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1. Searching for a new vision of yourself and your future? What better backdrop to contemplate possibilities than the wilderness of Montana on a visioning retreat in comfortable western-style ranch surroundings.
2. When visiting large cities, do you shell out for taxis rather than explore the sights by subway because you worry about safety? Here are 20 wise and entertaining tips from the women's travel guru who turns subway travel into a price-friendly cultural adventure no matter where she goes.
3. European crusaders in the Middle Ages left their mark and their exploits (both good and bad) across present-day Turkey, Syria, Jordan and Israel. Follow in their footsteps with a richly-planned history tour.
4. Pickpockets are the scourge of many a traveler. Consider yourself warned as TravelAdvisor readers share their pick of the top cities to beware the nimble fingers as you enjoy the sights and sites along the way.
5. Travel with a Challenge reviews two travel books that offer both inspiration and entertainment with their large coffee table format and emphasis on fabulous photography. These will not fit in your luggage!

Welcome a new addition to Travel with a Challenge! It is a growing, gorgeously-presented Travel Resources & Product Reviews collection to introduce readers to books, DVDs, clothing, luggage and tools to help make travel for seniors the best it can possibly be. Check back often to see what's been added!

A Personal Visioning Retreat in the Mountains of Montana

This exceptional six-day/seven-night week retreat is designed for men and women at a life crossroad or for those seeking to rediscover and reaffirm their own unique visionary genius and spirited life direction. The visioning retreat is non-denominational and deeply spiritual in nature with elements of meditation, movement, silence, vision quest communion with nature, the expressive arts, insight exercises, self healing, and mastery in the art of transition, transformation, and visioning dreams into being.

This retreat at the world-class International Center for Earth Concerns, is held in a modern facility with Western-motif furnishings along with original Victorian antiques. There is a deep sense of American West history complete with renovated homesteader's log cabins and historic stage hotel, where early visitors to Yellowstone National Park stopped for the night.

The Montana Natural Heritage Program has rated the Centennial Valley as one of the most significant natural landscapes in the state, consisting of 385,000 acres - 285,000 acres of public lands which include the 45,000-acre Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and 26,000 acres in the Centennial Mountains.

For complete information about Ronda and Matt's August 21 to 28, 2010 visioning retreat, visit the website. About 20 participants will be accepted. Ronda's dedication to engaged self healing, inner guidance, and reclaimed wholeness has earned her Ojai SoulArts Center in California a growing reputation as one of the top 10 spiritual retreats in the world for this simple, fast, and lasting self-integration. Ronda is author of two books and numerous articles, and she is the founder and owner of The Center for Soul Arts, http://ojaisoularts.com and the SoulArts Process of Activated Awakening, www.rondalarue.com. Meet her in Montana!
Images courtesy of The International Center for Earth Concerns.

There is a lot of restored history around the 19th century ghost town and ranch site.

In major cities, shun taxi cost and go by subway....Safety Tips for Women

I have just come across a remarkable new collection of 20 tips for international subway travel by Journeywoman editor, Evelyn Hannon. I say "remarkable" because these tips are not only insightful and easily followed, but they also give plenty of cultural insight into subway travel possibilities in the major cities of a variety of countries worldwide.

Of benefit to both women and men as they get to know a new city, the list of tips preaches caution but is far from a discouragement to this budget-friendly, efficient way of exploring some of the world's most visited places.

Globetrotting women's travel guru and proud grandmother, Evelyn Hannon, is an avid fan of subway travel. "Taxis are generally far too insular for me," she says, "and they make too much of a dent in my pocketbook. Riding the subway I'm quickly immersed in the city I'm visiting and it provides me with the purest form of people watching. I find a great sense of satisfaction in being able to get from Point A to Point B without getting lost."

Did you know that Tokyo and Mexico City have had designated subway cars for women for awhile now, and Rio de Janiero just announced this new service on its subway too? Did you know that Toronto has a designated waiting area where women can wait for the train?

An additional insider tip from a New York woman really caught my attention, "As your train pulls into the subway station, and is slowing down, if you notice any empty or near-empty cars in an otherwise packed train, don't get into them. It means something's amiss. Tourists will pile in only to regret it during the ride, but natives know better. In the summertime, a near-empty car means the air conditioning is not working. In the winter time, (unfortunately) it's base camp for street people; other times, maybe you'll encounter unsavory characters or an unrelenting wheel squeal. Ladies, if a subway car is empty, make the counterintuitive move and join the throngs in the next car." Who'd have guessed?

Journeywoman is the premier online resource just for women travelers, www.journeywoman.com

Follow the Crusader Route Through Turkey, Syria and Jordan to Israel

US-based tour operator, Far Horizons Archaeological and Cultural Trips, www.farhorizons.com, has announced a unique 17-day "Path of the Crusades" overland journey from September 1 to 17, 2010.

