2003: Despite world’s cares, the road still beckoned

SIPPING new wine with a French oyster farmer, rubbing elbows with “Star Trek” devotees at the annual Trek Fest in the Iowa town that bills itself as “the future birthplace of Capt. James Kirk” and visiting remote islands of the Marquesas on a passenger freighter in the South Pacific -- it was all in a year’s work.

I’d been lucky enough to see much of the world as a tourist. Then, about a year ago, I became a travel writer, a dream gig for a born nomad.

In the past year I visited China (just pre-SARS) and would go back in a skinny minute. I’ve been to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; and to Prague, Czech Republic, and Croatia, the latter destinations while Europe was in the grip of a heat wave.

In Europe, I never encountered anti-American sentiment, even in France, where the French went to great lengths to explain that they like Americans; it’s just our foreign policy that gives them mal de tete. Indeed, I have never been received more warmly anywhere than in Arcachon, in France’s southwest corner.

Not all of my travels were exotic. Like many Americans last year, I traveled domestically, visiting Florida, Maryland, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Vermont, Washington and South Dakota. It was reassuring to visit small cities, like Walla Walla, Wash., that have managed to preserve their Main Street U.S.A. character and to talk about the wheat crop while chowing down on barbecue in Lindsborg, Kan.

Also like many Americans, I plan to travel both abroad and closer to home in 2004. Travel professionals say they are cautiously optimistic about the recovery of the leisure travel business, with European and Asian travel showing signs of rebounding.

But no matter where I go, I have learned in the last year the joy of traveling light. I used to pack everything I might possibly need, pouncing on jumbo suitcases to get them to close, only to bring home unworn clothing and unused gewgaws. But now that I travel solo, there’s no one to help me up three flights of stairs at a bed-and-breakfast. Because I am constantly moving about, it wouldn’t matter if I wore the same thing every day. And these days it’s wise to dress down.

My first major trip as a travel writer was to China last winter. It was a small group tour, so there was a lot of getting-to-know-you. Having passed myself off as a teacher (we travel incognito), I feared slip-ups. Lawrence K. Ho, a Times staff photographer, was also on that trip, and we did a pretty good job of pretending to be strangers. He explained his thousands of dollars’ worth of camera equipment by claiming to be a freelancer building a China portfolio.

I like traveling with a purpose, as I learn more and have a wonderful excuse to engage with people I otherwise would never meet. In China my chance encounters included one with a doctor in a Shanghai hospital emergency room who treated me for an eye infection. Although the common wisdom among Americans is to avoid Chinese hospitals at any cost, the hospital was clean, if old, the attention prompt, the cost minimal -- and the treatment worked.

Looking back on 2003, I treasure memories both good and bad. The bad ones make good stories. I have stayed in truly awful B&Bs;, places with an off-the-scale kitsch factor and proprietors who redefine “chatty.” I’ve also stayed in high-end B&Bs; with all the amenities of a good hotel (and prices to match). One of my favorites was the Windham Hill Inn in West Townshend, Vt., which has it all -- inviting guest rooms, lovely public rooms, a fine restaurant and good innkeepers.

My worst experiences? Being stranded at Chicago O’Hare International Airport when United canceled all flights into Wichita, Kan., because of thunderstorms. After more than an hour, we were told there would be no flights out that day, and the following day was problematic.

There was no train, and I had to be in Wichita the next day, so against the advice of the nice people at travelers’ aid who were certain I’d never again be seen alive, I took a cab to the Greyhound depot in a decidedly suspect part of downtown Chicago. There I caught a crowded -- and alternately stifling and freezing -- midnight bus, sharing a seat -- and a blanket -- with a nice man from Redlands.

Far and away the most amazing experience was climbing the Great Wall of China. It was one of those pinch-me-if-I’m-dreaming moments. Like the Grand Canyon, the wall can be appreciated through photographs, but you can’t grasp its scope and majesty until you’re up on those steps.

My favorite destination? Prague. It was summer, Europe was suffering from a heat wave that would kill thousands across the Continent, and the city was awash with tourists. But I loved walking the cobbled streets of the Old Town and the Lesser Quarter, blending into the lively street scene, sipping a cold drink or after-dinner coffee at the cafes in old Town Square.

I love islands, and Maui, where I honeymooned, has always been a special place to me. It was reassuring to find that Hana had changed little in the 20 years since I’d visited. There’s still very little there there, which is just fine, and Hamoa Beach remains pristinely beautiful.

My least favorite destination last year, indisputably, was Cabo San Lucas, which I thought overdeveloped, overpriced, totally Americanized and basically uninteresting. But for those for whom a hotel is enough of a destination and who can afford $575 a night and up in season, Las Ventanas al Paraiso is fabulous, and Esperanza at $550 is no slouch.

One of my most pleasant overnights of 2003 was in nearby San Jose del Cabo at the Casa Natalia, a luxury boutique hotel where rooms, starting at $240 in season, overlook a lovely pool and patio and are decorated with colorful Mexican arts and crafts. I knew I was going to like the place when cold beer, chips and salsa appeared on my private terrace soon after check-in. When one travels a great deal, small gestures are remembered.

