Deep in bluegrass country where horse-studded pastures alternate with woodsy hillsides and the only rest stop for miles around is at Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood home, there lies a string of historic bourbon distilleries open for tours. Last weekend, when I was in the region, I stopped in at two of them: Maker’s Mark and Woodford Reserve.

Despite the alcohol in the name, you don’t go to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail to get tipsy. First, there is a lot of driving involved on winding country lanes so a big bourbon buzz is a big no-no. Second, I know it’s a shocker (at least it was to me), but not all the distilleries give tastings. Third, a clear head is needed to navigate the rustic (and largely unmarked) backroads. But that’s part of the fun. Just when my friends and I thought we’d reached the middle of a beautiful nowhere, a sign popped up to show the way to the spirits.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member MilwVon.

It's kind of hard for me to come up with reasons why the end of summer is a good thing. I mean even though it's been a looong time since summer meant no homework, extra ice cream and extra long days with friends -- I still cherish my summers. Maybe it's because it means longer weekends, more visits with friends and family, and the summer vacation. But for me summer also means crowded business travel times, swelling and sweltering planes and lots and lots of delays. This summer travel has been no picnic.

So I guess this year as summer begins to wind down and I look toward Labor Day and the start of the Fall travel season in earnest I'm a little excited. For one thing, I'm starting to see prices come down -- at least on domestic travel. (And that could mean really good news for all of us leisure travelers when it comes to holiday ticket buying.) But it also means as so many families return to schools the jetways will be less crowded, the airports will be calmer, the skies will hopefully have fewer storms and traveling will be, in a word, easier.

Ahhh, the end of summer. Sometimes it is a good thing.

For 28 years of my life, I never thought twice about Hawaii. When you grow up in Florida in a town like Panama City whose official motto is “The World’s Most Beautiful Beaches,” you don’t find yourself pining for a trip to the Aloha State. But a year ago, I moved to the Bay Area and I began to wonder if I had been missing out on one of life’s most essential experiences, like reading a book or, I don’t know, breathing air. You see, you’re not truly a San Franciscan until you 1) have a bay window 2) learn to rhapsodize about In-N-Out and 3) fall head over heels for Hawaii and talk about it exclusively in hyperbole.

Having lived in eight different countries before reaching double digits, and with family now spread out across the globe, I've taken my fair share of international flights. They're long and they're boring, but they don't have to be unbearable. Here's a few things I've found that help:

* While business and first class usually give you an amenity kit for the flight, good old coach doesn't do it anymore---and if you're like me, you'll likely be flying coach. No matter! Just pack your own amenity kit; I usually just find an old toiletry bag and fill it with an eye mask, a pair of earplugs, some Evian spray, a lip balm, antibacterial hand cleaner, a few Advils, some Wet Ones for freshening your face after a sub-par sleep, and a moisturizer. That way, you've got everything you could possibly need for your comfort all in one place, and don't have to go rooting around in your bag for that Chapstick every few hours.

I was smitten, and all it took was a single glance down Deadwood, South Dakota’s Main Street. Paved with brick and lined with turn-of-the-century street lamps, the street curves its way through gently refurbished saloons, hotels and general stores that date back to the Gold Rush days of the late 1800s.

Surrounded by the Black Hills, the entire town of Deadwood is a National Historic Landmark and is probably as close to a Wild West town as you’ll get these days.

Photo Courtesy of Deadwood Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau.

This past Saturday afternoon, as I stood in the sunlight soaking wet from a flume ride and nibbling on a pickle on a stick, a bearded man asked me in all earnestness if I wanted to learn about lye soap. Bluegrass music emanated from a nearby rock. To my right, bald eagles rested on a branch. To my left, a woman in period dress stood in line to buy a pork rind while the man paying in front of her was holding onto a kid on a leash and wearing a t-shirt that read “get high on Jesus.”

This was my first visit to Dollywood, which is part amusement park, part celebration of Smoky Mountain culture, and part rollicking country fair. It was day three of a whirlwind road trip through the region, and my friends and I would be staying that night in the Tennessee town of Pigeon Forge, where it quickly became clear that the backwoods are back in style and it’s hot to be a hillbilly.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member Alan63.

