As America continues to look a bleak economy straight in the face, it is more important than ever to leverage all options to find the cheapest flights and trips online, so we can still enjoy an affordable vacation.

Done right, the intelligent traveler can chop considerable dollars off his or her airfare and invest it somewhere else, where it would be better used. Unfortunately, there isn’t one answer to finding the cheapest fare available. Getting the lowest price requires diligence and careful planning.

Read on to find a list of the best tips that will allow you to sit back, relax, and enjoy the vacation you deserve – instead of having to worry about your pocketbook.

7 Tips for Finding Cheap Airfares

1. Be flexible. If you have to fly in at 5PM and leave at 12AM, you’re probably not going to find a cheap flight. Sacrifice a few hours or decide to spend another day wherever you are and you’ll be able to drop a good amount off your bill. Don’t, and you’ll suffer the consequences of stubbornness.
2. Book far in advance. There is probably no stronger tip than this. If you have some leadership ability, start planning up to a year in advance, push your friends and family on a trip, and you’ll save considerably. However, there is always risk involved with this that comes with booking so far in advance. It’s never too late, though. If you’re within a month, think of the trip, plan it, and book it that day. Generally, the longer you wait, the larger the cost.
3. Continue checking prices. If you know you have a flight in the future, and it’s already not too late, don’t book immediately. Fares can fluctuate like the stock market, so it can be the most cost effective to continuously plug in your iteniary online until you find the best deal available.
4. Buy late. For the spur-of-the-moment traveler, several options exist for dirt-cheap flights. The first is to find all your local airlines online and sign up for their newsletters. You’ll often get tips about last-second deals that can make a great trip affordable. There are also several specialized sites available online that will help you find a great last-second flight.
5. Fly on weekdays. Think about what most people do when they travel, and do the opposite. If you do this, you will save the most money, because airlines are always trying to fill these seats. This means fly on the weekdays, when their planes are the least crowded, and the flights are the cheapest.
6. Air Passes. Many countries offer air passes at low prices for tourists to promote tourism and inter-country travel. If you have plans to see the scope of Asia or Australia or any other large body of land, looking into Air Passes can be the most cost-effective way to see the country or continent coast-coast. These passes will generally give you a certain number of preordained flights within the country to go with your round-trip airfare.
7. Investigate. Use multiple travel sites. Don’t assume that the first one you check is going to have the same airfare deals as the others, they won’t. To save the most money, check all the online agencies. There are also several multi-search engines available online. Also, you can sometimes find the best deals on the airlines’ own websites. Southwest sells fares on its own site exclusively, and other airlines are not opposed to posting the lowest possible fare on their own domain.

The more complex you get, in terms of mixing fares, buying hotels, and doing your homework, the more likely it will become that you find the best price available. As it is with most things, hard work pays off. Work hard and you’ll save the money that you don’t need to be spending on your next flight.

-Ross Hudgens

New York. London. Amsterdam. Bangkok. Each of these cities has many great things to do and, while Scott has his own list of favorites, I have mine. What I enjoy most about these cities is the wide array of activities they offer. You can sightsee, lounge in parks, take in cultural events, or get festive with the locals until the wee hours of the morning. Among the cities of New York, Amsterdam, Bangkok, and London, the following activities are my favorite to do:

New York City

Central Park is the highlight of New York for me. Widely known around the world, this park maybe a must on a tourist trip to the city but it is also famous with residents as a great place to relax from the crowds, run, have a picnic, or take a mid afternoon stroll. The park is huge, has a zoo and a little pond to rent a boat in, and lots of space and trails to walk and relax on. I love New York City but it is a crazy place and Central Park provides a good respite from the chaos of the city. I love just spending a day walking and relaxing in the park with some food with my friends.

One thing to love about New York City? Central Park.

Amsterdam

The Jordaan area is located west of Amsterdam central. The Jordaan area is historically known for its residential homes, little shops, and great cafes. Though surprisingly close to the center of Amsterdam, few tourists ever wander through this area. They just skim the outskirts closest to the tourist sites, too afraid to venture inward. For the rest of us who do, their loss is our gain. I love the Jordaan area for its great food and peacefulness. Walking through the winding street is a great way to see the great architecture of Amsterdam without the crowds. During the summer months, the restaurants put out tables near the canals so people can enjoy a meal taking in the sun.

Amsterdan's canals, lovely.

