Insider Travel Blog: information from The Insider Travel Guides for New York City, Boston, Hawaii, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Bermuda

NYC Sports

With today being opening day for the Yankees and Mets, our thoughts naturally turn to the NYC sports scene. Going to games is always a delight of course, although this year's stadium visits may be tinged with bitter sweetness as we say goodbye to Yankee Stadium and Shea. Fans who can't make it to the game have a plethora of options -- great sports bars exist in every neighborhood. We especially like the ESPN Zone because you can head to the sports arena and play a few games yourself between innings. And we're looking forward to the new LastLicks location on the Upper East Side and to the Sports Museum of America in Lower Manhattan, both of which are scheduled to open in the next month or so.

Travelling with Toddlers

There's loads of advice online about traveling with kids (and for good reason: travel, especially when it involves commercial airlines, can be difficult enough, but add young children with low tolerance for long waits and other discomforts, and even a short trip can be torture). We've even blogged on the topic before (see our posts on Tips for Traveling with Children and Family Friendly Road Trips); now we've got more ideas:

Always ask about available seats when you check in at the airport and again when you board the plane. If you didn't purchase a seat for your toddler (kids under 2 years old can sit on your lap), expect a full flight and know your chances of getting one are slim. But ask anyway.
Skip the car seat if you can. Unless you'll be using it on the plane, opt to rent a car seat with your car rental -- or borrow one from relatives to use when you arrive.

More Healthy Travel Tips

Last May, we compiled a list of preventative measures you can take to make sure that all of your travels remain safe and healthy. Now it's time to add two new tips to the list:

Use antibacterial wipes to clean items in your hotel room that housekeepers generally ignore, but that can be rife with germs from former guests: the TV remote, telephone receiver, and clock radio.
Always order extra blankets when you reach your room to replace the bedspread. Why? While most hotels only wash bedspreads every couple of months, the blankets from the housekeeping closet are laundered before they are put away.

Take a Vacation - It's Good for You!

Research studies prove that taking a vacation is good for your health; here are some reasons why that's so:

Taking time off will decrease stress and tension and the maladies they lead to (like hypertension and migraines).
A change of pace now and then helps fight off symptoms of depression.
Less downtime can lead to less sleep; this in turn may lead to weight gain.
More time outside, in fresh air and sunlight (rather than in recirculated air under artificial lights), gives your body Vitamin D to protect bones and lower cancer risk.

Don't believe us? It's a fact: a nine-year study found that middle-aged men who skip their annual vacations are 17% more likely to die (and almost 35% more likely to die of heart disease) than men who do take vacations every year.

And that boost of energy and improved mood you get from time away from the office will increase your work productivity when you get back -- so not only will you stay healthier, but your career may get a boost, too!

Insider Advice about Tipping

Housekeepers are among the most underpaid and under-appreciated of all hotel workers. They toil long hours doing undesirable tasks. But because they are mostly unseen by hotel guests, they are often not rewarded for their efforts the way other hotel staff members are.

So on your next trip, we urge you to remember to reward your housekeeper with a generous tip. $2-$5 per night, with an extra $1-$2 for getting extra blankets, towels, etc., is standard. We recommend that you leave your tip for the housekeeper every day rather than waiting until the end of your stay, since staff changes from day to day. We also advise leaving the money with a short note, so the housekeeper knows the money is a tip and not just your spare change. Finally, be sure to exchange pleasantries when you see her: doing so will help ensure you'll get better service and will make you less likely to be burglarized since thieves often enter hotel rooms while housekeeper is there pretending to be you (but your housekeeper will know better if you've met).

Want more tips on tipping? See our full tipping guide.

More NYC Golf

As loyal readers know, our NYC editors like to tout that "New York City has everything." And more often than not, they're right.

To prove the point, about a year ago, we blogged about the surprising number of golf courses located within the city limits. Amazingly, though, we published the list without mentioning Mosholu or the range at the Alley Pond Golf Center.

Going Green

Eco-travel no longer requires sacrifices of style, comfort, or fun. Now that many of us consider earth-friendly practices as a matter of course, it is time to make sustainability a factor in our travels. And it is easier than ever to do.

Of course some things we have no control over (like the fact that most airplanes burn up a huge amount of fossil fuels), but you can mitigate things somewhat when you decide how much to pack (heavier planes require more fuel) and where you go on vacation in the first place.

And once you get to your destination and head out to dinner, consider if you really need to take that cab -- or will mass transit (or walking!) be a better option?

Perhaps the greatest gains in eco-friendly travel have been made in the hotel industry. Even the venerable Lenox Hotel in Boston offers climate-neutral rooms and offsets carbon emissions for electricity by 100%. For information about other hotels following this trend, see Green Lodging News or EnvironmentallyFriendlyHotels.com. And no matter where you choose to stay, be sure to ask about practices such as composting, gray-water recycling, low-flow shower heads and toilets.

Some hotels have made major investments in using renewable energy sources and have installed hydro, solar or geothermal systems. But other practices require little or now investment at all: we applaud all hotels that don't automatically leave newspapers outside each guest's door, that encourage guests to forgo daily washing of bedding and towels, and that remind guests to turn off all lights and appliances when they leave the room (or better yet, have installed sensors that do this automatically). Other signs of a hotel's commitment to energy conservation include switching to long-life light bulbs, upgrading better insulation, and installing energy-efficient appliances.

So now, by making making sure your hotel is going green, when you go on vacation, your conscience can come, too.

