Every year The Traveling Professor publishes his holiday travel gift guide. These gifts are geared to the type of traveler that goes on The Traveling Professor's small group tours, but just about any traveler can find something of use in this year's line-up. For convenience, all gifts, except one, are available on Amazon.com so it won't be necessary to get in the car.  Everything can be delivered right to your door!

The Traveling Professor has done 20+ small group tours to Peru and Machu Picchu.  There are all sorts of considerations to be taken considering the weather and the altitude.  The Traveling Professor has put together a packing list for a trip to Peru and Machu Picchu. There is a list for men and a list for women.  It not only includes what to wear, but specific equipment recommendations such as boots and hiking equipment.

The worst thing about international travel these days is flying. One thing that makes that experience so horrible is getting through security. However, there are ways to get through security quickly and I will guarantee you this - some of them you have never heard of before.  Check out today's blog post and get through that security line pronto!

Travelers are always flooded with tips on how to save money on a trip. Most of the tips I see online are kind of obvious or are unrealistic. The Traveling Professor writes about six of his best travel tips.  All of these tips will easily save money and on top of it, many of them will also add to your comfort and increase the enjoyability factor of your next international trip.

There are a lot of blog posts out there on how to save money on your next international trip.  However, today The Professor gives some tips on how to be foolish in spending money on a tour. There are ways to spend money wisely, without being cheap on your next tour to Europe.

We've spent the last two Christmas seasons in Bavaria and Austria.  We've enjoyed it very much with all of the traditions and special customs.  In today's blog post, I will try to describe how the holiday season is celebrated in these different countries, according to our experiences in our small group tours to the Bavarian and Austrian Christmas tours that we have done in the past.  My overall comment about how Christmas is celebrated in this part of the world is that it is less commercial than what we do in the United States.  Of course there are malls and gift giving, but in Bavaria and Austria it seems to be more of a social event. See my blog post for more details.

Paris hotels can be quite expensive at any time of the year.  Since lodging expense is a significant part of any traveler's budget, looking for good and inexpensive budget accommodations can be a priority.  The Traveling Professor has been running small group tours to Paris for over 10 years.  Benefit from his research and knowledge in finding an inexpensive but good hotel in Paris.

When I reflect upon how The Traveling Professor concept started, it goes back to the early 2000's.  Back then, I used to travel alone to Paris. Frankly, I enjoyed the freedom during the day of doing what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it.  But when it came to dinner time, I yearned to socialize with other adults like me. After my book, The Traveling Professor's Guide to Paris was published, and my travel story was publicized in places like The Wall Street Journal and Newsday, travelers who did not have a travel partner wanted to travel with me and my small group tours of active adults.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Read more in today's blog post.

Back in February 2015, I put up a blog post called, The Rome Problem.  In it, The Traveling Professor talked about some of the problems of visiting Rome in terms of crime, harassment, trash, and public transportation.  It seems that The New York Times has noticed too. They recently published an article called "Rome in Ruins", outlining many of the same problems The Traveling Professor pointed out 4 years ago.  The problems are not limited to cities like Rome.  Paris, for instance, has many of the same problems.  However, travelers should be made aware of what they can expect the next time they visit Rome.  Check out my blog post.