USTOA Declares September Travel Together Now! Month

August 27, 2014 Travel

On September 1, 2014, the United States Tour Operators Association kicks off its first-ever, month long promotion that brings together on one website deep travel deals from the country’s leading providers of independent and escorted group travel. Delivering a versatile, one stop shop for consumers, Travel Together Now! Month showcases special pricing, premium offers, and value-added incentives on peak and off-peak travel itineraries spanning all seven continents.

“Our members’ business patterns tell us that September is when travelers like to book their bucket-list journeys, so we brought all the deals together in September to give them easy access,” said USTOA President and CEO Terry Dale. “It’s the first time USTOA has ever orchestrated such an extensive promotion, and we’re certain travelers will find their perfect trip among the array of offers.”

Throughout the month of September, consumers can visit www.ustoa.com/traveltogether to find more than 50 different travel offers to a myriad of destinations including some of the most sought-after locales in the world. From complimentary upgrades and bonus air credits, to savings of up to $2,000 per couple, Travel Together Now! offer highlights include:

NOTE: deals can be booked between September 1-30, 2014. All travel details restrictions, and booking instructions can be found at www.ustoa.com/traveltogether.

Africa: Save $1,000 per couple ($500 for solo travelers) on seven Alexander+Roberts small group safaris to East and Southern Africa including Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe when you pay-in-full at time of booking. Available on scheduled departures through April 2016.
Antarctica: Quark Expeditions is offering up to 25% savings on a cabin plus an $800 air credit on holiday voyages including the “Antarctic Explorer: Discovering the 7^th Continent” December 5 – December 16, 2014 or December 20 – December 30, 2014, and “Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica: Explorers & Kings” November 14 – December 3, 2014.
Asia: Save $500 per person on International Expeditions’ 16-day Myanmar tour departing October 29 or December 3, 2014.
Australia/South Pacific: Receive up to $1000 per couple vacation credit on select 2015 air-inclusive South Pacific vacations with Monograms, a Globus family of brands.
Europe: Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection is offering up to $2,000 per couple saving on 2015 European, all-inclusive luxury boutique river cruises when paid-in-full at time of booking.
North America/Caribbean: Free roundtrip air to Cuba on select 2014 and 2015 departure dates on Latour’s (an ISRAMWORLD Company) 9-day “Hello Cuba,” “Shalom Cuba,” and “LGBT Cuba” People to People Exchange programs.
South America: Receive free roundtrip air to the Galapagos from NYC or Miami with the booking of Lindblad Expeditions’ 10-day “Galápagos aboard National Geographic Endeavour” and the 16-day “Galápagos aboard National Geographic Endeavour + Peru’s Land of the Inca.” Available for travel through December 31, 2014.

Travel Together Now! Month is a paramount piece of the association’s recently launched campaign, Travel Together introducing a thoughtfully curated collection of experiential videos and blog posts exposing travelers to “live like a local” moments that delve deeply into immersive cultural experiences in featured destinations across the globe.

“Travel Together is all about sharing experiences – whether it’s with a travel companion or making a connection with the native people of the location visited,” added Dale. “Our mission is to share with all travelers the rich experiences, local expertise, and insider access that our tour operator members deliver to more than 6.5 million travelers each year.”

Travel Together videos can be found at www.youtube.com/user/ustoanyc, as well as www.ustoa.com/traveltogether. Consumers can follow the adventures on Twitter by using #traveltogether.

Tour South Africa Like a Local

August 18, 2014 south africa

Members of the United States Tour Operators Association know the best way to experience a destination is through the local people. While in South Africa with Swain Destinations, Kelley Ferro, travel expert, video journalist and contributor to Tripfilms.com, had the opportunity to visit, meet and interact with locals and gain real insight in the South African life today.

More on how to tour South Africa like a local:

Get Off the Tour Bus

by Nina Dietzel, AFAR Ambassador

AFAR’s co-founder Joe Diaz likes to boil ‘traveling like a local’ down to “Get off the tour bus and sit at someone’s kitchen table”. On our first day in South Africa with Collette, that’s just what we did. We got off the bus and visited Alina Mlotshwa’s home in Soweto to have lunch. Read the full post here.

