Laurie's light travel travel tips

Hard to believe another year is upon us, but then, I am quite sure I said this Dec. 28, 2012 as well. This past year, the talk was full of Miley Cyrus, Edward Snowden, Obamacare, the Boston bombings, "BreakingBad" and a spate of states sanctioning gay marriage. Hopefully for you, it was also full of exciting and memorable travel; but if you are like many cash-strapped Americans, 2013 was a tight year. So let's look ahead to a more prosperous 2014. Grab your passport, suntan oil, GPS and favorite traveling companion and get your booking digits ready. Herewith, five of the top ten treks for 2014: For techies: While technology is being manufactured from Japan to Chicago, California's infamous Silicon Valley is still the gold standard when it comes to all things geeky. Whether you'd like to visit Google's headquarters in Mountain View or the Apple Campus in Cupertino, SV lives up to the hype. (Note: it's not really a valley.) For

Knight's Haven B&B: They say we travel far in order to find ourselves, so it should not surprise one when the journey never ends. For, like a bottomless ocean, each layer gently unravels and the discoveries spill. We may glimpse a representation of ourselves--whether in the morning's first fresh light as it pours over an emerald field, the sight of a black cow lolling, an eye toward Shannon...a mile to Glin, indicated on a stone marker, castles clotting my path as I walk in this wondrous, stormy wrought-from-a-storybook meld of old and new, Celtic pleasures, boisterous humour and simple joys. I met John Barrett, proprietor of JC Barrett's, a.k.a. "The Real McCoy" today--such a generous and kind man, who offered to drive me up the road to look at a castle (one can only assume a pretty younger lady in town for a spell might provide an extra sparkle to his day.) I drank two delicious Irish Coffees there -- the best ever! and the second was bought for me by

Although it's expensive to fly to Europe from the US, that doesn't mean you'll have to mortgage the condo just to enjoy a week abroad. Think 'traveler' and not 'tourist' and you're already on your way to enjoying your time in France, Spain or as Anthony Bourdain suggests, "parts unknown." Savings can be found on everything from dining to sports, entertainment to culture. In Paris , for example, forgo the usual expensive restaurants down by the Seine and eat Croque Monsieurs or baguettes, apples and some divine brie in the Jardin du Luxembourg instead. For fun in London, most museums are free, from the Victoria and Albert (V&A) to the Tate Modern , the British Museum to the Natural History Museum . Donations are appreciated at all of these locations, and of course, the cafés are pricy. So here are my five tips for how to travel throughout Europe for under $999: 1. Book early.  And by early I mean yesterday. If you