:: Free Traveler ::

BEST DAMN WEEKEND EVER

IF BACKPACKING WERE A VIDEO GAME, you’d need a cheat code to get to a level this exciting. You’ll slosh through miles of marshland and tramp across rocky beaches and tidal zones teeming with sea life. Then you’ll cross swollen rivers on shoulder-straining cable cars and “boonie-bash” (localese for bushwhack) through miles of undergrowth. This new 36-mile trek in Cape Scott Provincial Park hugs Vancouver Island’s rugged northern shore and seems engineered to test your mettle and delight your senses. The epic (and fun as hell) gauntlet of challenges also rewards you with some of the island’s finest beach camping.

For years, up-island hiking paled in comparison to the West Coast Trail, that famous 45-mile stretch of boardwalk in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Now, however, after 2 years of development, Cape Scott has its own fledgling backcountry prize: a 4-day trek through wildlife-packed coastal boreal forests with camping on pocket beaches, each more beautiful than the last. The trail officially opens this month, even though some sections are a tad behind schedule. Fortunately, instead of delaying the entire route, BC park officials have simply issued warnings to watch your ass through the dicey sections. God love the Canadians.

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My first dedicated adventure-travel experience came relatively late in life. Until six years ago, most of my ventures abroad revolved around expeditions and long-range treks. The travelling bit consisted of driving from the airport to the (usually skanky) hotel on the first night and the same short journey in reverse at the end of the expedition.

Then, in the summer of 2001, I began packing for a seven-week tour of Peru and Ecuador. I needed to squeeze a sufficient amount of equipment and clothing into a single 50-litre rucksack that would enable me to snorkel in the Galapagos, ride a horse in the Ecuadorian cloud forest, trek around Machu Picchu and travel across Lake Titicaca. I also had to look sufficiently well dressed to meet scientists while researching a story for Geographical.

A few of the items I packed (such as a snorkel and mask) were necessarily sport-specific. The rest of my gear had to be infinitely more versatile. During my 49-day trip, I cursed the over-hyped, under-performing polyester shirt that claimed to resist body odour but left me smelling like last week’s garbage and wished that I’d packed a second pair of the impressively fast-drying and, thankfully, loose-fitting trousers that I had uncovered in a Parisian outdoor store. My boots, lined with a waterproof and not-so-breathable membrane, were aim often unbearably hot.

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Medical advice from Jason Gibbs, head pharmacist at Nomad Travel stores and health clinics

There are many different skin conditions that can manifest while travelling, each with their own modes of transmission, from the bite of an infected mosquito through to sexual contact or poor personal hygiene.

Fungal Infections: This covers a broad spectrum of skin infections from athlete’s foot and dhobi or ‘jock’ itch through to ringworm and thrush. Both athlete’s foot and dhobi itch are caused by the proliferation of a type of fungus that grows on us already. Given the right warm, moist environment, the fungus will proliferate and start to cause problems. Ringworm is a fungal infection transmitted by direct and generally close personal contact — usually person-to-person, but sometimes through contact with animals such as cats. Thrush is also typically caused by environmental factors. However, in female travellers, it can often be a side effect of taking the anti-malarial drug doxycycline, which causes a reduction in ‘healthy’ bacteria in the body, allowing candida — a yeastlike parasitic fungus — to grow. All of these infections are easily treated with the wide variety of anti-fungals on the market, but it’s worth remembering that fungal skin infections can be treated to the point where they are no longer causing itching, but are still present. Be sure to follow the instructions carefully.

Sensitivities to the sun: About ten per cent of people will suffer, to one degree or another, from hypersensitivity to the sun. It’s more common in younger women with lighter skin tones and presents itself as a very itchy eczema-type rash. Some medications can make skin more sensitive to the sun. Doxycycline and other chemicals may actually be altered within the skin by UV radiation and form a chemical that causes an allergic reaction that looks like chronic eczema. All of these sun-related problems can be reduced by covering up and using good sunscreens that protect against both UVB and UVA radiation.

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If you could five anywhere in the United States, where would it be? Chances are your ideal place would have beautiful scenery and recreational opportunities; civic pride and a healthy economy; and a community of people who care about the environment, sustainability, alternative energy and fresh, wholesome food.

MOTHER EARTH NEWS went looking for such places and quickly came up with dozens of them: Portland, Ore., for its environmental awareness; Madison, Wis., for its great farmers markets; Boulder, Colo., for its fantastic recreation. But we wanted to find great places that you may not have heard of — towns that are smaller and less expensive, yet still as interesting as those that frequently make lists of great places to live.