Growing up in New York City, I’m fully aware of its reputation for excess, including choking traffic and A/C-dependent office buildings. More and more in my travels, I’ve taken notice of some companies going green by, say, switching to wind power. It is especially nice to know—particularly for a beer nut like me—that the first NYC company to do so was a brewery. Located in Williamsburg, the Brooklyn Brewery prides itself on its sustainable energy source almost as much as it does its delicious craft brews.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member shaunandtrish.

Now, personally, I'm not the type of girl to spend $250 on a hotel room when I go on vacation. No siree---not when I could be spending that sort of money on food or souvenirs or (in the case of my recent three-month jaunt around Southeast Asia) two months worth of local beer. (And we're talking several a day. Every day. Honestly, in Beijing, it was only a quarter!)

But if you are looking to drop the mad cash when you travel abroad, you might like to know that the Peninsula Bangkok has been voted the world's best hotel for USD$250 or less in a reader survey conducted by Travel + Leisure magazine.

I can't, of course, vouch for its excellence, as I stayed in an $8-a-night flophouse with a shared bathroom in the backpacker mecca of Khao San Road the last time I was in Bangkok. But since the Peninsula beat out the prestigious Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge in Gold Beach, Oregon and the Post Hotel & Spa in Lake Louise, Alberta--which came in at second and third place respectively--we'll just have to go ahead and assume that it's pretty darn fancy.

After all, I'm fairly sure you get your own toilet there. Which is more than I can say for where I stayed.

Ah, the Great Outdoors. There’s nothing like lying in a tent at night listening to the final crackles of the fire, the occasional owl hoot, and the far-off coyote call. Even better is letting the songbirds wake you up in the morning, the rustle of the chipmunks in the trees, and, umm. What is that annoying tapping sound?

I’m talking about the sound of the gal in the tent next door. The gal who is furiously tapping on her keyboard thanks to the glory of wi-fi access, which according to the Associated Press, is becoming more and more common in campgrounds each year.

USA Today features an article today about the dissappearing sands of some small Micronesian Islands.

This depresses me. And not just because I've not yet been to visit the islands and atolls. It makes me think of the same scenario happening on Fire Island, one of my favorite places in all the world, as well as Nantucket and barrier islands around the world. It all brings home this issue that I've been wrestling with lately which is -- if you accept that globabl warming is occuring (which I do), then you must accept that there are things each of us can do. And we can't wait for someone else to get started. Each one of us has to try and stop how fast global warming happens.

I’m torn. Austin or San Francisco?

Travel+Leisure magazine asks travelers to rank America’s favorite cities in a poll that features 25 of the countries best destinations. Some of my personal favorites made the ballot – Charleston, New Orleans, New York, Austin and San Francisco – but my vote for number one came down to two inspiring cities that are actually very similar to one another.

Both Austin and San Francisco have a hip and funky vibe, but the similarities that stand out to me are their live music hot spots, love of food and outdoor pursuits. Growing up in Texas, Austin has always been one of my favorite weekend getaways. It’s a haven for music junkies and bar flies with blocks and blocks of local pubs, Mexican food joints and live music dives. Similarly, SF (my new home) boasts a bar on every block, worldly cuisine and iconic music venues.

With these two cities on the list, I’m struggling to cast my vote (maybe I’ll just cheat and vote for both!). What’s your favorite American city?

Of all the things that, ahem, stink about air travel, the bathrooms are surely one of the worst. Little more than glorified closets, they're tiny, smelly, likely to encourage claustrophobia, and usually--at least by the end of the flight--sporting suspicious-looking sprinklings on both floor and seat. It's enough to make a passenger cross her legs and hope for the best.

Guess who’s having the best week ever? You are, if, like me, you’re a Harry Potter fan. The fifth Potter movie opens today, and my pre-ordered copy of the final book will arrive on July 21.

I don’t care as much for the witches and warlocks as I do the backdrops: the sky-high Gothic halls of Hogwarts School, the haunting (sometimes talking) landscapes, the oh-so-British town of Hogsmeade (specifically, the butterbeer served there). And like any determined traveler, I won’t let the fact that these places are fictional stop me from visiting them.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member Glamazon22.

