Travel

Never mind today's silly "Karen" stigma. Living the "Jessica" life can turn out to have some pretty unexpected challenges, as we discover in Jessica Barksdale Inclán's lively new historical romance novel, "The Play's the Thing." Playwright and poet William Shakespeare actually invented the name Jessica, at least in its modern form, which first appears in the 1598 play "The Merchant of Venice." The name has certainly aged better than the drama. "The Merchant of Venice," one of the few Shakespeare classics that has faded from the stage, uses a cringeworthy ethnic stereotype. The cartoonishly antisemitic depiction of Shylock, the greedy moneylender, is generally considered by today's audiences to be Shakespeare's second-biggest, second most backward blunder (after the brutal sexism of "The Taming of the Shrew"). "You can't not be troubled by 'The Merchant of Venice,' " said Inclán

So many travel plans were put on hold over the past year and a half and that is making this summer a popular time to get away. Here are the travel sites you can rely on for everything from the cheapest flights to the best activities in every city. Follow Rich DeMuro on Instagram for more tech news, tips and tricks. TripIt By far, this was the most popular travel tool cited in my informal Twitter poll. TripIt creates an entire itinerary of your trip by automatically importing booking confirmation from your email. Basic functionally is free, but to really get the most use out of TripIt, you'll want to go Pro for $49 a year. TripIt Pro actively monitors your itinerary for any changes and can typically text you updates even before the airlines do. Google Flights If you're shopping for a flight, look no further than Google Flights. This is my go-to method of finding the cheapest flights no matter where you want to go. I start by entering my takeoff and arrival airports

by Rick Steves, December 16, 2019 Picture this: Half-timbered towns with tall cathedral spires, thatched-roof cottages dotted among green rolling hills, fat happy cows, and drifts of gnarled apple trees. This is the beguiling Normandy coast of France. Strategically positioned across from England, Normandy is the closest coastline to Paris. That prime location may attract urban beachgoers, but it also explains why this welcoming corner of France has seen more than its share of war. Virtual Event Pivoting Back to Travel, The Destination Weddings & Honeymoons Edition 2020 put the nuptial plans of thousands upon thousands of couples on hold, but with the promise of widespread vaccine distribution in the near future, it's time to get back to planning and ensure your clients live out the destination weddings & honeymoons of their dreams. Hear from top suppliers and destinations on wedding venue & ceremony options, romantic destinations &amp

Hear me out, there's a sub-genre of sci-fi that that has a touch of anything you could ever want: time travel books. The best time travel books come in all packages: adventure, historical fiction, romance, social commentary, mystery, humor, poetry. It really has it all. So, if you can still recite the opening credits of Quantum Leap from memory, this list is for you. Enjoy these must-read time travel books. Here and Now and Then  by Mike Chen Kin is a time-traveling agent from the year 2142 who gets stuck in 1990s San Francisco after a botched mission, and his rescue team shows up 18 years too late after he's already built a life for himself. Here and Now and Then has all those warm and fuzzy sci-fi feels with just the right amount of Doctor Who level angst. Kin dealing with the circumstances of time travel and the consequences it brings about is super compelling and emotional and so, so worthy of a Murray Gold score. The Future of Another Timeline  by Annalee Newi

O f all the privations imposed by the pandemic, none has generated quite so much anxiety, so many column inches, so much speculation and rage, as the uncertain fate of our summer holidays. It is still unclear where, when or even whether Britons will be allowed to take a foreign vacation this year. The unpredictable, ever-changing traffic light system for overseas destinations has caused a holiday pile-up, the longest traffic jam in tourist history. Passports, both the real variety and those that might come with vaccinations, have been taken out and put away again. Some have opted to holiday at home, or not at all. Others have booked foreign holidays anyway, praying the lights change in time. Some have simply factored quarantine into their plans: "Where

In the middle of May, I was chatting with a few friends about an upcoming road trip my wife Amanda and I were planning.

The locals tell us what they love about Greece and how they're preparing to welcome back international travelers If you're missing the hot summer sun, sandy beaches, and crystal clear waters, you've probably been missing Greece. The country has opened its borders to international travelers, yet you might be asking yourself whether it's the right time to visit now. That's why we have asked the locals to tell us about how the country is getting ready to restart vacationing and why everyone will fall in love with it, if they weren't already. Tinos Island is known for its good food and beautiful landscape Our Lady of Tinos is one of the most famous shrines of pilgrimage in Greece — Shutterstock "Life in Greece is free now, everything is open and people can enjoy museums and restaurants or visit islands by taking an easy self-test," says Ioannis, an associate professor of medicine at the UOA. Ioannis was born in Athens 74 years ago and grew up to

