Shrinking summers force creative travel plans

For Jettie Kootman, 2007 is shaping up as the year of the shrinking summer.

Like many schools, her 15-year-old daughter's high school is moving its starting date a week earlier this year to Aug. 13, squeezing summer break down to two months, says the Paradise Valley, Ariz., mother. The change "messes up families and family vacations," ruining plans for an August trip.

Blame it on calendar creep. The traditional three-month school vacation has shrunk to two as officials extend classes deeper into June and reopen earlier in August. The result: "You have a whole nation trying to take vacation in the same two months," says Bruce De Witte, a Franklin, Mass., father of three. Families are adapting in many ways, from splitting up the family to vacation separately, to stealing back children's time by calling them in "sick" during the school year.

School officials say they need the added school time to reduce summer learning setbacks and prepare students to do well on standardized tests. Many also want students to finish fall-term final exams before the Christmas holiday. They're adding one- or two-day holidays during the year to make up for the lost time.

But parents say the squeeze on summer robs them of the flexibility they need to plan extended vacations. Increasingly competitive youth sports teams, plus intensive camp and service programs, are consuming more weeks of summer. Many working parents have trouble getting time off during the summer, when co-worker competition for vacation weeks is at a peak; narrowing the time-off window just makes it harder.

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Can flying make you sick?

On an American Airlines flight last week from New York to Seattle, traveler Jim Sullivan noticed the flight attendants preparing to serve a meal. He grabbed a bottle of hand cleanser and began wiping down the tray table in front of him. "A flight attendant I know told me how filthy these things are," he says.

Indeed, at a time when airplanes are often packed to capacity with travelers from around the world, it's no wonder that travelers start to worry about their exposure to germs and disease. With headlines warning of bird flu and cruise-ship outbreaks, passengers are more nervous than ever about who -- and what -- is really sharing their seat space.

But surprisingly, travel health experts say airplanes typically don't pose any bigger health or germ exposure risk than any other public place. The best advice to stay healthy while flying: wash hands often and drink lots of bottled water. Here are answers to some common questions about the health risks of travel and what airlines are doing to battle germs on board.

Q: Can I catch an illness from the passenger sitting next to me or from germs left by a sick passenger on the flight before me?

Travelers can catch an illness just from being on a plane, but it's not likely, says Marlene Zuk, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California-Riverside who studies the interaction between diseases and their hosts. "They're more likely to catch something at work because they're coming in closer contact with their co-workers." And, just sitting in a seat that an ill person has been in isn't likely to get you sick. The human body is constantly bombarded with microbes, Dr. Zuk says, most of which the immune system fights off.

There is a risk to having spray particles land on you (such as from a sneeze), since they can enter your body if you wipe that area of your skin on your nose or eyes. Respiratory droplets can't penetrate your skin, though, Dr. Zuk says. Experts recommend carrying hand gels to clean your hands in case you can't use the restroom. If you're sitting next to someone who's sick, you can ask to be reseated. Several airlines say that if there's a seat available, they will reseat passengers upon request.

Q: How often do airlines clean their planes? What about pillows and blankets?

For the most part, only surface cleaning is done at the gate. American Airlines says that different work is done depending on the mileage flown and the ground time available, but that it mostly involves picking up trash, folding blankets and replenishing provisions. British Airways says that it cleans its seats, replaces the headrests and vacuums the floors, in addition to other measures after every flight. Northwest Airlines says its aircraft undergo an additional cleaning every night, which includes vacuuming, cleaning windows and wiping down bins and other surfaces.

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Trains take the strain out of travel

On overseas trips, many American business travelers do what is almost unthinkable back home. They take the train - and in increasing numbers, as high-speed rail service expands in Europe, China and Japan.

"I wouldn't even consider taking the train in the U.S. except along the Northeast Corridor - and that might be just a commuter train from North White Plains to New York," said Ralph Smith, who searches the globe for low-cost supplies for Tennant, a maker of industrial cleaning machines based in Minneapolis.

"But trains in Europe run like a clock," he said. "They're nice and clean and fast. And the rail staffs are very helpful to Americans who kind of don't know where they're going."

