Road & Travel Magazine's Blog

What is your Packing Plan?

Figuring out to wear in the morning is hard enough, but figuring out what to wear for you entire trip, even just a weekend away, is down-right daunting. Packing a successful wardrobe without bringing six bags requires some planning.

Globeandmail.com tells you how to pack like a pro in an article offering tips and tricks for travelers trying to simplify the packing process. Packing tips include bringing fewer clothes and shopping at your destination, leaving travel essentials in your suitcase so you don't have to remember them for each trip, and coordinating your colors to make sure pieces can mix and match.

ROAD & TRAVEL Magazine also offers tips for packing light and a packing checklist to make sure you're prepared. Remember, a good packing plan will make for a better, saner trip.

7 Tips for a Safe Trip to Mexico

 
While the hot sun, blue waves and white sand make Mexico a tropical paradise, many Americans are scratching any plans for a south of the border getaway because of rising concerns over safety.  However, there are still safe ways to visit Mexico for a carefree vacation.

“You certainly shouldn’t throw caution to the wind, but Manzanillo and many other tourist destinations are still safe places to travel,” says Howard Alper, a property owner in Manzanillo, Mexico.  “The majority of violent crimes are isolated to a few border towns, a thousand miles away.  If the crime rate increased in Los Angeles, would you avoid visiting Chicago?”

To travel wisely, make sure to pack your common sense with the bathing suit and sunscreen and follow these tips for a safe yet relaxing vacation. [7 Tips Here]

Top 10 Spring Weekend Getaways

 
The snow has melted and there's a hint of warmth and the scent of blooming buds in the air.  For a quick weekend jaunt to get a head start on spring, ShermansTravel.com editors have compiled its annual Top 10 Quick Spring Break Getaways - from the Caribbean to California.  This year's picks are a just a quick flight from many U.S. cities.

Antigua and Barbuda
Constant trade-winds and idyllic harbors make these island coasts a perfect boating destination and attract a mélange of sailors, yachters, and admirers. However, on-land pursuits are just as appealing with 365 sugar-white-sand beaches and historical attractions on Antigua, and fabulous resorts, pink-and-white shell beaches, and untouched Caribbean life found on Barbuda. 

Asheville, North Carolina
This emerging destination has it all for both nature-lovers and those seeking arts and culture.  Asheville offers a thriving downtown arts scene complete with lively cultural offerings and delightful Art Deco-influenced buildings - all surrounded by the majestic Smoky Mountains bursting with spring's lively palette of wildflowers. Plus, beautiful Myrtle Beach is just an hour away. [For All 10 - Click here]

What Not to Wear to Your Dude Ranch Vacation

 
You’re looking forward to a week of riding in the wide open spaces, the feeling of freedom, fresh air on your face and the sounds of wildlife all around you. Instead you find yourself extremely uncomfortable and unable to truly embrace all that’s around you. And, it’s all because of the clothing you’ve packed! Yes, you do look spectacular; however, your comfort is majorly suffering!

Over the years everyone has told you what TO wear on your dude ranch vacation, but has anyone ever told you what NOT to wear? With first-hand experience, Top50 Ranches is here to alert you of What NOT to Wear on your dude ranch vacation - for your safety AND your comfort. We hope to amuse you and enlighten you! [Read Tips]

Tips for First Time Campers

If shopping the day after Thanksgiving is your idea of the call of the wild, then perhaps it's time you head to the great outdoors for some real adventure. Even if you weren't a Girl Scout or never received a Brownie badge, a working woman can still get in touch with her wild side while mastering the basics of camping.

Camping provides an opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Fresh air, endless hiking trails and a campfire for roasting marshmallows can help you rediscover the simple pleasures of life and reinvigorate even the most worn out work horse. But before heading out to blaze your own trail, there are some camping basics you should know. [Full Story]

10 Unique Summer Camps for Kids

With more than 6 million kids in the U.S attending camp every summer, camp remains one of America’s favorite pastimes. Yet there is a new camp experience that has dramatically increased in popularity over the last decade - and that is the “specialty” camp. Never before have kids and teens had so many one-of-a-kind camp options to choose from.

While traditional camps offer programs that encourage kids to try a variety of activities, a specialty camp focuses on one topic - or a few related topics. There are now thousands of unique (and sometimes unusual) day and overnight summer camps inspiring children and teens to learn more about what they love.

After considerable research, we’ve gathered a list of some of America’s most unique and rewarding specialty summer camps. Click here for more info.

Top 10 Bus Tours in the U.S.

