When a good friend of mine told me last month that she was considering spending this New Year’s Eve in Iceland, I nearly laughed her right out of the room. Iceland in the wintertime? You know that’s north, not south, right? Besides, Iceland has such a high standard of living. Who has the kind of cash to travel there now given the state of our economy?

Well, maybe more of us than you’d think. Iceland’s largest bank collapsed yesterday, the last of the island nation’s three major banks to tank in recent weeks. This flurry of financial problems is bad for Icelanders, but potentially good for U.S. visitors. Earlier this year, one U.S. dollar was worth around 70 Icelandic Krona; now it trades for 100 Krona or more. Which means this island nation might actually be a splendid winter destination for budget-minded U.S. travelers.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member Ksu.

In my September 12 blog entry, I extolled the virtues of Canada’s Banff National Park, a world-renowned mecca for mountain lovers, and my ultimate road trip destination. “Banff or Bust!” This was my party’s half-mocking, half-deadly serious mantra as we whizzed past Portland, Oregon and gave Vancouver the once-over in a record-breaking two and a half hours. We zoomed toward the Canadian Rockies as if they were our salvation.

To be frank, in several ways, they were. The park’s charmingly petite Lake Louise has crystal-clear turquoise waters--yes, they’re actually turquoise--that make you wonder if somebody somehow strapped Technicolor goggles on your peepers when you weren’t looking. Cradling the Banff valley are jutting peaks and ice-blue glaciers. Find an out-of-the-way trailhead, hike an hour or two, and you’ll end up feeling like you’re the only person on the planet.

If you read my entry on Friday of last week, you probably know that I’m on the road right now, working my way up through the Pacific Northwest to the Canadian Rockies with my girlfriend and a friend. Today we’re in Seattle, looking forward to shopping on Capitol Hill and watching fellow SF musicians Von Iva rock out at the Tractor Tavern.

But despite today’s tryst with this hip urban hub, our trip is actually 90% nature-focused. Last night, we pitched our tent on the Oregon Coast, then roasted veggie hot dogs and watched the sun set between tree-topped bluffs.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member Idler.

I’m not proud of it, but I’ve spent numerous vacations eating almost nothing but Del Taco bean and cheese burritos. I’ve also driven 14-hour shifts, been lost in freezing temperatures at 4am, and crashed at overpriced motels--only to wake up and find that I was just 10 miles from my destination.

In other words, I’ve been on my fair share of road trips, and I’ve got the scars to show it (emotional scars, I mean--you try living on refried beans for five days in strange places).

On Wednesday, American Airlines expanded its availability of in-flight Internet services, essentially granting everyone with a laptop, BlackBerry, or other Wi-Fi-enabled device the ability to stay plugged in once they hit the skies. Services are available for $12.95 per flight on Boeing 767-200 airplanes connecting New York with Los Angeles and San Francisco with Miami.

American isn’t the first airline to offer such services. JetBlue has been connecting passengers for free on its BetaBlue aircraft since December 2007, as has Air France on its Airbus A318 jets. Other international airlines such as Qantas in Australia and Dubai’s Emirates airlines offer similar services. Domestically, Delta, Southwest, and other airlines also have in-flight Wi-Fi programs in the works.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member rokiss.ch.

If you’re a sports fan, a news junkie, or basically not living under a rock, you’re probably aware that today marks the first day of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. And while I’ve never been one to catch Olympics fever (the odd assault or bribery scandal excepted, of course), I can’t help but notice how especially momentous this year’s proceedings have been.

Since 2001, when Beijing was awarded the honor of hosting the 2008 Summer Games, China has been going all out to make the Games an occasion to remember--so far with resounding success. A new stadium was constructed, the city’s subway system overhauled, and an ambitious torch relay route, one leg of which included the summit of Mt. Everest, proposed and executed.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member TwoIdiots.

Niche marketing can be a tough nut to crack. How do you forge a connection with one very particular slice of the population, yet avoid alienating the rest? What happens when you push some of your product’s lesser-known, less popular virtues--especially when they seem at odds with its better-known qualities?

Such is the dilemma of South Carolina, whose Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department (SCPRT) recently participated in an Out Now ad campaign focusing on purportedly “gay” destinations, including Las Vegas, Boston, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. The campaign featured ads with the tagline “South Carolina is so gay” posted in London tube stations--and has pulled the SCPRT into an international imbroglio.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member RoBoNC.

Picture this: You’re in New York snapping photos of the Empire State Building. Thinking it’d be nice to get a pic of yourself in front of this famous monument, you hand the camera to a passerby--and get back a nice shot of your feet. Then, you try holding the camera out at arm’s length, facing you--and get a blurry close-up of your nostrils instead.

Sound familiar? Sure, these silly, off-the-cuff pics can be fun, but when you get home and look at the results, they’re often a letdown. That’s why New York City Photo Shoot got started: so that instead of floundering around trying to get a halfway decent picture of yourself on your Big Apple getaway, you can just relax--and get some excellent ones.

Renowned for its gargantuan statues and mysterious 18th-century population implosion, Easter Island is possibly one of the most fascinating vacation destinations in the world. Each year, tens of thousands of tourists head to this remote island--an impressive statistic, considering it’s located over 2,000 miles from the coast of Chile (its governing country), and is only about three times the size of Manhattan.

The island’s allure, though, is proportionate to its mystery, and perhaps even further amplified by its extreme remoteness. Like Stonehenge and the Lost City of Atlantis, Easter Island is a symbol of the arcane. Everyone from anthropologists and amateur history buffs to supernatural and extraterrestrial enthusiasts seems to have a different theory as to why its once-thriving people built such huge, peculiar statues (known as Moai)--and then suddenly vanished.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member WAE.

Have you ever seen a sea turtle in the wild? Me neither. Although they’ve been around for tens of millions of years, sea turtle populations have dwindled rapidly since the 1600s, making the creatures among the world’s most critically endangered species. Their Caribbean population alone has declined by over 99%.

Although many causes of the decline, such as turtle hunting and harmful fishing techniques, have been curtailed over the past 50 years, sea turtle populations still struggle to regain earlier numbers. Even if you’re a nature lover, you could be negatively impacting their numbers: As human population and tourism have augmented, so has development in turtles’ traditional nesting areas. They have increasingly fewer places to lay their eggs.

Photo courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton, Cancun.