Bangkok

Khao San Road is infamous. It’s the quintessential backpacker ghetto and an either love it or hate it place. People don’t like it because it is so touristy but I say that is why it is so great. On this road, you will meet travelers from all walks of life and places around the world. The street may be filled with booze and touts but if you are looking to meet people or find travelers to tag along with, there is no better place than to do it than here. Solo travelers are all looking for partners and groups are willing to socialize with anyone. The spirit of this street is high and you can feel the energy miles away. Sure it’s touristy but for travelers looking to meet other, this is the perfect place to do it.

London

London is famous for a lot of things, one of which is their museums. For me, I always found London a bit more over-hyped. It never lived up to the reality. However, the museums here are bar none and they have lived up to all their reputations. The best part is that the museums are also free. Whether you want an art or history museum, you’ll find everything in London for free. I love museums and, with the Museum of London one of the biggest and best in the world, it is nice to be able to tour it and learn so much about the world for free. As a lover of art, I can gaze at Picasso and Monet as often as I want without ever paying a cent. In city that has that, you can never go wrong.

These aspects of each of these cities are really the heart of why I like each city. From park to cafes to parties or museums, I think these aspects of the cities encompass the spirit of each of the locals. Whenever I visit any of these cities, I stop at all of these destinations. For me, no trip to these places is complete without them.

-Nomadic Matt

Disneyland is many things to many people. It’s memories past and future. It’s magic. It’s expensive. It’s a good walk spoiled. Wait, that last one is golf, but still, there’s a lot of walking.

Disneyland used to be one man’s dream - the original magic kingdom, but it has since morphed into something much bigger, and though purists may disagree, perhaps better.

The happiest place on earth? If you're a kid, yes!

Disneyland was founded by Walt Disney as an alternative to the existing parks of his time. He wanted someplace clean and fun where kids could be kids and adults could escape from the pressures of their daily lives. He wanted a place where reality was checked at the door, or gate as the case may be. It worked and it is still working today.

Disneyland: Whatever works for you

Disneyland is divided into different themed areas, each connected via the hub in the center or the railroad that runs mainly along the perimeter of the park’s public areas. Or your imagination. Whatever works for you.

The areas consist of Main Street, USA, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, New Orleans Square, Critter Country and Mickeys Toontown. Each different land offers a variety of rides, shows, shops, dining and opportunities to meet and greet an array of Disneys famous characters - not to mention the other characters that fill the park, those of the paying customer variety.

Disneyland has numerous spacious and clean restrooms, a quiet area for those with small children, first aid, assistance for guests with disabilities, lockers and anything else one might need while away from home.

Disneyland tip: Child swap!

Where dreams come true, since 1955

Of note for parents traveling with children that do not meet height requirements on certain rides, ask a cast member about a child swap voucher which will allow one parent to ride while the other stays with the kid(s). Then the second adult(s) may access the same ride through a much shorter line than the main queue. After all, the grown-ups are footing the bill, they should get to ride whatever they want, too.

Located in Anaheim, California, just south of Los Angeles, the park, which is now part of the Disneyland Resort, is popular with both locals and tourists. There is the 10-year-old second gate, Disney’s California Adventure (DCA), which is currently undergoing a major overhaul (should be done by 2012), the Downtown Disney entertainment area which features such favorites as the Rainforest Cafe and the LEGO store, and three hotels: the classic Disneyland Hotel, the breathtaking Grand Californian and the other one that isn’t really worth staying at.

The days of seeing it all in one day are gone. The Disneyland Resort is a destination and to experience it all while maintaining any sense of sanity takes days. Yes, days of Disney magic and memories. Expensive memories. The sanity is relative. But life is short and childhood fleeting, if anything is worth the time and expense of Disneyland it’s the smile it creates on a child’s face, and let’s be honest- the smile on the parent’s as well.

Disneyland: Things to do for adults

With the transformation from park to resort there are plenty of things for adults to enjoy whether they have kids in tow or not. There are spas and bars (ESPN ZONE and House of Blues to name two) plus Disney spins on such activities as a half-marathon and a food and wine festival. It can even be romantic.

Then there is Christmas (or the winter holiday of your choice, but mainly Christmas). The holidays at Disneyland, from Halloween to New Year’s Eve, are a real treat (or trick, if visiting in October). There are special events associated with the holidays- parades, shows, shopping, decorations, food and anything else that Disney can think of, which let’s face it, is quite a bit. They even have special versions of two popular rides, the Haunted Mansion (overlaid with Jack Skellington and friends) and It’s a Small World (annoyingly sweet song replaced with annoyingly festive song), respectively. And lights. Lots and lots of lights.

