I’m a sucker for spokesanimals (I’m not sure there’s anyone who loves the Frontier Airlines crew as much as I do), so I was excited to hear that the gorillas of Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park have started Tweeting and Facebooking their way to conservation funds. (Those opposable thumbs sure have come in handy!)

Check out the new Friend a Gorilla website and its Twitter and Facebook pages; the team behind them will be adding new features (like geo-tracking gorilla families) soon.

Saturday, September 26: Dawn was breaking over the island of Oahu, the birds were waking up to sing, the faint scent of plumeria was in the air, and the colors were seeping back into the world after a starry night. I was staring at a replica of a mini volcano on wheels, festooned with flowers. “What is it,” I asked. The answer? A pooper scooper receptacle, but of course.

Late last week, several major airlines quietly (well, they tried to do it quietly, but it didn't work) added a $10 surcharge for flights November 29 and January 2 and 3. That's the Sunday after Thanksgiving and the days when many travelers are returning from Christmas and New Year's trips. In other words, three of the busiest travel days of the year. Will they add the surcharge to more dates? My guess is yes, and soon.

Hotel gyms run the gamut from sparkling to shoddy, and it's not always easy to know what you're getting into. One hotel might define "fitness center" as a muscled Olympian palace, while another interprets it as a humid single-machine cell. One offers a pool and personal trainers, while another won't even throw in a towel. So how do you cope with the disparities? And what if there's no gym at all?

Your best bet is to build an exercise routine that doesn't involve a gym (or a hundred-pound suitcase). Work with the room around you and try these adaptations of standard gym exercises next time you're on the road. And don't worry--you don't need to be an Olympic lifter to pull them off:

Even if the economy is doing a little better, times are still very tough. We've all got stories about how this recession has affected us and many of us are still recovering from being laid off. And if you're anything like me, the only thing that helps you re-focus on what's really important when times are tough is helping others in need.

If you've ever wanted to take a volunteer vacation, you should apply for a $5,000 Change Ambassador grant from Travelocity's Travel for Good program. The deadline for applications is September 30th and we choose two deserving do-gooders a quarter.

So airline travel certainly ain't all sunshine and roses lately, there's no denying that, but it could be about to get a whole lot worse.

No, I'm not talking about baggage fees or tarmac strandings or having to pay for food on board. I'm talking about an entirely new level of airline hell: having to sit face-to-face with your fellow passengers in long rows down the plane. Picture a subway car in the sky, cramped and awkward. Now picture the passenger opposite you eating a messy egg salad sandwich or nursing a bad cold (achooo!), or even just staring at you creepily while you bury yourself in a copy of Us Weekly. Sounds fun, right? About as fun as a root canal, I'd say.

It’s hard to pick a highlight from my recent trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina—from the second I crossed into the country from eastern Croatia, it was clear this place was different.

It’s true that buildings were pockmarked from mortar attacks of the last decade, Cyrillic road signs were sprayed with the political graffiti of a rival alphabet, and towns were crumbling down beneath still-towering minarets.

But green hills and golden fields also greeted us, and people could not have been more welcoming, as my friends and I quickly discovered when we rolled up to a toll with no local currency and were allowed to pay in Hungarian forint and nervous laughs.

Maybe it’s because the state of the current economy has everyone cutting back. Maybe it’s because there were three fee-free weekends this summer. Or, maybe it’s that the fever pitch of endless news streams and twitter feeds has people looking to get back to the basics, but U.S. National Parks are on par for their most-visited year ever.

Forgive me because I’m about to state something obvious, but to me it bears mentioning in thanks: America’s had a lot of great ideas over its history, but establishing its national parks is up there among the best of them. I’ve been to parks all over the country, and to say the landscapes these parks protect is spectacular is an understatement. These landscapes are stunners, they’re mouth-openers, they shake you up and turn your brain inside-out, they remind you that the world is as weird as it is wonderful, they get into your dreams and stay there, and they comfort you during indoorsy, work-filled days.

Just this morning, I said bye to my Mom, Gram and a close family friend, who all came to San Francisco for a five-night visit. The length of their visit is very significant to my point of this blog, which is simply that they overpacked. Big time. Each arrived with a large suitcase (one weighed in at 61 pounds), a carry-on duffel and a purse. Between the three of them, I'm pretty sure we could have opened a beauty supply store that would put Sally's out of business. Among their items were various hair apparatuses, Febreeze, air freshener and an electrical make-up mirror with lights.

Yes, you read that right, an electrical make-up mirror with lights.

Jim: Dwight, if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Dwight: I can travel anywhere, except Cuba, and I will travel to New Zealand and walk the Lord of the Rings trail to Mordor and I will hike Mount Doom.

Even though Dwight may dream of traveling down under to bond with his Hobbit friends, there are plenty of sights to see right in his own backyard. In honor of The Office being back, I thought I'd do a round-up of the must-see (cough, cough) sights of the greater Scranton area.

