I've just used one of the European budget airlines for the first time, and found it very good.

Whether you get fat and flabby while you're travelling rather depends what sort of trip you're on.

The first time I ever flew must have been about 1960 in a Grumman Widgeon amphibian, piloted by the famous Freddie Ladd.

If you want to know the best places to check out when you're visiting a foreign country you're often best advised to ask a tourist rather than a local.

Ombudsman Deborah Battell says her office has received complaints from travellers that paying in their home currency when using credit cards may actually cost them more.

We baby boomers seem hell-bent on dashing off around the world gaining notches in our money belts. Everyone has been, or is going, to Europe or Asia.

I'm sure it's an embarrassing sign of old age and colonial cringe but one thing I do like to have when I'm on the road is a nice early morning cup of weak tea... well, two cups, really.

The first thing I do when I enter a new hotel room isn't to go straight to the window to check out the view, test-bounce the bed or look into the bathroom to see whether the toiletries are Molton Brown or Gilchrist & Soames.

Think of women's clothing and Iran and the unappealing image that springs to mind is probably the shapeless, black coverall of a traditional chador.

Natural disasters have put the tourism sectors in Christchurch and Queensland on the back foot but the Aussies have already come out swinging with the cleverly named "Nothing beats Queensland" campaign.

I've always felt that food was one of the great reasons to travel. But you'd have to say that until relatively recently it wasn't top of the list of reasons for visiting the South Pacific.

At Auckland International Airport I watched sympathetically as my young daughter wrestled with the dilemma of how to meet the needs of three young children within the limits of the aviation security rules.

If you've flown Air New Zealand and found yourself on the new Airbus A320, you'll have had the chance to use your mobile at 5000m, or to listen to your neighbour doing important business by phone.

The shadow of earthquake and recession may still be hanging darkly over the land but that seems only to have spurred Kiwis to fly further and to more exotic locations when they go on holiday.

I've always found ancient places of worship to be strangely moving. Probably it's because the dominant role of organised religion in bygone times meant the greatest talents of the age were harnessed to make these churches.

So passengers are going to be able to make mobile phone calls on domestic flights on Air New Zealand's new A320s. Fantastic. Hurrah. Yippee. Not.

Hihi - otherwise known as stitchbirds - may well be New Zealand's most interesting birds.

After digesting both sides of the debate, Jim Eagles believes there should be a uniform set of rules governing freedom camping.

Peter Calder takes a break from creature comforts - and city slickers.

There was mild celebration last year when the New Zealand and Spanish governments negotiated an agreement on working holiday visas.

I am starting to think that in this case we do need a national policy on freedom camping, so campers and locals know exactly what the rules are.

I've enjoyed some fantastic New Year's Eve festivities in years gone by, usually with family and friends, and mostly at the beach.

A survey of 502 Kiwis found that 42 per cent said they usually decided on their travel plans around this time of year.

If you fancy a bit of a break this Christmas but need to do it on the cheap, there are a few things you can do to help your money go further.

Rules are rules and carelessness is carelessness. But I can't help wishing that there would be some standardisation of enforcement.

Touch wood, but I've never actually been robbed while travelling.

Jim Eagles reflects on his journey to one of New Zealand's most isolated outposts, the Chatham Islands.

Airport security precautions are a fact of life these days, but Jim Eagles wonders whether some of the checks haven't become a bit much.

If you're one of those sad people who put a dampener on their own holidays by feeling guilty at the damage done to the planet when they fly overseas, here's something that should ease your conscience.

The latest Lonely Planet guide to New Zealand came out the other day with the usual flutter of controversy over descriptions of the Bay of Islands as over-hyped, Hamilton as dull and Kiwis as eager-to-please.