"Travel is one of the finest and most life-enhancing stimulants to good health, happiness and longevity."

Websites generally come and go, but, maybe because travel is rapidly becoming the world's single largest industry and the demand for information just keeps on growing, travel-related sites tend to have durability and dependability.

There are thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of them, out there. Most travel magazines have their own sites, as do all the major travel guidebook companies, where you'll find useful information on just about anywhere on earth. Of course it's rarely enough if you're planning serious travel and detailed itineraries - after all, they obviously prefer you to buy their publications.

But here are some useful sites that provide a range of services for travelers wanting the best:

A note on scam-spam

It's possible, once you start using travel websites, that your email address will rapidly become a repository for "scam-spam" - often ludicrous and devious travel-related "rip-offs" that only appeal to the ultra-vulnerable but tend to raise suspicions generally about the credibility of most website data.

If your situation worsens with travel-related spam from the unregulated information superhighway you can always go right to the top and complain to the Federal Trade Commission (email: uce@ftc.gov) in the USA, or your national equivalent.

Go/don't go advice

One of the best sites (if a little overcautious at times) for advice on where not to go at any particular time is the US Department of State's http://travel.state.gov/travel_warnings.html

www.ticked.com
For the frustrated, ripped-off, mind-boggled traveler, here's a great site where contributors expose the devious workings of the travel industry and at least give you a place to vent your spleen and add your 'me-too' tales.

www.planetrider.com
What a time-saver this is - a site that claims to have searched through over a quarter of a million web sites and selected the best in terms of ease of use, accuracy, scope of information and pragmatic usability. They've done all the work for you - and wait until you see their travel options and ideas that you never dreamed of in your wildest fantasies...

And here's another must for the budget-traveler: www.smarterliving.com has it all in terms of the very latest offers by airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, cruise lines, tour operators et al. And not only is all this free but the search engines even custom-serve your rate-comparison needs. All you've got to do is press a few keys - and be patient!

A wonderful convenience, especially for ripped-off recipients or scammed consumers who feel it's time to put complaints into e-mail form, is www.passengerrights.com who will help you fill out the appropriate forms for disputes with airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, cruise lines, et al.

And as for the true traveler looking for much more than thinly disguised tourist brochures and "puff-promos" full of fluff, the following sites will take you deep into the heart of travel and the travel experience: www.nationalgeographic.com (one of the world's 'top-ten' sites); www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/ and www.epicurious.com (Condé Nast Traveler magazine), www.travelerstales.com (publisher of in-depth travel books), and http://travel.yahoo.com

Two superb all-purpose travel websites (particularly for 'one-stop' and 'best-price' booking of flights, cars, cruises etc.,) are: www.travelocity.com and www.expedia.com

For information primarily on European travel, two excellent sites are www.visiteurope.com and www.raileurope.com

Other 'best bargain' sites for US and international travel include: www.priceline.com, www.lastminutetravel.com and www.11thhourvacations.com

Free courses in 70 different languages can be found at www.travlang.com

For latest information on currency exchange rates for 164 countries go to www.oanda.com

For the truly adventurous in search of guide-led 'expeditions' click on www.gorp.com

For latest information on 'problem disease areas,' vaccinations and general travel health tips try www.cdc.gov\travel

For free driving route information to and around cities in the US, Canada and 12 other European nations, click on www.mapquest.com

For adults with specific health problems that need special attention when traveling, there are: www.diabetes.org (the American Diabetes Association, with its Guide To Outdoor Recreation and Active Travel); www.accessibleeurope.com for physically disabled travelers and 'less challenged' individuals; www.access-able.com a well-established site for 'people with special needs'; http://healthlink.mcw.edu/content/topic/travelmedicine prepared by the Medical College of Wisconsin, and the Global Access Disabled Travel Network at www.geocities.com

Once again, your participation in suggesting additional reliable sites and your evaluations of my suggested sites would be much appreciated. If the response merits it, we'll compile a second "Terrific Trip-Netting Sites" (there is certainly an abundance of them!).