Flight to India : Flight news and information

Mention Japan and you’ll more often than not evoke glittering clusters of skyscrapers, exquisite plates of sushi, and a massive serving of pop music, electronics, and all things modern. But in celebration of my grandfather’s 80 th birthday, my entire extended family explored this country’s beautiful landscape. The most civilized stops on this merry gathering included two short stays at the peaceful seaport village of Yokohama and the glitzier shrine-town-turned-industrial city of Nagoya

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My Five Best Sights in Honshu, Japan

In conjunction with his upcoming book, Here Is Where: In Search of America’s Great Forgotten History, we’re following historian and Legacy Project founder Andrew Carroll as he drives, flies, walks, boats, buses, bikes, and hikes to seek out little-known historic sites in all 50 states. Bookmark all of his posts here . After leaving Palestine, Texas, to pursue an extraordinary story I’d heard concerning the Columbia Space Shuttle explosion in 2003, I needed to photograph a site in Dallas related to one of the nation’s greatest Blues singers

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Here Is Where: Street Talk in Dallas

Friend of Intelligent Travel , Molly Feltner , shares this story of sitting face-to-face with a silverback in Congo as one of the first tourists to visit Virunga National Park since tourism reopened in May. For the first time in nearly two years–following the massacre of seven endangered mountain gorillas and months of occupation by rebel forces– Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo is welcoming back tourists for gorilla trekking. Up until a few months ago, Virunga National Park sat in the eye of a perfect storm of man-made calamities.

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Gorilla Tourism Reopens in Congo

The Touro Synagogue –America’s oldest synagogue, located in Newport, Rhode Island and dedicated in 1763–just opened its $12-million visitors center . Said Keith Stokes, chairman of the board at the Touro Synagogue Foundation, “We’ve got this great story and history to share, but we needed to create a platform where everyone felt able to attend and learn.” [ USA Today ] Next time your family rolls their eyes at you for saying, “I want to go to there!” to almost every possible destination on the face on the earth (I speak from experience), just tell them, “It’s in my blood!” According to AlmostFearless , “Standford University geneticists have identified a gene that could explain why early man left his farming communities to explore the world, why Americans are natural capitalists and perhaps even why you can’t wait for your next trip abroad (and why some people have no interest in leaving home at all).” [ AlmostFearless ] Photo: Touro Synagogue

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Daily Radar: 08.12.09

Catherine Barker , avowed Francophile and fellow blogger over at NGM Blog Central , was inspired by the release of Julie and Julia to look back through our archives and learn exactly how Julia Child went about “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” back in Paris in the 1950s. She uncovered a story, “Home Life in Paris Today, July 1950,” about a woman named Deena Clark, who moved with her family to Paris for four months. In the article Clark describes their search for an apartment (rent: $208 a month) and some of the tools in the kitchen, including the handy lettuce cleaner ( pictured here )

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Cooking in Julia Child’s Paris, Circa 1950

If you’ve thought about getting a tattoo, consider the Hotel Erwin . The new Venice Beach property (above) is currently offering an “Ink and Stay” package, which includes a $100 tattoo voucher from the hotel’s in-house tattoo artist, Lubriderm lotion and ice-pack for healing, a bottle of tequila (to numb the pain), temporary tattoos (in case you don’t want something inked for life) and a $500 bonus if you get a tattoo that says “I Heart Hotel Erwin.” The package starts at $399 and is available through the end of the year. Almost the entire population of Easter Island–some 4,000 people–turned out for the island’s first officially sanctioned soccer match.

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Daily Radar: 08.10.09

When the news came out yesterday of the death of John Hughes , the world lost not only a popular director, but a huge proponent of the city of Chicago. Despite not being actively involved in filmmaking for the last ten years of his life, he continued to live in the city where he spent most of his career, a place which, he said, “[I]s a working city, where people go to their jobs and raise their kids and live their lives.” His classic films like Sixteen Candles , Home Alone, The Breakfast Club, and of course, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, all could be considered postcards to the city

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John Hughes’ Chicago

We’re very pleased to announce the winner of our Great Outdoors Photo Contest! Our Grand Prize winner, Eric Heistand , of Valle Crucis, North Carolina won a five-night stay for two at Mandarin Oriental Riviera Maya Hotel in Mexico, including breakfast daily, one dinner for two at Ambar restaurant, and two aromatherapy massage treatments. In an effort to preserve the natural beauty of his area, Heistand took a group of college students on a mission trip to Trash Can Falls just outside of Boone, North Carolina

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Great Outdoors Photo Contest Winners

Kallari bars are considered to be some of the best chocolate around (at least by pastry chef Kate Zuckerman –see this article –and Supermarket Guru Phil Lempert ). Available in Whole Foods markets, they are a sweet you can feel good about buying: Over 850 Kichwa families living in the Amazon rain forest region of Ecuador have formed the Kallari Association, which grows the cacao used in the bars AND coordinates the production of chocolate from their own beans. Plus, 100% of profits are returned to the Kallari Association, allowing people in the area to make a living by doing something other than clearing trees in the Amazon

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Organic Chocolate in Ecuador

If you want to get away without actually getting away, check out Traveler’s Trip Lit column for July. Our columnist Don George reviews his new Book of the Month, Lime Tree Can’t Bear Orange by Amanda Smyth, a novel about a teenage girl in Trinidad, and Aisling Juanjuan Shen’s A Tiger’s Heart: The Story of a Modern Chinese Woman about the author’s journey out of a rice-farming village in rural China. Other Trip Lit Highlights: – Near Death in the Desert , edited by Cecil Kuhne: This installment of the “Near Death” series highlights 12 almost-lethal tales of desert adventures.

