I used to do all my own bookings but the past couple of trips, I've found it easier and same or better price to use a travel agent. In this day of so much choice, maybe the specialist travel agent is making a resurgence. It feels a bit lazy to let Donna do it, but the thing is, Donna does su...

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The kind of travel I dream of and the kind of travel I experience are converging. It seems no matter where I go, I am almost always thrilled and satisfied by the experience. I wonder, is this true for everyone? I don't research much before I go to a new place. My expectations, at the best ...

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I haven't ever been to Ireland, I'm afraid, but one day... This picture is of a sculpture in sand at Dublin's Docklands, done in 2008 to celebrate Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift having been selected as Dublin's "One City, One Book" that year. The "One City, One Book" idea is that everyone ...

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I like giant things. Who doesn't? They have to rank right up top of everyone's list of Favourite Roadside Attractions. I went looking for a picture of the not-so-giant cows we have all over downtown Calgary, but this monster from the Cheesy State was too cool to pass up, and the little kid ...

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Here in Calgary where I live, one of the top-end hotels has a resident dog for guests who miss having a furry friend greet them at the day's end, or who feel funny walking without a leash in hand. The Sheraton Suites is one of our swanky downtown hotels, where at least some of the National Ho...

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Road trips in Canada, and probably in the USA, always have to include pictures of the biggest things. I don't know Steph & Adam, who took this picture, but it is quite possibly the classic Canadian giant thing picture. Wawa is a little town in Northern Ontario (well, what Southerners call ...

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What a great concept: fake travel! This photo comes from Arturo de Albornoz, who lives in Mexico and (I think) is in the advertising business there. Arturo liked the Travel Alberta ambience of what appears to be the Toronto subway system. But I think he's on to something much bigger. ...

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I don't belong to a lot of Facebook groups (not by the mega-standards of some Facebook addicts, anyway), but one that I'm very happy to be a member of is "Don't Recline in Coach". I think I am member 6 out of 10 or so but it's my life's mission to promote the message. Don't recline. Signed, ...

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Web check-in is a great thing. You get the paperwork done at home, or at your hotel, and show up at the airport, bags in hand, ready to put them in the hold and board the plane. There's a separate lineup (at least in the Canadian airports I've been through in the last year or so) for those with ...

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Must remember to check the odometer reading on the car. For two reasons: - claiming any sort of car-related tax expense requires knowing how far the car went in the tax year. Our tax year starts January 1st. - figuring out the car's operating cost also needs some kind of baseline. When ...

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My local Safeway has a monthly promotion, great for Air Miles (TM) collectors. The Air Miles loyalty plan crosses brands. Cardholders can collect points at Safeway, Shell gas stations, Boston Pizza restaurants, just to name a few places. On the first Tuesday of each month, Safeway gives its o...

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When planning a long trip, do you look for a cheap flight and try to work hotels around it? Or, if you see a deal on accommodation, would you take it and try to find a flight that doesn't break your budget? I've probably gone for the cheap flight and then scrambled to find affordable accommoda...

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My next trip may not be right away, but it will be the first time I'll have to seriously consider taking my laptop. I've travelled with it, of course, but not on a mega-leaving-thecountry-for-a -while getaway. In earlier times, when laptops weren't invented and long distance calls cost way too m...

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Smart Packing is both a book and a website, by Susan Foster. Foster is a clothing expert and a live-out-of-a-suitcase traveller. This little book is practical and useful. There are diagrams and instructions on how to plan suitable wardrobes for any kind of trip - without carrying too much s...

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On the TV show Corner Gas (I just took the Corner Gas tour), new girl in town Lacey had some trouble with the way Brent (owner of Corner Gas) spent his vacation - sitting on a chair, 100 yards from the gas station, pretending to be far away. Beautiful. We Canadians may sometimes be criticized ...

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