Being Hugged by South Africa: Behind the Scenes of our Swain Destinations Tour

by Kelley Ferro

Our 20-seat plane skipped and bounced down the dirt runway and I had to blink a few times to realize that I was looking out the window at the African bush. Just 20 hours ago, I was waving goodbye to glittering Manhattan and now I was on a charter flight over the rolling plains of the Sabi Sands. Our pilot joked that he usually saw lions on this airstrip as he touched down. This was Africa and here it doesn’t matter who you are or where you are coming from, you all just dive right in. Read the full post here.

A Local Perspective in South Africa

by Nina Dietzel, AFAR Ambassador

To me, South Africa is one of the most fascinating countries to visit. It is furiously multi-cultural; a young democracy struggling to grow up fast to meet the country’s many challenges.

When I was invited to join Collette’s tour back in April, I was overjoyed, and at the same time I was a little hesitant to accept my assignment. The charge was to ‘travel like a local’ and I wasn’t quite sure how to accomplish that in a group, dashing from highlight to highlight across South Africa. Read the full post here.

Northern Territory: The Nature of Expectation

August 11, 2014 Northern Territory

by Flash Parker, AFAR Ambassador

Expectation has a way of bringing travel into perspective. But when expectation is paired with long-distance travel – in the case of my trip to Australia’s Northern Territory, a 14-hour jaunt book-ended by a pair of 4-hour flights – expectation also can shape the way you think about place and space.

Flipping through the pages of the remarkable itinerary prepared for me by the folks at USTOA, Tourism Northern Territory, and Goway Travel, I began comparing the unseen Australia to my own Canadian homeland, if for no other reason than to ground my trip on experience I already understood; I’m big on wide open spaces, the sort of which both Canada and Australia boast in spades. I’m comfortable in the Wild, in places where bison outnumber people, and was excited about arriving in the Outback, where I expected camels and kangaroos to outnumber man five-to-one. I like to think of myself as the rugged frontier type, always game for an adventure, and couldn’t wait to exchange knowing glances with the Paul Hogan-esque wardens of the Outback. Sure, my knowledge of Australia begins and ends with Crocodile Dundee, bushranger Ned Kelly, and poet Banjo Paterson, but there are worse icons to idolize. I was promised camel rides up and over desert dunes; campfires and cookouts under starry skies; and a glimpse at the Australia rarely seen. In short, I was set to experience the NT the way locals see it, and I’d have ample opportunity to compare the Oz in my head to the Oz in my heart, though I promised myself, under no circumstance whatsoever, would I at any point on this trip discuss shrimp on the barbie, dingos and babies, or the abomination that was Mick Dundee in LA. As my plane bumped across the tarmac at the Alice Springs airfield, I scrawled this promise across a page in my notebook, and underlined it twice in red ink. I polished off the last of my James Boag Lager, and set forth for adventure.

“… so I took a nasty bite from that big bugger, and that’s when I decided to give up spearfishing down south, and move to the Northern Territory for a look at the quiet life,” Laurie said, as he spirited me away from the airport and off into the NT’s red sand. I’d amused Laurie by trying to get into the driver’s seat when he picked me up – “you’re not driving my bloody car, I just had it washed,” he said with a smile – and we’d become fast friends. At first I thought someone from Goway Travel was putting me on; Laurie was so hyper-Outback that I thought he might have been a hired hand. But after twenty minutes together, I realized he was just a genuine bloke with a story to tell. “Mate,” he said, as he dropped me off at the gates of the Camel Cup, “you call me if you need a ride anyplace – even if you need a lift all the way up to Darwin, ‘cuz I got some family up there – or if you just feel like shooting the breeze. You’ve got my number.” And with that Laurie was off like a shot, no doubt to spend his day boxing kangaroos and wrangling venomous snakes.

And there I was, on the doorstep of my first great Outback experience. With abandon I stepped through the gates at Blatherskite Park and into a world of camels, sand, and costumes. I arrived in time for the Ms Camel Cup pageant, and was gobsmacked by peacocking ladies in full flight. The young and young at heart loaded their partners into antediluvian rickshaws for a zip around the dusty track, while something called the Honeymoon Handicap captured the attention of the 5,000 folks in attendance. Would-be husbands raced their snorting camels half way around the track, where they popped off, hoisted their future wives aboard the beasts, and continued on toward the finish line. All this before one of the “proper” races had been run. My first impression of the Northern Territory is certainly one I’ll never forget.

