The Dollars and Sense blog at SFGate has a great post on how you can donate frequent flyer miles to charity. The airlines included on the list are Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air, American Airlines, Continental, Delta, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian, United Airlines/United Express and US Airways.

No info on Southwest, our favorite airline.

What to do with those miles you can’t use [Dollars & Sense]

A few years ago, Martha and I went to Lake Tahoe with her parents, uncle, grandmother and great aunt. We wrote about the trip but never published it, here is a post about that trip:

Our Lake Tahoe trip started with a ridiculously early departure from Baltimore Washington International Airport at around 7am, which meant we woke up at 4:30ish so we could grab some breakfast, leave at around 5:15, and get ourselves to the airport around 5:45. We had a layover in Las Vegas and both legs of the flight were packed and uneventful. The only thing of interest was that Southwest managed to send one of our bags, of five, to Orlando, then to Oakland, and then to Reno. Luckily it was only a hiking backpack with our camping gear that we’d only use on our overnight hike five days later.

The drive from Reno to Lake Tahoe, all of two hours, was through mostly desert, flat, and entirely unthrilling whatsoever. We did pass through Carson City, the stuff of westerns, and it was funny to see slot machines in laundromats and dumpy motels. To get up to the cabin itself, we had to take one lane roads on the side of a mountain abutting Lake Tahoe. During the day it gets a little tight getting by SUVs and Hummers towing boats but otherwise it’s a pretty scenic drive and I’m glad to take it slow through the area. The cabin itself is a little four room spot that has a very rustic feel to it. It has a great view, though somewhat obstructed by some Jeffrey pine trees, of Fallen Leaf Lake. It’s amazing out here, the air is so clear you can see for miles and the water is so clean you almost want to drink from it (but don’t, it’s got little buggies in it).

We’re close to seven thousand feet or so from sea level, the air is somewhat thinner but you wouldn’t be able to tell outside of being somewhat lethargic. They say that it takes a few days to acclimate yourself to the altitude but you don’t feel it unless you’re hiking. If you ever have the opportunity to come out here, take it, take it quick.

The first night, despite being somewhat tired, tried to make a hike to Lily Lake though Martha’s memory betrayed her and we got ourselves lost. We did see some wonderful waterfalls and their white cascades, the same waterfalls we could hear as we slept. After that detour, we ventured down through the one-lane wilderness and drove about half an hour to the casinos in Nevada. The drive down at night is much easier since the headlights of cars slice through the darkness giving fair warning about any oncoming cars, a pleasant change from turning blind corners hoping there wasn’t a biker or car riding faster than reasonable. On the way to the casinos, we pass through the shops of Heavenly Ski resort (it’s interesting seeing the brown bare ski lanes on the mountain) chock full of folks despite it being the end of July. Harrahs was filled with the usual suspects of scantily clad cocktail waitresses, dealers, and girls looking to pick up some sad rich fool.

The second day saw the first real hike of the trip as we drove to Lily Lake and hiked our way to Grass Lake, which was about two miles away. The scenery of the hike was stunning, we could see mountains for miles through crystal clear air, and everytime we passed by any sort of stream it was a wonder how it managed to remain so clean. In such an arid climate, there is hardly any grass on the ground, it’s mostly hard rock and some dry dead grasses. The trees are mostly hardy pines with enormous pinecones.. We’re talking pinecones that are larger than my hand and the sweet smelling sap permeates the air at almost every step. On our hike we saw a Soda Spring, which apparently was all the rage back in the horse and buggy era, but I took a sip and it tasted awful. It was supposedly full of minerals and all sorts of good stuff but I could live quite happily not taking another sip of that stuff.

The hike itself tiring in part because we only brought one Nalgene bottle of water, a mistake, and we weren’t used to the altitude (the hike itself took us up another 700 feet). We had to cross some fast moving creeks and even cross over a log or two before we made it to Grass Lake. Again, like everything else out here, the work was well worth it. The water itself was quite cold, especially after hiking in the sun, and it took a little while before we were brave enough to dive right in. Once in though, it felt great to float around in such a beautiful body of water. We looked towards the mountains and even saw another waterfall in the distance. After floating around for maybe fifteen minutes, we began our trek back. The hike back, which was mostly downhill, felt ten times easier than the hike up – the fact that the sun was setting likely helped as well.

Back at Lily Lake, we missed our ride back to the cabin so we took some back trails through other people’s property (happens all the time, no one cares if you trample down their rocks) which we wanted to take the first night (when we found ourselves lost near sunset). We took a few wrong turns but managed to find our way back in about ten minutes, much faster than I expected. After hiking all day were starving and devoured the spaghetti dinner that Martha’s family had prepared for everyone. Then we devoured some ice cream afterwards, our just reward for a roughly 4 hour round trip hike through Desolation Wilderness.

