Nancy Anderson, RN

Travel photography has become big business. But it's possible to take perfect vacation photos without buying expensive devices and carrying heavy equipment.

Although Western movies are not currently popular with Americans, the Wild West continues to fascinate tourists, and they can get a taste of that history with 3 towns in Arizona, Kansas, and Wyoming.

The town of Montreux is small enough to be insignificant, except it has a marvelous location on a peaceful lake. Or tourists can visit the elegant city of Lucerne, which has all the allure of a Swiss village.

Northeastern Spain is home to the so-called Dali Triangle. The more visitors investigate Salvador Dali, the more unusual the 20th century artist becomes.

Slightly northwest of Palm Springs is the Sonoran Desert with a robotic dinosaur museum run by creationists, a plant that makes LSD look tame, and Austrian food that should not be missed.

Palm Springs may be known for its former hold on Hollywood, but there's another side to the area for visitors looking to explore the Great Outdoors.

The La Quinta Resort & Spa was, and still is, a retreat for Hollywood celebrities. Greta Garbo was married on the grounds, Frank Capra lived there, and golfer Arnold Palmer and ice skater Dorothy Hamill still frequent the resort.

The tale of how 2 young American emergency room doctors bought The Willows Inn in Palm Springs, CA, for one million dollars is a long story.

Arguably the prettiest fishing village in Maine, Camden is a favored spot on the coastline, and you would never want to visit in the summer season without a reservation for accommodations.

Though small and fairly compact, Portland, ME, is a wonderful city and full of artwork-even in the local bed and breakfast, the Pomegranate Inn.

Kennebunkport is an authentic, quintessential Maine seaside village. However, since the town is just off the beaten path, there are less crowds and parking is easier to find in July and August.

Kennebunk, ME, has some unusual history. While its port was famous for ships that sailed to ports around the world, its river spawned the ice trade in the 1800s.

Provincetown, MA, is colorful, even outrageously so. In addition to being home to art, pilgrim history, and the largest seashore in the US, the town's Land's End Inn is the perfect place to stay.

Portsmouth, NH, is a city abuzz with young people, where art flourishes in the streets. Plus, the city's location makes it ideal for day trips to Boston and Cape Cod.

In Lower Waterford, Vt., there is nothing of interest except the Rabbit Hill Inn, which is the only reason people visit the village of just 80 souls.

Cruises not only simply the vacation experience, but they also enable visits to countries that might be difficult to navigate otherwise.

People don't usually go on cruises only to celebrate frugality, but there are ways to reduce costs if one has to. Here's a checklist for first-time cruisers.

Visits to Kent, known as the "Garden of England," and Cumbria's Lake District are 2 options for those looking to venture outside of London.

For those who have been to London and want to confront Britain's highways, here are 3 suggestions within easy reach by car. But don't expect to visit them on one trip: distances are deceptive.

Lovers of Olde England have their favorite places: London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-on-Avon; and way up north is the city of York.

Most tours of Dracula's castle visit Bran Castle in Bucharest, but the real one lies 80 miles southwest. Amidst all the serious searching of Vlad Tepes' history, visitors should remember to have a little touristy fun.

Many who visit Sighisoara do so in search of Dracula. But it is such a charming town that even if it had not been the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, it is well worth a long visit.

In Sighisoara, the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, or Vlad Dracula, the 14 towers built centuries ago tell the history of Europe's hilltop towns and the monopoly of the guilds.

Eastern Europe has not yet been discovered by American visitors. Romania's Sighisoara is one of the best-preserved medieval hilltop towns and it's still inhabited.

It's hard to travel in Romania and not be horrified to hear stories of the years under Nicolae Ceausescu's brutal reign and to see the vast and permanent destructive changes he wrought on Bucharest.

Once called "the Paris of the East" Bucharest was destroyed by a despised despot before it was taken back in the late '80s, but signs still remain of his rule.

Smithfield isn't just a small town: it has a marina that fills with million dollar boats and an inn that was part of the Underground Railroad and at which George Washington recorded staying.

Don't knock visits to small towns. The Historic District in Smithfield, VA, is on the National Historic Register, the town has 10 houses pre-dating the Revolutionary War, plus the nation's oldest surviving Gothic structure.

More and more people are moving into the cities, but for some people small towns are the only place to raise a family. Smithfield's revitalized downtown makes it one of the great American small towns.

Hampton, Va., is bursting with history: the alleged bones of Blackbeard were found at the waterfront; early settler John Rolfe married Pocahontas; and the Confederate president was imprisoned at Fort Monroe.