Part One

IT was the best of times . . . It was the worst of times". That opening sentence of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities pretty much describes 2007. World events reached ever more catastrophic levels and the list of destinations to avoid consequently escalated.

But stress generated by world conditions made vacation getaways even more essential than ever. But where to go became a challenge as the British pound at more than two dollars and the euro nearly $1.50 pushed up travel costs. What's ahead for 2008? More of the same?

Thanks to help from your travel agent and personal research, you found there's always a way to plan an affordable getaway. Doctors will tell you it's as important to your health as exercise, eating well and reducing stress.

Airfare sales, all-inclusive resorts, fun bed and breakfast properties, locally organised packages of all kinds and cruises in many price ranges made many getaways more affordable.

Looking back over your lifetime of vacation travel, haven't you found the best part of any holiday is sharing it with your family? It's not about staying in the most expensive hotel, visiting the newest "in" destination or eating at the most prestigious gourmet restaurant. That's a really superficial fringe on the scale of what's really important.

A simple picnic sitting along the banks of a tumultuous river near the entrance to Yosemite National Park surrounded by superb scenery was far more exciting and rewarding to this traveller than lunch at most glamorous restaurants could ever be.

So regardless of what 2008 has in store for travellers, there will be ample possibilities for battery-recharging vacations . . . including the pleasure of enjoying Bermuda's resort properties at resident rates and no airfare!

It would be hard to select the one trip of the past year we found most outstanding. Each was unique in some exceptional way. It helps if you start out with the right attitude . . . an interest in a variety of things and an open mind for discovering new places and meeting interesting people.

So much negative news this year has centred around airports and airline delays. And yet our flights, all on American Airlines with the exception of a connection on Horizon, have been very good.

And on each one, in both Business and First Class, there were exceptional flight attendants trying hard to make passengers enjoy their flight. Only disappointment was reconfiguration of our once favourite 767 which had been totally changed with special sleepers on transatlantic flights and was no longer roomy and spacious.

You've seen television coverage of those much-publicised holiday crowds at major airports, and it's made to look like a nightmare. Sometimes it is, so we avoid flying weekends and days before a holiday.

But our bank vice-president flew out to Denver for Thanksgiving, leaving early but returning the following Sunday, and said everything worked like a charm at both Chicago's O'Hare and Denver.

Sure, Transportation Security Administration inspections delay travellers, but if you follow instructions set out by TSA involving liquids and other things allowed in carry-ons, delays are usually limited.

And, naturally, there will be delays when others don't pay attention to those simple rules. As any number of TSA employees have told me, regardless of how much those restrictions are publicised, a large segment of the population just isn't tuned in.

So it bears continual repeating. A one-quart clear plastic bag can contain your small toothpaste, perfume, hand-sanitiser and so on. Place it on top of the things you send through X-ray so it's easily visible.

And being pleasant and courteous to staff goes a long way towards making things proceed smoothly. Remember, they're only doing their job trying to keep you safe . . . and some days pressure of responsibilities, like anyone's, gets to them.

One of the true tests of any trip is: Did you enjoy the destination and experience enough to repeat it? Returns to favourite places we wrote about this year are already in the works.

Back to Lake Tahoe before or after its crowded high season, maybe twice . . . our 19th year returning to the Vosges in France's fabled Alsace . . . at least one visit to Gordon Lodge on the shores of Door County, Wisconsin and, hopefully, a cruise, either back up the Inside Passage to Alaska or to the Mediterranean.

In fact, for those anxious to visit a European destination in 2008, a cruise is likely among the best bargains. With the pound and euro escalating, cruise rates are quoted in dollars. There's no fear of hefty daily hotel bills, expensive meals, and other costs encountered overseas.

Whether to book early because you feel a lot of other people will be doing the same . . . or wait until later because a downturn in the economy could result in lower fares? That's the $64 question.

Bermudians are more fortunate than most travellers choosing a cruise, since there's such a parade of ships through their waters, they have a chance to observe and study ones that appeal to them.

If you can combine it with a decent airfare, that could be a winning combination. But with oil prices increasing, a fuel surcharge added to both airfare and cruise ships is already happening on some carriers. But it's understandable and still affordable.

Yes, watching two ships sink this year, one in Antarctica and the other in Greece, was traumatic for viewers as well as passengers. So was disembarking from Alaska-bound Empress of the North via rubber rafts after hitting rocks in the middle of a cold May night.

No, it won't stop us from cruising, but it does raise some red flags. Who would have thought those disasters could happen in our era of modern sonar equipped vessels?

You might want to make inquiries about lifeboats, however. I'm not kidding. Have you ever boarded a zodiac or rubber raft at sea in very rough water with passengers who lack agility? It can be a challenge. How about spending hours in an uncovered lifeboat in frigid waters?