Ecotourism Questions

The road trip is a family vacation classic. But long hours on the road with breaks only at highway rest stops and fast food chains can make for a cranky carload of people. Thankfully, there are ways to keep everybody happy and healthy. Bring a cooler and pack it with water and juice rather than soda. Instead of the usual pit stops, go to a supermarket and pick up healthier snacks like nuts and fruit. Hit the salad bar and buy cold cuts and cheese to make your own sandwiches. For impromptu picnics, always have paper plates, plastic utensils, and one real knife on hand. Pack a blanket or sheet in the car, so that you'll have a place to sit near the playground, at the beach, or just some grassy patch at a rest stop. Another good idea is to look for the local elementary school--they usually have playground equipment. At snack time, portion control is essential. Measure out the appropriate amount and put it in a Ziploc bag. Otherwise, the kids might keep digging for more--and probably make a mess while they're doing so. When it comes time to choose a place to stay, pick a hotel with a pool. Having the kids play around the pool is much better than them being stuck in the room watching TV. Unless, of course, they're watching the Budget Travel Minute.

Every traveler loves walking a city's streets and checking out cool shops and restaurants. If you're only seeing what's above ground, however, you're merely scraping the surface. Tours in many cities bring visitors deep below street level for a glimpse of secret hideouts, spy tunnels, and catacombs. Underground tours are commonly found in cities with storied histories. In Rome, you can view dungeons, medieval mosaics, and ruins under churches and prisons. Join a tour in paris and you'll be strolling through tunnels dating back to the 1200s. Some of the most interesting tours explore areas created during wartimes. You can walk through underground bunkers in Vienna that served as World War II air-raid shelters. Outside Seoul, Korea, there's a tunnel that was carved years ago in secret by the North Koreans. Underground tours are also offered in a few U.S. cities. A 90-minute tour in Seattle visits three blocks that were covered up and built over after the great fire in 1889. On another tour, in Portland, Oregon, you'll learn how transient laborers and sailors in the nineteenth century were kidnapped, brought underground, and later sold as slaves. We're pretty sure folks in the Pacific Northwest are more friendly these days.

One reason people love the great outdoors is the opportunity to spot amazing wildlife. But what do you do when your encounter with Mother Nature is a little too exciting? Most animals mean no harm to humans and will flee before you ever see them. To minimize the chance of danger, don't feed wildlife, stay in designated areas only, keep your distance if you do see animals, and always use the buddy system. On rare occasions, it's too late to avoid an up-close run-in with a dangerous animal. Whether you should run, play dead, or hold your ground depends on what kind of animal is staring your down. If you spot a mountain lion, for example, make eye contact, stand up straight, and raise your arms, to present a formidable appearance. Retreat slowly, and never turn your back on the animal. For encounters with bears, you never want to make eye contact. And above all, don't run--your quick movement may prompt the bear to chase. Discharge your bear spray if one comes within 15 feet. On the other hand, if a moose charges you, run like the wind. It probably won't chase. Snakes blend in well with the environment, so it's sometimes hard to spot them. To prevent bites, wear thick boots that are at least ankle-high. Tapping the ground with a walking stick helps scare off snakes. And if you're going to an area where poisonous snakes live, by all means bring a snakebite kit.

Several websites allow even the feeblest of computer users to create their own travel blog, a home page that you can update anywhere to fill in relatives and friends on your adventures. You can even illustrate your online journal with photos downloaded from your digital camera. Here are five of the best free DIY sites. Rough Guides: The well-organized site holds your hand every step of the way, with tips that make it very easy to set up an account and post messages. travel.roughguides.com. Travellerspoint: Fast sign-up (a rarity), straightforward navigation, and cute emoticons are a few of the pluses. Security is as good as it gets, with safeguarded message exchanges; too bad it won't let you ogle other travelers' diaries. travellerspoint.com/onlinediary.cfm. VirtualTourist: You get a VT e-mail address and plenty of options to customize pages, with spots for personal mottos, photo albums, maps, and diary chapters. It's easy to quickly scroll through tips offered by members, which range from the best bowl of soup in Bolivia to the location of a secluded lake in Bavaria. virtualtourist.com. TravelBlog: The unlimited space capacity is appealing if you write like Tom Wolfe (or even if you just write as much as Tom Wolfe). Scores extra points for encyclopedic blurbs on every country in the world. travelblog.org. Blogger: The Google-owned site isn't geared to travelers, but it does a good job anyway. You choose a Web address, select from over 30 templates, and build a chronological diary with searchable archives. Bonus: spell-check! blogger.com.