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Reports to the contrary, the travel agent is alive and well.

A couple of blocks from where I live is a a storefront travel agency. Been there for quite a while, as long as I can remember, anyway.

The space is crammed with brochures, books, all kinds of magazines and old posters. It’s almost always full of people. Some come and sit on the uneven naugahyde chairs and chat with the owner and each other.
Others are actual paying customers booking one kind of trip or another.

Business gets done amid

POP Hotel Entrance

Sometimes referred to as “Palermo Queens”, the Villa Crespo barrio is located at the southern end of Palermo Soho with the unspoiled charm of  tree-lined, cobble stone streets for which Buenos Aires is renowned. However, this neighbourhood is much less touristy than its Palermo neighbours and the Porteños---as the local residents are affectionately known---dominate the scene here in cafes, boutiques, bars, and clubs.

Trendy Villa Crespo is home to the new and evolving Paseo de

It's no wonder that Los Cabos, located at the tip of 1,000-mile long Baja Peninsula, was selected as the host city for this year's G20 Summit scheduled for June 18 – 19. Los Cabos has long been a favored destination for those seeking once-in-a-lifetime vacation experiences where rugged desert meets pristine white sand beaches framed by the iconic El Arco de Cabo San Lucas. What really sealed the deal for locating this event here was the region's solid infrastructure and impeccable safety record

THE FUTURE IS NOW! Airlines are out and the flying car is here! The Transition by Terrafugia Inc. last week said they flew their flying car for 8 minutes at a low 1,400 feet, only 32,000 feet lower than the typical Boeing 747. The Transition flying car has fold up wings, 2 seats, and 4 wheels known and can be driven like a car or flown like a small plane.

The car has about 100 orders already but will probably never become part of mainstream American consumerism because the price tag for the Trans

The journey of a thousand miles starts from beneath your feet.

                                                           Tao te Ching, Verse 64

There is a similarity between historical writing and travel writing.  Both are about journeys:  one is a journey back in time, the other a journey of the present.  Where the difference lies is in the style of the writing.  Historical fiction is a lengthy prose style, historical non-fiction can be more documentary or essay.  Travel writing is either jou

Alaska Airlines is one of our picks in 10 Best Airlines You've Never Flown. Now, the carrier is getting even better with the introduction of several new pet-friendly passenger perks.

Today Alaska announced a partnership with Banfield Pet Hospital, a veterinary practice that has more than 800 hospitals across the U.S. Passengers traveling with pets on Alaska—either bringing them in the cabin or shipping them via the airline's PetStreak Animal Express service—will receive a free office visit, a tra

Planning a safari vacation to Africa?  Well, planning  any vacation to whichever destination, is likely to be stressful if not aggravating.  And if the vacation destination is Africa, it might even be more difficult for those who might not be familiar with the continent.  Thankfully,  there are a growing number of resources to use to plan your Africa  trip.  Ironically though, the availability of these many vacation planning resources can make it even more difficult  to figure out where to star

2/21/2012 Was FINALLY the day I got to fly the new A380, and this wasn't just any A380 - it was the ONLY A380 with the entire upper-deck dedicated to business class, a full bar/lounge in the back of the business class deck reserved for Business class and First class passengers ONLY, a small self-service bar in the front of the plane and a "duty free showcase." Needless to say I was MORE than excited to fly the Big Blue Smurf!

After leaving the Prestige Class loun

There's a reason New Jersey is called the Garden State. Sickles Market in Little Silver is a great example of this State's venerated farming tradition. Sickles started out as a seasonal farm stand back in 1908 selling homegrown fruits and vegetables to local stores. Now over 100 years later, Bob Sickles Jr. has not only continued the tradition of selling locally grown farm produce like Jersey fresh corn and blackberries but has expanded the business into a cause...enlightening customers by offe

South of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand, the Holiday Inn Regent Beach Resort offers days of lazing in the sun and walking on the beach but the best relaxing can be had at the hotel’s Tea Tree Spa. Pamper yourself with one of their therapies that will relax the body, soothe your soul and lift your spirits. Their Tea Tree Signature treatment offers the ultimate experience creating a new zest for life.  An exfoliation will cleanse and leave your skin ready to receive the maximum benefits of one o

Has Spirit started a disturbing trend? Beginning April 4, Allegiant will impose a hefty fee for carry-on bags.

