Biography
How long can $100 last?
June 18, 2013
Last year the trip-planning website Tripomatic calculated one simple, fascinating statistic: In different cities across the globe, how long can $100 last?
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New Hampshire getaway a feel-good stop on any East Coast road trip
June 11, 2013
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Seriously, Portsmouth?
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Climbing Kilimanjaro
May 28, 2013
MOUNT KILIMANJARO, Tanzania — We started out dry, clean and happy. We knew that wasn’t how we would finish. But it didn’t matter. We were headed to the highest point in Africa.
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Welcome mat out for gay, lesbian travelers
May 21, 2013
At the kickoff of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association's annual convention this month, that organization's strides — not to mention the entire nation's — were no more clear than on a simple United Airlines banner beside the lectern that read: "Diversity flies with us."
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Break from U.S. carriers lifts passenger spirits
May 14, 2013
Flying foreign airlines can be so much more pleasant than our domestic options. On a recent KLM flight to Amsterdam, the Dutch airline behaved as if it was in the customer-service industry, not merely transporting a bunch of people from one point to another.
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AccuWeather makes a bold 30-day leap for travelers
May 13, 2013
Though it sometimes seems meteorologists can't even predict the next day's weather, AccuWeather has begun taking its longest-range stab at prognostication yet: 30 days.
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Montana's sweet spot in the Western experience
April 30, 2013
BIG SKY, Mont. — This place is absurdly misnamed. That's not a complaint, but it does require an asterisk.
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Is medical care shipshape?
April 30, 2013
After dinner and a walk around their Viking River Cruises ship on Russia's Volga River last May, Charles and Cecilia Ford went back to their cabin. Charles, 82, was in a good mood, his wife said, cracking jokes and singing during their walk.
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The best beer in the world
April 24, 2013
WATERBURY, Vt. — For someone in pursuit of a Heady Topper — the world's top-ranked beer at the moment my plane touched down in Vermont — I made the mistake of arriving on a Sunday.
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On the road with autism
April 16, 2013
On a flight from Israel to London a few years ago, the airplane video display wouldn't work for Margalit Francus' teenage son. The boy, who was 14 or 15 at the time, grew overwhelmingly frustrated. He screamed, he cried and he threatened to open the plane door.
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Wild horses
April 7, 2013
HOT SPRINGS, S.D. — The wild horses eyed us hard across the broad South Dakota plains.
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No joke: Airfare by weight might just fly
April 7, 2013
News of Samoa Air charging passengers by the pound, rather than by the seat, came so suddenly that some people thought it was an April Fools' Day joke. Not only was the announcement no joke — the airline hadn't retracted it by press time — it eventually could become an industry standard.
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Cruise deals in bad times
April 4, 2013
If it seems the cruise industry has had a rough year, it has. And plenty of people agree.
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Vermont's biggest city shows how it's done
April 2, 2013
BURLINGTON, Vt. — There was a McDonald's downtown in Vermont's largest city for years, but then Vermont's largest city decided it didn't want McDonald's anymore. So the McDonald's closed.
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America's grand front yard
March 26, 2013
GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — My cabin was the ultimate in location, location, location.
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Rise and fall of airfares
March 19, 2013
In the last Travel Mechanic column, I examined the fare prognostication tools used by Kayak and Bing, which advise travelers whether to buy plane tickets while searching those websites or to wait. Both sites use data from scores of past searches to predict whether you're finding a fare at its lowest point or if it may fall.
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Tough poles for hiking
March 5, 2013
Name: Distance FL Z-Poles
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Travel crystal ball: Websites advising when to buy tickets
March 5, 2013
They're the questions that vex leisure travelers across regions, languages, origins and destinations: When will I find the best fare? Should I buy that plane ticket now or wait?
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A Midwestern warm-up
February 27, 2013
"So what brings you here?" my massage therapist, Serena, asked while leading me from the Aspira spa's hot tub to the soft table where she would rub me down in a haze of sandalwood oil for the next 50 minutes.
