<BR>Time for the big guns . . . <BR> <BR>Well as you know perfectly well my name is Tony and I am a single male (surprised? hehe) living in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. I currently work for the local authority,Midlothian, just South of Edinburgh as a Highway Engineer. Well it's about as exciting as it sounds hence the reason I am also studying at University for my Masters degree. When I get that I will be off. <BR> <BR>Some of you may remember my questions regarding a proposed dash across all 48 lower states of America mooted for 1999. Well, it's still on - perhaps as early as September. <BR> <BR>For a 27 year old I like to think of myself as fairly well travelled - covered majority of Europe (student backpacker/family holidays etc . .) and parts of North and South America as well as Africa. <BR> <BR>I'm one of those kids that was taken on holiday before i could walk and I've never really looked back. <BR> <BR>Making money from travelling isn't that difficult - making a living from it is a little harder !! I write at least 10,000 words about each trip i take. I have actually had a few stories printed by smaller newspapers, although I'm still waiting for Readers Digest to bite - only a matter of time !!! <BR> <BR>Now if you follow this forum closely you may see i sometimes argue a point with people - I dont do it to be awkward, I just hate sloppy advice and/or sloppy writing. <BR> <BR>Now please tell me this: why do people enter questions such as 'Going to Senatobia on vacation, what should i see/do when i get there?' - WHY ARE YOU GOING THERE THEN????? <BR>I just don't get it. <BR> <BR>Now as for Edinburgh. I've lived here for about ten years and to me it's a smelly, dirty city full of litter and dog mess. I always expect tourists to come once and then not come back again but many people i speak to are only too glad to extol the virtues of my city. Perhaps it's because i live there that i dont see anything magical about walking along the Royal Mile, or having a large Castle in the middle of my city or any number of other things i could list in my city that are there for the edification of discerning tourists. <BR> <BR>I must point out that i am no American-basher - i love your country, as far as i am concerned its my favourite place to stay and, indeed, i am currently trying to find a sutable job in America - not necessarily as an Engineer - I'm open to offers, please give me a job someone. <BR> <BR>Enough of me though . . .

This is a fun question. I especially enjoyed going through all the replies. <BR> <BR>First, it was pleasant surprise to see a reply from Bill Barr of Scotland as Barr is my surname as well. Second, it was great to see so many Canadians replying. I am a Canadian citizen living in Pasadena, California as my father emigrated for his job when I was seven. <BR> <BR>My father's job....well, he worked for Air Canada so you can see immediately how I got hooked on travelling. Once I started there was no stopping me. I will say that after the benefits of basically free travel throughout my teens and young adulthood, it was a rude awakening to have to begin to pay for my air travel. <BR> <BR>Where have I been? Many times to Europe and tons of times to the British Isles in particular. Favorite European cities include London, Venice, Florence, Rome, Vienna, Salzburg, and Edinburgh. Favorite locations include the Greek islands, Pompeii and Swiss Alps. Been to the Far East once - enjoyed Hong Kong immensely. Been to New Zealand twice - truly one of the most amazing countries in the world -- so much of the best of the rest of the world. Been to the Middle East - Jordan, Israel & Egypt. Incredible if you are into history. Been to Africa on safari trips twice - once to East Africa (Kenya) and once to Southern Africa (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia). If you haven't been to Africa yet, it is truly magical. <BR> <BR>As I tell my co-workers, I work to travel. Although the next trip is not set in stone, probably Ireland or I am contemplating going back to Africa. <BR> <BR>Anyway, keep these replies coming. And thanks for asking Denise (yes...I will eventually make it Down Under). <BR> <BR>Deb Barr <BR>

First of all, thanks to all contributors that have given us their input on our last two trips. <BR> <BR>PERSONAL. Born, raised and educated in Texas. Live in San Antonio and have another office in Dallas. Married with 4 children. Own a TPA firm (we design and administor retirement plans). Thanks to American Express, we have received approximately 2 international round trips for each of the past several years. Love to sail and travel. Anticipation is ALMOST as good as realization. <BR> <BR>FOREIGN TRAVELS. 5 trips to Europe (6 working to Italy); Asia (including Beijing); New Zealand; French Polynesia; Israel; Central American; Mexico; Egypt; Turkey; VI; etc. <BR> <BR>FUTURE DESTINATIONS? Bali; Scandinavia; South Africia; etc. WHERE ARE YOU GOING NEXT? <BR> <BR>Happy New Year! <BR>