The park and the greater resort area may now be bigger than Mr. Disney imagined, or maybe not- the guy was a dreamer, but what it promised in 1955 is still alive and well: “To all that come to this happy place, welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America… with hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.”

It is.

Remember that when you’re standing in line behind crying kids and screaming parents. It’s the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down, and quite frankly, it’s pretty magical.

-Whit Honea

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s Anaheim tours & things to do. You can also book Disneyland on a bus from Los Angeles over on the main Viator website.

Estoy en España, mis amigos. And so far, my detailed packing technique has yielded no forgotten essentials. My one suitcase weighed 21 kilos, just under the 50-pound limit and my supersized backpack was filled to the brim with computer and camera cables (and power bars) of every kind.

Globalization: The Tennessee Bar in Aranjuez, Spain

The flight over was uneventful for the most part. I actually slept (the first time I’ve slept on a plane in steerage class). The young woman I was sitting next to kept coughing on me but was kind enough to assure me that even though she had had whooping cough a few years ago and it kept coming back, she wasn’t contagious. Thank you kind young woman. Your assurances were comforting.

I am sitting at my hotel room desk, connected to their WiFi. My computer’s plug is nestled in its European adapter and I’ve downloaded a few photos to my laptop I took earlier on my first soujourn around the town. My family and I have talked via Skype. So all is well with the world and this global traveler.

Of course, we had nothing much to say —we just saw each other fourteen hours ago. With no time for the girls to get on each other’s nerves, Mom was happy and we simply marveled at the technology that made us feel we were next door. After hanging up, my wife called back to ask where I’d put the lawnmower goggles. Yes, a totally normal bit of information exchange.

My talk is on Tuesday. I must prepare for it but my mind can’t get out of my original time zone at the moment. Mañana…

-Jeff Gates

Jeff’s next stop: Spain! Vamos a empezar.

Ok, true confession: I am a neurotic traveler. Well, to be more specific: I am a neurotic pre-traveler. With one week to go before heading off to Aranjuez, Spain, to give my first international talk (El uso de los blogs dentro de los museos de corte tradicional/New World Blogging in a Traditional Museum Setting), I’d sleep much better if I was entirely packed and ready to go. I’m always afraid I’ll forget something. A MacGyver I’m not.

Spanish-translated PowerPoint: check (on thumb drive, on CD, on .mac drive and ftp site —yeah, that should cover it); clothes decisions made (hot weather, casual conference they tell me): check. Laptop: check and already nestled in my new international trip backpack. While not entirely a “light” traveler, I like to travel as light as I can: unencumbered both physically and mentally. Until now I’ve managed never to have taken my laptop on any trip, business or pleasure. But then again, I haven’t traveled out of the country for nine years. Yes, I’ll admit to that too.

When I started to consider international calling plans to keep in touch with the family, I suddenly discovered Skype. For someone who’s supposed to be on the technological cusp this was a long overdue revelation. Free PC-to-PC telephony —a new tech development since my last international trip. That, alone, made taking my computer irresistible. Tested on our laptops, my two girls now think they have an in-house walkie-talkie. It’s not that I haven’t traveled to far-flung places: the interior of China twice, way way off the beaten tourist paths. I’ve just been focused on domestic issues for a while. Yeah, that’s a good way of spinning my isolationism.

Oh yeah, don’t forget your opening remarks in Spanish (although I need to practice). I had fantasies of giving my whole talk in Español but I only got through the first 20 lessons of Coffee Break Spanish. Should it come up I can say with confidence: Tengo dos hijas. I have two daughters. I guess I haven’t come to the lesson “So you’re giving a talk on museum blogging in Spain” yet.

What’s really funny about these language lessons is that I learn more useful phrases when they talk to you in Spanish about the lesson itself. I experimented with Pimsleur a bit and came away remembering that most useful phrase Escuchar y repetir: listen and repeat. Well, they repeated so often I couldn’t help but remember it. And in Coffee Break Spanish I will be able to weave into my presentation. Vamos a empezar. Let’s begin.

So, there’s a pile of travel stuff starting to grow in the corner of our bedroom. And I keep some paper and a pencil next to my bed so I can write down additional items I need to take when I suddenly remember them in the middle of the night.

Forget the excitement of arriving in Madrid. I can’t wait for the excitement at my airport arrival for takeoff. By then I’ll have remembered everything or not. And I can just relax and enjoy the trip. Geez, Jeff, it’s only a week.

-Jeff Gates

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s Madrid tours and things to do in Spain.