In contrast to the stressful turmoil of airline travel, rail trips, when done right, can be both efficient and civilized, as travelers like Smith can attest. They can even be cultural when passengers mingle and talk while viewing scenery through picture windows. "What do you see out the window at 37,000 feet?" ads for the French railroads ask travelers.

"Virtually all the big global companies use trains worldwide more than ever," said Bill Connors, executive director and chief operating officer of the National Business Travel Association, a U.S. trade group. "They want travelers to be productive and happy. The train takes a lot of the hassle out of going to airports."

Railways are rolling out services that make it easier to do business while traveling from one city to another.

"Our first-class cars on most high-speed routes are geared to corporate travelers. with trays for laptops, open or private tables for small meetings, and Wi-Fi we're installing," said Fabrice Morel, president and chief executive of Rail Europe, a marketing group. In answer to complaints that the car interiors have the look of an airline lounge, the French have brought in the designers Philippe Starck and Christian Lacroix to add some interest to the décor.

Speed is of course one of the major allures of foreign train travel. France's vaunted TGV, or Train à Grande Vitesse, streamliners streak along at 180 miles per hour, or 290 kilometers per hour, or more. That is about as fast as a commercial airliner on takeoff.

"Europe's expanding high-speed network is redefining short-haul travel," said Guillaume Pepy, chief executive of the National Society of French Railroads, the French rail system. Recently, a TGV set a new speed record at 357 miles per hour on test tracks. And the French rail system plans to launch high-speed service in June between Paris and Frankfurt that will cut travel time nearly in half on tracks used both by French TGVs and Germany's fast Inter City Express, also known as ICE, trains. China is also getting involved in the speed game. A new magnetic levitation train shuttles between Pudong International Airport in Shanghai and the city's downtown area, accelerating to about 240 miles per hour during the eight-minute trip. A high-speed line between Beijing and Shanghai is scheduled to open in 2010.

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What if there really was a paradise?

Getting there: Halcyon Air has direct flights from wherever you live, whenever you want. All seats are both aisle and window; none are over the wing. Each seat pocket contains Bose Acoustic Noise Canceling headphones, a chilled bottle of Dom Pérignon, and a recent copy of the Sun-Sentinel Travel section. The five-course in-flight meals are prepared on board by celebrity chefs. Flight attendants are former Ford models with Ph.D.s in aeronautical engineering who were lured away from brilliant careers in nursing. Fellow passengers are all witty conversationalists traveling without laptops. Your captain sounds like Garrison Keillor. (In fact, he's John Travolta.) The in-flight entertainment includes every classic film you've always wanted to see and all the current movies you've missed. Well-behaved children receive beagle pups. There is never any turbulence.

Getting around: Taxis appear whenever you need one. There are no meters inside because they are free. Drivers speak whatever language you do. They offer invaluable tips, tell jokes you haven't heard before, obey the speed limit, and praise the driving of the person in front of them. They are also very complimentary toward whoever is in power. They think the system works for them. They believe tipping is an insult.

If you like to mix it up with the locals, you can also ride the clean, comfortable, electric monorail which connects downtown to the historic district, the museum section, all the colorful ethnic neighborhoods, the convention center, the sports complex, the shopping emporium, the port, the beach, the rain forest, the ski resort, the five theme parks, the eight Nicklaus-designed golf courses, the four national parks, the nearby chain of tropical islands, the base camp on Mount Antaeus, and the area's 478 luxury spas.

Lodging: A wide choice of venerable hotels, many of them living monuments made famous by literary classics. All rooms have views and are under $100 a night. Those without fireplaces have ceiling fans. Carl Kasell does the wakeup calls. Everybody in the lobby bar knows your name. Receptionists, maids, bellmen, valets all shed tears when you check out.

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Calling long distance when traveling

Whether you travel for business or leisure staying in touch with the office, friends and family can often mean having to make long distance telephone calls. In some countries this may not be overly expensive but in others it can be prohibitively expensive, and even if reasonably priced the total bill of making long distance calls quickly adds up.

Thankfully, more and more hotels around the world are offering free or very reasonably priced broadband internet access. Many of the best hotels even offer free wireless broadband access in most public areas of the hotel. If you choose a hotel which offers such a service then you can say goodbye to long distance telephone charges for good, thanks to a free service which is becoming more and more popular - Skype.

