Share Your Travel Tips

Got a favorite travel tip you want to share? A "secret" spot you'd like to recommend? Or some killer travel deal you heard about? Let the Travel Coach readers know all about it by posting it on my handy-dandy Travel Tips Forum. Best of all, you don't even have to register or share any personal information to post! Check it out today.

Cool Trip Idea #1: Firetower Rentals

Welcome to "Cool Trip Ideas", my special ongoing series about trips I think sound, well, COOL. First cool idea: Firetower Rentals. I've had this idea for quite some time, but it was just featured in the SF Chronicle and VIA magazine, so I guess it's not that "secret" of an idea after all. Run by the U.S. Forest Service, this program lets you rent unused fire-spotting towers in forests throughout the U.S. These towers (and cabins) are very rustic and usually in very remote locations, so they're not for finicky, room-service-loving type of travelers. But if you're looking for someplace quiet with no distractions, a firetower might just be for you. Reserving a firetower can be challenging. Reservations for the entire coming year open up on January 1, so you gotta do a little advance planning. This year, I forgot to make a reservation until nearly February, and I was SOL. Ah well, maybe I'll have better luck in 2006. For information on booking firetowers and cabins, click here.

Travel Bargains in your Email Box

I know, you're a very busy (and important!) person. One who certainly doesn't have time to surf all the travel websites looking for all those great travel bargains. So why not let them come to you...right to your personal email box? There are many, many of these services you can subscribe to, but here are a few of my personal favorites. Deal Alert from Smarter Travel delivers a broad selection of the week's best travel deals and advice, including airfare sales, hotel specials, car rental discounts, and vacation packages. These offerings are tailored to your specific locale, so you know the deals will always be ones you can take advantage of. The TravelZoo Top 20 is another of my absolute faves. Delivered on Wednesdays (with periodic special News Flashes at other times), the Top 20 are the hottest of the hot when it comes to travel deals. Snatch 'em up before they're gone. The Top Picks email from Site 59 will send you a weekly list of great deals for the next two weekends. Just provide your email address, name, zip code and preferred departure city. They're sent on Tuesdays -- just in time to getaway for the weekend! Of course, if you really want to get fancy, be sure to sign up for the Specials emails from any of the airlines where you have a frequent flyer number. Some of their deals can be amazing as well. Then just sit back and let the deals come to you.

Flying Around Europe on the Cheap

Back in the good ol' days of nationalized air carriers in Europe, flying from city to city within Europe was really expensive. Really, REALLY expensive. And that's one of the reasons you see so many backpack-toting students riding trains throughout Europe, clutching their Eurail passes to their chests. But while rail passes are still a great way to make short hops between (relatively) close cities in Europe, many cut-rate airlines have now popped up all over the continent. Start by checking here to see which low-cost airlines fly your particular route. I think you'll find most prices to be really cheap. Really, REALLY cheap.

For instance, a friend will be in Paris this summer on business, but then needs to get himself to Barcelona to begin a cruise. Sure, he could take an 11-hour overnight train ride, but he didn't want to waste precious vacation time. A quick check of the usual travel sites came up with an airfare of $750 one way (see, I told you it was really expensive). Enter EasyJet, a London-based carrier that flies all over Europe. Bingo, they offered a nonstop Paris to Barcelona flight on the day he wanted to fly. The cost? $70!! Vueling (a Spanish airline) came in even cheaper ($55!) and offered two nonstops a day.

Depending on your specific trip, there are many other intra-Europe airline sites you can check, including RyanAir, AppleFares, EuropeByAir and the new Dohop (get it?). With prices this low, you can now afford to check out more far-flung spots in Europe than ever.

p.s. To find low-priced airlines worldwide, check out this VERY useful site