Back in the 1950’s, home exchanges were the way vacationing teachers traveled on a shoestring. Now thanks to the Internet (and a tough economy), home exchanges (aka house-swapping) have become one of THE smartest and most affordable ways to take that dream vacation. An estimated half-million home exchanges occur worldwide every year, and are as [...]
Epinions (www.Epinions.com) – Unbiased reviews (some cranky, most helpful) from real people. Go to the toolbar and click on Travel to find literally thousands of personal observations about hotels, resorts, cruises, airlines, ski resorts, parks, and tour operators. The huge database is broken out by state, region, and country.
Fodors (www.Fodors.com) – The user-generated reviews (mostly [...]
Accommodation Search Engine (www.ase.net) – A database with more than 150,000 hotels, motels, inns, B&B’s, and holiday rentals worldwide. Established in 1995.
Home Away From Home (www.homeaway.com) – Thousands of vacation rentals (cabins, cottages, castles, condos, and villas) in 90 countries. Users are put in direct contact with the property owner or agent to answer specific [...]
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov/travel) — Offers health information and advice for international travelers. Users can search by destination, and learn which vaccines are needed in different parts of the world. It also has information about food and water safety, and how how to seek health care abroad. For those traveling to several [...]
Accessible Journey (www.disabilitytravel.com) – For frail or disabled travelers. Offers organized group tours and cruises, concierge service, and companions for travel. Companion wages by the week plus travel expenses.
AIG Travel Guard (www.travelguard.com) – It’s annual MedEvac plan is designed for travelers but works for students, too. It includes both medical transportation and secondary medical insurance [...]
Xe (www.xe.com) – Check the conversion rates at XE and try to exchange your dollars at a local bank. Airports may be more convenient, but they usually charge a steeper fee. XE converts 180 currencies from 250 places worldwide.
Weather (www.weather.com) – A notch above AccuWeather and Weather Underground, Weather.com does the best job of delivering [...]