Useful travel sites

• ita software - uber flexie search once you learn the arcance syntax
• Continental - do I want admit that I know the flight numbers for each SEA-EWR non-stop? Kate is on the other end of those flights, so I do it about 8 times a year. CO 1781 (I never take this one), 1281 (I sometimes take this one), 1881 (I usually take this one), EWR - SEA nonstop.
• Frommers Budget travel @ msnbc
• Today in the Sky -USA Today has a surprisingly good travel news section
• Seat Guru -jscript enabled maps of planes, with comments on which seats you never, ever want to be stuck in.

Australia
Quantas
W Hotels -I stayed at the W in Sydney, which is in a great location on the harbor, right across from the Royal Botanical Gardens
Virgin Blue -cheap air travel within Australia, their flexible tickets are very reasonably priced, and very easy to change (I had to do it three times, and it only took 4 minutes for each- the downside is that you have to call Australia to adjust them, so it's good that they're fast!) (you can book online, though)
Tasmania -I never wanted to leave here. Hobart's a small town, but it's right on the water, has lots to do, and is very easy to get around on foot.

Paris
Centre Pompidou- the modern art museum here is excellent
Rodin Museum - bring a lunch & eat it in the sculpture garden if it's a nice day
Summer dining- the cafes at the trocadero (especially Le Coq) are nice, and right across the river from the eiffel tower
Aix en Provence
Hotel Mercure Paul Cezanne -about a 4 minute walk off the Cours Mirabeau, and a really nice place to stay. It's very close the non-TGV Aix train station.
Dinner in Aix- Deux Garcons (scroll down) at 10 PM; it's too hot in the summer to eat any earlier!
raileurope -source of TGV tickets
aix-en-provence (en francais)
more aix-en-provence
Bad days to be in Aix: sunday and monday
Good days in the summer: market days, which I believe are tuesday, thursday and sunday all summer
Portland
Portland Westin gets 5 paws up from Declan and me. We always stay there. Hotel Lucia is downtown in a great location
amtrak's cascades route -slower than driving, but much nicer
everyday music - just up the road from powell's main bookstore
PSU - a nice walk is to head up the north park blocks and meander around the campus
Montreal
a guide to the different neighborhoods here
Great Britian
london
britrail
edinburgh - i haven't been here since i was 9, so i hope to go back soon.
Various Places
rei adventures
CN Traveler maps
New Zealand
NZ
photo.net NZ info

What's in my carryon?
I did Australia for two weeks from one carryon (an 18" suitcase, not even a roller!) so I like to consider myself a light packing ninja. It took a really long time to get to that level, though- practice makes perfect. Flying enough to make an airline's elite level makes a huge difference, I don't want to think about losing the ability to skip long lines and sit in bulkhead seats. Just those two things cut the pain factor down by an order of 10 at least.
Stangest thing I ever carried aboard an airplane? My beta fish, Puck, when I moved to Seattle.
What won't I get on a plane without? ipod shuffle, Tungsten C, cashmere wrap, triband GSM cellphone, noise canceling headphones, lunch, water, lots of magazines and a book, web checkin boarding pass
Biggest annoyance? I'm dumb, I fly in heels a lot. (i put footpetals in my heels though) My shoes are usually little straps, a thin sole, and a 2.5" heel, but I'm always asked to take them off at the xray. Balancing on one foot while unbuckling teensy straps at 8 AM and holding up the xray line- that's a great way to start off a trip. My second biggest annoyance is missing a pilates class, so I try to be home on Tuesdays.
What's the worst thing about flying? Getting stuck at DTW for 24 hours with a 6 month old puppy. Ok, that will hopefully never happen again. (And I like DTW again- terminal A is lightyears nicer than the old we got stuck in. If you're going to be stuck there overnight these days, the Westin is very nice, especially the gym.) The second worse thing is airplane food, I pack my own food these days.