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Rundown for the Week of May 16, 2003

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Freestylers & Foreigners: Fear and Locomotiving on the Southwest Chief by Hank Rosenfeld Listen in RealAudio There are only three trans-continental trains in the U.S. And, with Amtrak planning on dropping some of its long-distance routes, you might want to put a choo-choo trip across the States higher on your travel to-do list. Hank Rosenfeld took this to heart when he boarded Amtrak Train #4 at LA's Union Station with a cast of characters including golden-agers and their grandchildren, Central American tourists and ex-cons let out of Lompoc that morning. And all the while, on his 48-hour trip to Detroit, Hank experiences the romance of the rail.

Passionate about train travel, or just want to learn more? www.Amtrak.com Amtrak Schedules & Fares Amtrak Historical Society 23rd Annual Mooning of Amtrak Friends of Amtrak: Online Advocacy Group Supporting Continued Funding of Amtrak Hank's other journeys include: Hank's Crime Drama...or, My Greek Salad Days : Aired August 3, 2001 Remembering Football: Aired November 16, 2001 Blue Aerogramme : Aired February 9, 2001

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The Sound of Alaska Tagging Along with Kathy Turco Listen in RealAudio Last summer, Savvy Traveler host Diana Nyad visited a charming, little fishing village in Alaska: Valdez. Kathy Turco, one of premiere sound recording artists in world, was her guide. They headed out to Shoup Bay toward a small island where Kathy was working with biology students observing the black-legged kittiwake, a gray gull. Nearly 18,000 birds nest on the steep, rocky coast. When not spending time with the gulls, Kathy headed out on a boat to record the massive shards of ice breaking apart nearby. How many can say they do that for a living?

Online Resources: Above the Deep: Seabirds: Kathy's radio documentary for Soundprint on how scientists are trying to understand the impact of global climate shifts in the northern part of the world. Melting Ice and Stranded Penguins: A Story About Global Warming: Kathy's radio documentary on Earthear.com about global warming The Savvy Traveler: Interview with Kathy Turco from July 12, 2002 Planning your own trip to Alaska? AlaskaThisYear.com: Books, travel planner, vacation tips and interactive events calendar

Punk Rock B&B by David Welch Listen in RealAudio Apparently, when compared with this one in Anacortes, Washington, most hostels are, well, pretty tame. Why? This one is an indie rock paradise. Its hosts converted an abandoned fire station into an all-ages music venue, art galleries and painting studios -- and they have their very own jail in the basement. Best of all, if you're traveling through town and want to stay the night and be entertained, you can. How cool is that? David Welch went to northwestern Washington to check it out.

Online resources: Punk Rock B&B originally aired on January 24, 2002. Click program title for links, slide show and original audio for this segment

Beach Report Interview with Walter McLeod, president of Clean Beaches Council Listen in RealAudio Thinking about taking a trip to the beach this summer? Each year, 180 million Americans visit the nation's beaches, and beach tourism represents 85% of tourist revenue in the U.S. So, how do you know if you're visiting a clean, healthy beach? Well, the Clean Beaches Council just released its annual list of Blue Wave beaches. The beaches must meet a stringent 56-point set of criteria for cleanliness and environmental health. Walter McLeod, president of the Clean Beaches Council, tell us where to find the best beaches and what travelers should look for when choosing a beach.

Organization mentioned in this interview www.cleanbeaches.org: Clean Beaches Council Other Resources www.healthebay.org: Report cards for Central and Southern California beaches www.asbpa.org: American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) www.coastalcoalition.org: American Coastal Coalition UCSD Scripps Institution for Oceanography : Preserving California's Coastline (video) Duke University's National Strategy for Beach Preservation www.coastalengineers.org: Association of Coastal Engineers

Booking Hotels Online Listen in RealAudio Interested in finding the best hotel prices on the Net? Well, Consumer WebWatch did a study of online booking services and researched the best and worst sites for searching for hotels rooms by price, location, star ratings, and specific brands and properties. Savvy Traveler host Diana Nyad talks with Bill McGee, consultant to Consumer WebWatch and former editor of the "Consumer Report's Travel Letter."

Organization mentioned in this program www.ConsumerWebWatch.org article "Booking Hotels Online: An In-Depth Examination of Leading Hotel Web Sites" Links to booking hotels online Our Traveler's Toolbox: Savvy's list of online travel resources, with links to booking hotels online

Music Explorations with Bob Duskis Spanish Harlem; Jazz meets Malian Kora Listen in RealAudio Bob Duskis, co-founder of Six Degrees Records in San Francisco, is our world music guide. This week, he joins us with sounds from Mali via MaliCool, collaboration between American jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd and Malian Kora master, Toumani Diabate, and to Harlem with the city's answer to the Buena Vista Social Club: Spanish Harlem Orchestra. Click here for more info.

Online Resources: Six Degrees Records Mailcool: Click here to purchase on PRMS.org Spanish Harlem Orchestra: Click here to purchase on PRMS.org

Sound Travels Camel races in Mali, West Africa Listen in RealAudio This week, we travel with just our ears as our guide to Mali in West Africa. Ever been to a camel race? Anastasia Tsioulcas was in the desert country and recorded the impassioned sounds of the gypsies of the Sahara, the Kel Tamashek, watching the camels race by on a sunny afternoon. After centuries of oppression, the Kel Tamashek are being embraced by the Malian government with a new spirit of openness by supporting their traditional music and festivals, tribal gatherings and races.

Other sounds from Mali Grinding millet and rice, Timbuktu, Mali: Sound Travels from April 18, 2003 African Music Festivals by Sean Barlow: Originally aired February 14, 2003, on The Savvy Traveler

SARS Update Listen in RealAudio Host Diana Nyad gives an update on the latest SARS developments.

Online SARS Information: www.sciencemag.org: The SARS genome sequece washingtonpost.com: Article: The Mystery Virus: A Guide to Origins, Symptoms and Precautions You Can Take World Health Organization: Latest info. on SARS virus www.cdc.gov: SARS info from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention www.healthytravel.com: The Travel Medicine Center Recent News (Web sites may require registration) SARS Did More Damage Than Iraq, 9/11 (USA Today) Teleconference Business Up as SARS Fuels Demand (The New York Times) Four Major Shanghai Hotels Close Over SARS (The New York Times)

Traveler's Aid Six Ways to Travel on the Cheap in Europe Listen in RealAudio Our Travel-Expert-in-Residence. Rudy Maxa, is back to talk about how we can save money on European travel this summer. Rudy has tips on booking hotels and rental cars, where to find great deals on discounted airlines, and how to get yourself a cellphone for your travels. Click here for details and link information

Deal of the Week See America on the Cheap with a Package Deal! Listen in RealAudio Our Travel-Expert-in-Residence, Rudy Maxa, has one sweet hotel-airfare deal for us: Get major bonus hotel nights at Westin Hotels if you plan your getaway vacation by the end of the year at United Vacations, the package-tour arm of United Airlines. Click here for details and link information