Travel News and Deals – September 1, 2009 – Eat Cheap in Japan, Getting Your Laptop Jacked By Customs, The Advantage of a Second Language, Eco Hostels

Travel news and deals of interest to YOU from around the Web compiled and edited by NoDebtWorldTravel.com:

If you know any great travel stories or tips we all should read, please send it to me and I will put an acknowledgment of your contribution in the posting.

How Learning a Second Language Changed My Life

What do you call a person who speaks many languages? Multilingual

What do you call a person who speaks two languages? Bilingual

What do you call a person who speaks one language? AMERICAN

woomp woomp…
Old joke, but a reality for a majority of Americans, myself included. One story of how learning a new language opened up a whole new world for a couple. Anybody ever use Rosetta Stone? Would you recommend it?

Health Advice From the Frugal Traveler’s Doctor

I first got the yellow fever vaccination when I was going to Ghana in ’07. This is one of those sneaky costs that quickly adds up. If you have enough time, spread them out so the cost isn’t as painful. But sometimes you got to bite the bullet.

12 Hip Green Hostels Around the Globe

Eco-conscious hostels that use rainwater, solar panels for power and other means to help the Earth. Also included in the article is a list of North American hostels with the same ideals on the environment.

10 jail house hotels, hostels and tours behind bars

Visit some of these former prisons, or even stay in the ones that have been converted into rooms. This is the way you ALWAYS want to visit a prison, not the other ways.

Rent an Apartment and Save on New York City Lodging

If you want to try something new, try staying in an apartment for a change instead of a hostel or hotel. If you’re not into couchsurfing, you get the whole run of the apartment as opposed to just the sofa. Cost effective and it really gives you a homey feel to a new location.

Top 10 Packing Disaster Stories

Ever carried birds in your checked baggage…that your hunted and shot? How about finding your luggage on the RUNWAY getting run over by aircraft?

Another reason for traveling light with just a carry-on bag.

What’s It’s Like to Be on the No Fly List

Has this ever happened to anyone? Not only the aggravation of having to explain who you are every time you fly, but the added baggage costs when you can’t check-in online. There has to be a better to keep people secure without inconveniencing the innocent. The easiest thing I can think of – pictures, if available, of the people who should not be on the flight. Between driver’s licenses, regular IDs and mug shots there has to be a pic of the suspicious person.

Is my reasoning faulty because I’m not thinking of all the issues surrounding using photos, or is so simple and straightforward the government won’t use it for another 10 years, after millions of dollars have been spent studying it…

9 Ways to Eat Cheap in Japan

Japan can be expensive. But you’ve got to eat. There is no need to compromise. Eat and enjoy the sights and culture of Nippon on a full stomach. I spent a lot of time in Yoshinoya, the Japanese equivalent of McDonalds.

Another place I went to alot and I forget the name now, is where you’ve got a vending machine, use the pictures to select your meal, insert your money, take the stub you take to the counter and then get the meal. The employee never handles the cash so it is highly efficient. But there is no chance to change your order or substitute items. You get whatever comes out of the machine.

Customs and Border Patrol agents are still randomly confiscating laptops — is yours next?

This situation annoys me on so many levels. Taking your property without probable cause is one thing. Taking it and then not giving it back, or finding all your info erased, is complete BS.

Another ripple effect from 9/11…