Skype offers two types of service. One is completely free and as long as the people you want to talk to have Skype downloaded and installed on their computer then you can chat for as long as you want completely free of charge. This service could not be simpler to use, you can see when your 'contacts' are online and simply call them. The person you are calling then has the option of picking up the call or refusing it. Once connected the sound clarity is, 90% of the time, excellent, perhaps even better than a good quality IDD line.

The other service Skype offers, SkypeOut, allows anyone with Skype installed on their computer to call any regular telephone anywhere in the world at very reasonable rates. The sound quality when using this service is not as consistently good as when using the free service outlined above but is normally acceptable. Skype have said that they are working on this technology in an aim to making it as good and reliable as the free version.

Hotel urban legends

I love a good urban legend. Urban legends play on our fears, our insecurities and our love of the lascivious. Sometimes fanciful, sometimes truth-based, these tales spread like wildfire, especially in this Internet age. Many urban legends revolve around hotels, but which are false alarms, and which should keep travelers on their toes?

That bad smell in the room could be a dead body. Stories abound about a couple checking into their room at a hotel (usually identified as a Las Vegas dive) and noticing a bad odor. Although housekeeping tries to "freshen up" the room several times, the odor persists. Frustrated, the man begins tearing the room apart in an attempt to find the source of the stench. When he pulls the mattress off the bed, he finds a dead body in the box springs.

This one's actually true! Bodies have been found stuffed in hotel beds in Kansas, Atlantic City, N.J., and Pasadena, Calif., for example. I think the most horrifying aspect of these stories is that people actually slept on top of a dead person before the body was discovered. I'll say this: I would never be surprised by anything found in a cheap hotel room in a bad neighborhood. Heck, I've seen used needles left in beds in classy joints! So go ahead and check your bed before crashing for the night. With luck, you'll find your room is body-free -- and you might catch some bed bugs before they strike!

Hotel key cards contain your personal information, and anyone with a special scanner can "read" your details. No, no, no, no, no. And just for good measure: No. And please quit asking front desk agents about this one -- they're sick of denying this myth to skeptics who aren't going to believe them anyway.

This rumor was inadvertently started by members of the Pasadena Police Department (what is it with Pasadena?), and it spread so quickly that the police have posted a page on the department's Web site dedicated to presenting the facts.

So here's the truth: No, your home address, phone number and credit card number is not programmed on your key card. Here's what is: your room number, check-in date, check-out date and check-out time. If you can charge purchases to your room account by using your key, then the key is probably also programmed with at least a few letters of your last name and your account number. That's it. That little strip can't hold much more than that anyway. Moreover, many properties use key systems that are not even connected to their computers, so there's no way personal information from your reservation could be put on your key.

Besides, if hotel employees want to steal your identity, they don't have to bother snagging your key and obtaining a scanner to read it. They can just go to the computer and look you up -- everything they need is on one screen!

If you wake up in a tub full of ice, call 911! Probably everyone has heard the story of the hotel guest seduced by a stranger at the bar. He takes her back up to his room for a little romance, and the next thing he knows, he's waking up in the bathtub, covered in ice. A note placed near his hand instructs him to call for help. His back is in agony, and when he reaches around, he realizes he's bleeding! Turns out, he was drugged by the lady, and his kidney has been harvested for sale on the black market.

A great episode of the always-funny television show "Las Vegas," appropriately titled "Urban Legend," had a similar story line, but is the story true? Probably not. Yes, people have sold their kidneys, and some doctors in India were busted in the '90s for duping people into having their kidneys removed. Black-market organ transplants do happen. But I don't think anyone has found proof that this hotel tale is true. Besides, have you ever tried to get a full bucket of ice from a hotel ice machine? It would take hours to get enough ice to fill a bathtub. That said, you should always be careful when drinking in bars, and don't invite strangers to your room!

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Cheap travel cheat sheet

Vacations are all about priceless memories of water slides, wide smiles, inside jokes the kids will tell for years to come and -- cue needle screeching across the record album -- dropping a few c-notes a day.

