State Department Warnings
For travel advisories: 202-647-5225
For information on the Kenya and Tanzania bombings, call the State Department:202-647-0900
State department's web site: http://travel.state.gov

Washington D.C. Reaction
We hear from visitors to the Capitol, where people have lately gone to honor heroes rather than take pictures.

Q & A I - From Study to Reality
Rudy talks to listeners about the trips they've taken or dream of taking based on learning about a subject or place from afar, then going from studying to seeing the place.

Pico Iyer Interview
Pico Iyer is one of the most revered travel writers of our time. He's journeyed the world covering distant places for publications like Time, Harpers and the New Yorker. And he's been to countries most of us only read about in our lifetimes: Cuba, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Tibet-- he's even had an audience with the Dalai Lama. But after having so many exotic experiences, what corner of the globe does he find most inspiring? How does Pico Iyer choose a place to call home? He joined us to answer those questions and to talk about his latest book Tropical Classical, a collection of essays about the places and people he's met on his travels. Tropical Classical is available from Vintage Books for $13.00. His other books include Cuba and the Night, Falling Off the Map: Some of the Loneliest Places on the Earth, The Lady and the Monk, and Video Night in Kathmandu.

Deal of the Week: That under-appreciated mode of travel, the bus

• Peter Pan Bus Lines: Travel between New York and Washington, D.C or New York and Boston for only $54 round trip if you buy your ticket between Monday and Thursday. You don't have to travel on those days_you only have to buy your tickets then.

• Euro Bus: Overseas, the EuroBus is the cheapest way to see the continent. For as little as $200, you can buy a pass good for a month's travel covering 7,000 miles through Europe on a continuous loop. Simply hop on and off the bus at will in major cities -- another one will be along the next day.

• Green Tortoise Line: Offers interesting U.S. tour packages, including a 16-day swing through national parks of the West for $641. Your seats convert to a bed at night, and you prepare meals on a communal basis.

Q & A II -- General Questions Rudy takes listeners' general questions about travel. He mentions:

Visa Exchange:
They'll help with getting a letter of confirmation and other necessary paperwork for a visit to Kazakhstan. You can reach them by phone at 703-739-0974.

Safari Centre:
Offers tours to Central Asia. The 18-day Tien Shan Trek covers much of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Call them at 800-223-6046.

Rainforests in the state of Washington: the Hoh, Queets, and Quinault
The Olympic National Park Headquarters (360-452-0330) has a list of guides that lead hiking tours.

Where to stay:
Sol Duc Hot Springs 360-327-3583
Lake Quinault Lodge 360-288-2900
Olympic Peninsula Bed and Breakfast Association provides an extensive listing of B&Bs in the area.

Trinidad and Tobago:
Inquire about inter-island ferries at the ports of Scarborough and Port of Spain. There are also regular flights. Try LIAT at 268-462-0700 or BWIA at 800-538-2942. The Hampden House near Scarborough rents rooms and is ten minutes from the beach. Phone: 868-639-7313

Monet Tour
What is an impression anyway? When we're born are we an empty canvas...a blank reel of tape, waiting to receive some mysterious mixture of atoms, photons and vibrations, which ultimately become tucked away in our memory as the smell of cinnamon, the glow of a sunset, or the sounds that spilled out when you opened a lacquered box on your parents desk? And as we grow up and keep hold of these impressions and many more besides, why is it we become more accustomed to them and the world becomes less magical? Could that be the reason why we travel -- to search for new impressions?

And then there's this thing called art, which can convey a special kind of impression. Claude Monet, one of the pioneers of a group of artists who became known as Impressionists, spent virtually his whole life searching for a way to distill into a painting, the magic inherent in a moment of seeing. Jim Metzner went to Europe to capture some of the sounds Monet might have encountered when discovering the places that inspired him to put his impressions on canvas. In September, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston will host "Monet in the 20th Century," a major exhibition of the artist's later work. Paul Tucker, who offered some of his insights about Monet during this journey, is the exhibit's guest curator.

Next Week on The Savvy Traveler

The Savvy Traveler is turning one year old! We're celebrating our first anniversary by revisiting the places we've been and the people we've met on this journey, like one of our very first travel tips ever, from our Vagabond Traveler, Doug Lansky:

Rudy: What do you carry with you everywhere you go?

Doug: Very little. I have a small backpack. It looks like a bookbag for high school. In there I cram a laptop. I'm only wearing the clothes that I'm taking except for a small Gore-tex jacket and I have a first aid kit. And that's it.

Rudy: What about underwear here, Doug?

Doug: I'm wearing it and that's it.

We're traveling back in time over this past year, as a vagabond, a first-class passenger, a family member...any of the number of ways you might hit the road. So be sure to rejoin us for next week's special anniversary edition of The Savvy Traveler.

For tapes of the show... If you want your very own copy of The Savvy Traveler, order an audio cassette. It's easy. Just call 303-823-8000. The price is $15. As Rudy says, it's a steal.