We are planning to travel with Lacen Boujouija later this month. Janipace, did you use him also? I don't get much information from him aside from the initial itinerary, so am a bit concerned and would appreciate all the honest feed-back I can get. We're taking a child with us so more vigilant than usual.

Well, thursdaysd, I think it really is hopeless. It may come down, like it so often does, to traveling vs tourism. Never the twain shall meet.

he can be just travelling, he has positive recommendations, no worries about your trip with him, i'm sure he will help as soon as he get time.

<i>> It may come down, like it so often does, to traveling vs tourism. Never the twain shall meet.</i>

In the Lounge I once I posted a link to a NY Times article about that topic, thinking people might find it interesting. Instead it angered folks, the implied suggestion that one style might be better. There are still scars on my throat from that. Good thing you are posting here!

Of course the main point of Kipling's poem is that the twain can and do meet, but maybe not in the Lounge.

Nelson, I love Bowles' characters, Kit & Port Moresby in 'The Sheltering Sky', who say they're travelers, not tourists, and while the line of demarkation may be fuzzy, I don't think even the tourists among us can dispute that there is a difference. The difficulty is locating the line. The book (& movie), appropriately, begin when Kit & Port arrive in Tangier.

Maybe it would have been a good idea, since you mention the Lounge, if members had been required to choose either the Lounge or the travel section of the forums when the change was made. Or maybe the choice is de facto. Tourists & travelers are divided by much more, I suspect, than their travel habits.

Well, occasionally the Lounge can be worthwhile even for people mostly interested in travel (not going to claim to be a traveler - that's for others to determine). Normally I visit it a couple of times a year when someone mentions an interesting discussion, or one gets moved there, but I just started a thread on what correction to choose for IOLs after cataract surgery that I am finding very useful.

I, too, visit the Lounge occasionally for a bit of entertainment. It can be a prickly experience or one of invisibility, depending on the thread, so I've learned to mostly not bother replying. My comment to Nelson was just for the sake of making a point and, I agree, it can be worthwhile, occasionally.

And by the way, as I'm sure you know, you belong in the traveler category, as I aspire to be. Thinking about a possible definition of the 2, after I posted above, maybe it has something to do with sometimes not knowing mid-trip where you might be heading next, to be open to the possibility of being blown off course. Having the time and inclination to go with a moment that you couldn't have predicted from home.

Well, thank you, MmePerdu. Unfortunately, no travel to speak of last year (renovated the house instead). IF my cataract surgery goes well, and I don't need additional surgery, I have some hopes of getting in some travel this year.

Haven't you been to India? I would think that counts as traveling....

I think we must be twins separated at birth, I also had "no travel to speak of last year (renovated the house instead)."

I've been a great number of places, including several extended trips in India.

Well, I can only hope that your 2014 doesn't include eye surgery!

I have to be in Detroit in August (!!!) for a wedding, I'm thinking Atlantic Canada before and northwest South America after. How about you?

I haven't been to Sri Lanka and I'd like to go back to Hanoi for at least a couple of months. So those 2 for sure with possible side trips back to India (Auroville & Darjeeling District) and a part of Sarawak I'd like to see more of, farther up the Batang Rajang than I went last time.

Then by the time I'm in India I'm half-way around so it's always tempting to just keep going as I have twice before. Mainly to finish a couple of long walks in England. But then there's France or an umpteenth visit in Morocco. You know the feeling. I'm going to try and resist, though, as I get tired at about the 5 month mark and would rather stay in Asia for the duration and keep Europe for next. I used to do spring in Europe and Asia in fall when my life was more structured. Having all year now can make the decisions trickier.

Sounds like a good trip!

Do you collect FF miles? I use an affinity credit card for AA and now have enough miles for my fourth RTW in biz class. You don't use the normal mileage tables, there's a separate OneWorld table and biz class is only about 50% more than economy. Only problem is that you only get one open (land) segment.

I, too, have an AA credit card for the purpose, wouldn't you know it. I may use the miles for a business class to Asia from the west coast, as I did last time in '12, and play it as I go with Air Asia after that so I'm not pinned down time-wise. I also use a combination of AA miles and Airtreks, a consolidator I've had good experience with. They're good for less expensive bus. class and 1-way tickets and you don't have to get them very far in advance like the FF tickets usually.

I've checked with Airtreks a few times, but I was always able to do better myself. With the OneWorld award I've been able to change my travel dates, although not the routing, for free. Don't know whether that is still the case. I really, really appreciate biz class on the long hauls. Last time (BKK to LHR) Qantas gave out PJs - great meal, good wine, hours of sleep.

I've changed Airtreks flights on occasion without fees or difficulty. Airtreks has been particularly good for bus. class when I haven't had the miles for it. I can manage steerage trans-Atlantic but not trans-Pacific. And I now use mostly Air Asia rather than buy from Airtreks within Asia.

I've been thinking about Ecuador, have never been to S. America. I have a terrible habit of going again & again to places I've loved so, so far, S. America has fallen by the wayside. I have a former husband in Brasil so may combine a visit with Ecuador. Or maybe not. But right now Asia is calling again. I think it might be the food.

I'll have a look for the OneWorld award. Is it 1 multi-segment ticket like the air passes used to be? Cathay Pacific had one of those.

I think I found it. Is this the one?
https://rtw.oneworld.com/rtw/

Yes, that looks right.