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Like a passport

A new card that Americans can use to travel to Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda may be available as early as April at less than half the cost of a passport, the State Department said Monday. Currently, Americans coming back to the U.S. by air must have a passport, but those returning by land or sea from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean or Bermuda do not need one. By summer 2009, land and sea travelers must present a passport, the new passport card or other high-security documents to cross these borders, under a deadline recently extended by Congress. The passport card will cost $45 for adults and $35 for children under age 16, compared with $97 and $82 for a passport, respectively. Like passports, cards will be good for 10 years for adults. For updates, visit www.travel.state.gov.

-- Jane Engle

Airdogs welcome

Beginning in March, the number of U.S. ski resorts that still ban snowboarding will drop to three. New Mexico’s Taos Ski Valley (above), a family-run resort that opened in 1955, announced plans to open the ski area to snowboarders beginning March 19. The announcement leaves Alta and Deer Valley resorts in Utah and Vermont’s Mad River Glen as the only ski areas in the country to maintain a snowboarding ban. Adriana Blake, Taos Ski Valley marketing manager and granddaughter of resort founder Ernie Blake, said the decision was partly in response to complaints from guests who have snowboarders in the family and could not enjoy the mountain together.

-- Hugo Martin

Join (clean) hands

Germs never take a vacation and know no class boundaries. Even the passengers of the Queen Victoria, Cunard’s newest luxury liner, suffered a small outbreak of stomach virus on only its second voyage. So if the Pure-Go, a hand sanitizer dispenser that you wear on your wrist, seems a bit extreme, well, it beats days confined to your bed when you should be enjoying your vacation. It may not look as snazzy as a Chopard watch, but it can keep you out of the sick bay by stopping germs in their tracks, whether you’re on a cruise ship, a trip to a developing country or a journey to environs closer to home. The dispenser band costs $12 and is available at www.purgo-creations.com.

-- Catharine Hamm

No loose lithium

An announcement by the Department of Transportation last week has sparked concern among air travelers who pack extra batteries for their cameras or other electronic devices. As of last week, fliers may no longer check luggage containing loose lithium batteries. Passengers can still check baggage with batteries if they are installed in electronic devices. And small loose batteries can be taken aboard in carry-on luggage if they are packed in plastic bags, or are in original packaging. The DOT cited concerns about fires caused by the batteries as the reason for the restriction. Info: safetravel.dot.gov

-- Rosemary McClure

Hot shot

Photographer Richard Avedon captured the civil rights movement, celebs, fashion models and much more. Even his simplest portraits, often taken against plain backgrounds, had depth. “No one has given a nation a more wide-ranging, disciplined photographic document of itself,” the Times of London said of Avedon, who died in 2004. Beginning Saturday, Phoenix Art Museum presents “Richard Avedon: Photographer of Influence,” which will display his early fashion photographs as well as revealing portraits of actors, politicians, artists and intellectuals. The exhibition runs through April 13. Info: (602) 257-1222, www.phxart.org.

-- Chris Erskine