Cruise ship areas you don't want your cabin to be near:

10 Generators

9 Nightclubs and casinos

8 Promenade and running decks

7 Ice-cube machines

6 Room service cart storage

5 Swimming pools

4 Laundry rooms

3 Galleys

2 Elevators

1 Restaurants

Source: TravelSmart

Travel Talk

Travel has a way of stretching the mind. The stretch comes not from travel's immediate rewards, the inevitable myriad of new sights, smells and sounds, but with experiencing firsthand how others do differently what we believed to be the right and only way."

-- Ralph Crawshaw

Travel Reading

Haunted Hikes: Spine-Tingling Tales and Trails from North America's National Parks

By Andrea Lankford,

Santa Monica Press, $16.95

Most campers enjoy a good ghost story, especially late at night around a roaring fire. This book about ghosts, curses, hoaxes, unsolved mysteries and paranormal events in North America's national parks not only can generate some good campfire talk but also directs hikers to the places where these events supposedly took place. In Utah, for example, the book talks about the ghostlike American Indian artwork in Canyonlands' Horseshoe Canyon and the mysterious disappearance of artist and wanderer Everett Ruess. Other chapters include tales of John Brown's haunting of Harper's Ferry, disembodied legs said to have been seen inside the Mammoth Cave Visitor Center and the wailing woman who roams the trail behind the Grand Canyon Lodge. Each hike also lists a "fright factor" rating.

CURRENCY

Your dollar buys . . .

Rates paid domestically for each dollar changed. These figures are intended only as a guide. Rates may be more favorable abroad. (As of Wednesday)

Argentina (peso) 3.1

Australia (dollar) 1.4

Brazil (real) 2.3

Canada (dollar) 1.1

Chile (peso) 545.3

Czech Rep. (koruna) 22.5

Denmark (kroner) 5.9

Egypt (pound) 5.8

European (euro) 0.79

(Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain)

Great Britain (pound) 0.54

Hong Kong (dollar) 7.8

Hungary (forint) 214.9

India (rupee) 45.9

Indonesia (rupiah) 9,475

Israel (shekel) 4.5

Japan (yen) 115.03

Mexico (peso) 11.5

New Zealand (dollar) 1.6

Norway (krone) 6.2

Philippines (peso) 53.2

Poland (zloty) 3.2

Russia (ruble) 27.04

Singapore (dollar) 1.6

South Africa (rand) 6.9

South Korea (won) 962.1

Sweden (krona) 7.4

Switzerland (franc) 1.2

Taiwan (dollar) 32.6

Thailand (baht) 38.4

Venezuela (bolivar) 2,690.2

Resources: Yahoo! Finance