Traveler Tips

Brokeback Mountain, the popular movie about two cowboys who fall in love with each other, was filmed in Canada. But according to USA Today the movie's breath-taking scenery is inspiring travelers to head for Wyoming, where the script's action supposedly occurs.

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Americans going abroad who want to avoid the growing hostility of people who live elsewhere to U.S. policies can buy a 'Don't Shoot Me, I'm Canadian' travel package from T-shirtKing.com. For $24.95 you get a Canadian flag T-shirt, lapel pin, luggage patch and how-to-speak Canadian reference guide, according to the C.B.C.

* * * Speaking of overseas, that's where more and more Americans -- both the insured and the burgeoning numbers of uninsured -- are heading for cheap and effective medical care. There's even a Florida company that specializes in "medical tourism" called Medical Nomad, which is dedicated to helping you find "affordable and high quality medical care in Asia, Latin America, and Africa."

Makes you wonder what good is it to have what we claim is the best medical system in the world if few Americans can afford it.

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Here's a laugher. The Columbus Federal Voice, an Ohio-based web site for federal employees, offers travel advice for Americans heading out of the country. One wisdom:

"If you suspect that you're under surveillance, don't acknowledge, confront, photograph or harass the surveillance - they very likely have a support network. Report it to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

And then, we suppose, the Embassy will contact the National Security Administration to tell them they've got competition.

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Sixteen seems to be a popular number for travel tips. Late last month, a consortium of American businesses calling itself "Business for Diplomatic Action" published 16 very different tips for how to avoid 'Ugly American' behaviors. They're worried that the increasingly terrible reputation America has is doing financial damage to the bottom line.

Three of the tips: don't shout, go slower, and don't talk politics -- just "agree to disagree." Unless, of course, you do agree, in which case you might be better off quickly shouting it out.