Jane Wooldridge is the Miami Herald's award-winning travel editor and a genuine travel fanatic. Between her business and personal lives, she has visited much of the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia, with a few out-of-the way stops such as Mali, Tunisia and Mongolia. A veteran of lodgings ranging from five stars to under the stars, she frequently travels alone; her husband and stepsons tag along when schedules permit.After a million-plus miles in the air, 70-odd countries and countless visits to a cold hometown for the holidays, the packing wisdom I've learned comes down to this: It's all about shoes.
If you're heading to Theme Park Central this year, get ready to dance, splash and play tug-of-war with a Bengal tiger. But don't expect it to come cheap.
AQUATICA
Waterslides, wave pools, meandering rivers and cooling fountains -- and dolphins? Dolphins and other creatures are the newest twist on Central Florida water parks, found at Aquatica, which opened in March.
BUSCH GARDENS
Who knew that tigers like to swim? That orangutans can paint? Or that there really is a theme park area with rides just for 'tweeners?
UNIVERSAL
Krusty the Clown is opening a new ride at his namesake theme park, Krustyland, and the Simpsons are first to take the ride. Little do they know that Sideshow Bob -- pushed over the emotional edge by being shot from a cannon and nailed by cream pies -- has escaped from jail, stolen Scratchy's character suit and is loose in the park. His goal: Destroy it all.
DISNEY
You knew a Toy Story ride had to be coming. When it opens late this month, the toys will take over Andy's new Midway Games Play Set, and chaos will reign in the form of Toy Story Mania! -- a 3-D ride through the carnival. Cars are armed with spring-action shooters that let the riders rack up the points as they ''hurl'' pies, ''toss'' rings and ''launch'' eggs -- all virtual, of course. An animatronic Mr. Potato Head plays barker.
Editor's note: Myanmar -- also known as Burma -- was recently devasted by a massive cyclone. This 2002 story by Miami Herald Travel Editor Jane Wooldridge offers a glimpse into this isolated country.
We've been stuffed with fresh blueberry pancakes and perfectly-crisped bacon, tempted with salads and pork in barbecue sauce and home-baked focaccia, sated with all the steamed lobster and corn-on-the-cob we can manage in a single sitting.
SAILING CRUISES: The Victory Chimes is one of a dozen members of the association. Its classic sailing ships homeport in Penobscot Bay in Rockland and Camden. (These classic tall ships are not related to the now-closed Windjammer Barefoot Cruises based in Miami.) Cruises typically last three to six nights and cost about $125-$150 per person per day. Many offer specialty cruises centering on families, yoga and wellness, wine tasting. The Victory Chimes' (www.victorychimes.com) four-night cruise June...
ON A BUDGET
If you're going to Europe this year, travel off-season. That was the lesson from my recent trip to Italy and England. Even at a time when the dollar has hit new lows against the euro -- it's now trading at $1.53 per euro -- prices are manageable if you travel out of season, eat modestly and resist the urge to splurge too often.
These 108 acres are home to a soaring marbled basilica, the bones of the apostle Peter, Greek statues and Egyptian mummies and what undeniably is the world's greatest mural. For the world's billion Catholics, The Holy See is also home to the leader of their faith.
TIBET
Scene from last summer: A flutter of crimson crowds the square as dozens of young Buddhist monks sweep from their classes to their daily outdoor debate practice at the Sera Monastery. The low murmur swells to a roar as they offer their arguments, underscoring points with a clap of hands or a stomped foot. Occasionally one breaks from his rhetorical intensity into a giddy smile, and you wish you could understand the Tibetan words.
The Qinghai-Tibet train linking China with Lhasa via Golmud opened in July 2006. Trips originate in the tourist-draw cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Chengdu and Guangzhou.
ROOF OF THE WORLD
Editor's note: This story was reported in July 2007, before the recent protests in Lhasa. A mob pushes through the main entrance to the West Railway Station, clamoring to shove bags and gear onto the X-ray conveyor. The LCD display board registers trains and tracks incomprehensible when matched against a ticket whose only English is ''Beijing-Lasa.'' A massive neon sign promising INFORMATION beckons, where a woman speaks enough English to direct me to the waiting room. More than two days will pass...
DREAM ON A DIME SERIES
Too good to be true. The brochure promised an October week's vacation in Ireland for two for about $900. For this we would get a clean room with private bath in a wide choice of lodgings for six nights, a hearty cooked breakfast each day, and a rental car.
Whether you're a school kid, a parent or a slightly crazed college student, Spring Break is an annual reminder that the year is hurtling past.
After a million-plus miles in the air, 70-odd countries and countless visits to a cold hometown for the holidays, the packing wisdom I've learned comes down to this: It's all about shoes.
BY JANE WOOLDRIDGE jwooldridge@MiamiHerald.com
Generous spirits, friendly helpfulness and, yes, confusion, are common experiences for visitors to China, and they're sure to greet travelers who come here next year for the Summer Olympics, which begin on the auspicious date of 8-08-08.
THE ABACOS
On a Friday afternoon, the ferry from Marsh Harbour to Hope Town is packed with families from the Carolinas, North and South. Some have come to this one-time British Loyalist stronghold for generations.
THE EXUMAS
GEORGE TOWN, Exuma, The Bahamas -- I'm in town less than an hour and just about everyone at the pool bar at the Club Peace n' Plenty hotel knows my story.
BLACK HILLS, S.D. -- A hulking all-American woolly bearded bison grazes mere feet from the roadway, nibbling placidly on the grasses of Custer State Park. The burning temptation to pop out of the car for a quick photo is tempered by the beasts' tonnage and history: Despite their bulk weighing up to 2,000 pounds, bison have been known to spin and gore in the blink of a camera shutter. Rolling down a window is the wisest course.
Even in the murk of a sullen, gray afternoon, the massive stone sentinels of Ahu Tongariki seem imperious, an uncompromising guard against the gluttonous sea crashing at its flank.
In those fresh and heady days of new romance, a getaway is something of a forbidden pleasure. Almost any place will do. Later, when the ink on the marriage announcement has long dried, romance becomes a matter of absence: Absence of kids, office politics, social commitments, bill-paying, the appointment with the Terminex man. But turning off the worry spigot isn't automatic. A place of ease - of unhurried moments, natural beauty, a graciously preserved past - can help slow the mind.
This might be any country fair: families picnicking on the grass, kids playing tag, an intense B-I-N-G-O match in a tented fairway booth. Except these kids are playing Pin the Tail on the Elephant, without a donkey in sight. The educational exhibits focus on safe sex; "Wrap that rascal; don't be a statistic" directs a poster depicting a penis in sunglasses. And in a simple wood-and-brick fortress at the end of the lawn, cymbals and drums hammer a discordant pace for intricate dances dedicated to the Buddhist traditions of this remote Himalayan land.
HANOI - Everybody and his brother is on a motorbike. His sister, too, you realize, once you look beyond the masked faces, elbow-length gloves and shrouded bodies - the better to keep the sun away and remain pale in that urbane, I don't-work-in-the-fields way. Me, I'm stupidly tan-happy, bareheaded and bare-legged as I zip along side-saddle behind Long, the motorbike taxi-man of the morning. We're on our way to see Ho.
STUART'S WELL, Australia - Let's get this out of the way right now: Camels do not stink. They don't spit either - at least not the ones I know. And I know a few . . . almost a dozen of 'em, in fact. Spent three days with them - three close-contact days - in Australia's Outback.
