I'm sure I'm not the only one for whom watching Dirty Dancing for the first time was something of a seminal moment. Who could forget Baby's klutzy insecurity, Johnny's smoldering good looks, the goosebump-inducing finale, and immortal lines like "I carried a watermelon"?

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One of my duties at Travelocity is writing about cruises. Here’s the typical response I get when I announce this at dinner parties.

“Cruises”?! (Person chokes on a bite of food.) “Aren’t they for old people”?

If you tuned into the premiere of the modern-day TV classic America’s Next Top Model, then you would have seen Cycle 9 kicking off onboard Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas. There, the model hopefuls were coming down with seasickness, noshing on rich cruise cuisine while accusing one another of eating disorders, and even attempting to “work it” on the jogging track, much to the displeasure of runway expert Miss J.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member PNelson

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Guess who’s having the best week ever? You are, if, like me, you’re a Harry Potter fan. The fifth Potter movie opens today, and my pre-ordered copy of the final book will arrive on July 21.

I don’t care as much for the witches and warlocks as I do the backdrops: the sky-high Gothic halls of Hogwarts School, the haunting (sometimes talking) landscapes, the oh-so-British town of Hogsmeade (specifically, the butterbeer served there). And like any determined traveler, I won’t let the fact that these places are fictional stop me from visiting them.

Photo courtesy of IgoUgo member Glamazon22.

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We have to take this with a pinch of salt, of course, but reports surfaced earlier this week that Britney Spears--she of the bald-headed breakdowns--delayed a Miami-bound flight for almost an hour, after she threw a tantrum and stormed off.

The reason? The seats on the plane weren’t made of leather.

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Never mind being a bodyguard to Britney Spears or part of the burgeoning Jolie-Pitt clan, if you want a little attention when you’re out and about, try traveling with the Travelocity Roaming Gnome.

On my flight back to San Francisco yesterday, I had a very special companion in my hand luggage--an 18-inch garden gnome in a pointy red hat, who couldn’t have attracted more glances, stares, and chuckles if he’d tried. Normally, in the face of such blatant public scrutiny, I would have run straight to the restroom to check my teeth for spinach or my shoes for errant spools of toilet paper, wondering why everyone from kids in strollers to 89-year-old grandmothers had executed a double take as I passed. But with the Roaming Gnome tucked under my arm I quickly became accustomed to the attention. The little fellow’s a legend after all. He’s used to being recognized.

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Posted in Air Travel, Celebrity Scoop, Groups & Companions, San Francisco, Security & Safety
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Heidi Ewing has produced and directed documentaries for The Discovery Channel, Britain's Channel 4, the BBC, A&E Network and Arte. Previously, Heidi produced and co-directed a one-hour film for the Discovery Channel on the ancient origins of tribal and religious body modification, a documentary shot on location in Sri Lanka and Ethiopia.

More recently, Heidi and her Loki Films partner Rachel Grady were aboard an early morning United flight from NYC to Santa Barbara when the captain announced that their documentary film Jesus Camp was nominated for this year's Academy Awards. The entire plane went crazy with applause. I caught up with Heidi in between Oscar-nominee lunches and meetings to glean her perspective on seeing the world through the eyes of a filmmaker.

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If you ask me it's a crime that KT Tunstall didn't win the Grammy last night for best female pop vocalist. But no matter, she's still a huge winner in my book. She's sassy, sexy and sensational. If you haven't heard her album Eye To The Telescope buy it immediately. You see, KT is not only a gifted songwriter with an amazing voice and creativity that rarely shines in the manufactured artists who top the charts these days but she also stands up for what she believes in.

What does any of this have with travel you ask? Actually, a lot. You see, KT Tunstall took a side-trip on her way to the Grammys to perform in Las Vegas at the Flamingo last week for a very special concert put together by Virgin and Travelocity.

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My movie-watching style is more Netflix than film fest, but one day I'd like to rub elbows with Hollywood celebs and film buffs in and around Park City and catch a glimpse of the latest indie flicks. After all, I've loved Napoleon Dynamite, An Inconvenient Truth, and Hoop Dreams, plus getting outdoors in Utah is a blast.

Today's the kickoff for the Sundance Film Festival, which is the largest film festival of its kind in the country. And although I've never attended this event, our U.S. version of Cannes in France, I have been to the Sundance Resort--and would return in a heartbeat.

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Posted in Celebrity Scoop, Festivals & Events, Hotel Travel, Parks & Outdoors
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Last week, the Godfather of Soul shimmied on up to the big boogie-fest in the sky, and I paid my respects in the only way I could: By roller skating in Redwood City. For this brilliant idea, I can only thank a friend of mine who passed along the news of a roller rink jam tribute to James Brown, with the promise of music and costumes. Even though I hadn’t been on skates in years, how could I turn that kind of homage down?

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Posted in Bars & Nightlife, Celebrity Scoop, Entertainment, Festivals & Events
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As someone who makes a living inspiring travel, I can't help but feel a little sorry for Kazakhstan, given the flogging it's taken lately with the success of "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." In the optimistic spirit of The Other Iraq (yes, really) and travel ads for Chernobyl, Kazakhstan has launched a slew of TV ads, promoting it as the "heart of Eurasia." I love a savvy marketing campaign as much as the next gal, but I'm guessing it's going to take a whole lot more to get people to spend their summer vacations in, say, Northern Iraq. All empathies aside, "Borat" might just be the funniest movie I have ever seen.

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