CLOSE The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said people who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 can safely travel but still recommend staying home. USA TODAY The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised travel health noticesfor dozens of countries to a lower risk tier on Monday, adjusting travel guidance for vaccinated Americans in the process. A total of 62 destinations – including Japan, Canada, Mexico, Italy, France and Germany – dropped from "COVID-19 very high" Level 4 tier to "COVID-19 high" Level 3 tier on the CDC's travel recommendations list, which rates the risks by country.  While the CDC had advised all travelers to avoid these destinations while they were considered "COVID-19 very high," it now cautions travelers to make sure they are fully vaccinated before traveling to these regions. Unvaccinated travelers should still avoid nonessential travel to the Level 3 destinations, the ag

ASTA and its Canadian counterpart, the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA), are urging the U.S. and Canada to reopen borders for travel between the neighboring countries. "While it will take several years for our part of the travel industry to return to health, taken together with the urgently needed additional relief funding from our legislatures, we believe that safely reopening U.S.-Canada travel will help speed the recovery and put travel agencies in a position to serve the traveling public," ASTA president and CEO Zane Kerby said in a statement. "We stand ready to work with you and your staff to develop a plan to clearly spell out how and when we will restart travel between Canada and the U.S.," he said, "with the objective of releasing it prior to June 21, when the existing Canadian border measures are set to potentially be renewed." Kerby and ACTA president Wendy Paradis this week sent a joint letter to U.S. secretary of state Anton

The South Dakota Specialty Producers Association (SDSPA) has developed a new rack card to promote the state's Farmers Markets to tourists across the state. The promotional cards will appear in five Interstate Welcome Centers along Interstate 29 and 90 including Valley Springs, Chamberlain, Wilmot, Vermillion and Spearfish. Additionally, they will appear at other tourist sites such as Bear Country, Cosmos, Al's Oasis, KOA campgrounds, hotels, museums and Chamber of Commerce locations — over 140 places across the state. The rack cards will appear with other tourism brochures to share market locations with visitors as they travel across South Dakota. The card displays a QR code for users to scan with their mobile phone camera (or other mobile device), which links them to the SDSPA Farmers Market website, featuring over 40 market locations. The webpage features a Google map of the market locations in the state. It also provides a listing for each market, indic

American Express Global Business Travel has added WhatsApp as a support channel, enabling travelers to communicate with agents via the popular chat service to book trips and receive assistance while on the road. WhatsApp functionality currently is available to Amex GBT's small and midsize enterprise clients in the U.S. and will expand to large and global clients in the coming months, the travel management company said.  Amex GBT also provides chat-based booking and support through its mobile app and desktop platform, as well as via Apple Business Chat. The TMC recently has emphasized chat-based messaging—through both in-house and third-party platforms—as vital channels of communication between travelers, travel managers and support agents, especially in light of the increased demand for dynamic health and safety messaging amid the Covid-19 pandemic.  Details recently emerged that travel management company FCM is transitioning its Sam mobile chat tool into a core component of it

After upsetting San Franciscans over a bizarre city guide, Goop has removed a hotel listed as a city attraction that was actually located much farther down the California coast—250 miles farther. Goop is famously known for going viral for often ridiculous reasons such as outrageous gift suggestions like vagina scented candles or questionable health advice. The brainchild of Gwyneth Paltrow has often faced criticism for marketing products and remedies that have been deemed harmful by medical professionals. Now the wellness and lifestyle brand has pulled another gaffe—this time, perhaps insulting, or at least mildly perturbing, all of San Francisco. In a brand new city guide published on the website this week, titled "what's new and great in San Francisco," Goop left readers scratching their heads when it listed a hotel 250 miles away as a city attraction. The hotel in question is located in Cambria, in fact. Cambria, in San Luis Obispo County, is on the way t

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Now that we're able to travel again, it's a great time to upgrade your suitcase before your next vacation. Suitcases and carry-ons are often more pricey than we wish they were, which is why you should take advantage of this Amazon Prime Day discount on this Kenneth Cole suitcase. This carry-on is only $52.79 for tonight only. It usually costs $69.99—can you believe that? Hardshell suitcases are the must-have travel accessories right now, but they normally aren't this cheap and stylish at the same time. In contrast, the famous Away hardshell carry-on, which we love because they are so aesthetic, goes for $225. I don't think I need to tell you that the Kenneth Cole case is a great deal. Plus, that brand is known for designing for "city living," which means that you can count on this heavy-duty suitcase to go anywhere with you. It can handle the broken and cracked concrete in Brooklyn or some dusty roads in the desert just fine. Just because the rest of the

Q: I booked four airline tickets from Seattle to Lisbon from Ovago, an online travel agency, in December 2019. As our travel date approached in May 2020, I became concerned about our flights, so I contacted our airlines (Air Canada and Lufthansa). A representative told us that our flights had been canceled and that I needed to talk to Ovago about a refund. I contacted Ovago, and a representative told me they were in the process of determining refunds, and that we would likely receive a refund, less a "processing fee." An Ovago representative promised to contact us. No one called or reached out, so I called Ovago. An agent told me they were working on it and that they would get back to me as soon as they heard from the airline. Ovago never called us. I filed an unsuccessful credit card dispute and an unsuccessful complaint with the Consumer Protection Division of the Washington State Attorney General's Office. While that complaint was in process, however, we received

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