We didn’t choose these towns based on a statistical analysis or scientific survey. Instead, we brainstormed standout towns we’ve visited, lived in or heard about from readers. They had to be places where people interested in sustainable living would find kindred souls. We eventually narrowed our lengthy list to 12 communities from all across the country. Then we read up on each town, talked to residents and studied the population and climate data. We also researched how much it costs to live in these towns — the index we used accounts for everything from housing to food to transportation to entertainment. The U.S. average is 100, so a number less than 100 indicates the town is less expensive than the average, and vice versa.

Even if you’re not thinking about moving, we encourage you to visit these unique towns. Also think about what makes them great; they may provide ideas to help make your community a better place to live.

Here, then, is MOTHER’S first list of Great Places You’ve Never Heard Of.” We know there are many more unique and little-known places out there, so to nominate towns we should spotlight in the future, write to us or post comments to this article online at www.MotherEarthNews.com.

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A third of leisure travelers bought travel insurance last year. But do you really need it?

‘TIS THE SEASON TO WATCH vacation dreams vanish inside giant white swirls on the Weather Channel, the ones with names like Katrina and Andrew. Your travel planner may push insurance, which, for a percentage of whatever money you put down on the trip, can cover lost luggage, canceled flights, medical costs abroad and storm cancellations. Worth it? Consider…

• WHAT THE ODDS ARE

Most bad-weather coverage makes sense when you’re headed to a storm-prone locale, but only kicks in when the canceling is someone else’s call (a cruise line’s or hotel’s, for instance).

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Visit AAA’s FuelCostCalculator.com to find daily updates on regional gas prices, and see if driving is the cheapest way to go. Scary total? Check Cfares.com for wholesale airfares that are as much as 20 percent lower than the flights listed Oh other travel search engines.

2 FILL UP CHEAP
If you do drive, sites like GasPrice Watch.com and GasBuddy.com can point you to the cheapest pump in your area, Or try Telenav’s new Fuel Finder cellphone application, available on some Sprint, Nextel, Boost Mobile and BlackBerry phones for $10 or less a month, for turn-by-turn directions to a fuel bargain near you.

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“Effective security precautions require a conscious awareness of one’s environment, as well as the need to exercise prudence, judgment, and common sense,” stresses Michael McCann, former Chief of Security for the United Nations. “This is especially true where the traveler must acclimate to different cultures, customs, and laws. Personal security cannot be delegated to others; it is a responsibility of each one of us.

“People traveling abroad on business should be aware that they may be targeted by terrorists, criminals, intelligence agencies, or even just a business competitor if they’re in possession or knowledgeable about proprietary information.”

According to McCann, the top 10 mistakes traveling business executives make are:

Broadcasting the “bling-bling.” Americans appear committed to showing off their affluence with flashy jewelry and actions. When traveling, it is best to maintain a low key, nonattention -getting demeanor so that you blend into the crowd. Leave the expensive gold watch at home along with the designer luggage.

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When business titans and blond heiresses with pet chihuahuas need to get from A to B, there is no more sumptuous and speedy a medium than the private jet. But it’s not so long ago that even those with ample means had no choice but to take a luxe mode of transport far slower than the speed of flight. When the likes of Cornelius Vanderbilt (in the mid-1800s) and Rudolph Valentino (six or seven decades later) made their way across the landscape, it was often in the carriage of a private train.

Today, you can follow in their tracks, as it were–and discover along the way the joys not only of being pampered silly, but of being pampered silly at a nice, slow chug. “I’m a Type A personality; I can’t sit still for more than five minutes,” says Warren Barhorst, president of Barhorst Insurance Group, in Houston. So last year, when his wife, Lisa, suggested the couple hire a private two-car train for an eight-day round trip between Los Angeles and Seattle to celebrate his 40th birthday, Barhorst was sweet but firm. “I said, ‘Honey, I can’t go on a train for that long.’ I said, ‘Honey, I’ll go crazy.’”

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Shoes off. Mouth shut. Bags checked. Hands to self. Compress gas pedal.FEW HELPFUL NOTES FOR SEVERAL OF YOU who stood or sat near me at various airports or on one of several planes in the last week or so (you know who you are):

1. Yes, you have to take your shoes off at the security checkpoint, and no, the TSA personnel really don’t care if they’ve NEVER set off a metal detector ANYWHERE. There’s a guy named Big Rocco in a dark room with a pair of latex gloves just praying that you’ll make a big deal out of your Italian loafers. Do yourself (and us) a favor and don’t.2. Thanks for inviting me to your meeting. I mean, I assume I was invited to your meeting, since you sat next to me and yammered away on your cell phone in a voice loud enough to call the kids home to dinner. I disagreed with your approach on the Smith deal, and I thought you were probably too harsh in your assessment of Jones’ performance during the sales conference. But then, I didn’t really know what the hell you were talking about. Or care.