Affordable Travel

The Cayman Islands attract about 1.3 million tourists per year, and you could be in that staggering number, thanks to the attraction of economic stability, low crime and an easy-going beach party atmosphere. The warmest season is the rainy season of May-October, when temperatures climb and rain contributes to rather uncomfortable levels of humidity. Thundershowers are often heavy and brief during these months, and cause occasional flooding. Hurricanes sometimes lash the islands, and right now the islands are recovering from hurricanes that struck in the past few years.
International cruise lines operating from destinations including North North America, Mexico and Europe service Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac. Mid-week is the busiest time to travel by ship. Cayman Airways is the national airline and has service to Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac from destinations that include Miami, Tampa, and Orlando Florida; Houston, Texas; La Ceiba, Honduras; and Kingston, Jamaica. Several USA carriers offer service to Grand Cayman from cities including Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh. British Airways offers a few flights each week from London Gatwick to Grand Cayman. Air Jamaica flies to the Cayman Islands from Kingston and Montego Bay.
Miami is about an hour away by air, whereas flights from London to Grand Cayman take about 10 hours. Grand Cayman Owen Roberts International Airport and Cayman Brac Gerard Smith Airport are both international. Taxi, hotel shuttle, and car rental services are available. There is a departure tax of CI $10 or US $12.50 for all travelers over the age of 12.

Brevard NC, in the mountains near the state border with South Carolina, is one of the last mountain towns one encounters while heading south through the Blue Ridge range. The town is quaint, tree lined streets add an old fashioned charm to it, and it is home to some of the best music schools in the USA. Brevard College specializes in music classes, and several times a years hosts concerts - both indoor and outdoor - to showcase classical, jazz, and pop music from around the world.
The town is also famous for its vicinity to some of the greatest waterfalls in America. Along the nearby Horsepasture River, you can encounter several magnificent falls within close proximity to one another, and the neighboring national and state forests are destinations for hikers and outdoor recreation enthusiasts from all over the world.
Perhaps the strangest tourist attraction in Brevard is its rather tame - but still officially wild - population of white squirrels. These odd-looking creatures appear to be misplaced, and perhaps they belong in a snowy region where we find other white-furred animals like the polar bear. But in Brevard they scamper around the city parks, waiting for tourists like you to toss them some peanuts.
By all means visit Brevard, and if you go in the summertime, call ahead to the local Chamber of Commerce to find out what concerts are scheduled. An evening jazz performance under the stars is an unbeatable way to enjoy your summer night.

Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, many people want to show their support for the local residents as they go about the task of rebuilding that great city. As soon as it reopens, tourists will plan their visits, and soon, we hope, the spirit of the city will be uplifted to its original grandeur and elegance. The famous music of New Orleans was originally created with military drums and horns, left by French and US marching military bands. Horns, flutes, drums, and the occasional banjo were worked into an original style that had its roots in Africa. And because the players did not rely upon written compositions - they did not know how to read and write - the music was completely improvised, in keeping with the rich musical heritage of Africa and in the classic tradition of jazz. Indeed, Miles Davis used to say that first he would play a tune; and only afterward would he be able to know what song it was he played. Such is the nature of true jazz, and the nature of the city that gave it to the world.
As the music evolved, so did the nightlife of New Orleans, which is world famous for its nightclubs, bars, and musical venues. The city was not only home to the first European-style opera house in North America, but also to the only officially recognized and legally chartered urban red light brothel district in the history of the USA. Now the historic city is quiet, as people go about the business of rebuilding their lives. But soon they will invite us to join them once more in celebrating the music, nightlife, and unique culture of the city called Big Easy.

Cheap, classic, simple rubber flip flops - those sandals that come in different colors are great for wearing at the beach - are actually one of the best items to include in your travel wardrobe. When packing to travel, space is always a prime consideration, because you can’t pack everything but you don’t want to leave out anything essential at the same time. So you have to make smart choices regarding what to carry, and that is usually based upon which items in your luggage can accomplish more than one task. If you have a pair of flip-flops, you can cover several travel needs at the same time.