Editor’s Note: At Viator we are big fans of Vagabondish: The Travelzine for Today’s Vagabond. So much so that we’ve agreed to swap posts on the critical question of “why we travel.” The following is by Amanda K, an Australian travel addict, writer and English teacher who’s visited more than 30 countries. Also check out her personal blog - Not A Ballerina.To read the Viator reply to Amanda & Vagabondish, click here.

Not everyone who travels becomes a travel addict. There are those people who are happy to take the odd vacation now and again, do a little sightseeing, perhaps tentatively try a new food, but are happier at home in their living room, attending to their garden or catching up with their friends on a regular Friday night at the pub.

I am not one of those people. And if you’re reading this, the chances are that you’re not one of those people, either.

Remind me: Why do we travel?

So why do we travel? And why do we just have to keep traveling? Traveling is an expensive, time-consuming hobby. I don’t dare to try to calculate how much money I’ve spent on my travels over the years. And what do I have to show for it? A few insights, some pretty photos, friends dotted around the globe who I send occasional emails to… is that a good return on investment?

I guess what I’m saying is that there is some almost inexplicable force that keeps travelers getting on planes, booking vacations and daydreaming about their next destination. It’s a strong force that’s pretty much impossible to fight.

Here’s my own personal philosophical take on why we travel: we’re trying to improve ourselves. It sounds all very noble, although perhaps it’s not what any of us are actually thinking as we rattle across Russia in a train or swallow fried cockroaches in Thailand, but I think that might be the basis of it all.

Why we travel: Expanding our comfort zone

One aspect of this is expanding our comfort zones. That’s what makes travelers different from the people who prefer to stay home – you really only test the barriers of your comfort zone when you’re in foreign countries, faced with complicated decisions and multitudes of new impressions. While confronting yourself with new challenges might partly be an adrenalin issue (if you can compare trying to find the bus station in Sousse, Tunisia with bungee jumping), I think it’s also part of an inner desire to push yourself to somehow be better, more capable of meeting challenges, to have an “I can do anything” attitude.

To be frank, I consider myself a pretty cowardly person. I won’t ride a rollercoaster if it loops upside-down, I’ll shriek if I see a small spider and I get scared before making a speech in front of my colleagues. But others see me differently, because they watched me give up a good job to travel the world with no particular plan, they know that I traveled across Russia without meeting more than two or three other foreigners, and they even think I’m brave for eating some of the more unusual Japanese foods.

Why we travel: Understanding the world

Another side of the self-improvement idea is that travelers might have an innate sense of wanting to understand the world better. The more I travel and the more foreign people I meet, the more I realize that they’re not foreign at all, and people are really the same the whole world over. Because I teach English as a second language, I get a double dose of that – in my classroom I’ll have Colombians sitting next to Koreans, Russians next to Taiwanese, and they inevitably become firm friends.

Is it too big an idea to say that if everyone was able to travel extensively we’d be able to achieve world peace? Sure, it’s a big call, but maybe there’s something in it: if everybody got to experience more of those special friendships with people from all different countries, races, religions and beliefs, perhaps a whole lot more barriers would be broken down and we could achieve a bit more harmony. Or at least we could shed a lot of the negative stereotypes we hold about other nationalities.

Why we travel: Avoiding materialism

I’m not sure whether this is a cause or effect of the force that makes us travel, but it seems to be bound up in it somehow: travel addicts are mostly people who are trying to avoid getting caught up in the materialist traps that our society sets for us. Yes, it’s lovely to have a lot of nice belongings, but we all know the research that suggests people from developing countries who basically have nothing are intrinsically happier than we are.

Unfortunately, I’ve always been a bit of a hoarder. Not of expensive material goods (I’ve never owned a brand new car, for example) but of sentimental belongings like books, clothes, souvenirs and old letters. Of course, I had to live without all of this stuff during my time abroad. I learned that I really don’t need it all. And I especially don’t need a wardrobe full of new clothes, the latest and best computer or stereo equipment, or an expensive leather sofa.

So why do we keep traveling?

The result of all this is that once we get the travel bug, we can’t give it up. And that’s because all of these goals that we’re either consciously or subconsciously trying to achieve are almost unattainable.

Once you expand your comfort zone, the new, the exciting and the dangerous become comfortable. So then you have to start all over again and find other ways to stretch yourself outside of your (now enlarged) comfort zone.

You will never fully understand the world. There are too many people in too many different places, and on top of that, the world is constantly changing. You might come to grips with how middle-aged Germans see the reunification of the former East Germany and West Germany, but then there’ll be a new generation of Germans who grew up in a unified country and have a completely different perspective.

