Responsible Travel in Cambodia

Friendship with Cambodia, a Eugene, an Oregon nonprofit that leads  humanitarian projects in Cambodia, has published a new travel guide - the Responsible Travel Guide to Cambodia (Wild Iris Press/$14.95). This is an organization Tom and I connected with during a trip we took to Cambodia and Laos with Global Exchange in 2004. One of the highlights was spending the night in a rural village with Bhavia Wagner, our tour leader and founder and executive director of Friendship with Cambodia. 

                                             Cambodian village

Bhavia wrote her own book, Soul Survivors, interviews with women and children who survived the Khmer Rouge genocide. It was her dream to do a travel guide filled with suggestions on funnel tourist dollars into projects that are run by or support local people. The writer is Pujita Mayeda, a friend of Bhavia's in Eugene and an experienced world traveler. We spent a fun and informative evening with them and Bhavia's sister, Ellen, at a Seattle book launch gathering at our house the other night. Ellen transformed our dining room into a crafts boutique "stocked'' with beautiful arts and crafts made by people in Cambodia, and brought back by Bhavia on her last trip. 


The new book is excellent, lightweight enough to take along on a trip, and filled with suggestions for finding hotels and restaurants that train disadvantaged youth, shopping at fair-trade craft shops and seeking out volunteer opportunities and eco-tours. If only a book like this existed for all third-world countries.


Book sale profits will go to support the humanitarian projects of Friendship with Cambodia. These include micro-credit programs for women, education for rural students living in poverty, vocational training for landmine survivors, sex-trafficking prevention and support for children living on the streets. Pick it up if you are planning a trip, or even if you aren't. Reading it might peak your interest in this fascinating country! Here's a link to a story I wrote about our village visit. 

Europe: Lessons from the Road

                                                        Amalfi

After years of traveling, I still find myself filling my mental notebook with "should haves" and "next times."

We spent 2 ½ weeks in Europe recently, mainly in Albania and Southern Italy. It was a memorable trip, filled with exploring new cities, meeting new people and spending time in Naples with old friends.

We did many things right, including putting together a self-guided tour of the Amalfi coast by public bus! Not much went wrong, but, as always, there were a few things we'd do differently.

Click here for a few lessons from the road in my Sunday Travel Wise column for the Seattle Times today.

Where's the best place to buy euros online? 

I answered that question today in the Times, but with some reluctance. Click here for more details. I hardly ever buy foreign currency in advance of a trip. With ATMs in every airport, there's rarely any reason to buy euros here, given the poor exchange rates and high fees. This is especially true now with the value of the euro falling against the dollar. There are times, of course, when you might need a small amount to get going - ie: arriving at an obscure airport late at night where there might not be a machine or currency exchange open. If so, shop around. The rates and fees really vary quite a bit as a quick bit of research showed.

City Island: The Nantucket of New York

                                                 City Island, The Bronx

If you haven't seen the movie "City Island," do try to catch it. We saw it today and loved it. The story of a family living in a quaint fishing village in the Bronx was a humorous tale about the secrets they all keep from each other. It brought back memories of the real City Island, a unique New  York City destination few know about. 

City Island is a historic seafaring community with waterfront promenades and a quaint main street, seafood restaurants and little cottages on the edge of New York City in a borough known for its housing projects and run-down tenements.

If you're puzzled, take the No. 6 train north from Manhattan to the last stop at Pelham Bay Park, transfer to Bus BX 29 and cross a causeway over a 100-year-old bridge onto a 1.5-mile-long patch of land in the western end of Long Island Sound.   Click here to read more about it and see more photos. 

You might like it well enough to spend the night. If so, there's Le Refuge B&B in a historic home that also houses a fine French restaurant. Check in here, walk around the town and you'll feel as though you've been transported to the French or English countryside, all just a few subway stops from Manhatten.

Free fun in Seattle

I'm always amazed how much fun it's possible to have in Seattle - for free or at every little cost. This weekend was a good example. Back from 2.5 weeks in Albania and Southern Italy (read the blog here), we were missing our city! 


On Saturday, we popped in for the free weekly wine tasting at Esquin Wine Merchants and sampled five wines from Jones of Washington. We also picked up a very good 2006 bottle of French red for $10 in the sale annex in the back of the store. Read more here about how to spend a whole day sampling wines for free at Seattle-area wine shops, and how to use an all-day pass on the bus to get around without driving. 


 It's not too late to get to the Pike Place Market Cheese Festival going on all day today at the Pike Place Market. Click here for details. This is an amazing event - 200 cheesemakers from around the country and the world - all offering free samples. Cheese are for sale, and Seattle's Macrina Bakery also has a stand with samples of its olive, potato breads and more.


 Finally, today's New York Times has an excellent article on where to find the best Seattle sweets. I was glad to see the Panama Hotel Tea & Coffee in the International District make the list. Theo Chocolate is another hidden budget secret. Tours of the factory are $6 which include lots of free samples. I've never been to Full Tilt Ice Cream, but I'm going as soon as possible for the cinnamon-scented Mexican chocolate or ube,  infused with Filipino yam.  


World travel is amazing. I wouldn't give it up for the world, but we're lucky to live in Seattle where much of the world comes to us. If you're considering a vacation here this summer, you won't go wrong. By the way, the Seattle Times' new summer guide is out with lots of suggestions on what to do this summer around the Puget Sound area.  Click here for details.