THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 26, 1995 TAG: 9511230100
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHEN HARRIMAN, TRAVEL EDITOR
LENGTH: Long : 259 lines
THIS TIME NEXT MONTH you and your loved ones will have unwrapped all those gifts that are, well, not quite ready to put under the tree yet. Still waiting to be picked out, in fact.
Unless you think a fat man is going to come down the chimney Christmas Eve and take care of everything, it's time to do some serious shopping.
If you haven't gotten that something special for someone special - or if you haven't dropped enough hints about what you'd like - here are some ideas. CALL A SPECIALIST
There are a number of mail-order companies that specialize in travel products. Four I would recommend (with toll-free phone numbers) are Willis & Geiger, (800) 223-1408; Magellan's, (800) 962-4943; TravelSmith, (800) 950-1600; and Orvis Travel (800) 541-3541.
Magellan's has the most complete selection I've seen anywhere of electrical and telephone adapters and converters for use throughout the world. These are important items, particularly for people traveling on business.
Willis & Geiger, in business for 93 years, has recently taken to promoting its association with a pretty select fraternity of adventurers. It's their way of saying that they offer some pretty top-drawer things.
For instance, they helped Theodore Roosevelt gear up for a bear hunt, and when that went well, he called on them again for a post-presidential safari to Africa.
They made the flight suit that Charles Lindbergh wore on his solo crossing of the Atlantic. Other aviator-customers included Jimmy Doolittle, Adm. Richard Byrd and Amelia Earhart.
W&G outfitted make-believe Great White Hunters Clark Gable and Grace Kelly for ``Mogambo.'' Ernest Hemingway sported W&G safari costumes, Dwight Eisenhower wore their fly-fishing vests, and James Bond (the Roger Moore version) wore their hunting vest.
All this is to say, you've probably seen Willis & Geiger travel stuff before, whether you knew it or not. Now you can order it from the catalog. YOU BETTER SHOP AROUND
I want a travel alarm clock for Christmas. I found exactly what I want in three mail-order catalogs . . . for three different prices. It pays to shop around.
The small, battery-operated clock with a large LED display and an alarm that starts gently and gets more insistent has an Oregon Scientific logo on it in the Magellan's and TravelSmith catalogs. L.L. Bean has its own logo on what appears to be an identical clock.
The cost: Magellan's is $19.85 plus $4.95 shipping and handling, or $24.80; TravelSmith $19.50 plus $3.50 or $23; L.L. Bean $16.50 plus $4.50 or $21. A TICKET TO RIDE
Consider making your gift a real trip. Once you've decided on a destination, have fun with the presentation. Wrap up an airline ticket with a model airplane, a Caribbean cruise with a bottle of sunscreen. Or let a plush koala bear represent a trip Down Under.
There are two ways to shop for travel gifts. While it's more practical to buy a travel gift certificate that may be redeemed for travel anytime, it's more fun to plan and pre-pay a trip. Presumably you know the recipient well enough to know what is considered an interesting destination and when it is convenient to travel.
Gift certificates, available from various travel agents, airlines and tour companies, may be used for packaged tours, full-fare or discounted airline tickets and travel vouchers.
If your frequent-flyer accounts are flush with miles, you may want to redeem some of the miles for a gift ticket. Most programs come with discounted or free hotel and rental car vouchers. These are not valid during holiday blackout dates, but they can be used at other times.
For those who find the sea more appealing than the sky, consider gifts of fishing trips, ocean cruises or scuba diving or sailing lessons. PACKING IT IN
I am still looking for the perfect luggage. I use several pieces manufactured for and sold by Sharper Image. The company is trying very hard to get it right, but the best thing I like about its pieces so far is its guarantee. When something breaks, I take the piece back and they give me another one.
If you want to give someone luggage, give something that has wheels on it. (``Travel,'' remember, comes from ``travail,'' meaning ``painfully difficult, burdensome work.'') Make it easier.
Wheels are the major trend. Five years ago, only flight attendants wheeled their luggage, but now a majority of passengers do.
There is a second trend: Soft luggage . . . duffels, totes, day packs, waist packs, shoulder bags and backpacks for travel. Like passengers, today's luggage is destined to be squashed. READ ALL ABOUT IT
One publication I'd recommend above all others is International Travel News. A monthly published by Armond Noble for more than 20 years, it is designed for the high-frequency international traveler, focusing on destinations outside of North America and the Caribbean.
It's not pretty, the black and white (only) pictures are not very good and there are no perfumed advertisements stuck inside. It's largely reader-written, which means the quality of prose varies widely. It's delightfully personal and opinionated. And the information is great.