Western society in particular revolves almost entirely around materialism and consumerism. Since I moved back to Australia, I’ve been astonished at how many shopping catalogs land in my letter box, how many people are crowded into shops to grab the latest products, and – more scarily – how tempted I’ve been to join them. Perhaps I need some more traveling to remind myself how little stuff you really need to be happy.

A Caveat: It’s OK to stay home, too

Just in case you’re a non-traveler and you’re reading this too: I’m not saying that those who stay at home aren’t trying to improve themselves too. I bet they do in a million ways that travel addicts like me would never understand. They might even end up with a much healthier bank balance than me, and a bunch of multi-cultural friends in their own city. Part of me wishes I could be like you, and then I wouldn’t feel unsettled every time I stay home for any extended time. But I’m a travel addict, and I don’t think there’s any program to cure it.

–Amanda K.

MAASAI MARA NATIONAL RESERVE – Nighttime at Bateleur Tented Camp, just outside Maasai Mara National Reserve in western Kenya, near the Tanzanian border.

I’ve just returned to my tented, bush-surrounded camp cabin after a spectacular dinner on Bateleur’s open-air dining verandah: coconut carrot soup; a salad of pumpkin, beetroot, and rocket with walnuts; grilled Indian Ocean prawns with stir-fried onions, potato, spinach and corn; and a mousse-like chocolate pate with passionfruit sauce.

Don, among the Maasai

Eating such sophisticated, elegantly prepared cuisine on a full setting of china, silverware and crystal, choreographed with gracious, efficient service, it’s hard to believe that a couple of hours earlier we were scrambling, scraping, banging and bouncing over the Mara Plains – but that’s one of the fundamental joys of this journey, which combines long and rigorous drives into the bush with exquisite comforts back at the camp.Right now I’m sitting on a luxurious king-size bed surrounded by old leather traveling cases, leather-bound books on a mahogany desk, and wooden spears. Behind me is a porcelain sink with gleaming brass taps, a separate stone-floored shower area with organic shampoos and lotions and a certifiably high-powered shower, and a wood-paneled bathroom with a modern toilet. In front of me is a roof-to-floor mosquito net that I’ve zipped shut, and beyond that the deeply dark night alive with a symphony of surrounding sounds.

When I left the dining verandah to make the three-minute walk back to my cabin, a guard carrying a rifle raced to walk with me. “We must be careful, sir,” he said, arcing a powerful flashlight down the path and off into the bush. “You never know what is waiting for you. A few days ago I found a big Cape buffalo right there,” and he turned his light on the waist-high grasses not ten feet away. My heart skipped a beat. No buffalo tonight.

*****

The day began with breakfast at the Mount Kenya Safari Club, then a short drive to Nanyuki Airport, where we boarded another propeller plane for the flight to the Maasai Mara airstrip. From there we drove over a deeply rutted road – past a broken-down gas truck that looked like it was becoming part of the landscape — to the tented camp, where we settled in, had lunch, and then met Andrew, a local Maasai teacher who would bring us to his nearby village.

Breakfast on the lawn, complete with white-toqued chefs

As we drove to the village, Andrew told us about the Maasai diet. “Traditionally, the Maasai eat meat, milk, and blood from cattle,” he said. “We take the blood from the jugular vein. Now we sometimes also eat meat and milk from goat and sheep.” He also told us about how the Maasai use nature’s “living apothecary”: Leaves, roots and bark are all used as medicine, from twigs that are used in dental care to herbs that are used for stomach ailments to what he called the “Kenya green heart,” which is used to cure malaria.

When we reached Andrew’s village, he invited us to enter through a break in the encircling fence of thorny acacia. “Four families live in his village,” he said, ”and there is one entrance for each family. As you can see, the village consists of about a dozen huts, each made of mud laid over interlacing branches. Responsibilities in the village are clearly defined: Men do the cattle grazing, settle disputes between villages, provide security during the night, and mend the fence around the village. The women work a lot: They build houses, do cooking, fetch water, milk cows, fetch herbs and take care of the village during the day. There are more houses than families because the Maasai practice polygamy, so one man usually has multiple wives – depending on the number of cows he has; the more cows, the more wives he can marry. Each wife builds her own house.”

Suddenly a line of women, resplendent in brilliant red, white, yellow and purple robes, long dangling beaded necklaces and large looping beaded neckbands, assembled in the middle of the village and began to chant. “They’re welcoming you,” Andrew said, as they smiled and sang, their voices rising into high-pitched cries.