They are good for the simple reason that they are cheap, so you can afford to take two pair in case you lose or break one, and they don’t take up hardly room in your suitcase. We know one frequent traveler who keeps four pair on hand at all times, and they take up the same amount of room as one shirt.  Keep a pair with you on planes, and you can slip into them for a comfortable way to pad around the plane while you give your shoes, and your tired feet, a break. Then of course you can wear them anywhere during warm weather, and they are perfect for wearing at the lake or the ocean, or on board a boat - as well as beside the pool at your hotel.

And if you are concerned about the health of your feet, as any traveler should be, keep a pair to wear in the shower. No matter where you shower, wearing flip flops is recommended as the best way to avoid and prevent skin infections such as foot rash and athlete’s foot, which can be caught by using public showers. So when you pack for the next trip, throw in a pair or two of flip-flops and travel smart while traveling light.

Larry Hauser’s personal gem and mineral collection is part of the museum and includes rare specimens from around the world. He started the museum in hopes of attracting as many as 3,000 visitors a year and quickly surpassed that number. “Now about 30,000 visitors per year sign our guest book,” he reports. Admission is free, and in addition to stunning examples of gems and minerals, the museum has Indian artifacts, a dinosaur egg nest, and fossils.
And although the hobby of mineral collecting can be a sophisticated subject best understood by geologists, Hauser strives to make it fun. Children can pick and choose from boxes full of softball sized rocks that are guaranteed to contain a cluster of gem crystals inside. Adult volunteers help them break them open, using a gadget that resembles an industrial strength nut cracker. One of most delicate and rare amethysts on display is actually on loan from a child who visited the museum while on summer vacation. “She found it inside one of the geodes we sold, when we cracked it open,” Hauser recalls. ” I saw it and asked if she would loan it to the museum for public exhibit, because it is a remarkable specimen. And she was kind enough to loan it to us.”
Hendersonville is close to the mountain town of Asheville, NC, and is home to many other tourist attractions and events for the entire family.

One of only two or three remaining operative in North Carolina, the Dellinger Grist mill is owned and operated by N.C. State graduate Jack Dellinger. He is a retired computer programmer who helped to create the software used to put the first American astronauts on the moon. Four miles east of Bakersville, NC, the 130-year-old Dellinger Grist Mill in the village of Hawk has been grinding cornmeal for four generations.
Founded by Reuben Dellinger in 1867 and renovated by his great-grandson Jack Dellinger beginning in 1997, the mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. From June to November, Dellinger operates the mill according to his family’s tradition, producing cornmeal the old-fashioned way. He also provides demonstrations and free tours of the mill. For Dellinger, operating the mill isn’t a profitable venture but more of a serious hobby. “I love to run the old mill, I guess I am mostly a preservationist. I love the old machinery and to tell the tales of my ancestors to visitors and tourists. Sometimes I think I must be crazy to run that mill,” he admits. “But shoot, I enjoy it, even if it is 90 percent manual labor and 10 percent expertise.”
Of course anywhere in the South, you can pull into a small diner and order up a plate or bowl of grits, any time of day, because this corn concoction is the staple of southerners. But chances are you will be served grits from a modern mill, that are easy and convenient to cook by just adding boiling water.