That buzzkill statistic comes from AAA's annual vacation survey, which revealed that, last year, the average family of four shelled out $261 a day -- $120 for food and $141 for lodging -- for their R&R. That's $1,827 for seven days away from the daily grind, not counting travel tchotchkes and pit stops for stomach remedies. No soft-focus lens can soften the blow of that bill.

Have plastic, will travel
The cost of travel makes it worthy of its own budget line item. So treat it like one by formalizing your savings goal. For example, if you plan to go away in August, start socking away $456.75 a month (to reach the $1,827 total mentioned above).

Unless you want your credit card statement holding a place of prominence in your photo album, the best way to pay for R&R is to plan ahead and pay cash. However, that's not the M.O. for most travelers.

A survey a few years ago found that about 40% of vacationers financed their travel plans with plastic -- and more than half didn't pay off the tab right away. We don't want you to stay at home and mope, but if you can't afford to pay cash for that cruise/camping trip/Civil War re-enactment outing, ask yourself if you're willing to pay double for it. Because that's what it'll cost if you pay just the minimum amount due on your credit card.

Don't forget to include the cost of activities and extras like doodads to placate the kids and chocolates for your pals back at the office. Travel pros recommend padding your budget by 10% to 15% to avoid sticker shock.

Vacation planning = budget travel
Everyone knows that advance planning is everything when it comes to travel. Nowhere is the savings more significant than when shopping for airfare. The bonus to arranging your getaway now is that you can solidify your plans before all the aisle seats are taken (and have something to motivate the kids to do their chores).

In the April issue of Motley Fool Green Light I wrote a playbook for tackling the biggest vacation expenses -- airfare, rooms and rental rides -- as well as advice on trip insurance and managing your cash when you're on the road. Below is a get-started guide to help you find cheap flights.

How to score cheap flights
Would that there was a time travel machine. If you could transport back to the year 1950, you'd be able to treat your family of four to a whiz-bang getaway for just $13 a day (and maybe even witness the birth of Rock and Roll). Until that technology is worked out, you'll have to make do with contemporary tools. Fortunately, there are plenty to make cost cutting easier.

Track fares for a while. Many websites will keep an eye on airfare costs and alert you to the best deals based on your travel criteria. Check out Farecast.com for guidance on when to buy; cFares.com to search airlines, travel wholesalers, and agencies (for a membership fee, it also offers a name-your-price feature); and Airfarewatchdog.com for cheap flights before they hit the major travel portals.

Do comparison-shopping diligence. Make sure a deal is really all that by comparing your quotes with those offered directly by the airline. In addition to the biggie travel sites like Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, and Hotels.com, lesser-known aggregators like the Travelzoo (Nasdaq: TZOO) website can provide extra savings. Others include Kayak.com, Sidestep.com, 1800FlyEurope.com, and I'mWillingToRideInCargo.com (kidding on that last one). You might encounter some fares that require you to pick up the phone and contact the agent directly. Do it -- that's how I got a direct flight to Paris for half of what it cost on another website. Also, there's always Priceline and its name-your-own-price policy.

Pay with points. Planners -- those who book their travel months in advance -- will get the most out of their points and frequent-flier miles. These days the restrictions on rewards redemption are plentiful. (Check out mouseprint.org to see how the fine print might affect your travel and InsideFlyer.com for the most recent news about rewards travel.) A good rule of thumb is to pay cash for tickets that cost $250 or less instead of wasting points (unless they are due to expire). You may save more by using your points to pay for a hotel room. And if you're just short of qualifying for a freebie, check out Points.com to see whether you can swap or augment your rewards kitty.

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Travel + Leisure 500 best hotels on Google Earth

For the first time, you can see the 500 hotels Travel + Leisure readers named the greatest in the world as they are in the world. Zoom in to rooftop level, plot a route to the Louvre from your hotel's front door, or just compare pools and proximity to the ocean.

All you need to get started is a copy of Google Earth. If you haven't downloaded it already, click this link to download Google Earth. Then come back to this page and click "Open the T+L 500 in Google Earth." In no time, you'll have a birds-eye view of a world of luxury.