Ah, but those races! Gallant riders atop ornery steeds – some significantly more ornery than others – spiriting around the track in the pursuit of glory. At one point I was convinced I saw Santa Claus, mounted atop a yellow camel, being chased by a viking riding a brown camel. The moment was singularly captivating, difficult to express in words or images. You really had to be there. I realized in that moment that this was exactly what this trip was all about; the being, the experiencing, and the doing.

Be there I was, indeed; I can’t remember another trip where I felt so wrapped up in the moment. Goway Travel and Tourism Northern Territory thrust me in the center of the action. I was more than a spectator; had I told my guide I wanted to race, I probably would have been given my own camel (for the record, I didn’t ask, for fear of a positive response). I spent an incredible afternoon watching these massive “ships of the desert” sail across the Outback, marveled at the skill of some riders, and giggled at the utter terror strewn across the faces of others. I was caught firmly in the grip of even-toed ungulate madness, and toasted my good fortune alongside other revelers at the Lasseters tent, where post-race conversations ranged from “did you see that,” to “I can’t believe when…” The guests in the tent, probably more than a hundred strong, seemed to be split evenly between foreigners and visiting Aussies, each of us grinning slyly like we were in on some precious Outback secret. In more than one way, we were.

I couldn’t have wished for a better way to kick-start my adventures Down Under. The Goway Travel operators and Tourism Northern Territory had promised a truly unique Aussie experience – one that was “fully customizable.” Instead of itineraries carved from granite, my outfitters worked with me on making sure I got the most out of my time in Australia; they asked what sort of things I wanted to see and experience in the Outback, filling in the gaps with their fantastic local knowledge. That’s how I wound up deep in Thai bliss at Hanumans, Alice Springs’ finest upscale dining option, and toasting NT craft brews under the outdoor heaters at Monte’s, the social center of the town (as far as I could tell). Half a day with Goway Travel and Tourism Northern Territory and I had already sipped handcrafted suds, made fast friends with the local folk, and witnessed Santa Claus fall off a camel – the holy trinity of experiential travel. I expected this trip to be good, but should have listened carefully when they told me to expect the adventure of a lifetime. To think, the first day had barely come and gone.

For highlights of Flash Parker’s tour through Australia’s Northern Territory, click here.

Flash Parker is an AFAR Ambassador, photographer, travel writer and author from Toronto, Canada. His work has been published by Lonely Planet, Conde Nast, Canadian Living, USA Today, Get Lost Magazine, GQ Magazine, Asian Geographic, Escape Magazine and more. Follow Flash Parker on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or on his website.

Northern Territory: A Land Before Time

August 5, 2014 Northern Territory

by Kelley Ferro

Never have I been anywhere that has more “sky.” I know what you are going to say— “every place has the same amount of sky” but trust me, when you are standing in the desert of the Northern Territory, you might rethink that statement.

As I stepped onto the tarmac in the Northern Territory, I felt like I had just stepped onto a different planet. The Earth was glaringly red, sharp mountains jutted out of the expanse of desert, the trees looked like they had withstood millenniums and the sun was so bright it hurt my eyes. This place felt like it had seen the dawn of time—it felt ancient and primal. However the people of the Northern Territory could not have been more vibrant, youthful and fresh.

Kirsten, our Northern Territory guide, welcoming us at the airport.

I was met at the gate with the biggest smiles and that warm, welcoming feeling continued throughout the trip. The Northern Territory Aussies were just happy to have us there. Everyone seemed so healthy and full of life and very much in tune with the natural surroundings. I was blown away by the nonchalance of Rex the Reptile Hunter, who cracked jokes while catching a lethal Western Brown Snake slithering by our feet. I listened to stories from the trio of brothers at Earth Sanctuary who knew just about everything about the sustainable living in the Outback. And I can’t leave out Mark, our cameleer and owner of the Camel Farm, whom I swear was having conversations with these leggy creatures as we rode across the plains into the sunset. This dry Outback sustained so much life and much of it was not in human form.

One of the three brothers that run Earth Sanctuary.

I had ridden a camel on a previous USTOA adventure in Egypt, so I assumed that I knew basically all that what was need to know about camels. They make funny, Chewbacca-like* sounds, they look at you as if they are unimpressed and they are really, really tall—much taller than any horse. But it wasn’t until I was plopped in the middle of Australia, in the expanse of beautiful Outback that is the Northern Territory, that I realized camels are SO much more.

