Some friends of mine are on a vacation in Costa Rica right now.

It definately has me itching to go on a trip.

I wonder how many people book travel plans while their family or friends are on a trip?

Not only does their travel remind us how great traveling is, but we also seem to have a small "keeping up with the Jones" mentality in this country.  If my parents go to Cozumel, I hope they have a good time.  If some of my friends go on a trip, I…

I found a statistic that says a large percentage of people use a travel agent when they book a cruise.

I also saw an article about how travel agent commissions are being reduced.

Are cruise lines basically hoping they can book more cruise vacations directly?

The loss of travel agents would be a loss of service and knowledge.

I realize that the internet allows people to quickly search for ships and prices.

I know…

Since the Concordia crash, I've been doing some research on the cruise industry.

I've never been on a cruise, but if prices drop, maybe I will give it a try.

More than 11 million Americans went on a cruise last year.

More than 5 million Europeans went on a cruise last year.

The tipped over Costa Concordia is owned by the Carnival Corporation.

Carnival has 101 cruise ships sailing under the names Costa,…

People just got a major reason to cross a cruise off their list for this year.

Images of the sunken cruise ship will drive prices lower this year.

This will be great news for seasoned cruisers who will cruise no matter what.  They will recognize the lower prices and will be very happy customers.  Some of them may take the opportunity to upgrade their choice of ship and route.

It remains to be seen if lower prices will bring in the novice…

Not sure if anyone else saw this, but the police force in Acapulco, Mexico posted an ad seeking attractive women who would be trained to police the beach and tourist areas.  They are even designing a new police uniform that would highlight the features of the female police officers.

Of course, the plan has not gone over well with the general population in Mexico.  Many people and groups are outraged at the idea.

From the perspective of the tourist offices, I…

The Obama Administration has been granting special "people to people" tour licsenses to tour operators who include cultural events in their tours of Cuba.  The idea is to allow American travelers to go to Cuba as long as they will have some sort of contact with the Cuban people instead of just sitting in some all inclusive resort with other tourists from Canada and Europe.

First, I think this is a great idea.  Traveling is one of the best forms of diplomacy.  It would be…

I just returned from a trip to Bali, Indonesia.  One thing that made the trip enjoyable was my favorite Bali hotels.  There were some cheap Bali hotels I stayed at that I would never return to, but overall, I thought the hotels in Bali were very nice.

My favorite hotel in Bali was the Bali Hyatt in the Sanur area just east of Denpasar.  It is a very nice resort, but the price per night was still manageable.  I stayed in one of their regency club rooms.  I was expecting a…

I'm a big fan of beach vacations so I was disappointed in the beach options on my recent trip to Bali.  Lucily, I spent most of my time on a tour that explored the interior of the island.

We spent our first few nights in the Sanur area of Bali.  It originally was a small fishing village and remains a much quieter beach vacation option in Bali compared to the other beach areas.  I spent the first day on the beach.  I was hot the entire time.  I had a shady spot, but the…

If you like to save money while traveling, then join like minded people who are sharing budget travel tips and ideas on the budget travel community CheapRoundTrip.com.

Many of us want to save money while traveling.  The best way we can do this is to network with other travelers who have been to the destinations we will be going to.  They will know the best budget hotels, restaurants and…

Everything is set for my trip to Bali.

I will be flying from Minneapolis to Chicago to South Korea to Bali.

I will be in Bali for two weeks.  The frist three days will be spent on the southern beaches and then I am taking a tour of the entire island that starts and ends in Ubud.

I'm really excited.  I know it will be a long flight, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.  I found an incredible deal and everything just fell into place for…