Business owner's guide to cutting travel costs

David Ulevitch, CEO of Open DNS, a networking services start-up, stays at a friend's house when he travels on business from San Francisco to New York City.

And he urges his 10 employees to do the same while traveling for work.

"I never tell people they can't stay at a hotel," says Ulevitch, 25, who flies on business about 15 times a year. But he does keep them abreast of the company's financial situation, operating under the assumption that if employees know where a company's money is going, they'll pay closer attention to expenses now in anticipation of a bigger payoff later.

Ulevitch understands that striking the right balance between tightwad tactics and too-loose lenience can be difficult. But whether you're a start-up or a multimillion-dollar corporation, slashing unnecessary costs is important to a company's growth.

Especially now. That's because the costs associated with business travel are on the rise.

A report released last month by American Express Business Travel found that the average cost of a domestic roundtrip plane ticket rose 7 percent last year (from $216 to $231), while the average international roundtrip fare rose 5 percent (from $1,614 to $1,707).

What's more, hotel and car rental rates are also mushrooming, according to American Express. Car rentals charges climbed 4.5 percent last year, and the average price for a night's stay in an American hotel room jumped from $182 to $200.

That's got many managers looking to minimize expenditures. The key? Finding ways that will have minimal effect on your employees and maximum effect on your bottom line.

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Tourist written all over you

Have you ever wondered how local people always seem to know you're a tourist when you are traveling abroad?

To tell you the truth, it's not rocket science. I'm not a local, I'm an American, and I can spot a fellow tourist from a mile away.

Apart from the obvious differences, like our Yankee English and our baseball caps, there are 10 dead giveaways that the individual in front of you hails from the U-S-of-A.

And here they are:

1. Clothes make the tourist. White tennis shoes almost always announce an American tourist, just as black socks with shorts identify a British tourist. Sweatshirts with university names, baseball caps, cowboy hats and Hawaiian shirts are other signs that you are American.

2. Map quest. You know you've spotted an American tourist when you see him standing in the middle of a busy thoroughfare, consulting a city map with a puzzled look fixed to his face. No, sir, you're not in Kansas anymore.

3. Wallet check. Americans like to keep their wallets in their back pockets. This is not a safe practice, and they seem to be aware of it, because most Americans abroad have the habit of tapping their wallet every so often, just to make sure it's still there. Sadly, the habit is useless. I had my wallet stolen from me once and I never felt a thing. If your wallet gets lifted, the perpetrators will be long gone before you know it, and no amount of tapping is going to change that.

4. Center of the universe. For some reason, American tourists are extra-loud both in action and in words. True, they are on vacation and looking for fun, but they don't have to yell at each other while doing it: "IS THE MOW-NA LISA SUPPOSED TO BE ON THIS FLO-WOR?"

5. Creatures of habit. Whether it is McDonald's in Greece, The Olive Garden in Rome, or Starbucks in Lebanon, Americans tend to flock to familiar names when hunger or thirst sets in abroad. Once in a while, I do it too. Comfort food, I guess.

6. Feeling flush. When American tourists enter foreign toilet facilities for the first time, they are generally overcome with confusion and wonderment. Whether they've encountered an infrared automatic flush, a pull-chain handle, a hole in the ground or a bidet, you can bet their first remark upon exiting will be, "You won't believe what they've got in there!"

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Legoland: Las Vegas

After nearly three years of planning and design, more than sixteen thousand hours of creative artistry and more than two million Lego bricks, Legoland® California officially opened Miniland Las Vegas.

How to save money the next time you travel

Whether you're planning a family vacation or business trip in the near future, it pays to plan ahead; but when should you start shopping around for deals?

The experts say a good time to begin is the day you make the decision to go on a trip. Because of the very nature by which travel companies do business, those who wait until the last minute to book are automatically penalized by not having access to the very best rates available.

Here are some great tips for saving money on all your travel needs:

* Airfares

These days, the Internet makes it easy to shop around for the best airfares. A good place to start is by logging on to a travel search engine such as Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, Bestfares or Smartertravel.

Once you find a good rate on one of these, log on to the particular airline's Web site to see if you can get an even better rate. Also take the time to search through the travel discounts section on the various airline sites to see if they're offering a travel discount to your particular destination.