Wally & I, ready for our jaunt into the desert.

Camels are not native to Australia, they were introduced in 19th century to help build up central Australia as their hardy nature makes them perfect for the harsh desert climate. When they were no longer needed, they were let go and these dromedaries flourished. At one point there were over one million feral camels across Australia. (Disclaimer: I learned all of this while watching Australia’s new hit movie, Tracks, on the plane. Tracks details the solo journey of one woman and four camels across the unforgiving outback and it’s a very good watch). All this feral camel information came in handy when I was 4 wheeling through the remote Kings Canyon. Our guide casually told us to watch out for wild camels as he sped off. I was expecting lizards or maybe a bird, but it’s not every day that you are dodging camels while racing through the Outback on a quad!

Though feral, these camels that we stumbled upon were so cute!

Besides being important in developing the Northern Territory, camels are also loved for sport. Alice Springs hosts an annual Camel Cup, where the fastest camels come to race for the grand prize. I once thought that these lumbering beasts could only chew their cud sideways and amble on their bony legs. I was wrong. These beasts can move! When they were speeding around the track, they were quite a dramatic spectacle. In addition to the races, there’s plenty of camel related entertainment for everyone. From the dancing camel mascot, to the human rickshaw races (we came in dead last) to the food-filled fairground atmosphere. Aussies come from far and wide to attend this camel fueled day. And the icing on the cake? While donning my most American get up, I was honored to be crowned Miss Camel Cup by Australia’s famous Big Brother star, Tahan.

Holding my winnings as Miss Camel Cup!

I held a python, I took a photo of the horned lizard up close, I smiled face to face with a crocodile, and I fell asleep to the lullaby of the dingos outside of my tent, but I can’t deny that my favorite Northern Territory experience did indeed involve the camels. At the Uluru Camel Farm, I learned that each camel has his or her own personality. The owner, Mark, explained that some are mischievous while others just want to play, some are stubborn and some require humans to earn their love. The baby of the farm was named Milkshake. Unlike her fellow brethren that were caught in the wild and trained to take guests on tours, Milkshake was born on the farm and hand-reared by the cameleers. She thought she was a human and she had no qualms about getting friendly with all humans around her. She also seemed to be a bit of clotheshorse (see below).

Milkshake really liked to nibble my jacket and shoes.

Mark led us on a camel ride at sunset and these slow moving vehicles made me turn into a lower gear and breathe in the intricacies of Outback life. Sitting on top of Wally, a recently caught and trained camel, I realized how life out here was so synchronistic. Every plant, animal and human had to work together to survive in the stunning but severe landscape of the Outback. And as Wally and I ambled into the sunset, I felt like I was a part of that balance for just a brief moment in time.

*Little known fact: Did you know that the voice of Chewbacca in “Star Wars” was actually made by a camel?

Kelley Ferro is a travel expert & video journalist living in NYC. She films her show, Get Lost, around the world–hopping on a plane at least twice a month She is also the executive producer for Tripfilms.com. For more on her travels, follow Kelley’s Facebook page.

Northern Territory Preview

July 21, 2014 Northern Territory

Kelley Ferro, travel expert, video journalist and contributor to Tripfilms.com just finished traveling in Australia’s Northern Territory with Goway Travel for our Travel Together campaign. Full videos of Kelley’s travels are coming soon, but in the meantime, enjoy a preview of her time in Australia’s Outback:

My first 4-wheeling experience was quite thrilling- especially when we were told “go as fast as you want but watch out for feral camels.” Um ok…

Learning about the Aboriginal stories at Uluru (Ayers Rock) on an early morn in the Outback.

Meet Wally, my ride to dinner. Not the fastest or most comfortable ride of my life but it was definitely the most memorable!

Her name is “Milkshake” & she us a diva. She kept eating my shoes & nuzzling me to pet her. Who needs a dog when you can have a pet camel!

Touring South Africa with Swain Destinations

July 15, 2014 south africa

Kelley Ferro, travel expert, video journalist and contributor to Tripfilms.com, turns her perceptions of tours upside down while in South Africa. USTOA Members like Swain Destinations provide flexibility, access to hot spots and lesser known hidden gems, and insider knowledge of the best places to sip regional wine, see the best sunset, meet locals and explore natural wildlife… resulting in a customized trip perfectly tailored to meet travelers wants and needs.

