Travel stories by Jane

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.

• 

  Beijing rolls out the Olympic carpet

  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.

• Going to the Olympics

  OLYMPIC TICKETS The first phase of sales ended June 30, with 4.9 million requests for 2.7 million seats. The remaining tickets go on sale in October. A total of about 7 million are being offered.

• China: Then and now

  Jane Wooldridge first visited China in 1985; she has returned several times since, most recently in June 2007. 1985 The plane from Hong Kong to Beijing is half full; most passengers are Chinese or Western diplomats. While individual travel to China is now allowed, getting the visa has taken hours of quiet waiting and endless smiles in a Hong Kong office.

• China's future

  China's warp-speed growth and economic promise have led many observers to tap it as the next world superpower; certainly the Beijing Olympics are designed to heighten its image. But in the future its path is likely to be less than smooth, says Laurence Brahm, American lawyer, political economist, consultant, filmmaker, newspaper columnist and entrepreneur.

• HIGHLIGHTS

  First-timers -- try to get beyond Beijing

  If this is your first -- or likely your only -- visit to China, try to get beyond the capital. The U.S. information agency is China National Tourist Office, 350 Fifth Ave., Suite 6413, New York, NY 10118; 888-760-8218; www.cnto.org.

• Postcard from Shanghai

  Shanghai isn't a visitors city in the classic sense. No Forbidden City or Great Wall or Temple of Heaven here. But if you want to see contemporary Chinese culture in action, to see China in transition, there's no place more vibrant or telling than Shanghai.

• Visiting China

  ORGANIZED TOURS China is one of the world's great travel values. High-quality group tours including airfare from the West Coast and visits in Beijing, Shanghai and Xian can cost as little as $1,700 per person. Some reputable tour companies include:

• Postcard from Hong Kong

  For decades, Hong Kong was Asia's glitziest city. Though Tokyo and Shanghai now vie for the title, Hong Kong retains a sense of drama that's unmatched. The peaks of its main island frame sleek towers jutting from an exquisite harbor that's rimmed by enough neon to give Vegas a run.

• THE ABACOS

  The Abacos are the kind of islands Jimmy Buffet sings about

  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

  The Exumas are warm and welcoming

  It doesn't take long on these sparsely populated islands to feel like a local.

• South Dakota: Good times in the Badlands and beyond

  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.

• Amelia Island: Old Florida charm

  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.

• Bhutan: Exotic yet familiar

  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.

• The New Vietnam

  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.

• Camel-Kaze: Dromedaries in Australia

  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.