After their song, we took pictures with them and then Andrew invited us into a typical hut. It was dark and stuffy – small triangular windows latticed with branches are the only source of light and ventilation – but as my eyes accustomed to the light, I could make out a room lined with cattle skins. “This is where the adults sleep,” Andrew said. “Here,” and he motioned toward the skins, “you can touch them.” I reached out and ran my fingers over the soft-prickly hair that covered the skin, and tried to imagine what it would feel like to sleep on that thin spread every night.

“Here is where we cook,” Andrew said, walking into the next room and pointing at a fire pit in the middle. Flies buzzed drowsily, and the scent of smoke seemed to hang in the air. “This is the children’s bedroom,” he continued, moving into the next room, which was lined with more skins for sleeping. Then he pointed into a dusky corner, “And that’s a room for the goats over there.”

Though the air was hot and close and seemed to cling to my skin, something kept me in that hut. I tried to imagine waking up to the first gray light of dawn seeping through the latticed windows; walking out in the morning air to tend the cattle; cooking around the fire pit, the smoke penetrating every pore as it curled lazily toward a tiny opening in the ceiling; eating around the fire; falling asleep on the cattle skins to the breathing of the goats and the sounds of the encroaching Mara night. “Next time you visit, you can sleep here as my guest,” Andrew said, and his eyes flickered with a warm light.

We re-emerged into the blinking-bright afternoon, admired some of the wood carvings and beaded jewelry the women had arranged on selling stands, and then prepared to leave. As we walked toward the fence-exit, flies buzzed, a baby goat bleated, and a gaggle of giggling kids ran around us, smiling and waving, “Hello! Pen! Goodbye!” When we laughed and waved and said hello back, their eyes danced with delight.

Hello! Goodbye! Smiling and waving as we walked through the fence, we shook hands with Andrew and offered effusive thanks, then clambered into the van, full with the sense that we had been given two gifts: the first a brief but intense immersion into a very different world; the second a slivery but lasting connection that somehow transcended those differences.

*****

Now, the deep blackness all around resounds with seesawing insects, trilling birds, snuffling warthogs and the not-too-far-off wheezing grunt of something that sounds a lot bigger than a warthog.

Africa.

Tomorrow we rise early – 4:45! — for a hot air balloon ride over the Mara Plains. Time to sink into my Bateleur version of a cattle-skin spread!

Planning a trip? Head over to Don’s Place to browse his recommendations, or browse Viator’s own tours and safaris in Kenya.

An elephant and her children; Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background.

On our second bay in the bush, as dawn is just beginning to light the world outside my tented room, I hear a shuffle of feet and then “Jambo! Your tea, sir.” One of the Maasai staffers places a tray with a pitcher of tea, heated milk, sugar, a china cup and saucer, a spoon and two biscuits on my veranda. I throw on my clothes, down a quick cup of tea, and hustle up to the main lodge, where our safari van awaits.

Lewela, our safari director, greets us with a broad smile. “Are you ready to see some wildlife?”

We hop into the van and set out as the rising sun starts to streak the sky. Bouncing on dirt tracks through the dry brown Savannah, we soon spot a herd of elephants in the distance. As we approach, the classic Amboseli photo composes itself in my mind: a line of huge gray elephants standing in the foreground among swaying, lush green elephant grass, with snow-crowned Mt Kilimanjaro rising massive and majestic in the background.

All the elements are there, except one – the lower flanks of Kilimanjaro are visible, but the top remains tantalizingly hidden within a dense gray camouflage of clouds.

“The elephants are probably walking toward a waterhole for their own version of morning tea,” Lewela says. Their path parallels the dirt road we’re on, and we’re able to drive alongside them for about 10 minutes. Then the lead elephant veers to the right, directly onto our road. We stop and watch in awe as a parade of elephants lumbers unconcernedly in front of us, less than 15 feet from our van.

There are twelve in all, ranging from mature adults nearly twice the size of our van, with two-foot-long tusks, to babies about as tall as a bicycle. They plod slowly, deliberately, delicately across, a surprising combination of girth and grace, then plunge unhesitatingly into the dense tangle of trees and brush on the other side of the road. Immediately the air rings with the sound of tearing and scraping as they break and uproot their breakfast, grabbing great trunksful of branches and bushes and curling them into their mouths, where they methodically chew them.

