Today’s technologically savvy traveler carries a lot of electronic gear and gadgets when taking a trip. I guess you can definitely include ‘yours truly’ in that category, but when I compare myself to some real hardcore ‘technogeeky’ travelers, I see myself as somewhat of a lightweight. To give you an idea - on my next trip to Thailand and Malaysia this coming November, I’ve made a list of all the various gizmos and electronic gear that I will be lugging around with me.

+USA Cell phone + charger
+Thai Cell phone + charger
+Laptop + Security cable lock
+Portable mouse
+USB Flashdrives (2)
+iPod 20GB
+Portable Sound system
+iPod shuffle
+Cameras (2)
-Olympus C8080 8MP 5X Zoom with extra wide-angle lens
-Olympus 570UZ 10MP 20X Zoom
+Camera Media cards
+Battery chargers (2)
+Portable lightweight Tripod
+Mini tripod

As you can see from this list it does not include the latest technotoys or devices such as a Blackberry, a Twitterberry (or any kind of berries), an iPhone or a palm pilot. I feel a little bit deprived!

I always carry my music with me when I travel - that is very important. The 20GB iPOD will never leave my hotel room as it is integral part of my portable stereo system, while iPod shuffle is as small as a matchbook; when I work out in the gym or exercise, I clip it on my T-shirt. Gotta have my music! You may wonder as to why I lug around two cameras with me. Well, you know the old expression – two cameras are better than one. Actually two medium point and shoot digital cameras are a lot less to carry around than a SLR camera kit with all the various lens and accessories.

How many gadgets and electronic devices do you take on your travels?
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LISTMANIA - One of the most popular crazes in our culture is compiling lists. People publish lists of many different things, ranging from the worst Beatle songs of all times to the top 10 reasons why George Bush will be remembered as the worst President in US history. There is even a list circulating on the internet on the top ten positions of having sexual intercourse. Of course, there are have been numerous lists compiled in the Travel Genre, and because I am a traveler and have been in the travel business a good portion of my life, I have decided to create some of my own unique travel lists. Are you ready for my first list?

…….. My 10 least favorite beach resorts of all time…………………….

#1 Pattaya (Thailand) - Sleazy, ugly and noisy beach resort; beaches are dirty and polluted. Way too many beer bars, strips clubs, Thai girls selling their body and drunken pot bellied farangs looking for cheap sex.

#2 Puerto Vallarta (Mexico) – Once a quaint beach town (way back when), development has gotten out of hand. The resort area spreads for miles and miles

#3 Jaco (Costa Rica) - beaches are polluted and not very appealing. Too many bars, loud American tourists, spring breakers and lousy restaurants

#4 Ocho Rios (Jamaica) – Fort Lauderdale, Jamaican style. Devoid of any real personality and a little bit too manicured for my tastes. Main beach is manmade and very antiseptic.

#5 Cancun(Mexico) – beautiful white sand beaches and turquoise waters, but the whole scene is very artificial and plastic - too many juvenile bars and clubs, too much traffic and far too many spring breakers and girls gone wild crowd

#6 Rosarito Beach (Baja California, Mexico) located about 1/2 hour from Tijuana – mediocre beach, nothing really special about this place

#7 San Jose del Cabo (Baja California, Mexico) The dirty gray sand beaches are very unappealing and the most of the resort hotels in this are nothing to write home about

#8 Ixtapa(Mexico) – Lovely beach, fairly quiet scene but the tourism development here is even more plastic and sterile than Cancun.

#9 Paradise Island, Nassau (Bahamas) - beautiful beach with many luxury resorts but too many plastic and phony people who think they are big shots congregate here

#10 Patong/Karon Beach (Phuket, Thailand) - Phuket is Thailand’s answer to Cancun and Patong/Karon are the two most popular resort areas. A tamer and more sanitized version of Pattaya. Nice beaches but way too many shops, shops and more shops.

Keep in mind, that my tastes and preferences may be different than yours as this is a very subjective thing. My choices probably are more of a reflection of my personality and are limited to the places I have actually visited. As a wise monkey by the name of Papa Mono once said – “One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.”

