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| Plan a great vacation in a national park National parks have a lot of things going for them as vacation destinations. They have natural wonders, hiking trails, and friendly rangers. What's more, on average, you'll be safer in a park than in a city. In spite of these advantages, park visitors have to look out for themselves in most situations. The biggest risks are from what vacationers themselves do, like drinking alcohol, taking drugs, or driving recklessly. Risky behavior is even more dangerous in remote places. Park rangers say two modern innovations generally thought of as safety enhancers don't live up to that promise. Cell phones and sport utility vehicles may actually be enhancing risk by giving tourists a false sense of security. An official recently retired from Glacier National Park in Montana, Charles Barabee Jr., says people with cell phones end up doing things they wouldn't have tried 10 years ago. In his book, Death, Daring and Disaster: Search and Rescue in National Parks, he describes not only high-drama helicopter saves but also routine hunts for boaters and hikers who missed their planned return times. All parks have their own unique hazards. Officials at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Boulder City, Nev., say their high-risk status comes mainly from traffic accidents. High traffic from Las Vegas is partly to blame. At the Grand Canyon, the main peril is heat. About a third of searches and rescues are heat-related, typically hikers who wind up dehydrated. One search and rescue worker says it happens because people think it's an amusement park. Being in remote areas takes a good deal of planning. A recent study by The Wall Street Journal ranks parks by the number of searches and rescues, serious crimes, thefts, and traffic accidents per 100,000 visitors. The parks with the safest records were: Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo, Miss.; Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville, N.C.; Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Keystone, S.D.; Valley Forge National Historic Park, Valley Forge, Penn.; and Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, Tenn. |
| How To Save Up to 75% Of the Cost Of Traveling to Almost Anywhere
How would you like to visit Paris in the spring? Sample local wines in Tuscany in September? Enjoy the English countryside in the summer? Sound like a dream? It doesn't have to be. You can travel to some of the world's most exotic and beautiful locations, and stay in an Italian villa, a Parisian pied-a-terre, or an English manor and you'll only pay for airfare, dining out and tourist attractions! How? By using a housing exchange service. Some of these companies have been around for 50 years, and are widely used in Europe, Asia and Australia. It works like this. You pick what country you want to visit, when you want to go, and how long you want to stay. Arrangements are made, and you exchange homes with someone else. This is a wonderful way to drastically cut costs, and yet see exciting, wonderful places. By staying in a home, you're not paying the high cost of hotels (which can run upwards of $125 a night) or dining in restaurants, saving you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars! Plus, you get the added benefit of living like the locals do. You enjoy total immersion into the culture, and rather than being treated like a tourist, you have the opportunity to make new friends and participate in your surroundings as a member of the community. With a "homebase" you have the choice of how you want to explore the region. You also have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your home is being carefully looked after, your plants are being watered, and your pets are taken care of. So, how do you get started? Do an Internet search for "housing exchange." Find a company that you're comfortable with. Sign up and join the housing exchange list. (Some companies have over 10,000 members!) Decide where you want to travel, when and how long you want to stay. Then, with a click of your mouse, you can find information of other, like-minded travelers, who want to visit your area. You can look at pictures and read short bios about the homes, to help you make your decision, and then contact the owners to reach an agreement. Here are some of the things you'll want to agree on: Don't worry though. Your housing exchange company can help you put together a list, and give you ideas for preparing for your guests. Instead of going to a cold, impersonal hotel room, you go "home" and are welcomed by your next door neighbor, who gives you the house keys and invites you to dinner the next evening, telling you to call them if you have any questions. When you enter the front door, there's a bottle of wine and fresh flowers on the table to welcome you. You find a note on the fridge, telling you how to heat the light meal that's been prepared for you. On the kitchen counter is a pile of brochures and maps, giving you insider information about where to go and what to see. Over the next week, you visit the places you've only dreamed about during the day, making new friends and building memories that will last a lifetime. And every night when you come "home" you get to relax and unwind, without stress or worrying about anything. You can have the vacation you've always dreamed about, and save thousands
of dollars at the same time! Bon voyage! |
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