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Rundown for the Week of June 13, 2003

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Tourist in Newport mansion.
The Upper Crust In Newport, R.I. by Borzou Daragahi

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The rather tony town of Newport, R.I., has a history that goes back to the days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but it really turned tony in the 19th century when it became a playground for the idle rich. You know the folks: people who can afford to buy $10 million mansions and villas just for summer visits. Though years have passed, the upper-crust old money set for whom the word "summer" remains a verb still flock to the Island. Of course, now, the rich are surrounded by a mishmash of class strata in America: the upper-middle class yacht owners, the gawking middle-class tourists, and the new working class. Contributor Borzou Daragahi went to Newport to check out the land of the crisp blue blazers.

Related media
Story transcript

Online resources
www.borzou.com: Borzou's bio., photography and extensive writings
www.gonewport.com: City of Newport, R.I., official site
www.newportri.com: Newport visitors guide
www.newporthistorical.com: The Newport Historical Society

The Next Better Place, an interview with author Michael Keith

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For Father's Day, we don't have a "father/son out in a canoe in the backwoods bonding trip" for you. Nope, this is a "father/son hitchhike across the country, beg, borrow and steal, odd-job-to-odd-job bonding trip." Michael Keith's memoir "The Next Better Place" describes his vagabond days with his dad, who would scrape together enough dough to make it to the next broken-down boarding house. Michael, who's now a communications professor at Boston College, recalls his hobo childhood not as troubled, but as a wonderful adventure. It all started when Michael's dad left the disaster his life had become in Albany, New York, and struck out as a drifter, with his son as his companion.

Online resources:
The Next Better Place: Previously aired on March 7, 2003. Click here for original audio.
Keith's book The Next Better Place: A Father and Son on the Road is available for purchase on Amazon.com. Your purchase helps support The Savvy Traveler.


Andrei Codrescu
Eyes of Sibiu by Larry Masset and Andre Codrescu

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We're taking a trip with well-known public radio personality Andre Codrescu. Andre is Romanian and grew up in that country in times of hardship. But as he has been a U.S. citizen for 20 years now, he feels he has lost the local taste of the land where he spent his youth. Producer Larry Massett traveled back to Romania with Andre and recorded this story of a man now in the role of "tourist" in his radically changed native land.

Additional support for this story comes from the public radio Web site HearingVoices.com.
Online resources
Savvytraveler.com: Interview from April 10, 1999, when Andre visited Cuba with photographer David Graham
codrescu.com: Andre's bio., contact information, book list and message du jour
www.rotravel.com/index.htm: Web travel guide for Romania

Travel Behind the Scenes Lost and Found Department, Disneyland, Anaheim, California

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In this week's "Travel Behind the Scenes," where we take a snapshot of someone who doesn't travel but encounters travelers all day long, contributor Jake Warga introduces us to workers that tend time in the underbelly of Disneyland: the lost and found office. At the end of the day, they see what tens of thousands of visitors leave behind at the "Happiest Place On Earth." Remember the last scene from "Raiders of the Lost Arc?" It's kind of like that, but with Tupperware instead of dusty wooden crates. It isn't really "a small world after all."

Additional support for this story comes from the public radio Web site HearingVoices.com.
Previous episodes of "Travel Behind the Scenes"
Adolphus Onyiante, ground operations coordinator, Jet Blue Airlines, JFK: Aired May 23, 2003
Fred Christina, former waiter at New York's Plaza Hotel: Aired April 25, 2003

Fishing Laws in Alaska, an interview with Doug Vincent Lang of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game

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A couple of weeks ago, we ran a story by reporter Jim Gates. Jim went to Alaska with a friend to spend 4 days in the wilderness to see if they could just survive -- they didn't bring fishing gear and food was purposely in short supply. Jim did buy a fishing license, but evidently, some of the ways he went about catching salmon were not within the legal guidelines in Alaska. Savvy Traveler host Diana Nyad talks to Doug Vincent Lang, assistant director of the Sport Fishing division for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, about the laws of salmon fishing in southeastern Alaska, and what our reporter should have done.

Planning your own trip to Alaska?
AlaskaThisYear.com: Books, travel planner, vacation tips and interactive events calendar

How to fish responsibly in Alaska:
Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game: 2003 Sport Fishing Regulations

Sound Travels The Call Of The Wild Orcas

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Sound travels -- especially underwater. About 900 miles north of Seattle, in an underwater canyon off the coast of British Columbia, you really can hear the call of the wild: wild orcas. These whales travel in pods, and each pod has its own vocal dialect, some of which go back thousands of years. Whale watchers ride out in boats, cut the engines and listen using special hydrophones. But the boats and cruise ships that motor on by could be poisoning the environment for these whales, due to their loud, rumbling noises. And, that extra noise is having a real impact on the whales' conversations, mating rituals and migrations.

Other Sound Travels
Camel Races in Mali, West Africa; Bells of Arcosanti, Arizona; "Yungas" Music, Coroico, Bolivia ; Naxi Orchestra, northeast China; Homage to Otha Turner / Rio Carnival, Brazil

Traveler's Aid Open Skies in Europe

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Travelers, get ready for a new age in trans-Atlantic air agreements with Europe. There are big changes afoot. Up until now, each country hammered out its own, separate agreement with the U.S., but now, the European Commission will negotiate a single treaty for the whole EU. What will that mean for American travelers? Rudy Maxa is here to give us the scoop on how long the current system has been in place, what this will this mean for the European airline industry, and how this will affect travelers.

Online resource
www.eurunion.org: press release: "European Commission Welcomes Court Ruling on 'Open Skies' Agreements"

Deal of the Week Amazing Singapore Airlines Bargains!

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While our Travel-Expert-in-Residence, Rudy Maxa, may not want to give the impression that our "Deal of the Week" has become the "Asia Deal of the Week," there's no denying these amazing travel bargains from Singapore Airlines! Click here for details and link information

Deal of the Week sponsor
Orbitz.com - The travel Web site where your travel missions are accomplished.

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