Every trip begins with the tiniest seed of curiosity. You might read a travel article, watch a news report about a foreign land, or see photos from a friend’s journey, and so the vague desire to go there is planted in your brain.

Vijay Dayal sells seashells by the seashore—lots of them, in fact. For more than 20 years, the Horseshoe Bay merchant has made a pretty good living peddling what amounts to beach debris to the tourists who wander into his small souvenir shop, Dayal’s Variety Store (6655 Royal Avenue, West Vancouver), from the nearby B.C. Ferries terminal.

Last month, this column introduced the benefits and drawbacks of hostelling (“Hostels yield benefits for single travellers”, May 1-8). Now on to the practical: how to make a hostel work for you.

After airfare, accommodation is the fastest way to wipe out your travel budget. Staying at a hostel is the easiest way to stretch it, as students gearing up for summer travels quickly learn. Spend £75 ($150) a night on a low-end London hotel, or £25 ($50) for a bed at Hostelling International Oxford Street… That’s a lot of cash that could be diverted into pints of Guinness.

Stretching your comfort zone is part of the adventure, but it’s crucial to balance your risks and abilities.

High on the slopes of India’s Kangra Valley, Dharamsala is a spiritual, new-agey kind of place that attracts tourists as much for its mountain scenery as its laid-back Tibetan vibe. So when I crested a hill just outside of town nine years ago, what I found shocked me out of my meditative state and seared itself into my conscience. Thousands upon thousands of empty plastic water bottles spilled down the slope. This was the town’s solution to a largely tourism-generated problem.

How was the legroom on the last flight you took? "Great if you're a yard gnome," commented one of the respondents to Zagat's latest survey on global air travel. "There's a better chance of talking to George W. Bush than customer relations," wrote a dissatisfied customer of an unnamed airline. These gems didn't make it into the official survey, but Zagat has posted them (and others) on its Web site ( www.zagat.com/airline/ ) for your amusement.

Charities such as Oxfam Canada, World Vision, and Médecins Sans Frontières use First World dollars for Third World benefits

Baggage services manager Scott T. Mueller offers advice in The Empty Carousel: A Consumer’s Guide to Checked and Carry-on Luggage

A favourable exchange rate makes exploring many destinations more affordable, which is nice after years of being bilked for our buck. But before you pack an extra suitcase to haul home your shopping, think about what you're allowed to bring back without hearing that four-letter word: duty

Window on BurmaGiven the recent crackdown in Burma (also known as Myanmar) on pro-democracy demonstrators by the ruling dictatorship, travellers may be striking that country off their list of places to visit. The debate on whether tourism helps or hurts the local people has long raged; many blacklisted travelling there long ago because of human-rights abuses by the military junta. Nonetheless, interest remains high about life inside Burma.

Concierges can plan your itinerary and help find your lost luggage, but be savvy about how they're paid and how you should reward them.

Back to school, and suddenly you're going nowhere--geographically, that is. That summer holiday abroad has made you realize how much of the world you haven't seen yet. The mind turns to switching majors--international finance, or watch-making, perhaps, so at least you might get a chance to see Switzerland.

Tourists, get ready for a great day in Vancouver! Grab your guidebook and visit Storyeum, "Gastown's newest attraction". Lunch on barbecue ribs at Carlos 'N Bud's Tex-Mex Saloon. Head over to West 4th Avenue to browse the books at Women in Print, "one of the leading places to come to find out about women-centred events in Vancouver". Cap the night off at DV8, one of the city's "Top 5 clubs".

Maybe it has something to do with the daily parades of handsome princes and glittering queens. Perhaps it's because Disney brought Peter Pan to life. Whatever the reason, Disney theme parks have a definite gay following, despite their strait-laced, family-values image.