“In fact,” Lewela says, watching the elephants feast, “elephants spend about three-fourths of their lives eating. Adult elephants generally eat between 200 and 400 pounds of vegetation a day. About 70 percent of their diet is grass; the rest is leaves, fruit, branches, roots and bark. As you can see, the elephants grab the food with their trunks and stuff it into their mouths; then they grind the food down with their molar teeth. They use these teeth so much that in its lifetime, an elephant will grow six sets of molars.”

Suddenly Lewela pauses. The next to last elephant in the road-crossing parade has stopped, and is now turning toward us. Ears extended, tusks pointing our way, eyes staring straight at us, he ponderously maneuvers his tree-sized legs so that he faces us squarely. “Don’t worry,” Lewela whispers, “he’s just curious about us. He’s checking us out.”

Tembo! This elephant decided to check us out closely!

For an electrifying moment, we stare at each other, and rather than fear, I find myself falling under the spell of the elephant. There’s something so gracious, dignified and wise about him. I know these are personifications and projections, but still – look at him! His big round eyes curiously, peacefully staring, his Dumbo ears ever so gently flapping, his foot-long tusks just starting to curl, his tail swishing, he’s a big gray embodiment of curiosity and self-assurance combined. We hold our breaths in taut suspension, and I feel a kind of primordial gut-tug, like some spirit-understanding is leaping from me to the elephant and from the elephant to me. An inexplicable, irrefutable connection is fused, then the enormous tree-legs start to slowly turn, heroically bearing that wrinkled gray bulk, and the elephant slowly shifts course, heavy foot-step by heavy foot-step, and ambles off into the brush.

Elephants are a good example of the complexities of conservation in Africa. “They are enormously destructive,” says Lewela. “Look at how much they eat! If they’re confined to an area, they can strip it of its trees and other vegetation. They can even transform a wooded area into a grassland. But they also open up dense forests so that all kinds of animals and plant life can thrive there. They have a role in the cycle. And of course they’re good for tourism, too. But as local people want more and more land for their livestock and farms, the elephant’s territory gets smaller and smaller. It’s a very complicated situation.”

We drive on and see our first hippopotamus, a brown blur slowly stepping through the bush. “He must have been out late partying and now he’s headed back to the swamp,” says Lewela.

Then we see elegant, impossibly elongated giraffes nibbling on tree-top leaves, and two tawny, big-maned lion brothers walking magisterially through the elephant grass. We come upon a herd of big-nosed, crinkly-skinned Cape buffalo – “a face only a mother could love,” Jennifer says – and wildebeest and zebras placidly grazing. Our drive climaxes with a rare view of two lions mating in the grass. (We share this sight with a van full of peach-skinned Scandinavian teenagers; one especially cherub-faced girl turns to us breathlessly, flashes a thumbs-up and exclaims, “Lion sex!”)

The wonders continue. But that night, as we review the day over a sumptuous meal on the dining veranda, it’s the elephant – full with a wisdom that seems to stretch through centuries – that stands, stolid and wide-eyed, in my mind.

–Don George, guest blogger

Planning a trip? Head over to Don’s Place to browse his recommendations, or browse Viator’s own tours and safaris in Kenya.

San Francisco and the bay looking north, from the top of the Fairmont Hotel

Our fifth and final stop on the 2007 Gates family vacation tour would take us to San Francisco for the wedding of my best-friend-from-the-first-grade’s daughter. First grade: back then Ron and I were members of a very exclusive club. Just the two of us, Ron was the president and I was the VP. Our official meetings were brief but boisterous. Uncontrollable laughter was high on the agenda. I remember one sleep over Ron made me laugh so hard I had an asthma attack in the middle of the night (which made him laugh even harder).

Our closeness led to the inevitable: our desire to elevate our friendship to blood-brother status. But when the time came to go under the knife we both chickened out. We decided becoming “hair brothers” would be just as good but not as deadly. Each of us pulled a lock from our scalps, exchanged follicles, and ceremoniously transplanted them onto our own heads. Today, Ron has a full head of my hair and I am bald.

The by-laws of our childhood club clearly stated that all members would attend the weddings of their respective children — someday. Once a hair brother, always a hair brother; the time had come.

From our hotel room at the Fairmont.

The wedding was going to be held at the stately and historic Fairmont Hotel. After Motel 8 and other low-budget hostelries we’d been staying at since Las Vegas, this little bit a luxury would be the perfect end to our trip. In addition, this was going to be a reunion of sorts. Schoolmates I hadn’t seen since elementary school would be in attendance. And my wife was going to meet the girl I took to the prom.

