Travel Features for May 29, 2006: From Spa to Spoleto, on a Greyhound?

As I hunch over my laptop computer here in a Milwaukee coffeeshop, I think about the knot in my neck and the strain on my eyes. A trip to a spa would be nice right now, wouldn't it? A fine complement to my iced chai, at least. But, alas, I've never been to such a den of rejuvenation! Enter Content Producer Sabah Karimi, a Brit-turned-Wisconsinite, who gives us some pointers for our next (or more aptly, our first) trip to a spa. Sabah's article "How to Spa" is concise and practical, focusing on expectations and etiquette instead of on treatments and services (since those vary dramatically). I doubt I'll be pampering myself anytime soon with a facial scrub or a foot massage, but if the opportunity arises, I'm better prepared thanks to this short piece.

When I do think about relaxation, I think of Europe's rough and lesser known gems - the sort of Alpine nooks and Andalusian coastal towns vacationing celebrities frequent to avoid the big cities. One of these more quaint destination is Italy's Spoleto, introduced to us by Content Producer Logan Hamilton. Logan's article covers this small Umbrian city of 40,000, now popular for its summer art festival. As we learn, personalized tours here are the norm, offering Italian hospitality with a slow, warm bustle. Complete with some detailed history of the area, Logan's article sells us on this easy excursion from Rome.

The trip from Rome to Spoleto may be a short one by train, but the trip from New York City to Austin by bus is anything but brief, as we learn from Racheline Maltese. In "Surviving Long Distance Bus Travel", Racheline looks back at a gutsy solo bus adventure, full of curious characters and nagging delays between New York and Texas - both ways. She took it like a trooper and lived to tell the gritty details, including her draining conversation with a recently released, shoe-toting prisoner

Her tale reminds me of a college spring break that I spent on a Greyhound with my friend Jodi, shuttling ourselves from eastern Pennsylvania all the way to a farm town outside of Rochester. Though my seven-hour journey was far less epic, Racheline's story made me strangely nostalgic. Taking a Greyhound is indeed one of those things that everyone should try, but once is usually enough!

With Racheline's epic bus adventure in mind, I'll end this week's column with a pick-me-up courtesy of Roy Barnes from Cheyenne, Wyoming. Reminding us that travel writing is valuable and vital, he nudges us to keep turning our personal experiences into travel stories. In"Travel Writing: Jumping Over the First Hurdle of Negative Mind Talk", Roy gives us a brief pep speech, using examples of travel articles that he's written in spite of the pesky negative thoughts that almost kept him from trying. But you fabulous AC content producers would never let a brief bout of negativity bar you from writing, right? Right?!