* Hotels

Plan the timing of your stay according to the type of place you visit. If you'll be traveling to a big city like New York, Chicago or Washington, D.C., room rates will be cheaper on weekends when business travelers aren't staying there. If you'll be traveling to a resort area, theme park or other place that is popular with leisure travelers, rooms are often cheaper during the week.

When searching for a hotel, don't make price the only factor you take into consideration.

Also consider amenities, such as the availability of a pool and/or spa in which you can relax at the end of the day. Ask if the hotel offers a continental breakfast that is included in the price of your stay and if the rooms have Internet access, a must for most families these days.

You'll also want to make sure the hotel you choose will be quiet and comfortable. AmericInn hotels, for example, use AmericInn SoundGuard construction to reduce sounds and vibrations. Log on to www.AmericInn.com/ara to make a reservation.

* Rental Cars

When it comes to rental cars, be sure to ask about available discounts when you book. Many of the rental car agencies offer discounts to people who hold certain credit cards, or have membership in organizations such as AAA or the AARP. You just have to ask.

Also keep in mind that it's a good idea to avoid renting a car at the airport. You'll find more competitive rates, plus avoid extra surcharges at car rental agencies away from the convenience of the airport.

And one of the best kept secrets in the industry is that you can book a rental car in the low season for less, even if you'll be using it in the peak season.

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Cruising, the new wave of travel

It seems that trend-watchers never get tired of tracking the baby boomer generation. The first wave of them are turning 60, and as travelers they are turning out to be the fittest, most active and most demanding group of pre-seniors in history. For the cruise industry, catering to this group is proving to be a rewarding challenge, with benefits for passengers of all ages.

The Norwegian Pearl may have its new bowling alley, and Royal Caribbean recently installed a Flowrider artificial wave simulator on its Freedom of the Seas, but what attracts the hard-working boomers is more than just on-board soft adventure. Here’s a look at five top trends in cruising this year, each one driven all or in part by the desires of 40-, 50- and early 60-year-olds who not only want to travel and relax somewhere in style, i.e. on a cruise ship, but who also crave a unique and memorable vacation.

Mid-Size Ships

Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are just three major cruise lines which have smartly added or refurbished smaller ships in fleets that have tended to make news for mega-cruisers like the 3,634-passenger Freedom of the Seas, mentioned above.

Ships with even greater capacity than Freedom’s are coming, but in the meantime there’s a growing market for a more intimate cruising experience.

The 700-passenger Regent Seven Seas Mariner and Voyager, for example, are all-suite, all-balcony ships. They offer some of the highest space and service ratios at sea, and feature restaurants run by the famous, Paris-based Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. You won’t find ice rinks or climbing walls here, but the amenities will not disappoint. There are four main dining venues with open seating on each ship, allowing for the kind of mealtime flexibility passengers have come to expect, plus there are modern spas, fitness facilities, free computer classes and a sophisticated line-up of guest lecturers.

Holland America uses its 800-passenger Prisendam on long-range, exotic round-the-world voyages; a 2005 makeover resulted in ocean views for 93 percent of the staterooms, and private verandahs in 67 percent. For journeys around the Mediterranean, the 710-passenger Royal Princess (formerly Swan Hellenic’s Minerva II) is an ideal choice, with 2007 itineraries out of Barcelona, Athens, Rome and romantic Venice.

At the slightly grander end of the scale capacity-wise is Celebrity’s 1,750-passenger Century.

It spent six weeks in dry dock last June, emerging with 314 new verandahs, a men’s barber shop, an airy and serene new AquaSpa, and "boutique hotel chic" interiors for the staterooms, incorporating flat-screen televisions, Egyptian cotton bedding and oak paneling. What makes the mid-size ships so appealing? Reviewers consistently praise them for their "breathing room." As one Manhattan executive pointed out, "How often can you go up on deck and star-gaze and there’s absolutely nobody around?"

Enrichment Programs

You can bank on a cruise to put your brain in neutral and your body into full-on pampering mode, if that’s what you’re after. But for many passengers some uninterrupted sea time provides a perfect opportunity to learn something new in a safe, no-expectations environment.