Beginning in Istanbul, participants will walk along the city walls built to secure the city from a land invasion but breached by the army of the Fourth Crusade. Travel south to Antakya, ancient Antioch, captured in the First Crusade. Cross the border into Syria and view many spectacular castles -- Krak des Chevaliers, Qal'at Saladin, Masyaf Castle, Chastel Blanc -- and places of worship created by the Crusaders. In Jordan, walk through Ajlun, the only purely Arabic citadel and the base for the forces of Saladin. And in Israel, see incredible remains of the crusader city of Akko, uncovered during recent exca-vations, and the many crusader-era sites in Jerusalem.

Tour leader for the trip is Professor Jonathan Phillips, a renowned specialist on the Crusades and author of a number of books on the Crusades. His articles have appeared in a number of British publications including BBC History, History Today, and The Independent. He is regularly consulted on radio and television programs as a leading expert on crusades history, and is a frequent guest on England's Radio 4 and the BBC World Service. In addition, he has contributed to several television programs for the BBC, The History Channel USA, and PBS. You may see much of the History Channel's The Crusades: Crescent and Cross on YouTube - with Dr. Phillips featured as one of the scholars.

Since its inception in 1982, all Far Horizons itineraries have an archaeological, historical, and/or cultural focus. Reflecting on the Far Horizons philosophy of travel, owner Mary Dell Lucas comments, "As I've grown older, I've learned to appreciate luxury (as have the Far Horizons travelers who have repeatedly taken our journeys during many years) but I refuse to give up the sense of adventure. As our frequent travelers know, our trips reflect this winning combination which always includes a specialist who reveals the secrets and solves the mysteries of the sites we explore."

TripAdvisor recently announced its readers choice of the 10 most common pickpocket cities and places within cities, based on their vast travel experience. Consider yourself warned that you should take extra precautions when next you visit:

1. Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain
2. Rome, Italy
3. Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic
4. Madrid, Spain
5. Paris, France
6. Florence, Italy
7. Buenos Aires, Argentina
8. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
9. Athens, Greece
10. Hanoi, Vietnam

Travel Inspiration Books: Big is Beautiful!

Too large to serve as a traveling guidebook but perfect for coffee table browsing, a couple of the world's top travel publishers have produced two hardback keepers that are sure to educate, inspire, and generate conversation with guests.

Off the Tourist Trail: 1,000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (ISBN: 978-0-7566-5399-6) is an elegant DK Eyewitness Travel book distilling the most captivating places to visit on every continent, from ancient and historical sites, festivals and architectural marvels to natural wonders, art, beaches and vibrant cities.

Published in 2009 with the thoughtful contributions of 45 expert travel writers, this 336-page volume puts the well-worn tourist haunts firmly in the shade with its fresh and fascinating alternatives. However, there is also plenty of practical information and useful locator maps to help readers consider the realities of visiting any of the suggested sites.

If you liked Petra in Jordan, you'll love the amazing rock-hewn churches at Lalibela in Ethiopia. If World Music has appeal and you're looking for something different, try Essaouira's Gnawa and World Music Festival in Morocco. Diving at Australia's Christmas Island makes a great alternative to the better-known and busier Great Barrier Reef, and breathtaking Borobudur in Java certainly gives touristy Angkor Wat a run for its money. These are the type of "travel alternatives" you may expect to find in this one-of-kind book. As globetrotter, Bill Bryson, sums up in his Forward to Off the Tourist Trail, "Thanks to this estimable tome, I have discovered that there are even more eye-popping, life-enhancing sights and experiences out there than I had ever dreamed existed .... that is why this book is more valuable to the serious traveler than any book I have seen in a long time."

With great writing from the best of Rough Guides' stable of authors, Earthbound: A Rough Guide to the World in Pictures (ISBN: 978-1-84836-194-2) captures the essence of travel: why we do it, what we get out of it, and the sheer richness and pleasure of the world at large. Rough Guides' photographers have traveled to every corner of the globe .... their mission to capture the spirit of a place, its people, its sights and monuments, its heart and soul. Mission accomplished!

With this 265-page large format book, also published in 2009, Rough Guide has cherry-picked its library of hundreds of thousands of accumulated images, recognizing that some were so outstanding that they deserved to be in a book of their own. Hence, the concept of Earthbound took shape. All pictures are about a specific location with longitude/latitude coordinates given so you may find it with Google Maps online and go there instantly.

Earthbound is a visioning book, not a nuts and bolts volume, designed to make you smile, exclaim and even laugh out loud, peppered with mini-stories by the photographers and writers who encourage viewing the world with different eyeglasses. Here's a "snapshot" from Lydia Evans, photographer for The Rough Guide to Paris: "I started the morning in Oscar Wilde's bedroom, lying on the bed, trying to find an angle to shoot the gorgeous peacock wallpaper without too much reflection. Next, I popped by to see Mona Lisa. Tired of the endless tourists, she barely smiled. My brief was to turn the camera on the snappers! There were some puzzled expressions and a few huffs and puffs, but I stood my ground in a prime position up against the rope until I got my shot."

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