Day two was a relaxing day, we drove down to Zephyr Bay where we took the MS Dixie II to Emerald Bay. The two and a half hour round trip cruise featured a buffet lunch that was mostly cold cuts, some chowder, and cheesecake dessert. The cruise traversed part of Lake Tahoe and took us to Emerald Bay, home of a Viking castle/ville and a little lightly fortified “tower.” Cruising the lake was incredible because the water was so blue, the mountains so high, and the air so crisp and clear. The one thing that amazes me is the clarity of the water, the regulations here are quite strict but definitely worth it.

Earlier this month, The New York Times published a list of thirty one places you should try to visit in 2010. Along with the listing of places, they devote several paragraphs to each, explaining why it would be a great destination and any recent changes that might pique your interest.

For example, the 29th location, Gargano, Italy, is cited as a picturesque location that lacks the crowds of Amalfi and Cinque Terre, one of our favorite destinations.

Here’s what they had to say about Gargano:

Far from the madding crowds of Amalfi and Cinque Terre, the Italian peninsula of Gargano sits on the Adriatic and boasts a checklist of summer-perfect Italian holiday options. The offerings are largely a part of the protected Gargano National Park, a swath of terrain encompassing everything from the oak and beech Foresta Umbra to the sheer chalk-colored cliffs and grottoes of the coast’s Caribbean-clear waters to the postcard-worthy whitewashed villages that hug the sea. Twelve nautical miles offshore, accessible by boat and hydrofoil, are the Tremiti Islands, specks of land surrounded by a wealth of sea life and a marine reserve of their own.

Looking for Romanesque churches and seaside fisherman’s restaurants? Try Peschici and Vieste, larger than fishing villages but cozier than cities, with white walls and medieval centers. How about mountain hiking? Check. Gargano also offers the rarest of luxuries: fabulous food and lodging on the cheap — campsites offer space for mere pocket change, while hotel rooms can be had for 30 to 60 euros a night ($42 to $84 at $1.40 to the euro) in Peschici. If saving on food is wallet-friendly enough, pay a bit more than 100 euros and stay at the Chiusa delle More (www.lachiusadellemore.it), a 16th-century farmhouse in the national park but still only yards from the sea. Meals are locavore, Gargano style, incorporating the farm’s own vegetables and eggs. — Sarah Wildman

And there are thirty more places on the list… better get started on them!

Whenever we go on vacation, we’re always looking to save a few dollars whenever we can. We will enjoy everything we want to enjoy, but on the other things we’ll try to minimize cost as much as possible. That’s why we bought International Student Identification Cards (ISIC) to get student prices at attractions and why we bought a Eurail pass to get our train tickets slightly cheaper.

One place we also tried to save money was in our lodging. Our logic was that we could stay at slightly more affordable, slightly inferior, places a few nights during our trip as long as we stayed in comfortable places the other times. Since we weren’t spending a lot of time in our rooms, it didn’t make much sense to pay top dollar for a bed for seven or eight hours.

That’s when we started considering youth hostels, known throughout the world as a very inexpensive way to sleep. Whenever you think of college students backpacking throughout Europe on the cheap, the first thing that comes to mind are youth hostels. However, hostels aren’t always the most affordable option, especially if you’re a couple and are seeking out a double occupancy room.

For example, there is a well known youth hostel in Bacharach called Jugendherberge Stahleck. It’s 500 feet up from the city, accessible by stone stairs, and offers a fantastic view of the Rhine (we went up to check it out and enjoy a bottle of Reisling). It was about 20 euroes a person. Overall, it would’ve been a great deal had we been able to get their website to work right (Rick Steves’ has a lot of great things to say about them). Even so, at around forty euros, a 20 minute climb with our stuff, and no dinner, the option we chose wasn’t too shabby.

The View from Berg Stahlek!

So, is breakfast for two, skipping a 500 foot climb, and knowing you could stay in a double room that night worth the 25 euros? For us, yes, but I know that if we were still in college we would’ve done the climb, skipped breakfast, and used the 25 euros elsewhere.

One other benefit of staying in Hotel am Markt, located at sea level, was that we could eat at a restaurant (we ended up eating pasta there anyway) and enjoy some Reisling ice cream without having to decide whether or not we wanted to climb up and down the mountain!

In the Las Vegas episode of Man V. Food, Adam stops by the Hash House A Go Go in Las Vegas to show off some of their delights. I had no idea, and only knew because of the food, that I had been to a Hash House before in San Diego!

I was in San Diego for a conference and my friend Nate recommended that we go to Hash House (I didn’t know the rest of the name) for breakfast because it was one of his favorites in San Diego. While he lives in Missouri, the city of his dreams is San Diego and he’s been more times than he can count. When he recommends something in SD, I listen.