Some of the most experienced travelers I know swear by it.
There are 120-plus pages of feature stories from around the globe, evaluations of hotels, B&Bs, etc., candid appraisals of tours, answers to travel questions from readers who have been there, done that. And much more. Cost: $16 a year. Phone (800) 366-9192.
More off-the-shelf suggestions:
BOOKS: There are two types of travel. In one, you get in a car, boat or plane and head off to a faraway destination. For the other you need only a cozy chair, a good lamp and a great armchair-travel book.
Here's a selection for someone planning either type of trip:
``Europe Through the Back Door,'' by Rick Steves (John Muir Publications, $17.95). Features sample 22-day itineraries for various countries and up-to-date information on train and bus travel passes. Steves is like a well-traveled neighbor who shares his tips on how to get away from the tourist traps of Europe. You've probably seen him on PBS or the Travel Channel. He loves to share his secret hideaways (Gimmelwald, Switzerland) and more importantly, he doesn't hesitate to dump on a few destinations that deserve it.
Steves also writes a free newsletter-catalog with information on budget travel, rail passes, guidebooks, videos, travel accessories and tours. To get a copy, call (206) 771-8303.
Jim Apfelbaum has written a cheap book on cheap golf across the United States. ``Golf on $30 a Day or Less'' (Villard Books, $9.99) is a state-by-state compilation of public-access golf courses where the greens fees don't exceed 30 bucks. Each state's cheap golf course list is introduced by a ``Local Knowledge'' guide, which designates the best of the courses and private clubs that may be accessible.
``Stern's Guide to the Greatest Resorts of the World,'' by Steven Stern (Career Press, $18.95). Want a cheapie B&B in San Francisco? A quaint family-run bungalow in Hawaii? Don't look for it here. This is strictly high-end, five-star stuff from the Hotel Bora Bora in Tahiti to Villa d'Este in Italy to Little Dix Bay in the Caribbean. Stern, a full-time attorney and part-time travel buff, finds little to complain about among the stellar hostelries of the world. But for a window on the world of $500-a-night hotel rooms, you can't beat Stern's for a fun read.
Access Guides by Richard Saul Wurman (HarperCollins, various). Stuck on Nob Hill or in downtown Chicago and want to know where is the nearest hotel, restaurant, bar, cafe, park or shopping mall? Grab one of Wurman's guides - there are now nearly 30 covering locales from Barcelona to San Francisco - and find yourself on the map. By checking the corresponding numbers you can see what is nearby. Or you can stroll a neighborhood from your sofa.
Insight Guides (Houghton Mifflin Co., $19.95). The best books you can buy for armchair journeys. In each, the nuts-and-bolts stuff is crammed into a short section in the back, leaving the bulk of the book for big photographs of lush vistas and teeming cities. Extra points for picturing the people of various lands, not just the landscape.
Eyewitness Guides (Dorling Kindersley, $24.95) There's been a recent explosion of colorful travel books and these are among the best. Eyewitness books live up to their advertising as ``the guides that show you what others only tell you.'' Each guide has 1,200 color photographs, great 3-D maps, and unique cutaways of landmarks. In the Paris guide, you'll see a diagram of how a Gothic cathedral is constructed.
``Eurail Guide'' (Eurail Guide Annual, $14.95). Spend hours combing the train schedules of romantic faraway places. Has information not just on Europe and its railpass programs, but timetables for 119 countries.
``Guide to Ancient Native American Sites'' by Michael Durham (Globe Pequot Press, paperback, $15.95). There's an increasing number of people interested in visiting the remnants of pre-Columbian America in national parks and elsewhere. This book tells where the accessible ancient ruins are, and what is known about them. The book describes 144 sites that are open to the public in 29 states. It divides the country into two ruins regions (Eastern Woodlands and the West), and gives detailed overviews of the sites, the cultural histories related to them, driving directions, hours of operation and admission fees.
Parents, give yourself a gift. You probably deserve it. Like ``Travel With Children'' by Maureen Wheeler, (Lonely Planet, paperback, $11.95). Tony and Maureen Wheeler have taken their children to destinations all over the world, including Nepal, Zimbabwe, Egypt and the Caribbean. Over the years, they discovered a lot of ways to make travel easier with their growing children, and Maureen Wheeler passes them along in this new edition of her comprehensive primer on taking children on and off the beaten track. Along the way, the couple founded the publishing company that issues the popular and very extensive Lonely Planet series of guidebooks.
NEWSLETTERS: You won't find them at the newsstand or in the library, but travel newsletters can be a crucial resource, often more up to date than guidebooks and more specific than Sunday newspaper sections.