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Another merger mystery
February 19, 2013
Every time two airlines merge, the same questions arise: Who wins? Who loses?
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Book it! 'Hot' summer trips
February 19, 2013
Though we are a nation of summer travelers, that season isn't necessarily the best time to explore.
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Go find your mountain
January 29, 2013
By the time you read this, I hope to have completed something as absurd as it is ambitious: climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
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A hothouse for baseball
January 14, 2013
SAN PEDRO DE MACORIS, Dominican Republic — The lanky 15-year-old and I didn't share a full language, but on a breezy, balmy November night, we shared at least two words.
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Ski towns for nonskiers
January 8, 2013
When I visited Park City, Utah, a couple of winters ago, the ski life seemed to merge perfectly with the nonski life.
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What to expect in 2013
December 26, 2012
In the last Travel Mechanic, two travel industry experts looked back on 2012. This time they look ahead to 2013; their answers were edited for space.
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Detroit: Grit and pride
December 18, 2012
DETROIT — Many people can't see past this city's abandoned buildings and overgrown lots, and that's sort of fair. A city once boasting 2 million people and an unbreakable auto industry is down to 700,000 and apocalyptic decay in every direction. The only time I've had to pass through a metal detector when entering a bank was in Detroit.
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2012 big in the industry
December 11, 2012
Another year in travel has nearly come and gone.
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In search of a Dominican feast
December 9, 2012
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Strange as it may sound, finding good Dominican food isn't so easy in Dominican restaurants.
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Pack no-sweat clothing
November 27, 2012
Not only did I recently complete a 10-day trip with a mere three pairs of underwear, but by the end of those 10 days, no one seemed to mind sitting next to me. The trick: None of the underwear was made of cotton.
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Airline PR weathers the storm
November 6, 2012
Hurricane Sandy turned out to be one of the most disruptive forces on air travel in recent memory.
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Airlines try to restore stability to post-Sandy skies
November 4, 2012
After the havoc that Hurricane Sandy wreaked on the nation's airlines, experts project that the industry should return to normal by early this week.
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Plane refund? If you're fast
October 23, 2012
If you knew that you're entitled to a full refund on almost any plane ticket within 24 hours of purchase, congratulations. If you didn't know, you're not alone.
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O'Hare terminal getting up to speed
October 23, 2012
CHICAGO — For years, the dining options beyond security in O'Hare International Airport's Terminal 5, for international travel, were so limited that travelers couldn't buy a cup of coffee. Next year, however, those heading to all corners of the world via Chicago will be able to eat food prepared by some of the city's most recognizable names, buy pricey jewelry and get a massage.
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Where buffalo roam
October 21, 2012
JACKSON, Wyo. — If the antler door handles don't announce what lies ahead at The Gun Barrel Steak and Game House in this idyllic mountain getaway, then Winchester does.
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Don't just take it, fliers
October 9, 2012
The well-chronicled labor troubles at American Airlines are nothing but headlines to most of us, until it comes time to fly American. Then we learn firsthand about the hopefully temporary state of an airline that statistically has lagged behind its competitors in recent weeks for delays and cancellations.
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If you're flying, go soon
October 7, 2012
If you can speed up your holiday travel plans, the folks at hipmunk.com suggest it.
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Taking aviation's pulse
September 25, 2012
Every month, the U.S. Department of Transportation releases a fascinating window into the American aviation system, and it's there for everyone to see.
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Tracking Legionnaires' disease
September 11, 2012
The primary source of Legionnaires' disease that killed three people staying at a downtown Chicago hotel this summer is believed to have been fairly innocuous: the decorative fountain in the lobby.
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Take autumn easy
August 15, 2012
BETHEL, Maine — You know you've found a worthy fall colors spot when you plan to go far in a day but don't go far at all.
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Wringing the color out of autumn
August 15, 2012
If we can talk about back-to-school sales and preseason football in August, then we can discuss one more of autumn's rites: the fall color vacation.
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A genuinely 'grand' spot for beers
August 12, 2012
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — What does the third-best beer bar in the world look like? It looks like a lot of other bars.