(Image)

In San Francisco, we experience two seasons: pretty nice and not-as-nice. In fact, if I never left this city, I would be led to believe that our global climate was a moderate one, void of extremes, surprises or change of any kind. I'm quite fond of change, and I miss the about-face that Mother Nature commands every few months, which is why the traveler in me makes it a point to get out of San Francisco when each season calls.

Having already begun research on an easy fall getaway from the Bay Area, a request from a local TV show further fueled my motivation to get out of the city and off the beaten path. I was invited to be a guest on ABC's View from the Bay to talk about destinations where travelers can experience nature's vibrant display of changing leaves. (See video from the show below.) The show had just one request; they wanted to highlight fall foliage destinations not in the Northeast.

The Associated Press is officially denouncing this hurricane season as a “dud.” In my opinion, it’s been exactly the opposite. As far as I’m concerned, no news is good news when it comes to hurricanes, and this year, there has been delightfully little hurricane-related news to report.

What's going on with travel prices? What is "shoulder season" anyway? Where are fall's best travel deals? If these questions have been keeping you up at night, this video should help.

I was asked to appear on NBC's TODAY show last week to answer these questions and more. Rather than read what transpired, I suggest you sit back, relax, and get inspired (I hope!) to take a vacation this fall.

My first visit to Monterey was as a kid. My parents had packed up the crew, ironed out a roadmap (oh, the pre-GPS days), and driven up from Los Angeles to the chilly seaside city in one long shot. All I remember from that trip is the heavy, salty air and the slippery bat rays mooning around in their water enclosure--but even so, those memories managed to stick.

When I went to Monterey this past weekend, it was a much shorter drive in much warmer weather, but the childhood excitement was still there. After a struggle with parking (check ahead for open garages, wise travelers!), we were out of the air conditioning and into the bone-warming sunshine of Cannery Row, where about a hundred seafood restaurants and ice cream parlors flank the sprawling mass of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Today our nation mourns. As someone living on the West Coast, I'm never sure how to deal with my feelings about 9/11. Like everyone, I'm sure, I remember where I was when I heard the news. I was starting grad school in Baltimore and it was the first day of classes. I didn't know a soul in the city and they canceled school for a week. I went home to grieve alone.

I did not personally know anyone who died on 9/11 and yet it haunts me. It was the day the rules as we knew them changed, the day that nothing would ever be the same again.

The following year, I moved to New York City. 9/11 is different there. I remember walking to the subway on the first anniversary of that horrible day and seeing a man clutching a picture of a woman, openly weeping on the streets of Brooklyn.

Afraid of rats and spiders? Heights or flights make you quiver? Travel in general will open your mind, but certain experiences can also banish your fears—provided you’re up for a challenge. Here are 14 places made for helping you confront your worst nightmares, head on.

1. If you have a fear of bridges, drive France’s Millau Viaduct.
The world’s highest bridge rises to greater heights than the Eiffel Tower, and if you can conquer it, you can drive any span. Unless you’re very brave, however, you may want to schedule your first traverse in the off-season to avoid sitting in traffic at 900 feet.

Deal alert: If you've been thinking about taking a volunteer vacation, there's almost never been a better time to book. Globe Aware is offering 15% off trips booked before October 12, 2009 and completed by November 20, 2010. How are they doing this? The devoted employees at Globe Aware are donating hours so the organization can pass along savings to you!

Choose from volunteer vacations to Peru, Costa Rica, Thailand, Brazil, Romania, Jamaica, China, and more! Plus, don't forget that the program fee and airfare are 100% tax deductible for U.S. and Canadian citizens.

So let's recap the deal. You get:

1) Warm fuzzies from helping people in need around the world

2) 15% off your volunteer vacation program fee

3) An awesome tax write-off

Hello chaps, it's the Roaming Gnome here!

You might have seen me on the television recently---if so, I'd like you to know that the camera really does add ten pounds. I'm that loveable travel scamp who's always roaming the world and finding smashing deals for people like you. Remember me? The pointy red hat should jog your memory.

Anyway, the editors of this fine blog, The Window Seat, have been terrific sports and are letting me pop in here to write a guest post about my summer vacation. You may have heard, you see, that I spent the summer gallivanting about the country, relying on America to vote where I should travel next, and updating my Facebook page and Twitter feed from each destination. Here are my seven favorite moments from the trip.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation by the Roaming Gnome

1. Got a tattoo in Chicago. Gosh, was that ouchy!

Does being on a strict diet hold you back from truly experiencing another culture? It’s a good question, and--as a vegetarian--it’s one that’s been dogging me on my travels as of late.    On his Travel Channel show No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain’s philosophy maintains that digging fork or fingers first into the local cuisine is the best way to understand what a place is all about.