On Crystal ships you can learn how to play the piano, each student seated at a professional-quality electronic keyboard, headphones in place.

Holland America Line’s $225-million, fleet-wide Signature of Excellence enhancements includes a Culinary Arts Center, a state-of-the-art show kitchen where guest chefs provide cooking demos and classes.

Princess Cruises’ Scholarship@Sea program blends traditional crafts with 21st century technology, teaching passengers to compile digital scrapbooks of their cruise photos, and to design personal web pages or blogs.

On Norwegian’s Hawaiian sailings, you can learn how to make a lei; on Cunard ships, you can learn Shakespearean acting techniques taught by alumni of London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

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American billionaire headed for International Space Station

A Russian rocket carrying Charles Simonyi, an American billionaire who helped develop Microsoft Word, roared into the skies over Kazakhstan on Saturday night, sending him and two cosmonauts into orbit on a two-day journey to the International Space Station.

The Soyuz TMA-10 capsule, trailing a column of smoke and fire, cast an orange glow over the Baikonur cosmodrome and dozens of officials and well-wishers watching from about a mile away.

Among them was Martha Stewart, who watched the launch from a location separate from other spectators. Stewart, who has been linked romantically to Simonyi, shared a private moment with him Friday — though only through a plate glass window, to protect him and his crewmates from germs.

"He's in excellent spirits," Stewart said. "He's very fit and very well-trained."

Simonyi, 58, a native of Hungary, paid $25 million for the 13-day trip, making him the fifth space tourist.

In a posting on the blog he intends to maintain while in orbit (www.charlesinspace.com), Simonyi said he spent his final day getting a haircut and a therapeutic massage and watched a classic Soviet-era war film, a cosmonaut tradition.

Simonyi is taking a special meal for his comrades in space to be eaten Thursday in honor of Cosmonauts' Day, which marks Yuri Gagarin's historic flight in 1961. The menu includes quail, duck and rice pudding.

Site of the day: VirtualTourist

If you can't decide on where you'd like to vacation, check out VirtualTourist. VirtualTourist offers 2.6 million photos, 2 million mapped destinations, and one of the best travel guide libraries on the web, giving you all the information you'll need to plan the perfect escape.

As you're browsing through the apps travel tips, be sure to rate them, so that the next traveler to come along is advised as well as you were.

Ideas to bring out the romantic in you

Want to make your love life more romantic? Even the most ardent lover can use romantic inspiration. Whether you're about to go on your honeymoon, a romantic getaway, or spending time alone together at home, adding a romantic touch will help to put both of you in a vacation mood. Try some of these romantic ideas and ignite your next vacation:

1 Get away from it all

2 Don't just go away on your next vacation; indulge in a romantic package with luscious extras

3 Celebrate an anniversary — any anniversary — with an anniversary trip

4 Expect the best — but get it for less

5 Request the honeymoon suite (even if you're not married)

6 Order breakfast from room service — and don't leave the room all day

7 Stock your own surprise in the minibar

8 "Hello, room service? Send up a bottle of your best Champagne, two flutes, and a strawberry delicacy"

9 Schedule a romantic dinner

10 Tell her how beautiful she is or how handsome he looks

11 Turn off the TV in your room; better yet, don't turn it on at all

12 Hand out a stack of love coupons, redeemable at any time

13 Dress for bed

14 Take a private yoga lesson together

15 Make a big deal — a really big deal — out of a birthday

16 Go window shopping for souvenirs, then circle back and buy something your better half admired

17 Pack a game for grownups

18 Plan a surprise weekend escape from the city

19 Ask the concierge to plan the day for you

20 Use the "Do Not Disturb" sign — and bring it home with you

21 Take a bubble bath together

22 Upgrade to the club floor

23 Share a secret no one else knows

24 Write a love letter and seal it with a love stamp

25 Give roses when there's no special occasion to celebrate

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Move Tracks plots your travel tunes

Remember when you'd make a carefully crafted mix tape before a roadtrip? Move Tracks simplifies that timeless ritual.

This Web app bridges Google Maps and iTunes by letting you plot your route and synchronize your soundtrack to it based on your travel time. Once your tracks are selected, you just press "Send" and the playlist is created in iTunes.

