 3rd Ave., Suite 1501, New York, NY 10017; (212) 758-8130.

International Job Resources Impact Publications’ 1999 catalog, "Great International & Travel Jobs," the best one-stop source for international career books, is available online at www.impactpublications.com or call (703) 361-7300, fax (703) 335-9486; info@impactpublications.com.

Choosing an Ecotour The Ecotourism Society (TES) has compiled lists of member tour operators and ecolodges around the world. Both lists, found on the Ecotraveler web site, www.ecotourism.org, include e-mail and web site links. Ecotravelers can also review the online fact sheets How to Choose a Tour Operator, How Can You Be an Ecotourist, Independent Ecotraveler Fact Sheet, and How to Be a Marine Ecotourist. All provide guidelines and questions to ask when choosing an ecotourism destination or program. Contact: TES, P.O. Box 755, N. Bennington, VT 05257; (802) 447-2121, fax (802) 447-2122; ecomail@ecotourism.org.

Theme Biking in France Discover France Biking has added a new biking and cooking program in Provence, including four days of guided or unguided biking and three days of cooking at the Chateau Vins sur Caramy. Students eat their homework at evening meals in the chateau. Contact: Discover France Biking, 1603 E. Gardenia Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85020; (602) 944-0375, fax (602) 944-5934; info@discoverfrance.com, www.discoverfrance.com.

Helping Kids with Transitions Let’s Move Overseas by Beverly D. Roman, is an illustrated 32-page workbook for young children moving overseas with their families. It contains games and exercises designed to help kids manage the transition to a new home. The cost is $8.45 plus $3 s/h from BR Anchor Publishing, 7213-A Market St., Suite 342, Wilmington, NC 28411; www.branchor.com.

Don’t Miss Tanzania Herman Kimaro, director of Polly Adventures & Safaris, Ltd., is offering Land Rover camping trips through Tanzania’s National Parks at a rate of $90 per day including transport, meals, and camping fees. Contact: Polly Adventures Safaris, P.O. Box 8008, Arusha, Tanzania; fax (011) 255-57-8360; polly@whiteyellow.com.

Wandering in England English Wanderer (6 George St., Ferryhill, County Durham, DL17 ODT, England; 011-44-17-40-653169, fax 011-44-1740-657996; EnglishWanderer@btinternet.com) offers a wide range of both guided and independent walking holidays in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.

Eurailpass Deal In commemoration of the launch of the first Eurailpass in 1959, anyone born in 1959 will receive a 40 percent discount on any Eurailpass purchased this year--makes turning 40 a little easier to take.

Canada Wilderness Trips Wilderness Inquiry offers seven-day canoe adventures to Lake Nipigon in northern Ontario during the summer of 1999. Wilderness Inquiry. 808 14th Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414-1516, Phone: 612.676.9400, TTY 612.676.9475, Fax: 612.676.9401, www.wildernessinquiry.org.

Scandinavia Tours Independent tours, which enable travelers to explore on their own with all accommodations and transportation arranged in advance, are available to various areas of Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, and Russia through Borton Overseas, 5516 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55419; (800) 843-0603, (612) 822-4640, fax (612) 822-4755; travel@borton.com,  www.borton.com/overseas.html.

British B and Bs A toll-free hotline for advance bookings for bed and breakfast accommodations in private homes in England, Scotland, and Wales is available from Bed & Breakfast (GB), Britain’s original B and B booking service. Prices start at $30 per person per night in London and $25 per person outside London. For a 20-page brochure detailing available accommodations call (800) 454-8704; bookings@bedrock.demon.co.uk.

Europe Home Rentals Home at First offers cottages, homes, and apartment vacation packages in the British Isles, New Zealand, and continental Europe. Contact: Home at First, P.O. Box 193, Springfield, PA 19064; (800) 523-5842.

Vacation and Work Vacation Work Publications has released its new catalog detailing a wide range of publications on work, travel, and adventure for 1999. These include Transitions Abroad work abroad editor Susan Griffith’s new (ninth) edition of Work Your Way Around the World. Vacation Work’s new web site, www.vacationwork.co.uk, offers a "Work Check" feature with information about current vacancies and regular updates. Contact: Vacation Work Publications, 9 Park End St., Oxford, OX1 1HJ; (011) 44-1865-241978, fax (011) 44-1865-790885. (Susan Griffith’s books are distributed in the U.S. by Peterson’s Guides, 800-338-3282, fax 609-243-9150.)

