Neil Harris writes in to say: buying foreign currency from a high street bank or travel agency either involves a hefty commission or a poor rate of exchange. I’ve found the best rates for popular currencies are to be found in Oxford Street. On the way to the last Globetrotters meeting I got $1.85 to…

Spotted by Webmaster Paul, this is an excellent source of low cost air travel from the UK and includes many airlines, especially charter airlines that the Beetle has never heard of. So if you are in the UK and want to take a break, this is an excellent resource; if you are travelling to the…

A new Netherlands study of blood clots has shown that travelling for more than four hours by air, car, bus or train can all increase the risk of blood clots, with air travel no worse than the others. The Dutch team studied 2,000 people who had suffered a venous thrombosis — a blood clot in…

Need to convert currency? Take a look at The Globetrotters Currency Converter – get the exchange rates for 164 currencies The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet – create and print a currency converter table for your next trip.

Globetrotters interested in travel writing have two inspiring opportunities to learn this November with Travellers Tales, the UK’s leading travel writing and photography training agency. We’ll be in Granada, Spain, with best-selling author Chris Stewart (‘Driving Over Lemons’) on November 18-20; and in London with Wanderlust editor Lyn Hughes on November 14-16. Both courses include…

In January, 2007, our Legacy co-ordinator Jeanie Copland will be taking part in an ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro, 5895 metres, to raise money for VSO and would welcome your support. (All Jeanie’s expenses to Africa and the trek itself are self-funded).

Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid

Did you know that Australia is suffering a drought, now in its sixth year, and the worst in over a century? Australian farmers have been hardest hit, forced to make a living sometimes in very harsh conditions, raising emaciated cattle. The severe drought has led to an alarming increase in the number of suicides among…

A German art student briefly fooled police by posing as one of China’s terracotta warriors at the heritage site in the ancient capital, Xian. Pablo Wendel, who is studying in China dressed up, very convincingly, as an ancient warrior and jumped into a pit showcasing the 2,200-year-old pottery soldiers, standing still for several minutes. He…

A report from Amnesty International from Guatemala: Amnesty’s latest report cites police figures which show that 229 women and girls were killed in Guatemala in the first six months of 2006. Many of the murders were exceptionally brutal, with the victims suffering sexual violence, mutilation and dismemberment. Amnesty says that it knows of only two…