What are your 10 least favorite beach resorts of all time?

BANGKOK has a reputation for its eclectic mix of east and west. In this bustling cosmopolitan city, you’ll find Buddhist shrines and temples seamlessly blending in with modern skyscrapers and gaudy shopping centers, a variety of art galleries and cafes, an exciting (and sometime erotic) nightlife in addition to an abundance of excellent restaurants of every persuasion - Thai, French, Chinese, Indian, Italian, Middle Eastern etc – not to mention the tasty Thai dishes that are served up at many of the streetside food stalls. No wonder, Bangkok was rated as the top city destination in the world by readers of Travel and Leisure.

But beyond all this glitz and glamour, there is a part of Bangkok that few tourists ever see. Tucked away in many of the small residential gardens throughout the city are pockets of natural beauty and greenery. If you’re in Bangkok, you may want to follow the lead of my associate, Ms. Moongmink – this lady’s genuine passion in life is flowers. Last Sunday morning, Moongmink stepped out of her tiny apartment after the rains stopped and took a stroll through the alleyways of her neighborhood armed with her trusty pocket camera. Look at some of the beautiful and exotic flowers that she photographed along the way! During her little outing, she had to deal with some nasty barking dogs – fortunately they were behind barred gates. I guess their bark was bigger than their bite!

I’m sure you’ve encountered some obnoxious (and toxic) tourists during your travels. They stick out like a sore thumb with their insensitive, loud and vulgar ways and they make it more difficult for all of us. While passing the time in a small rural village in places like Thailand, Peru or Mexico, I’ve seen many a American lady parading through the village as if they were a runway model in a fashion show - wearing some skimpy outfit revealing as much flesh as possible - totally oblivious to the local customs of land. In most non-westernized countries, it is frowned upon when a woman bares too much skin. Modesty is the rule of thumb. It seems that these ladies want to show the world how they sexy they are - can you believe these women get incensed when the local men stare at them lustfully? Why can’t these ladies just some wear some slacks or a long dress?

In Thailand’s Pattaya, a popular beach resort especially for sex tourists, I’ve seen middle aged guys prowling for female companionship in the heart of tourist zone with no shirts on and with their bellies hanging out, acting like complete louts and jackasses. Now I’m not a prude or anything, but couldn’t these guys at least wear a T-shirt and not talk so loud? So disgusting!

Many tourists (especially from the USA and Japan) could use a course in sensitivity training. They travel to a foreign country without making any attempt to learn something about the local customs and culture of the land. Even if they were to learn to a couple of standard phrases and greetings in the local language, it would go a long way towards international relations. Can you imagine that these western tourists get upset when the locals don’t understand or speak much English? In general, these tourists treat the hotel staff and the locals in a very condescending manner just because they paid a lot of monies for their vacation. Many of these so-called well-heeled tourists believe that the locals exit only for their personal entertainment. I’m sure you’ve head the expression, the Ugly American – unfortunately, it is a reputation that it is hard to shake as Americans can act as real insensitive jerks when traveling abroad.

Then we have the photo happy tourist who barges into a small rural village, taking picture after picture of the locals in their native garb as if they were some exotic wild animal, only to disappear into their car or tour bus 20 minutes later. I’m sure you’ve heard of the long necked ladies of the Karen Hilltribe in Thailand - there are organized excursions specifically for tourists who’d like to photograph the long necks. The tour operators who organize these tours make some big monies and the Longnecks receive what amounts to a small pittance. In Luang Prabang, a UNESCO world heritage site in Laos, tourists will position themselves at the entrance of one of the many Buddhist temples in the early morning hours to take pictures of the monks as they make their rounds. Many of these same tourists will forcefully enter the temple grounds and take pictures of religious ceremonies without permission.

Tourists can be an obnoxious bunch!