So we made a stop right before our flights home and made a point to get there early because Nate said the place gets packed very quickly. I think we got there just as it opened, just to make sure we’d have enough time to enjoy and make it to our flights.

I ordered the house hash – Roasted Chicken, garlic, onions, asparagus and rosemary. It was absolutely delicious. If you ask Martha, she’ll tell you that I’m not a breakfast person and she’s right… I’m not. However, hash is different and the Hash House’s hash is really different. My hash? Honest to goodness roasted chicken pulled from the bone. It smelled delicious (how couldn’t it? it had garlic, onions, and rosemary!) and tasted even better. I was hungry and I didn’t even come close to finishing it. At one point I was sad because if I wasn’t jumping on a plane, I’d totally take it home with me to enjoy for the next three days.

I forget what Nate ordered but we also ordered Apple Cinnamon flapjacks. The thing was enormous and has whole pieces of apple in it. Entire slices of apple. The food was about as good as you can get and now that I know there is one in Vegas as well, I’m going to make a point to visiting the next time I’m there.

(Photo: Hash House A Go Go)

When 411 directory assistance first started, it only cost like thirty-five cents. In the years since then, the price of 411 directory assistance has jumped to several dollars a call. It’s absolutely absurd, especially in an age when we have internet on our phones. However, if you’re in a bind or don’t have an internet enabled phone (or at least one that is easy to use), you can always use Free411.

Free411 is a free 411 directory assistance service that is paid for by advertisers. You call them at 1-800-FREE-411, listen to a ten second ad, then ask an automated system for the phone number to a person or business. I’ve never used it because my phone as web access but it sounds like a pretty good system, if you don’t mind struggling a bit with the automated voice systems (though I read that it goes to a human being if there are problems).

Another option is Google’s free 411 service at 1-800-Goog-411 which appears to have no advertisements whatsoever. Here’s a video demonstration of Goog-411:

Paying a few bucks for 411 is a thing of the past.

If you’re looking to save a little money on your next vacation by turning it into a staycation, or just looking for a few ideas for a short weekend fun, consider doing vacation research on your home town! We always know to check sites like TripAdvisor whenever we are going somewhere else, but we never thought to use it and other travel resources on our own hometown.

Unfortunately for us, the list of Things to Do in Columbia is pretty bare, only one listing, but that’s because we’re not picking a large enough geographic area. Instead, we broadened it to the whole of Maryland. We figured we’d get the whole list and figure out where everything was! Maryland as 537 Things to Do.

Even better, there are thousands of places to eat.

The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand and Nomadic Matt, currently traveling there, treats us to a video from a cultural show in the area. In this particular video, you can catch a glimpse of Maori life but much else. I’ve always found that cultural shows like this are a great place start, but you don’t usually get the full flavor – just the sizzle. This is because most people go for more entertainment than education, but I still think the video is fascinating to watch.

Cool huh? One place my wife and I would love to travel is Australia and New Zealand, perhaps sometime in the near future!

Katie at Vagabonding offered up a few tactics to combat post-trip blues including returning to a routine as quickly as possible, write about the trip, and planning the next one immediately.

Personally, I find that documenting the trip is one of the best ways to combat post-trip blues because not only does it give you the opportunity to relive your experiences, you aren’t left idling. One of the motivations for starting Wanderlust Journey was to combat the post-trip blues after our month-long vacation to Europe. After a solid month of travel and seeing new things everyday, it can be a little sad not to wake up to that feeling of “hmmm, what will we get to do today?”

However, by documenting the trip and documenting the planning and preparation for the next trip, you still get to the enjoy past travels and future potential travels!

You know what I love the most about eating food in another country? It’s not that you get to taste the most authentic and delicious of food, you certainly do, but it’s the fact that you don’t have anything specific to do afterwards. There’s no rush to get the bill after you’ve eaten, there’s no rush to get your food quickly (unless you’re really hungry), it’s just a very leisurely and relaxing process. You enjoy a bite of food, enjoy some wine, and then you repeat. No schedules, no pressures… just relaxation.

Our first slice of pizza in Italy was from a little pizza joint named Pizza da Ercole, or pizza from Ercole. It was located in Vernazza, where we stayed at the Albergo Barbara. Not being a student of Italian geography, I can only guess that Ercole refers to Port Ercole in Monte Argentario. Monte Argentario isn’t too far away from Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is in the Italian Riviera, which neighbors the Tuscany region, where Monte Argentario is located.

We enjoyed a nice prosciutto, mushroom, buffallo mozzarella and tomato sauce pizza. Mmmmmmm…

And the pizza was delicious… there’s something about the freshness of ingredients that really makes food sing in Italy.

Don’t I look so relaxed?