The Mayan culture of Central America, known around the world for the magnificent stone-stacked temples still standing in the middle of the rain forest jungles of Mexico and Guatemala, is the oldest indigenous culture in the world. As other civilizations have come and gone across the march of time, Mayan culture has not only withstood those who tried to conquer it, but has absorbed them into its ever-widening cultural heritage. The modern-day Mayans make the most intricate and colorful textiles in the world. Anthropologists and historians study the culture the Mayans celebrate in rituals of song, dance, culinary arts, and music, with both amazement and profound respect.
But few know the simplest beauty secret of the Mayans, and those who do tend to guard it for themselves. Read on, as we reveal it to you in all its sweet and natural simplicity.
In Central America, sugar cane is grown and harvested both as an exported cash crop and for local use in cooking. While visiting the ancient city of Antigua, Guatemala, a town renowned for its 500-year-old Spanish Colonial architecture and active volcanoes, we met a native woman with skin so perfect that she looked 10 years younger than her actual age. She was more than happy to share her beauty secret, and we were delighted to find out that it was not only simple, but that the necessary products were practically free, and available at every grocery store, coffee shop, and restaurant on the planet.
She taught us that the Mayans have used granulated sugar, particularly raw sugar, for hundreds of years, to exfoliate the skin in an organic way. So if you want to enjoy fun in the sun of Central America, but don’t want your skin to wrinkle, take a hint from the hosts, and add some sweet tonic to your skin.

The biggest arts festival in the region of western North Carolina, USA takes place each summer in the historical downtown area of Asheville, the only substantial city in the entire Appalachian range of mountains. The festival occupies the downtown, which is restricted even to local residents from motor traffic, and lasts the entire weekend. Some 500 or more vendors selling everything from cotton candy to handmade furniture show up to sell their wares, and hundreds of musicians play for free on the many stages of the festival. Beginning in 2005, the festival also began to include special headliner performers, and there is a nominal fee of a few dollars to attend those shows.
Lodging in Asheville is generally packed-out for the festival, and locals even make extra money renting out their guestrooms to visitors. So if you have plans to attend the festival, it is a good idea to book your hotel or motel far in advance. Many people who go to Bele Chere will book rooms a year in advance, and you don’t want to arrive and find that there are not rooms available.
One of the best things about the festival is the food. Lots of restaurants and catering companies have booths and sell wonderful appetizers, dinner plates, and desserts at reasonable prices. Wear your best walking shoes, because the town is hilly and the festival covers about 20 square blocks of asphalt territory.

Train travel for tourists in Spain is one of the best ways to go, because it is not expensive, the trains are reliable and clean, you meet lots of other interesting travelers along the way, and you can concentrate on looking out the window at the sights, rather than on driving your car or trying to find something to read on a jet plane high above the clouds. We recommend taking a train from the southern part of France, which is famous wine country, down the western side of the country where it crosses into the village of Irun at the Spanish border. When you step off the train, you will either be in Spain or France, depending upon which side of the tracks you are standing on, because the railroad tracks lie on the border of the two nations. From Irun you can go into the great coastal resort city of San Sebastian, and then catch a train through the beautiful Pirennes Mountain Range, which extends eastward toward the ancient coastal city of Barcelona.
Along the way, you will be able to see for many miles on a clear day, across the landscape that has inspired writers, artists, musicians, and explorers for centuries. Be sure to pack a lunch and carry something to drink, because the train ride is long and rather slow - a good thing for sightseeing purposes but not so good if you need a pick me up snack and don’t have anything to munch on during your train travels.

Until about 40 years ago, rail travel was not always comfortable or legal. Beginning in the early 1900s in the USA, many people - mostly men - would jump aboard freight trains and ride the boxcars around the country, seeing the sights while avoiding detection by the “railroad bulls” or security officers who patrolled the tracks. Woody Guthrie is just one of many folk singers who glorified the so-called “hobo tramps” of the USA. And most of them have now disappeared from the landscape, but there is an annual gathering in the town of Britt, Iowa, where hobos and those who are interested in hobo culture gather for singing, dancing, and camaraderie.
The festival convenes in August, and includes a Hobo Museum. Usually about 40,000 people show up for this odd festival, which not only brings needed income in the form of tourist dollars to the town of Britt, but helps to preserve the quintessential legacy of the old hobo culture, which is an important part of American history and folklore. So if you are heading that way in late summer - by car or by rail - be sure to stop off and mingle with some of the last remaining railroad vagabonds. Who knows? They might give you some tips on how to travel on your next vacation across the USA free of charge.