I'm not a "star contributor" to this site as I am a new poster (8 months) and I have been to Europe only 6 times (just got back Dec 1). But, here goes. I live in Tampa, Florida, USA, my husband and I are two of the six Floridians Neal Sanders referred to. "Mustangs81" is my net name because in 1981, my husband and I formed the Tampa Mustangs, a girl's traveling softball team. Ours teams have won 7 national championships since then. We only do leisure travel between softball tournaments. I am a training officer for Chase Manhattan Bank, travel back and forth to/from Manhattan contributes to my frequent flyer miles. My husband and I are very compatible travel companions and have been successful travelers even before we found this web site. But the information that I have gleaned from this site's knowledgeable contributors helped us fine tune our trip to Western Europe over the Thanksgiving holiday. I am particularly pleased to see responses to Denise's question from countries other than the US. I would love to visit Australia but that's one trip that will have to wait until I'm not eking out every day possible from my allocation of vacation days. One thing I have wondered about is...is there a site like this for travelers coming to the US? I would love to help visitors coming here.

I'm not a "star contributor" to this site as I am a new poster (8 months) and I have been to Europe only 6 times (just got back Dec 1). But, here goes. I live in Tampa, Florida, USA, my husband and I are two of the six Floridians Neal Sanders referred to. "Mustangs81" is my net name because in 1981, my husband and I formed the Tampa Mustangs, a girl's traveling softball team. Ours teams have won 7 national championships since then. We only do leisure travel between softball tournaments. I am a training officer for Chase Manhattan Bank, travel back and forth to/from Manhattan contributes to my frequent flyer miles. My husband and I are very compatible travel companions and have been successful travelers even before we found this web site. But the information that I have gleaned from this site's knowledgeable contributors helped us fine tune our trip to Western Europe over the Thanksgiving holiday. I am particularly pleased to see responses to Denise's question from countries other than the US. I would love to visit Australia but that's one trip that will have to wait until I'm not eking out every day possible from my allocation of vacation days. One thing I have wondered about is...is there a site like this for travelers coming to the US? I would love to help visitors coming here.

I am an engineer/project manager with one of the major US corporations. I'm 53 years old. From age 27 until about 6 years ago, I spent most of my time either working, playing bridge or doing white-water boating (open canoe & kayak). About 6 years ago, I accepted the karma of the time, ended up married (very happily, thank you), and for the first time in my life ventured outside the US. First trip was to Russia & Ukraine (first and only tour). My then-to-become wife and I found that we loved travel (for pleasure, not work) but tours really do not suit us. Since then we have been to Europe a number of times. We always do our own planning and booking -- there are no good travel agents where we live. We travel only with ourselves or with one other couple whose company we enjoy on these trips. (However, we -- I.E., us and the other couple -- do always rent separate cars -- find it works much better that way and is almost as cheap as renting one suitably large car.) We look for bargains, but we are not on a limited budget, so our hotel choices tend to be middle to up-scale. Currently we try to go to Europe twice a year, once in the Spring, and once around Thanksgiving (late November). My wife tends to "shop" and I tend to sight-see. We don't travel to go to the "must sees." We do a good bit of research -- so normally we know what is in the area. But, then we just try to experience whatever turns up. Doing it this way, I am sure we miss a lot -- but we also end up with some really unique and memorable experiences.

Hi Denise: I've been an avid reader and occasional contributor for several years and have received some great advice. Thanks for suggesting this thread. <BR>As for my background; in the early '50's I heeded the call of the Navy to "see the world" and I've been hooked ever since. I spent 4 years on submarines and travelled to the Far East many times. Got out of the Navy and came back to the US Midwest, (Wisconsin) and raised a great family of 3 girls. I'm a retired Sales Engineer. <BR> <BR>My wife Mary and I did the "Cruise " thing for over 20 years and really enjoyed it, but since retiring we're into foreign travel, primarily Europe. I'm amazed at Mary's acceptance of the fact that we can travel just as easily with 2 small suitcases as we used to with 4-5 big ones. <BR>Every year we extend ourselves by trying something different and it's worked out very very well. <BR>Since retiring, we're livin' the good life!! We ski in the Winter with our family, spend 6 weeks in Arizona in the late Winter ,early Spring, golf in Wisconsin in the Summer go to Europe in the Fall and can't wait for the cycle to start all over again. We've never lost sight of the fact how fortunate we are. Thanks again Denise, for allowing me to get my 2 cents in......Paul J