For more up close and personal looks at the people and experiences of South Africa, check out these specialized videos from Kelley Ferro on wildlife, luxury travel, food and touring like a local.

Get Off the Tour Bus

July 7, 2014 south africa

by Nina Dietzel, AFAR Ambassador

Alina’s carport/restaurant

Alina’s story is quite infectious. She used to take visitors through Soweto, but over time there was too much competition and work became scarce. Soweto was flooded with ‘guides’ taking visitors to the famous Vilakazi Street, but neglected to share Soweto’s vibrant Township life. Alina decided to change that, and began to invite strangers into her home for a more authentic experience.

Fearless owner Alina Mlotshwa

She covered her carport (the only space able to hold a fair amount of people), put up a sign, and opened her home/restaurant to locals and travelers.

Enjoy!

It’s impressive, that four generations of her family still live in small 4 room township home, most of them actively involved in the business. A good number of her Dobsonville neighbors have also been employed, which has ensured goodwill from all sides. Alina’s fearless entrepreneurship has paid off. The place is buzzing, and we were excited, and grateful to be part of it for a while. We sat, chatted, and dined with locals, and other foreigners–feeling home with Alina’s family and friends.

First helping from the buffet, uhumm ; )

Of course it wasn’t just the original venue and charming Alina ‘family’ that made our visit so special. We ate good food. Real. Good. Food. African dishes accompanied by ice cold Castle beers and a few Stoneys (a sugary South African ginger ale/beer).

Alina’s kitchen prepares around 10 fresh dishes every day. We sampled lamb and beef stews, roasted chicken and fish, plenty of vegetables, salads, dumplings and of course the ominous ‘pap*’ from the kitchen buffet.

*traditional porridge/polenta made from ground maize, a staple food of the Bantu inhabitants of Southern Africa (the Afrikaans word pap is taken from Dutch and means ‘porridge’)

The Pantsula dance performance–don’t try this at home

After leaving Alina’s home, young local dancers waited for us outside, wildly drumming. They proceeded to perform the crazy energetic pantsula for us, a typical Sowetan dance, that originated in the townships during Apartheid.

Our Sowetan guide for the day ‘big Ben’ with two of his local friends

Get off the tour bus and hang with the locals. It is one of the best decisions you can make while traveling. Our hours in Soweto were real, fun and will forever be remembered with a big smile (or three ; ).

Nina Dietzel is a photographer and AFAR Ambassador based in San Francisco. Between travel and photography assignments, she continues to consult on select projects for destinations, hospitality, cultural organizations and non-for-profits in need–tapping into her vast experience as brand strategist with 300FeetOut, an award winning creative agency she launched and lead for over 15 years. Read more about her work here.

Being Hugged by South Africa: Behind the Scenes of our Swain Destinations Tour

June 30, 2014 south africa

by Kelley Ferro

Arriving in South Africa

I was embarking on my second Living Local, Traveling Global video series and though the first was also in Africa, up North in Egypt, already South Africa seemed like a world away. The first half of our Swain Destinations custom tour was spent on the Sabi Sands Game Reserve, a private section of the famous Kruger National Park. And for a guide, we had none other than President & Owner Ian Swain himself. His vast travel knowledge, expertise in South Africa and his humor, made us feel privileged to see this country with such an experienced guide.

Our luxury digs, Singita Castleton camp, felt fit for a member of the royal family. We had hand-prepared meals with seemingly endless dishes, rooms straight out of Out of Africa, drawing rooms where Teddy Roosevelt would have reflected, and a full staff that anticipated all our needs before we did. The same staff even donned their traditional dress to surprise us with a bush barbecue, or bomo, and they taught me how to sing & dance around a bonfire.

And of course, I can’t forget to mention the rotating backdrop of animals, everywhere. The nearly invisible fence that separated us from all the gazelles, giraffes, elephants, lions, hippos and more was just yards away from my cottage door.

Yet out on our early morning game drives, there were no fences. Cheetahs curiously walked up to our truck. I watched lionesses and cubs munch on a tasty kudu. We sat right into the middle of a pack of 300 lounging Cape Buffalo. We even saw the elusive jaguar noshing on its fresh kill up in a tree as a hyena circled menacingly below. Our two expert guides grew up on these lands; our tracker was from a nearby tribe, and I swear he had a sixth sense because he could just feel where the animals were even though we couldn’t see them. This was everyday life in the wild South Africa and we were right in the heart of it.