Like a crushed beauty queen, the Statue of Liberty was relegated to the runner’s-up lounge to weep with the Easter Island statues after the “new” seven wonders of the world were revealed over the weekend. Read the winner’s list, though, and you’ll see she had some tough competition. Edged out by the likes of the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan, and Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer, she really has nothing to be ashamed of.

Although I’ve been to a lot of wondrous places, I’ve been to only three that made the list: the Roman Coliseum, Chichén Itzá, and, most recently, Machu Picchu.

It’s hard to say those three little words. You may have been friends for years, or perhaps you’ve only just met. You might be constant companions, eating meals together, going to parties together, and spending rainy Sunday afternoons side by side. You may have even met each other’s families or shared a holiday together. But it’s those three little words that truly put your friendship to the test: “Let’s travel together.”

Watch one episode of The Amazing Race, and you’ll see how interpersonal dynamics can affect a trip. Of course, most of my trips don’t involve racing other travelers to shovel two pounds of caviar into my mouth or corral a herd of unruly cattle, but I’ve weathered my fair share of travel drama.

If awards were handed out for the most pretentious phrases ever uttered, I would surely win for this little gem, which--to my horror--I found myself saying the other day: "We tried a lot of food when we were traveling, but Khmer food was our favorite."

There's so much to work with there--the "when we were traveling" refrain beloved of boring backpackers who corner you at a party and start telling you about their adventures, the reference to a fairly obscure cuisine from a country fraught with political turmoil, the ghastly use of "we" rather than "I"--but the bottom line is that it's entirely true. Cambodian food, quite frankly, rocks.

As far as holidays are concerned, the Fourth of July ranks up there with Halloween and my birthday. (Basically, I like anything that involves parties or presents.) So today is a big day for me, especially since it’s my first year to spend the 4th in my new hometown of San Francisco. Heck, I even bought a new outfit!

For San Franciscans, the Fourth can be either the best celebration on earth or a complete and total flop, depending on whether or not the fog rolls in to block your view of the fireworks. I’ll be spending my night at a party in Fort Mason, watching a few bands and celebrating the 4th in style. (And by that, I mean that I got a really cute outfit!) With a view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the East Bay, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a clear night and a good view.

When the rockets red glare this July 4, where will you be celebrating?

Photo Courtesy of IgoUgo member mtemail.

Growing up “inside the beltway” made me a shameless Fourth of July snob. I thought nothing in the U.S.A. could possibly compare to the Nation’s Capital celebration, and each year, I’d put on my best red, white, and blue outfit for the occasion. Over picnic punch and popsicles, I’d commune with the D.C. monuments on the Mall waiting for the moment when that first star would rise above the “big pencil” to usher in the mother ship of Independence Day fireworks shows.

And then, one Independence Day I found myself in a car on the Big Island of Hawaii, my dad at the wheel. We were racing to a fireworks show by the beach and were too late to make it—I could hear that telltale rumble-pop. So my dad pulled over, and we discovered that if we went about mid-way through an adjacent pineapple field, we could see the show. Although it wasn’t what we had planned, it was absolutely perfect, and I realized it was indeed possible to get my patriotic pulse a’racing outside The District.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member BawBaw.

Over the past several years dining has gone from something travelers do on vacation to something they vacation to do. The travel industry is expanding programs and offerings catered specifically to these consumers, such as culinary tours through Spain, Italy, Mexico and Napa Valley. Resorts around the globe also have created culinary-friendly options for guests and locals through on-site cooking schools offering half-day and full-day cooking classes. From gourmet tequila tasting classes in Mexico to drive-by tastings on the Vermont Cheese Trail, consumers traveling to please their bellies in 2007 have a wide variety of options.

The biggest and most obvious sign of this food trend is the explosion of farmers markets. Today it is difficult to visit any city, town or region that does not have a version of a regular market. In rural settings, farmers markets are often held weekly or twice weekly and recently began expanding their season into ‘winter farmers markets.