The Week That Was #1

~ Here for your browsing please I offer a roundup of the some of the more interesting travel related stories that have come to my attention over the past week.

America’s Top Summer Music Festivals

Though the economy may have hit a low note, it seems that people are still willing to pay for a music high. In fact, most music festivals may not be feeling the fiscal pinch; festival producers across the country say ticket sales are just as high as last year, if not better.

Ken Weinstein, who represents Bonnaroo, one of the largest and most famous summer festivals, says, "Bonnaroo offers fans four of the best days of their lives, during which they are not only allowed but required to forget the recession and all the unfortunate things going on in the world.” Click here to view a slide show of the some of the top summer festivals…

Eight great trips that give back

You don't have to wear a hair shirt and dig a well to give back when you travel. Here are eight great trips that connect you with the world, and each time you frequent these locations you support the self-sufficiency and the economy of the local people. Click here to read more…

Book your own cruise? One do-it-yourselfer tells his secrets

by Ron Saia writing for Tripso.Com

Ron Saia has been on over 45 cruises, written articles about cruising and helped many people who have never cruised before prepare and experience a great cruise vacation. He’s not a travel agent. He’s a do-it-yourself serial cruiser. This post focuses on getting a great deal.

The key is to start by getting a great price for your cruise vacation. Book way in advance — anywhere from eight months to a year — or select from special discounted cruises. Click here to read more…

WikiTravel: How did this slip under my radar?

Wikitravel (similar to the open source Wikipedia) is a project to create a free, complete, up-to-date, and reliable worldwide travel guide. So far there are 21,648 destination guides and other articles written and edited by Wikitravellers from around the globe. You can check out the Help page to see how you can edit any page right now, or the Project page for more information about Wikitravel and getting involved.

Author Shelley Seale on children living in the slums of India

Very few people haven’t heard of the Oscar-winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire. The story follows two young brothers as they grow up in and survive the slums of Mumbai, India. In order to show the reality of life for poverty-stricken Indian children, many scenes in the movie were actually filmed in the Mumbai slums. But in true Hollywood fashion, the ending was heartwarming goodness. The ending for the real children of these slums is not so pretty. Click here to read more…

Hotel bedbug horror degenerates into a war of words

by Christopher Elliott writing on Tripso.Com

The Stanley Hotel is an historic resort in Estes Park, Colo., perhaps best known for inspiring Stephen King to write his horror masterpiece The Shining. And also, bedbugs — if Julie Kobayashi has her way. Get those images of Jack Nicholson typing “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” out of your head. This spat reminded me more of the recent exchange between Elizabeth Becton and McBee Strategic. In other words, it degenerated into a needless but not uninteresting war of words.

IMAGE: View of the River Murray

Photographer: Jim Lesses