Should you ship your luggage?

A combination of rising fuel costs, terrorist concerns, and commercial airlines' ongoing quest for increased profitability has lead to stricter rules about the luggage you can bring with you. Most airlines now limit carry-ons to 40 lbs. and many charge for checked bags over 50 lbs. And don't even get us started on the the hassles of toting heavy bags around the airport, and the risk of having your luggage lost, damaged, delayed or stolen! So it is no surprise to us that luggage courier services are becoming more and more popular among frequent flyers. We've known folks who have used Federal Express or UPS for years to ship their ski gear, believing the cost for their family of five was well worth the comfort of knowing it would arrive safe and sound when they did. And now there are lots of other businesses that specialize in in shipping luggage. Here are a few we know about:

Be a Frequent Flyer

There is no question that it is becoming harder and harder to redeem frequent flyer miles these days. The eligible spots on planes are fewer, the black-out periods are longer, and the hassles are greater than ever. But even if you never acrue enough miles to fly anywhere for free, we still think it is worth signing up for frequent flyer programs and similar programs offered by the hotel and rental car industries. We have found again and again that members of these so called "loyalty programs" get better service, fewer aggravations, less paperwork, and even the occasional freebie and perquisite. So before you reserve a seat on an airplane, rent a car, or book a hotel room, we recommend that you join the club.

New York City Sightseeing (Sponsored Post)

New York City is full of wonderful attractions. There's the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central Park and literally hundreds of museums. But there are so many choices, it can become overwhelming: how can you possibly see so many sights, especially if your time in the city is limited?

One idea is to see everything from afar via a Circle Line cruise, or one of the other boat rides that showcase the wonders of the city from the water. The Circle Line touts itself as "America's favorite boat ride" and given the huge number of people who take this sightseeing tour every year, it probably is. The boat makes a complete circle around Manhattan island (hence the name), providing glimpses of all five boroughs (Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island) as well as fantastic views of many New York sights including:

But as pleasant as we find this ride in warm and pleasant weather, it is just plain not fun at all on a cold, rainy day.

Another way to see lots that the city has to offer at once is to head to the top of the Empire State Building. The observation deck is high above the excitement of mid-town Manhattan and on a clear day, the view can be glorious. We especially head to the Empire State Building at night when the crowds tend to be thinner and the city looks especially beautiful.

Sometimes, though, it is more desirable to see everything up close. For that type of view, you really can't beat the New York City Double Decker bus sightseeing tours run by CitySights NY. These tours take you around all the most interesting parts of New York City (or the neighborhoods of your choice). You can either stay on the bus and just enjoy the ride, or you can hop on and off according to your whim -- just visiting the attractions that interest you the most.

But wait, there's more! In addition to the double decker bus tours around New York City, the company offers attraction tickets, daily trips to Boston, Washington DC, and Philadelphia as well as shopping trips to Woodbury Common Premium Outlets.

Choosing Your Hotel Room

The perfect hotel experience (or lack of it) can make (or break) the perfect vacation. So when you make your room reservations, think carefully about what is most important to you. Here are some things to consider:

Light sleepers and anyone requiring real peace and quiet should request rooms far from elevator banks, the front door, the kitchen, or central air conditioning and exhaust fans.
Be specific about what view you want (and if the hotel describes your room as having a "partial view" of the ocean make sure that it doesn't mean you'll see a glimpse of blue water only if you stick your head out the window to the left).
"Historic charm" can mean different things to different people; if you are expecting antiques in the bedroom but brand new fixtures in the bathroom, make sure that that is what you'll find when you arrive.
"Star" and "Diamond" ratings are often based on the availability of services like cable tv and 24-hour room service, so if high-thread count sheets mean more to you, make sure you ask about them.

Sometimes, you can get the best room the hotel has available just by asking for it! So when you arrive, don't be shy about asking for a free upgrade.

John Adams

We are looking forward to John Adams," the 7-part mini-series scheduled to air on HBO starting Sunday, March 16, which is based on John McCullough's Pulitzer Prize winning biography. Want an early glimpse? A documentary about the making of the mini-series will be shown perodically beginning tonight.

And once your appetite for more information about John Adams has been whetted, don't miss any opportunity you might have to check out the Adams National Historic Site, a little-known historical gem which offers insights into the lives of various members of the Adams family as well as a glimpse of what life was like in the early days of the Republic.

The Business of Blogging, Part 2 (Sponsored Post)

We're asked from time to time about the business of blogging. Some time ago, we wrote about possible ways to make money from blogging, an important thing to think about if you are planning to devote time and energy to maintain a blog for anything other than purely personal reasons.

More recently, we were asked to evaluate different blogging services. Here at TheInsiderTravelGuides.com, we use http://www.Blogger.com (which is owned by Google) and have been happy with the ease of using their software, customizing the resulting pages to match the rest of our site, and incorporating the service into our daily routine. As an added bonus, the service is free -- an important consideration to a small, advertiser-supported site like ours.

You can find another free service for your Blogs at http://www.thoughts.com/. Billed as a way to "share your thoughts" (hence the name), Thoughts.com emphasizes the community aspects to uploading text, photos, videos, and podcasts, although they also allow you to make posts private or viewable only by individuals you've targeted as friends and family. This new site (now in Beta mode) also allows users to chat in community forums and bookmark the latest news. And by allowing free unlimited bandwidth and explicit content, Thoughts.com tries to ensure that there are no restrictions to your personal expressions.