Today's travel intel

The Lost Girls are accustomed to rubbing elbows with wild things in the concrete jungle they call home (a.k.a. New York City), but they weren't prepared to have monkeys on their back when they visited Monkey Island Preserve in the Peruvian rain forest. The hairy chimps dropped onto their heads from branches above until the women appeased them by forking over bananas as a peace offering. Despite the animals' mischievous ways, they contemplated adopting this little one but couldn't fit him in their backpacks. (Kidding!)--The Lost Girls See scenic photos taken by the Lost Girls by clicking on this webpage and clicking on the "Launch slide show" link. Read more about the Lost Girls' adventures by checking out their blog.

McCarran International Airport in "Sin City" has opened a new rental-car facility that puts all of its companies in one place. On the plus side, the airport is now running a single fleet of buses--which all look alike--to shuttle passengers who are renting from any of the companies. This bus fleet replaces the various vans run by the airport's 10 competing car-rental companies. On the down side, the new car-rental facility is about three miles from the airport. That puts most of the lots at a further distance. So, next time you fly into Las Vegas, plan to spend a few extra minutes picking up your rental car. And before you depart, consult this website.

Rosie O'Donnell's cruise company for families with gay members, R Family Vacations, has decided that its ship won't stop at Bermuda after all--because it didn't want passengers to have to deal with protests by church groups. What a shame. The best way for people to get comfortable with us--and by "us" I mean both gay people (which includes me) and also anyone who feels different from society at large--is to actually interact with them. It's a missed opportunity, and a surprising one from someone who makes a living being upfront and outspoken.

Our new issue of Girlfriend Getaways officially comes out today, and we're proud like new parents. It's a treat to work on a different magazine sometimes, even for the guys. Though I had a weird moment talking about Girlfriend Getaways on Fox News recently... After asking me all of the normal questions, the host, a woman, asked me if I had any advice for women out there about how exactly they should go about asking permission from their husbands to take a girlfriend getaway. I froze... Permission? What decade is it?