By the count of the 1995 Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters, 164 travel newsletters now do business in North America, down from 192 last year.
These are not glossy magazines. Travel buffs who prefer slick color photography and in-depth essays about a wide variety of topics are better served by Travel & Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, National Geographic Traveler or Travel Holiday.
Here are some worth consideration:
Consumer Reports Travel Letter. This 24-page monthly newsletter offers a no-holds-barred analysis of topics that have recently included hotel discounters, half-price lodging choices, charter airlines, European rail passes, deceptive travel advertising, package tours in Cancun and discount dining programs in Paris. U.S. State Department travel warnings are another regular feature. Cost: $39 per year, $59 for two years. Phone: (800) 234-1970.
Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report. Harper dwells on only the best, so if that's what you are looking for. . . . This 16-year-old publication brags that 81 percent of its executive subscribers hold titles of CEO, president, owner or partner, and aims at the high end. Prime focus is resorts, with some attention to city hotels, and some critical edge. Monthly; typical issue eight pages. Cost: Just raised from $100 to $125. Phone: (406) 862-3480.
Passport Newsletter. This monthly publication, now in its 30th year, is billed as ``America's Original Luxury Travel Newsletter.'' Concentrates on destinations, hotels, restaurants, shopping. Cost: $75 per year. Phone: (800) 542-6670.
Travel Smart. Regular features of this mass-appeal, 12-page monthly include Travel Deals, Steals of the Month, Travel Agents' Picks and Unusual Travel - all aimed at lowering the cost of a trip. Started in 1976, Travel Smart may not focus on any single topic with the same detail as Consumer Reports Travel Letter, but a typical issue includes up to 150 timely tips on hotel savings, tour bargains and destination perks. Cost: $44 per year, $79 for two years. Phone: (914) 693-8300.
InsideFlyer. This monthly publication, which averages 36-40 pages, is a frequent flier's bible. Airline, hotel and car rental programs are monitored in detail by editor Randy Peterson. Updates on program changes, special mileage-gaining and redemption bargains and partner tie-ins enable travelers to gain maximum benefits. Peterson isn't hesitant to criticize or lobby for program enhancements, either. Cost: $33 per year, $55 for two years. Phone: (719) 597-8880.
Best Fares Discount Travel Magazine. A monthly guide to travel bargains. Cost: $58 a year. Phone: (800) 880-1234.
The Educated Traveler. Goes for the mind, rather than the heart. Issues cover the cultural and learning sides of travel. Cost: $45 a year. Phone: (703) 471-1063.
Handicapped Travel Newsletter. Published six times a year and edited by Dr. Michael Quigley of Athens, Texas, this nonprofit enterprise aims to facilitate travel for individuals in wheelchairs or with other disabilities. Quigley lobbies aggressively for a better awareness of disabled travelers' needs, most recently targeting U.S. airlines. Cost: $10 per year (with additional contributions accepted). Phone: (903) 677-1260.
Out & About. Published 10 times each year, this newsletter's objective is to provide ``essential information for the gay and lesbian traveler.'' Its pages are filled with tips and other practical information. Cost: $49 per year. Phone: (800) 929-2268.
Travel Companions. Full of news on travel discounts, along with tips and encouragement for single travelers, consumer advice and scores of personal ads from singles seeking travel companions (most list their first name, age, height, weight, interests). Six issues yearly. Typical issue: 18-20 pages editorial content, another 28 or so of personal ads. Cost: $48 a year. Phone: (800) 392-1256.
The Single Traveler. This newsletter, published nine times a year, covers topics including special tours for singles, tips on avoiding loneliness on the road and big-city singles guides. Cost: $29 per year. Phone: (708) 272-6788.
Travelin' Woman. This monthly newsletter informs and entertains with reports about, for and by the growing female travel market. Cost: $48 per year. Phone: (310) 472-6318.
Las Vegas Advisor. This monthly analyzes Vegas casinos and other attractions from a consumer's point of view. Lists upcoming performers, and offered a list of 10 top values in town, from room rates to buffets. Cost: $45 a year. Phone (800) 244-2224. MEMO: Contributing ideas to this report were Gary A. Warner of the Orange
County (Calif.) Register, Jerry Morris of The Boston Globe, Betsy Wade
of the New York Times, Harry Shattuck of the Houston Chronicle,
Christopher Reynolds of the Los Angeles Times, Al Haas of the
Philadelphia Inquirer and the Associated Press. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
From Willis & Geiger: a B-3 shearling flight jacket (the same kind
made for World War II pilots), $588; and binoculars and case, $138.
Photos
For gift ideas, examine catalogs from mail-order companies including
TravelSmith and Magellan's. Both are recommended.
by CNB