If you are looking for a quick vacation or if you are looking to save money on sightseeing on your next vacation, try one of the quick bus tours. Touring with a group allows you to save money on a rental car and fuel. It also ensures that you will see the best sites that you may not otherwise find. If money is a concern, these short vacations can ensure a great getaway without taking a long vacation. With a wide variety of bus tours available, there is sure to be a tours to suit everyone’s tastes.

To help travelers find great weekend tour destinations, GotoBus.com, and online ticketing company for inter-city bus and bus tours, releases top 10 tours. This top 10 list is compiled with a formula based on the existing bookings and booking trends for tours lasting for 2 to 3 days. These top 10 weekend tours are just the beginning of the vast possibilities for short term tours. [Full Story]

RTM Launches 14th Annual Sexy Car Buyer's Guide

 
Hello faithful RTM Blog readers... we appreciate the support you've sent our way since the RTM blog has been up and running and we look forward to entertaining and educating you even further with the relaunch of the RTM website. It never went away. In fact, RTM has been up and running for 22 years; however due to the recession and subsequent shortage of staff, we were challenged with keeping up two blogs and publishing new articles and covers in the RTM website until now.

That said, effective August 1, 2010, RTM is back on track with the relaunch of its new home page design, which leads with its 14th Annual Sexy Car Buyer's Guide. We'll be publishing all new articles and home pages on the 1st and 15th of every month. A link to each new issue will be posted in this blog for easy access, and as a reminder that all new content has been posted  for your viewing pleasure. Starting in 2011, RTM will return to its weekly format.

Thank you for your support as RTM enters into the this new chapter of its third decade. Courtney Caldwell, RTM Editor-in-Chief.

More Women Taking Girlfriend Getaway Vacations

Like the ladies of the new “Sex and the City” sequel, data from a survey released by the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) shows women are taking girlfriend getaways more than ever.  Thirty-eight percent of women have taken a girlfriend getaway with female family and friends, and 63 percent plan on taking one in the next two years. This is a trend that has been seen over the past several years as more women in their 30s and 40s opt to spend some of their vacation time bonding with the girls rather than taking a traditional family vacation.

To support these Girlfriend Getaways, the ARDA offers “how-to” travel options to help make Girlfriend Getaways fun, affordable and stress-free.

The phenomenon of women traveling together on vacation has exploded because there are more career women with expendable income.  They are busy, stressed out and tired from the multiple roles they perform at work and at home and a Girlfriend Getaway gives them the chance to recharge their batteries. This husband–free and children-free time is a way to reconnect and focus on their own well-being.

“Making the Girlfriend Getaway special starts with selecting the right place,” said Howard Nusbaum, ARDA president and CEO.  “Timeshare provides spacious accommodations in fabulous locations and are a terrific option for these girls-only vacations.”

 

ARDA’s “Girlfriend Getaways” Guide provides women with everything they need to plan that once-in-a-lifetime adventure including reasons for considering this kind of getaway including planning tips, types of vacations to consider and how to make the most of your time away. 

The Guide is available for download at http://www.vacationbetter.org.

For more girlfriend getaway articles, visit Road & Travel Magazine's Adventure Travel section.

 

The History of Nudism and Nude Travel

Early New England settlers -- 16th century Puritans -- with their non-pleasure, morality-enforcing ways were so afraid of nudity, and the lust it could foster, that they refrained from bathing. Long forgotten were the robust ways of the ancient Greeks, who performed feats of strength and skill during the first Olympics, which of course was the earliest documented form of nude recreation.

However, as the colonial era gave way to a free and independent United States of America, "radical thinkers," including Benjamin Franklin and Henry David Thoreau, publicity lauded the benefits in daily naked walks, or as they were called, "air baths." Other nudists of note included President John Quncy Adams, who regularly bathed nude in the Potomac, as did the much beloved fictional characters of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn who skinny dipped with joy and abandon.

But these so-called radicals continued to remain a very small minority of the population until the dawn of the 20th century brought more formal nudism to America.

Kurt Barthel, acknowledged as the founder of American nudism, was acquainted with other German nudists late in the 1920s and had allowed his name to be used as a local New York contact. On Labor Day of 1929, Kurt led a small group of individuals to a picnic in the buff in the Hudson Mountains near Peekskill, New York, and organized nude recreation in America was born with his dues-paying club, called the “American League for Physical Culture” (ALPC). For the full story, click here.

For more information on nude travel and beaches, visit RTM's Adventure Travel channel.