The carrier will charge $35 for the "privilege" of carting a suitcase on a plane and stuffing it into an overhead bin. But it's cheaper if you plan ahead. According to an Allegiant spokesperson, "If purchased online at time of reservation purchase, carry-on bags will be $10 to $30, route specific, though the majority of markets will be $15 or less."

The carry-on surcharge onl

When thinking African wildlife safaris, many agree that one of the most exciting spectacles on earth is the great wildebeest migration that occurs between  Tanzania’s national park and Kenya’s  Masai Mara.  The wildebeest, zebra and antelope make the  constant migration from one end of the wilderness to the other. This movement is driven by their need for pasture and drinking water.  And as the over 1.9 million animals move northwards from the Serengeti into Masai Mara, they are hunted all the t

According to a local myth in Majorca, that sun-drenched Mediterranean island off the northeast coast of Spain, when God decided to create the world, He first made a scale model. He liked it so much, that He used the model (which lacked only one detail: rivers) in His final work, and today this model is none other than the island of Majorca.

And this, the largest of the Balearic islands, is indeed divine in many ways: Its Mediterranean climate, for one, so healthful and invigorating that composer 

First, we’re glad Pinterest  backtracked.  Pinterest’s  pinmeister and co-founder,  Ben Silberman, is no longer asking  followers to " avoid self promotion."

The CEO and his fellow pinners are saying that  the Pinterest etiquette that frowned on pinning ones own content, is dead.

Originally, the fast-growing site wanted its members, as Hotelmarketing.com put it, “to share all the beautiful things they find on the web,”  and eschew pinning their own content, thus the advice against “self promot

TOURISM & MORE'S "TOURISM TIDBITS"
 

In most of the world, April marks the beginning of spring, a renewal and of fresh hope. It also marks the gateway to the busy tourism season and a time for tourism professionals to step back and contemplate their industry.  Tourism has become an ever more complicated industry.  Tourism professionals need to worry about everything from war to economic stagnation, from health threats to food poisoning, from high prices to less than acceptable customer service. 

They say the three most important aspects of a piece of property are location, location, location.  The location of the Five-star Millennium Hotel in Chengdu, China is excellent. The hotel is located in a quiet area with a lovely Shen Xian Shu linear park across the street and a wonderful pedestrian street with shops and restaurants just steps away, not to mention a Starbucks right next to the hotel.

As one would expect of a five–star hotel, the rooms are excellent and the service is perfect. On

Think you’re in Dubai, not this time. You’ve entered a land that only can be called “so Japanese.” Who else, outside of the United Arab Emirates,  could create the world’s largest indoor beach, complete with surf and even a man-made volcano that erupts in fake flames. Why the Japanese, of course. Travel a mere 1200 miles south of Tokyo, on the island of Kyushu, and you’ll hit it. Yes in Miyazaki, Japan there lies an amazingly beautiful beach, where you can sunbathe, swim, and play in the sand, a

Sarah Browne, nutritionist and chef from Roscommon, Ireland, strives to use all natural foods locally produced or found in Ireland.  Her carrageen pudding makes use of a species of red algae that is found along the rocky coast of the Atlantic in Europe and North America but it is also sold commercially. Carrageen is commonly used as a thickener but is has health benefits as it is rich in vitamins and minerals… so the pudding is not only delicious it is good for you.

Carrageen Moss Blanc Mange

F

How BlogFrog Monetizes the Massive Influence of Women Bloggers

How do you get to be called the largest woman-blogger network in the country?

You believe in what BlogFrog CEO and co-founder , Rustin Banks, says: “Elevated authentic editorial brought to you by a brand is the future.”

What’s he talking about?

He’s talking about sponsored conversations with a very large blogger group that pose questions near and dear to a brand’s heart,  and solicits viewer responses ( chatter, votes, stories, advice,