But first, we had to get there. Gilroy is only about 80 miles from downtown San Francisco. But we’d learned on our last trip to the Bay Area that a Sunday drive up Highway 101 held no guarantees of an idyllic and easy passage. Eighty miles could seem like two hundred if we hit weekend traffic.The wedding was to begin at 4 o’clock. I had called to arrange for an early check-in at the hotel, but they couldn’t guarantee it. In fact, they told me check-in would be at 4, just when the nuptials were to begin. When we met my sister early that morning for a Goodbye Gilroy breakfast Susie and I were already dressed in our wedding finery.

Then there was the issue of the children. The wedding was to be adults-only. We arranged with the hotel for a babysitter. We had never left our girls with a stranger in a hotel. And this would either turn out to be a luxury we would never be able to live without again or make headline news when we came back to an empty room and a ransom note. We prepared the girls for the former (relieved that our oldest knew our cell phone numbers by heart).

Red lights, no turns, Bush St.

Seeing long lost friends can be an upending experience. It feels like no time has passed at all and yet you know that each of our lives have taken trajectories none of us could ever have imagined back then. What would theirs be like? I had known them but I didn’t now.

After ten days traversing the West, we had survived the debauchery of Las Vegas, car sickness on the road to the Sierras, a near bear attack in Yosemite, the mixture of garlic and snakes in Gilroy, and finally a party that celebrated a couple’s future and reconnected me with my past.

I decided to top off the trip with a little bit of political photography just before checking out of the hotel. It felt good to be in the bastion of liberal bias but we were about to reenter the vortex of conservative politics. It was time to get back to the present.

It had been a great trip, one my girls will remember. At least for a few more months.

–Jeff Gates

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s tours and things to do in San Francisco, Las Vegas, and everything in between.

Lady Liberty

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend visited his parents in Manhattan and seemed on the verge of not coming back to California. I flew out to fetch him from the east coast, and squeezed some tremendous fun into the weekend, all without breaking the bank.

So here’s my list of Things to Do in NYC for less than $20.

• Kayak in the Hudson River. This is run by a non-profit out of Pier 40, you can kayak around the marina and are sheltered from the busy river traffic. You can stash anything you don’t want to get wet in their lockers for free. Cost: Free
• Batting cages at Pier 25. Walking down the esplanade still dripping from our kayaking, my boyfriend gallantly bought us a couple of rounds of pitches. My lifetime batting average was not improved by 60-mph balls hurtling eye-level at me, but it was entertaining and I swear I smelled peanuts and beer nearby. Cost: $2 for 15 pitches
• Play pool on the the outdoor pool tables along the Hudson River promenade. Cost: Free when you show photo ID
• Cruise past the Statue of Liberty. Definitely the most fun way to see NYC’s harbor. Cost: $20
• Explore Red Hook, Brooklyn, one of the last quiet corners of NYC. The water taxi terminal ($10 for a trip to Manhattan) is right next to one of the wonders of the world– Fairway Market. Need 800 cans of baked beans? 300 packs of paper plates? Fairway is the place to go. From the taxi terminal, head down to Coffey Park right on the waterfront, which offers great views of the Statue of Liberty. Cost: Free
  

  Washington Square Park on a sunny day

• Hang out in Washington Square Park. On a hot Sunday afternoon, nothing beats sitting in the fountain, listening to street musicians and people-watching. Cost: Free
• Tour the NYC public library. I hear great things about the reading room in the library at 5th & 42nd, but I was denied entry when Fashion Week took over the building during my visit. Cost: Free
• Celebrity sightings on the street. Ethan Hawke is constantly afoot in the Village, and we also spotted Alan Ruck (Cameron from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off). Cost: Free
• Over on the Viator site there are more than a dozen tours and activities in NYC for less than $20, including a Rockefeller Center Tour, an ‘On Location’ tour to Central Park’s film and movie sites, tickets to the Empire State Building’s observation deck, the Ground Zero Museum Workshop Tour, an NBC Studios tour and more (also check out Viator’s complete list of things to do in New York).

And of course, when you’re back home, you can make a Blurb book with pictures and notes about your trip. Blurb has free software that makes it easy to create your own quality book. I’m putting together a book as a thank-you gift for my hosts for the weekend. Cost: $13 and up.

–Laura Z

What are you doing with your travel photos… why not make a Blurb book to show them off? Laura has created a special promo code for all Viator travelers. Simply enter the promo code gotravel on the Blurb checkout to receive $7 off shipping through the end of the year. Thanks Blurb!

If you need a place to stay, check out New York City Hotels on Planetware.com.