Nowhere in the world did I feel that I was in any danger -- at least not from terrorists. True, I did not visit places considered unsafe nor would I be eager to do so in pursuit of a travel story; few Americans are choosing those as vacation destinations.

Like most travelers, I’ve adjusted to the annoyances of post-Sept. 11 air travel. I wear shoes that slip off easily and, around my neck, one of those little pouches that hold passport and tickets. I’ve learned to take food on “snack” flights. The good news in flying: Post-Sept. 11 jitters seem to have abated among the frequent-flier set, where early on there were nervous little jokes about terrorists and furtive sizing up of fellow passengers.

An eye-opening landing

For me, there was only one moment of anxiety, when our plane aborted its landing at LAX and suddenly swooped skyward. The terrified young man in the next seat grabbed my arm, announcing, “There’s something wrong!” It was a deja vu moment: Once I was on a plane landing at San Diego that made the same startling maneuver. That time the pilot couldn’t lower the landing gear, and, after circling, we bellied in on a bed of foam and, shoes in hand, slid down the emergency chute. But this time there was no emergency. It was just that we were ahead of schedule and our gate was occupied.

My most surreal experience was being on board the passenger freighter Aranui 3 in Papeete, Tahiti, just as the Iraq war began. There was no TV on board, and our only news consisted of daily BBC snippets that a fellow passenger managed to pick up. As a La Jollan traveling with an Elderhostel group said, “This is the first war we’ve missed since the Revolution.” Most of the passengers were French, and they didn’t go in for fraternite with the Yankees. But the crew said that had nothing to do with Iraq, and that rarely was there any mingling.

That war, and Sept. 11, devastated the travel industry, but there are signs of recovery. “Travel looks strong for 2004,” says Richard Copland, chief executive of the American Society of Travel Agents. Closer-to-home destinations, including Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, Alaska and the Caribbean, are attracting the most travelers, as they have since Sept. 11. But Copland sees “a resurgence in the Far East, which was severely damaged by the SARS epidemic,” and says the industry is seeing “decent bookings for Europe for next year.”

The cruise industry continues to grow, albeit partly as a result of deep discounts to fill staterooms. The New Jersey-based Cruise Lines International Assn., which represents 24 major lines, expected those ships to have carried 8.3 million North American passengers by the end of 2003, up from 7.6 million in 2002. The numbers reflect many repeat customers; only 15% of Americans have ever cruised.

On Jan. 12, Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, the successor to the vessel docked in Long Beach, will make its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “The world’s largest, longest, tallest, grandest ocean liner,” it cost $800 million and can carry 2,620 passengers. Among the amenities: a casino, a planetarium, 10 restaurants and English nannies to watch over traveling toddlers.

When it sets sail Jan. 31 from Fort Lauderdale through the Caribbean, I’ll be on board.

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Best travel moments

Walking through the Forbidden City in Beijing and climbing the Great Wall of China while on a surprisingly fine 12-day bargain tour in December with San Francisco-based China Focus.

Driving the highway to Hana, Maui. Although I’ve done it several times, I enjoy each waterfall, each fern, each narrow bridge, each ocean vista as much as I did the first time.

Worst moments

A white-knuckle ride in a swaying funicular to the top of Taishan, a 5,000-foot sacred mountain, in China. As the Siberian winds swirled around us, I could only hope that the gods and spirits said to reside on the mountain were feeling well disposed toward Westerners.

Driving the two-lane road that hugs the shoreline between Split and Dubrovnik, Croatia, qualifies as a best and worst moment. The scenery is grand, but the drivers are mad.

Favorite hotels

The Four Seasons San Francisco is stunning, although pricey, and its Market Street location is not ideal. Published rates start at $469. (415) 633-3000, www.fourseasons.com. I also loved Campton Place, a boutique hotel wonderfully situated off Union Square, with published rates starting at $335. (415) 781-5555, www.camptonplace.com.

The Hotel Hana Maui, which has been through some rough patches, is back, beautifully renovated by Ohana Hotel Co. and Passport Resorts. For pure R&R;, I can’t think of a better place. Rates start at $295 for a garden junior suite. (808) 248-8211, www.hotelhanamaui.com.

In Dubrovnik, I loved the Villa Dubrovnik, a stylish 40-room boutique hotel in a cliff on the Adriatic with its own beach and a terrace restaurant with views of the old city. (A caveat: There are many steps.) Doubles start at $270 in season, with continental breakfast. 011-385-20-422-933, www.villa-dubrovnik .hr.

Favorite restaurants

On my last night in Prague in the summer, I was lucky to get a table at river’s edge on the covered terrace at Kampa Park, 011-420-257-532-685. Everything was perfect -- food, service, the view of Charles Bridge and the lights of Old Town across the Vltava.

During a fall trip to Vermont, I had two memorable meals. One was dinner at the lovely Windham Hill Inn, 311 Lawrence Drive, West Townshend, (800) 944-4080. The other was lunch at Simon Pearce Restaurant, The Mill, Main Street, Quechee, (802) 295-1470, in the Simon Pearce glass and pottery emporium.