Denise, you are too cool! Thanks for this opportunity to get to know all the wonderful folks who have helped me on my travels. <BR> <BR>I'm in Itasca, Il and I'm a certified financial planner. As an independent contractor, I schedule my client meetings around my travel plans, which is working out very well. I travel some with my husband, who can't always take time off, or with three friends who run their own shows and can take time off. <BR> <BR>Life in the States is client-activity, husband, and Siamese cat. My library is filled with travel books, photos, diaries, and dreams. I'll probably be in Europe 4 times this year: the four-day Brussels thing on Sabena in February; Spring Break with my 18-yr old niece in March to Ireland for a week; two weeks in France and the Loire in May, and then two weeks in Scotland in July for my birthday (I start celebrating July 1 and don't quit until July 31). <BR> <BR>Sounds like a lot of crossings, but as my one travel friend puts it: "we live in Europe, merely work in the States." <BR> <BR>Happy Holidays and Much Prosperity to all of you in 1999. Thank you for my daily dose of sanity with this departure lounge. <BR> <BR>Donna

I am a travelaholic from Calgary, Canada. I lived in Oxford, England for 1 year and did lots of travelling in Britain and Europe. Why don't you check out my travel site @ http://www. <BR>telusplanet.net/public/albear1/alistairbeartravelpage.html <BR>Hope to see you there <BR>

<BR>I am a person of mystery. I post under many names and have for years here. <BR>I don't like to be pinned down. <BR>Currently I live in the Pacific Northwest of the USA when I'm not travelling. I've lived in many US states. I've lived in Europe in the past too. And I've made *many* trips there the past 27 years. Also travelled a lot worldwide. My goal is to go to every country in the world before I die (I'm up to about 80 countries now so I have quite a ways to go still). To travel is to live. To travel is to be free.

This is a great idea! I too have wondered about all the people contributing to this forum. Maybe a "Class Reunion" would be a good idea. How about in Italy? <BR>I'm a retired contractor in northern California and am looking forward to being able to travel more. I've only been to Europe 3 times, but I would go every year if possible. <BR>My wife is English, and when we married 40 years ago, I promised her one day we'd go to England so she could show me her home and where she grew up. <BR>I truly never had any real interest in traveling anywhere but the US, but a promise is a promise. In 1977, we went to England and I fell in love with the place. I also learned a lot about my own heritage (Italian). I started planning another trip and thought maybe this time we'd do 2 weeks in England and take a tour to Italy for a few days. I got a copy of Michelin's Green Guide and started picking places we couldn't miss. By the time I finished planning, we ended with 3 weeks in Italy and 2 weeks in England. Unfortunately, we couldn't do the trip until 1985. I decided to take my mother (age 77) with us to see the hometown she left 60 years earlier. <BR>The trip was an awakening for me as well as my wife, we both fell in love with Italy and the people. My mother said she felt like she died and went to heaven, she saw places and things she never knew existed when she was a young girl. We traveled from Sicily to the Lakes. After putting my mother on the plane for the US, we went on to England. <BR>We returned again in '89, and traveled <BR>to Paris, the French Riviera, northern Italy, and Switzerland. <BR>I've been trying to get back again these past few years since my retirement, but although she wants to go, my wife is troubled by the long flight. I'm thinking of a lay-over in NY to solve that problem. Any suggestions about this would be welcome. <BR>It's been great meeting you all and look forward to reading more in the future. <BR>Phil

I post under NTB as well the above, and my husband and I are stockbrokers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We have three kids, so I've posted some stuff on traveling with children. My hobby is rare books, art and archeology, writing, kids sports, snowboarding, cooking, etc. My husband's hobbies are sports and football (Go Vikings!). Our major passion is traveling of course. Great questions, great responses, I feel like I should print out all the responses and use them as my personal resource notebook when needing some information. Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and recommendations with us over the years.

Hey Denise! Thanks for the question. Wish I'd thought of it. My husband Mark and I are both teachers in little towns outside of Sacramento, California. I have lived here all my life, so if anyone wants California info, feel free to e-mail me directly. I am extremely lucky to be the daughter of an educational consultant who flies all over the world and he is very generous with his frequent flier miles. So, I have been to Europe three times and since we are teachers, we can stay for a long time in the summer!! Our next trip is planned for 2000 to Germany for the Passion Play in Oberammergau. I'd like to thank Lanny for some very informative postings on O'gau. We are especially fond of Wengen in Switzerland as many of you probably know since I answer every posting about it. Hey Denise...Everyone thinks California is such a sunny place. Well here in Northern Cal it's pretty bleak in the winter but very hot in the summer. When I retire from teaching, I want to buy a house in Alice Springs so I can be hot all year round. I'd like to thank everyone most sincerely for all their help. It seems like people are always in a rush to help out and I find that so refreshing. I keep a notebook next to my computer at school to write down all the hints so I can better plan my 2000 trip. I also need my "daily fix" and I'm glad to hear that there are others like me. Now here's a twist: Even though I love to travel, I absolutely hate to fly and I'm getting worse all the time. So far it hasn't kept me home, but I'm just a basket case on a flight. I know just how stupid it is but I can't seem to help myself. Anyone have any sure-fire hints? Also, my parents live on the island of Kauai and I have been there so many times I've lost count. If anyone wants info about this beautiful island, please contact me. Am also hoping to hear from Tricia--I enjoy hearing your stories of travelling in Holland. I'm the one that said you shouldn't travel with a poopy companion. I wish all of you the best in 1999 and have happy and safe travels.

