This Slate story and the accompanying video are pretty interesting. They tell of a remote village in Peru whose people had been living in... »
North America
Point Break LIVE!: The San Francisco Treat
Local theater (or theatre, if you must, dahling) is a great way to experience local culture – be it the show itself if its topic is local, your fellow theater-goers, or even the neighborhood if the venue is not located in a typical tourist section of town. Our last experience in local theater was highly... »
Being a Good Host
Forget about being a good tourist – today let’s talk about being a good host. We happen to live in Washington, DC, a city that welcomes (that might be a strong word) 16 million tourists each year. But many Washingtonians seem to take the attitude that all these tourists are at best, an inconvenience and at... »
Railroads and Rivers in Santa Cruz
Last year we were lucky enough to spend a few days in Santa Cruz, California. Only an hour south of San Francisco, Santa Cruz’s hippie-dippy, surfer-dude personality has always appealed to us and this trip was no different. The town is an interesting combination of cheesy, manufactured fun with the boardwalk, its amusement-park rides,... »
Best of BT April
Since April’s Budget Travel includes an article titled “How it Pays to Be Green,” you might have thought it would be included in this edition of the Best of BT. You’d be wrong and we’ll explain the reasons behind its exclusion in another post coming soon. An article we really enjoyed was “Over the River... »
Shocker: Sarah Palin Tour Has No Takers
The Wall Street Journal reports that Alaskan tourism is experiencing a downturn that was a bit of a surprise to some who had counted on the “Palin effect” to bring more lower 48ers to the state. Some are reporting that cruises and other Alaskan trips are down by as much as 50%. Well, Palin did... »
Dry Tortugas National Park: If You’re in the Area, We Say “Go, Go, Go!”
We recently found out about a hidden gem in southern Florida called Dry Tortugas National Park. We would venture that you’ve never heard of it either. Contrary to the most popular national park, Great Smoky Mountains, this one is difficult to get to and surrounded only by water, far from the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge... »
Playa del Carmen’s Alternative Alltournative
While Cancun is more associated with the spring break, beer-swigging crowd (a Ft. Lauderdale south of the border, if you will), its neighboring city of Playa del Carmen is more low-key and offers some unexpected ecotourism and socially conscious tourism experiences. When we went to Playa in 2000, the company Alltournative was only a year... »
Real or Fake? African Safari vs. Disney Animal Kingdom
Okay, we’re going to try a new regular feature called Real or Fake? We find hard-to-believe questions purportedly posed by real people and then posted on various forums, magazines, etc. Then we make fun of them (shocker, we know) and decide whether the question is real or fake. First up: a question posted on TravelWeekly, a UK... »
The Mindful Tourist B&B Wishlist
As you know, we love staying at Bed & Breakfasts because we get a chance to talk to the locals, feel more at home during our travels, and get away from the scratchy sheets and $22 pancakes of the typical big hotel. Earlier we promised you our list of Bed & Breakfasts where we would like... »
Eating Local in D.C.
Sixteen million tourists descend upon the nation’s capital each year. Most of them go for the monuments, museums, history, and government buildings. But they have to eat, right? We happen to be quite familiar with DC and its many restaurants and encourage you, The DC Tourist, to go beyond Starbucks, McDonalds, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, and... »