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Escape into a Good Book

President Obama recently signed a bill that would create a trail from Montana’s Glacier National Park (above) to the Pacific Ocean at Washington’s Cape Alava . The 1,200-mile Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail is part of the “dream of a transcontinental pathway across America,” according to Ron Strickland, who proposed the Pacific Northwest Trail in 1970. He hopes to see a trail connecting the Pacific to the Atlantic become a reality by the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System in 2018, according to AP

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Obama Creates New National Trail

Earlier this month, Apple began to celebrate the app store’s first birthday by highlighting its favorite applications and games on iTunes — tens of thousands of which have undoubtedly changed the way people use their phones when out and about. Grist also recently compiled a list of green apps , featuring a range of green programs from one that finds the greenest tissues and paper products to one that calculates fuel efficiency. Although I’ve refused to buy into the iPod hype, below are some apps that have me lusting after an iPhone for hitting the streets: Summer fun comes hand in hand with a blistering summer sun, so some sunscreen application is in order these days.

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Green iPhone Apps

The world is a blur this month for the swift competitors racing in the Tour de France, and most of them have been pedaling faster than ever since with the introduction of ever-lighter carbon bikes each year. But for biking enthusiasts who crave such top-notch speed and durability, a whole new eco- and budget-friendly option will be soon available through an innovative partnership between non-profit Zambikes and elite bike builder Craig Calfee: the bamboo bike. The story of the bamboo bike began right in the States — Santa Cruz, to be exact — where Calfee designed a bamboo bike for a publicity project

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Bamboo Bikes

In conjunction with his upcoming book, Here Is Where: In Search of America’s Great Forgotten History, we’re following historian and Legacy Project founder Andrew Carroll as he drives, flies, walks, boats, buses, bikes, and hikes to seek out little-known historic sites in all 50 states. Bookmark all of his posts here . I typically travel to Chicago about once or twice a year, and on every trip I’ve walked past and in many cases gone into the Tribune Tower building at 435 North Michigan Avenue

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Here Is Where: Chicago’s Hidden World

Ok, we recently passed 2 years that we have been living in Negril Jamaica and although I have considered doing this post for quote some time I am just getting around to discussing the cost of food at the grocery stores in Negril and what your options are for value or how to extend your food budget while living in paradise. I would guess that the primary reason I never got around to writing much about the cost of food in Negril is that it’s never been such an issue to save on my grocery bill as it has been this year.

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Cost of groceries in Negril Jamaica Summer 2009

Once you have a passport it becomes so much easier to take a flight to just about any place and enjoy some exotic location even if just for a couple of days. With proper planning and a little patience you can score some pretty sweet deals on last minute accommodations and even last minute flights with regional websites such as LastMinute.com.au which specializes in last minute discount travel packages for Australia which amount to huge savings on travel to some of the best vacation spots in the Australia.

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Score last minute flights and travel discounts with LastMinute.com.au

Finding vacation beach rentals or just simply a room in Negril is easy enough but finding a cool spot to chill by the beach at an affordable rate year round is a trick unless of course you know Joseph at Westport Cottages right on Norman Manley Blvd. If you know about his international hostel and affordable beach accommodations just across the street from Negril Beach then you know where to go for one of the best values in an inexpensive room in Negril

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Affordable vacation beach rentals at Westport Cottages in Negril Jamaica

Two people stand in the YS Falls at the Tallest Zip Line Ride Close up view of YS Falls Zip Lines Tour Guide Zip Line Rider screaming over the YS River extreme adventure zip lines Wide view of the YS Falls river gorge where you go for fast Zip Line Rides Are ready for an extreme vacation in Jamaica? Would you like to take a zip line tour in Negril to YS Falls and enjoy the rush of flying over the roaring river from 100 feet above the gorge? It’s a pure rush and a must do for any adrenaline junkies out there who look for something more out of an adventure vacation

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Zip Line Tours to YS Falls from Negril Jamaica

Seems like many Americans are seeking more affordable travel options for the summer vacation season. I would hope more people would take advantage of the great deals on travel to Jamaica but not everyone will be able to do so for many reasons. It looks like there will be more domestic travel for us vacationers this season and you can expect more road and motorhome trips and RV travel to camping resorts and rv parks or other forms of camping vacations as people redisvover America and the many wonderful private camp grounds and rv resorts in places like North Carolina where the summer camping season is awesome and private RV campgrounds such as Sycamore Lodge are experiencing an increase in business with the boost in domestic vacation travel.

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Private North Carolina RV Campground Resort