Hi Denise, <BR>I'm from North Central Arkansas and have found Fodor's quite helpful. It has helped us through Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany, Austria and Belgium. I am a church financial secretary and my husband manages a large funeral home and is also organist-choir director of our 3500+ parish. We stay quite busy but love to travel. We are always planning our next trip. Europe is our favorite. My husband speaks fluent German so he really likes going to Germany, Austria, Switzerland. We are great fans of Rick Steves. His travel philosophy is so refreshing. I wish also to thank all the contributors to this forum. Your ideas are great. Lynda <BR>

Thanks all for your contributions. My husband and I are fascinated by all the responses. Keep them rolling in. I too am going to keep these handy so I can refer to each and every one at some time. Thanks Denise HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL - MAY 1999 BE FULL OF WONDERFUL THINGS - TRAVEL, FRIENDS, FOOD, HEALTH - ALL THE GOOD THINGS IN LIFE <BR>

What a wonderful idea, Denise! I know that I have not contributed any helpful <BR>information to this forum (yet) but I read it daily and I have made many inquiries myself, as we are planning our <BR>first European vacation for June, 1999, and I feel that I have received so much helpful advice from everyone! Thanks! <BR>My husband is semi-retired, and I manage a computer lab in a local middle school in South Carolina. This trip will also be for the purpose of a special summer vacation before our baby daughter goes off to college, so as you can tell, this will be very special to us all. We have traveled extensively in the states, and I am anxious to go abroad. Like someone <BR>else, I work to travel! Happy New Year to all of you wonderful people, and thank you again, Denise, for bringing this group closer! Kathy <BR> <BR>

Great question, I have travelled a lot, and I have four grandchildren, which means I have been traveling for quite a long time....nevertheless I love to read the good answers that come up so often.I feel I get a lot of information and facts that I ignore. <BR>I live in Miami Beach facing the ocean, I was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, joined the foreign service at 24 right after college and have lived all over the world.Now our home is Miami Bech. <BR>I love the honest replies one can get at the forum which are a hundred thousand times better that the artificial staff of <BR>travel magazines. <BR>Let us keep the good work.....

<BR>Time to add my few cents worth! I am 52 and retired on an "early retirement" from the Fed Govt last year. I now live way out in the country in SE Arizona, but spent most of my growing-up years in the North East. I was born in a DP camp in Germany - my parents fled from their homeland - Latvia - to escape the Communist invasion. I'm married, and although my wonderful husband doesn't share my wanderlust, we do travel some together - Alaska, British Columbia and places which have magnificent scenery and few large cities. The rest of my travels are either solo or with some friends. Currently, I write a travel column for an Arizona magazine. I have been actively seeing the world since my first "adult" trip to Europe in 1968 - when I was "evicted" by the Allied forces from Berlin when the Czechs were uprising in the south. I have traveled to Australia and NZ, No. Africa, Japan, the Caribbean, Hawaii and throughout most of Europe many times over. I try, albeit not always successfully, to do one European trip each year. 'Twas easier and far cheaper when I lived on the East Coast! Lots of places left on my "someday" list. When I read the postings, my one regret is that I never kept a journal - like many of us - I could write a book about the funny, embarrassing and otherwise delightful ventures abroad.

Happy New Year to all from the next European. I live in Poland /Warsaw/ with my husband and son. I have only been reading this interesting forum . Your discussion is fascinated. We love to travel, to read about another countries and to exchange experiences. We have been in many countries but our most interested travel was to Egypt. This year we`d like to go to Portugal and Morocco. Thank you to everyone for your informations in this forum and wish you a lot of interesting travels, Eva <BR>

Dear Denise <BR> <BR> I first learned about the forum from one of my fodors books. My husband and I took a great trip to The Republic of Ireland and England,Wales and and Scotland. I learned a great deal from this forum and it made our trip fun and easy. I'am a Registered nurse and my husband is a Architect. We live in a neat town called Evansville, Indiana. We are looking forward to going back to the Republic of Ireland again. <BR> <BR> Peace Robbie <BR> <BR>