Among My Souvenirs

In a city exactly where the typical hotel price is a robust $310 (up 13% from September 2009 to September 2010), it is a no-brainer that budget vacationers (or any traveler, definitely) need to check out the likelihood of staying in 1 of New York’s hostels to conserve income. (And, yes, there are hostel opportunities in the city). The Washington Submit a short while ago stayed in excess of at four of the best hostels in New York — whose rates ranged from $39 (Hostelling Worldwide), $20 (New York Loft Hostel) and even as low-cost as $15 (Tone on Lex) — and found that they seriously liked them (no bed bug stories!). The one I’m most familiar — not least of which since it is down the street from the The Expeditioner headquarters — is the New York Loft Hostel, which, provided its area in the young, hip, and travel blogging-pleasant ‘hood of Williamsburg/Bushwick, Brooklyn, is most likely the most well-liked with the traditional backpacking crowd. I’ve also stayed in pretty a number of ...

In the hardly ever-ending quest to discover the “Phuket of the ’80’s,” could it be that the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc, just off the Cambodian border in the Gulf of Thailand, is the real issue? Years away from overdevelopment, Phu Quock is known for its peaceful white-sand seashores, laid-back ambiance, and as the world’s premier producer of nuoc mam fish sauce, a fish sauce so pungent, “Vietnam Airlines is reputed to have installed exclusive sniffers to avert passengers taking it in their luggage and endangering the purity of the baggage hold,” as the Sydney Morning Herald reviews. And a rapid verify on Kayak today reveals flights in the $870 assortment from New York to Hanoi. Almost nothing more for scentless flights.