Tourism is a dual edged sword – there is a delicate balance between development and environmental integrity. Once the line is crossed, tourism will often kill the goose that laid the golden egg. I’ve seen (and have read about) too many “so-called eco-destinations” that went downhill very fast because the tourism development got out of hand. Call it human greed - it happens all the time. Take a destination with considerable natural beauty like Galapagos Islands, Kenya’s Serengeti, Negril, Jamaica as an example – the big developers and resort conglomerates rush to the scene to get a lion’s share of the action. Soon they are followed by many small entrepreneurs, tourism concessionaires and the like who also would like to make some monies. I liken this phenomenon to “a shark feeding frenzy”.

Before you know it, the place becomes overrun with too many camera toting, cigar smoking, trash talking tourists who don’t have any respect for the locals or the indigenous populations, neither do they have any self-respect. This leads to even more development to meet the demand and before you know it, this once idyllic place of considerable natural beauty is ruined for good - the delicate ecological balance of an area degrades severely leading to declines (and extinctions) of native animal, insect and plant species (replaced by invasive species) and coral reefs dying. Let’s not forgot how rampant tourism development can have a negative impact on the cultural traditions & lifestyles of indigenous peoples.

In time, the beauty and uniqueness that people paid monies to see is no more, replaced by an excess of commercialism. Such is the way of the world - what we need in the tourism business and in the world in general is a real effort towards sustainable development and lifestyles. Human greed as well as the Evils of Tourism will bring this planet down unless we have a global revolution. The time to start is now!

Many people don’t believe me when I tell them that I have been to Jamaica over 30 times. It is true - all you have to do is look at my passport. What is even more astounding is that all my trips to JA took place over a 16-year interval, from 1980-1995 and since Spring 1995, I have not been back. I know what you may be thinking – No, I am not Jamaican, although I’ve been told even with my fair complexion, I could pass. Jamaican girlfriend??? No, I never had a romantic liaison with a lady in Jamaica, although there have been a number of gals that I took a fancy to. Still the question remains - Why did I make so many trips to Jamaica? What is the real story?

All my many trips to Jamaica took place from 1980-1995 for a reason - as a travel agent and tour operator, JAMAICA used to be my bread and butter (my primary destination), and I had a steady flow of clients who traveled to Jamaica for vacation (both tourists and Jamaicans). It was during these years, that I escorted large tour groups every year for the famous Summer Musical festival in Montego Bay known as REGGAE SUNSPLASH. Coincidentally, Reggae Sunsplash sort of fizzled out in the mid 1990s to be replaced by Reggae Sumfest at the same time I disappeared from the Jamaica scene.

Will I return to Jamaica? You betcha – After an absence of nearly 14 years, I am planning to Return to Jamaica, some day soon. It will be a homecoming of sorts for me, as in many circles I am considered an honorary Jamaican. I have some absolutely wonderful memories and experiences in “the land of wood and water” - for a small island, there is so much natural beauty packed into her physical boundaries. I know that there will have been many changes and much new development will have taken place, but that it is to be expected. One thing I know that will not have changed and that is the exuberant, spirited nature of the Jamaican People. To be continued…

On a recent trip to Northern Thailand, I had the opportunity to visit Fern Paradise, the #1 rated hotel in Chiang Mai by the readers of TripAdvisor. Walking around the property, I felt like I was in the middle of a rainforest as I was surrounded by a sea of green - many species of ferns (as well other plants and trees) grew profusely, and the air (unlike most of Chiang Mai) was so fresh and pure. Dr. Niwat, the owner of this small family run resort, explained to me that the many fern plants cleaned the air, filtering out the pollutants and producing a healthy supply of oxygen. An architect by trade and a fern enthusiast, Dr. Niwat gives every visitor a proper briefing and tour of Fern Paradise. According to the good Doctor, he would like to do his part in saving the world from environmental degradation and pollution through the planting of ferns, plants and trees.

Surveying the property, I didn’t get a chance to visit the rustic looking rooms, but from what I understand they include such modern amenities as cable TV and a DVD player. As a lover of plants and all things green, I was truly impressed by the concept of Fern Paradise. Located only 20 minutes or so from the heart of the Chiang Mai’s tourist zone, Fern Paradise is definitely a breath of fresh air and a return to nature. Rates are from $88 – 148USD per night including daily breakfast.