Publiners

Why does it take five Irishmen to change a lightbulb? One changes the bulb, while the other four drink beer at the pub and reminisce about what a grand bulb the old one had been. It’s an old variation of an older joke, I know. But spend a couple of evenings in the pubs in Dublin, and you’ll find that pubs are such an intrinsic part of Irish life, that the joke may well be true. For the Irish drink when they’re happy. They drink when they’re not. They drink in company. And if they’re alone, they’ll have a pint of Guinness anyway.

The Irish practically invented the concept of the pub—the word harks back to the traditional ‘public house’ and its presiding deity, the publican: someone with a license to serve spirits to the thirsty public. Through Irish history, through their dark years of drought and famine, the pub has remained the mainstay of Irish social life. Needless to say, Irish pubs are the best places to be in for anyone interested in getting a sense of Celtic life and culture. They’re also a lot of fun for people who just want a drink.

As we drive to the hotel from the Dublin airport, I realise that one can’t throw a stone in Dublin without hitting a pub. As Leopold Bloom quipped in Ulysses: "A good puzzle would be to cross Dublin without passing a pub".

The rise of the Celtic tiger has spawned many more pubs in Dublin since Joyce’s time. When last anyone checked, the city had over a thousand pubs and counting. Most Dubliners frequent their neighbourhood pubs loyally. Even the Irish prime minister (try pronouncing his Celtic title Taoiseach after a few drinks ) who had to move into his posh address in St Stephens Green after being elected to office, goes to his local pub for a pint every now and then. Very (re)publican.

But those are for locals. For first time visitors to Dublin, no place is more happening than the Temple Bar district. Named after an obscure Jewish temple few know of, this area South of the River Liffey has quaint shops, outdoor food stalls and pubs of course. Arguably one of the oldest pubs in Temple Bar is Oliver St John Gogarty’s, which has been around since 1835. Rubbing shoulders with the more recent Hard Rock Café and about a hundred other pubs and bars, Gogarty’s is perpetually packed.

We order our pints of Guinness ("Oh, so you’re a Guinness girl!" exclaims the friendly waitress) and pore over its extensive Irish menu. Seafood chowder, corned beef and steaks arrive. The steaks are so large they look like they’ve been carved from some prehistoric mastodon. We try manfully but fail to conquer the mountains of food on the table. A floor below, a singer strikes up a tune, someone else picks up a fiddle and soon it begins to sound like everyone has joined in the fun. "U2, Enya, Sinead O’Connor and the Corrs all began their careers in Dublin’s pubs," says Patrick, my Irish friend, as the spirited crowd reaches a crescendo, "I guess its a crucial part of their training!"

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Study finds more air delays, lost bags

Airline hassles are on the rise: More passengers found themselves bumped, their flights delayed or their bags lost last year than in 2005, a study found. (via Yahoo).

"They just don't get it yet," said Dean Headley, an associate professor at Wichita State University and co-author of the study.

One upside, researchers said, was that the overall number of airline complaints has stabilized since hitting a five-year low in 2005.

Industry spokesman David Castelveter blamed the majority of delays on bad weather. Making matters worse, he said, more planes will be in the air in coming years and the air traffic control system cannot handle the growth.

The Airline Quality Rating report, compiled annually since 1991, looked at 18 airlines and was based on Transportation Department statistics. The research is sponsored by the Aviation Institute at University of Nebraska at Omaha and Wichita State University.

Among the findings:

_Southwest had the lowest number of complaints in 2006, 0.18 per 100,000 passengers. United and US Airways tied for the most, 1.36 per 100,000 passenger.

_Hawaiian Airlines had the best on-time performance (93.8 percent) for 2006, followed by Frontier Airlines (80.7 percent) and Southwest (80.2 percent). Atlantic Southeast Airlines had the worst on-time performance (66 percent). On-time was defined as within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time. Canceled and diverted flights counted as late.

The biggest disappointment is mishandled bags, Headley said.

Last year, for every 1,000 passengers, 6.50 bags were lost, stolen or damaged, compared with 6.06 in 2005. Hawaiian had the best baggage handling performance; Atlantic Southeast the worst.