Cape Town was just as upfront and in-your-face as the game reserve. Next, we jetted down to the vibrant coastal city of Cape Town for the second half of our trip. All the magnificence of this city and the region surrounding it just smacks the breath out of you. One minute we are chatting with the restaurant owner of one of the most coveted tables in town, and the next, we are sipping reserve wines from the Cape Winelands before a behind-the-scenes winery tour. I even got friendly with a cheetah cub that tried to “play” with me as I petted him at a conservation center.

“Playing” with a cheetah cub

The most intensely real experience was spending a few hours in the Langa Township, Cape Town’s oldest. Children ran up to us on the street, young moms brightened as I took Polaroid picture of their babies and a grandmother hawked her t-shirts to us from her front step. We were invited into their homes. We cooked sheep’s head soup, we sang with a woman making homemade “beer” in the shantytown…we tasted real life in a township.

Children from Langa Township

This was not a sugarcoated tour. South Africa just embraced us with open arms and Swain Destinations made it possible for us to step right in. Whether it was the surprise visit by the pack of elephants to the giggles shared with two little girls staring at their Polaroid photo, briefly I was a part of this country. These tours don’t keep you at arm’s length. They set up these experiences and then stepped back to let the real magic of travel unfold all around us.

A Local Perspective in South Africa

June 19, 2014 south africa

by Nina Dietzel, AFAR Ambassador

To me, South Africa is one of the most fascinating countries to visit. It is furiously multi-cultural; a young democracy struggling to grow up fast to meet the country’s many challenges.

Tesse Easingwood on top of Table Mountain, Cape Town

The minute we met our South African ground connection and guide Tesse Easingwood– it was clear, we’d experience our travel through a local’s perspective. Tesse has boundless energy, compassion, knowledge, and humor. With her in charge we had no choice, but to see the real South Africa–the good, and sometimes also the difficult.

To start, Tesse was refreshingly upfront about her background: “Before you ask, of course I grew up during Apartheid. My entire family, including me, were pro apartheid.” Her family, like many others, left as soon as Nelson Mandela came to power in 1994. Tesse wasn’t prepared at all to follow in the footsteps of her family. Determined to share the new, emerging country with travelers, she stayed: “How could I not? I love South Africa!”.

Township school visit, Knysna

Around the mid point of our journey, we arrived in Knysna, a small, picturesque town in the Western Cape Province, part of South Africa’s Garden Route. By then, we must have taken in more than a thousand facts about South Africa. I wasn’t quite sure I had the capacity to retain a single piece of additional information without my brain exploding.

A great storyteller, Tesse swiftly brought us back to pay attention: beautiful Knysna had been founded by no-other than her great great grandfather! Seriously? All of a sudden, we were captured again; history was no longer presented in the abstract, it had been brought back to life right here through the sparkling South African in our midst. Many other magical moments happened daily along the way, far too many to mention here. Our South African ‘guide turned friend for life’ was the secret weapon made this journey simply unforgettable.

Knysna Estuary boat ride to Featherbed Reserve, land once owned by Tesse’s family

Tesse made good on the promise the first day we met: “I’ll give you my heart & soul on this trip and will try to answer all of your questions, no matter how difficult they may be.” Her honest, open and above all loving approach to life and sharing experiences made for a journey that will stay with us forever–the ultimate gift. Thank you Tesse Easingwood, with all our hearts.

USTOA Travel Together Sweepstakes

June 17, 2014 Travel

Ready to experience one of the UK’s most iconic regions? Enter the USTOA Travel Together Sweepstakes and you and a friend could win a 5-day journey through The Heart of England provided by Worldwide Traveler, including visits to Harry Potter Film locations, Stratford-upon-Avon, Bath, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and much more!

If you’re having trouble entering the sweepstakes above, please click here to enter.

Follow the Travel Together adventures on Twitter by using #traveltogether and joining Facebook chats at www.facebook.com/USTourOperatorsAssoc throughout the coming months. More information about Travel Together destinations can be found at www.ustoa.com/travel-together and www.youtube.com/user/ustoanyc.