Wilderness Lodging The 400-page edition of The Cabin Guide to Wilderness Lodging assists in planning vacations from Alaska to the Caribbean, from Canada to Mexico, for as little as $15. "Base camps" provide beds, refrigerators, woodstoves, cookstoves, showers, fireplaces, utensils, and a room with a view. Contact: Jetsetters Publications, 5025 S. Eastern Ave., #388, Las Vegas, NV 89119; (702) 252-1647; cabinguide@hotmail.com.

Cooking in Tuscany The Tuscany Institute for Advanced Studies’ "The Tuscan Table" program, led by Carla Capalbo, Italian cuisine expert and cookbook author, will combine Carla’s instruction in Tuscan cooking with visits to nearby farms, wineries, family-run trattorias, markets, and food artisans. Participants will learn the traditional methods to make regional specialties like pecorino cheese, hand-pressed olive oil, prosciutto, and Vino Nobile de Montepulciano. The cost for the five-day program, June 7-12, is $1,975. Contact the Tuscany Institute at (800) 943-8070; tuscanyln@aol.com.

Senior Airfare Bargains Jens Jurgen, president of Travel Companion Exchange, Inc. (TCE), the nation’s largest service helping travel-minded singles find a travel companion or partner, has published a four-page summary of senior airfare bargains with details on senior airfare coupons, senior passes, and other senior air discounts. The article, which reprints material from recent issues of TCE’s Travel Companions newsletter, costs $2 postpaid from: TCE, P.O. Box 833, Amityville, NY 11701. A single sample copy of the newsletter costs $6 from the same address.

Budget Scotland, etc. Available April-October, New Frontier’s "Route of the Clans" tour includes seven nights’ accommodations in B and Bs, and a rental car for $489 per person, double. With roundtrip air transportation between New York and Glasgow the cost is $919. Nouvelles Frontiers also offers a nine-day Scottish Lochs and Whiskey tour as well as Paris and Champagne and Paris and Burgundy tours. Contact: New Frontiers at (800) 366-6387, (212) 779-0600; mailus@newfrontiers.com, www.newfrontiers.com.

Mideast Archaeology The Israel Archaeological Society offers trips for adventure-minded travelers to historic Middle Eastern sites. Departure dates are flexible. The programs are open to people of all ages; college students may earn six credits from Seton Hall Univ. or the Univ. of Hartford. Call the director, Arthur Greenberg at (800) 888-3258, (313) 476-8478; archaeology@mindspring.com.

Hermitage Summer Program For anyone angling for an insider’s view of the Hermitage collections, the European University of St. Petersburg’s art history department offers an extraordinary two-week summer course entitled "The Romanov Dynasty as Collectors of Applied Art." The course, taught in English, integrates workshops and lectures with tours of the Hermitage and surrounding St. Petersburg palaces. The projected cost for the August 1-15 program is $1,490 (which includes tuition and room and board but not airfare). For more information, contact the EUSP art history program at (011) 7 812 275 5137 or (011) 7 812 279 0802; fax (011) 7 812 275 5139; arts@eu.spb.ru. The application deadline is May 15.

Teach Overseas Handbook The Teaching Overseas Information Handbook by Bob Barlas of Search Associates, a placement agency for teachers seeking jobs abroad, is a distilliation of the author’s 12 years of teaching experience in a number of countries. The $12.50 cost includes the oppor- tunity for a phone consultation regarding teaching abroad. Contact: Robert Barlas, RR #5, Belleville, ON, K8N 4Z5, Canada; (613) 967-4902, fax (613) 967-8981; rbarlas@connect.reach.net.

Travel Photography For a catalog of 1999 courses offered by Maine Photographic Workshops--including travel photography classes for Tuscany (six), Provence, and the Amazon--call (877) 577-7700; www.meworkshops.com. Photo Explorer Tours, founded by travel photo- grapher and China specialist Dennis Cox, offers tours to Tibet, Turkey, China, India, and South Africa. Contact: (800) 315-4462, (734) 996-1440; decoxphoto@aol.com. Photo-Seminars www.photo-seminars.com (offers a free travel photography seminar by Andrew Hudson, a professional travel photographer, author, and publisher, through June 1999. Contact: Brian Ratty at brian@photo-seminars.com.

Family Tours The new Alumni Campus Abroad for Families provides a combination of learning, physical activity, and sightseeing in the Swiss alps. Most of the activities are shared by all family members, regardless of age. In addition, there are special programs for sub-teens ages 8-12 and teens ages 13-17. Contact AHI International Corporation, 6400 Shafer Ct., Rosemont, IL 60018; (800) 323-7373; www.ahitravel.com.