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Contact Us when you spot HI-USA in the news, particularly if a Golden Gate Council hostel is featured. Visit Our Hostels to find out more about the amazing hostels in Northern California.
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Observe the largest native mammals to come onto the North American continent when the northern elephant seals return to the coast for breeding season from December 15, 2003-March 31, 2004.
HI-Pigeon Point Lighthouse partners with Año Nuevo State Reserve to provide guests with a naturalist-guided walk of the site. Pregnant females come ashore to have pups beginning in mid-December, with births reaching a peak by late January. Most of the adult seals are gone by early March, leaving behind the weaned pups who remain through April to swim in the tide pools.
Individual guests (not groups) who make a reservation for a Friday, Saturday or holiday night at the hostel can request a pass for the following morning tour at 10 a.m. Only 20 passes are available per day. Guests are encouraged to sign up when they make a reservation because tickets might sell out. Tickets were $4 per person and $4 per vehicle when this newsletter went to press.
The Hostel Adventure Program received a $15,500 grant from the David B. Gold Foundation, a San Francisco-based private grantmaker that provides funding to Bay Area environmental organizations. The funding is the foundation's first grant to HAP and is the largest donation made to the program this fiscal year.
"I am proud that HAP received this generous grant from the David B. Gold Foundation," said Susan Silber, HAP program coordinator. "It provides essential funding so HI-USA, Golden Gate Council can continue to introduce thousands of inner-city children to nature and important environmental concepts."
The grant will be used to pay naturalists who lead children on hikes and engage them with hands-on activities that address ecological concepts. The grant allows HAP to direct more of its budget to scholarships and discounted prices for low-income students.
HAP also wants to acknowledge its diverse group of funders who believe in the program's mission and goals, including the California Coastal Commission, Levi Strauss Foundation, Cleo Foundation, the California Casualty Group and hundreds of individual donors.
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Guests can once again watch soaring brown pelicans, languid Pacific harbor seals and migrating gray whales from the ocean-side hot tub at HI-Pigeon Point Lighthouse. The hot tub was temporarily closed for renovation, including a deck entirely made from recycled materials.
The hot tub is only available to overnight hostel guests and cannot be reserved in advance. The cost is $7 per person with a two-person minimum and a four-person maximum for a half-hour session. Time slots start at 6 p.m. every evening and end at 10 p.m.
Be one of the first guests to check-in when the hostel opens, and you'll be able to reserve one of the best hot tub vistas in the world!
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March through May is the gray whale northern migration season. Two hostels, HI-Pigeon Point Lighthouse and HI-Point Montara Lighthouse , and the Point Reyes Lighthouse near HI-Point Reyes are three prime Bay Area locations to see these majestic animals spout, sound, spy-hop and breach. The gray whale makes one of the longest mammalian migrations, averaging 10,000-14,000 miles round trip. Mothers and calves travel very near shore on the northbound migration.
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Golden Gate Council's periodic member newsletter, Golden Gate Hosteller, hit the press for the last time with the Winter 2003 issue. Now HI-USA members and the general traveling public can subscribe to the Council's monthly e-newsletter. The first issue will launch in April 2004. HI-USA members who do not have access to a computer may request a paper copy of the e-newsletter (this service is available to current HI-USA members only). Call Mercedes in membership services at 415/863-1444 ext. 301 or send her a postcard with "Golden Gate Hosteller" and a preferred address.
The 2004 Discover America maps, published by the national HI-USA office, are available at any hostel in Northern California or at the Golden Gate Council office in San Francisco . Stop by during office hours and pick up a free copy today!
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Hostel News
HI-SF City Center added free wireless Internet access to its long list of amenities. Guests can now access the Internet using a personal laptop computer from any common room.
Four group programs with hands-on activities are now offered at HI-Marin Headlands , HI-Point Reyes and HI-Point Montara Lighthouse . Group leaders can request a night hike, cultural awareness program team-building exercise or a service project. For more information about group programs at these hostels, contact Mary Gabriel at 415/331-6943, marinhdl@norcalhostels.org.
HI-SF City Center has a new city walking tour, and it is already popular with guests. Let's Go Shopping! leads guests on an eight-block walk to discover all kinds of great bargains at nearby thrift stores. The free tour is led by volunteer Dianna Waggoner.
Jim Diskin, the new general manager of HI-SF Downtown, and Nicole Gluckstern, the new assistant general manager, have implemented a series of aesthetic improvements: the lobby was painted and redecorated and the second-floor common room received new furniture to accommodate organizations that seek affordable meeting space in downtown.
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Travel Resources
This site is the best online resource for all forms of non-traditional parenthood. It offers the usual free monthly e-newsletter but also audience-specific tips and advice on travel specials, destinations, packing and documentation. You can also meet other single parents using the site's bulletin boards. Brenda Elwell, the managing editor, has 15 years of experience in the travel industry with her two kids in tow. (Note: You have to register for this free service. A complete privacy policy is posted on the site.)
[www.iamat.org]
There is nothing more frightening than getting sick in a foreign country, particularly if you didn't invite your family doctor to tag along! The International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers isn't quite that perfect, but it does run a good second. IAMAT has maintained a global network of English-speaking physicians, hospitals and clinics for more than 40 years. The doctors treat travelers for a standardized, reasonable fee: office visits, $55; house calls, hostels, etc., $75; night calls, Sundays and local holidays, $95. Membership in IAMAT is free and comes with a number of complementary publications.
[www.weather.com/]
The site's best feature is the Vacation Planner (click on "Planning a Trip?"), a user-friendly location search that allows you to access regional hot spots based on allergy alerts, temperature, destination type (golf, big city, adventure, family, etc.) or a travel-specific date. Or download Desktop Weather for free instant access to The Weather Channel, including current temperatures and severe weather alerts delivered to your desktop. (Note: There are numerous commercial links on the site. Take a second to note where you will be directed before you click a link on a tempting link.)
[www.johnnyjet.com]
This five-year-old site, the "first stop" for thousands of travelers, isn't a huge secret. But any site the Washington Post calls a "staggeringly extensive collection of travel links" deserves to be mentioned here. John Discala, the site's operator, has truly compiled the ultimate travel Web site (it has been featured in more than 350 major publications). Try the "More Categories" link at the bottom of the homepage for three links of inside scoops: Adventures and Outdoors Health; Medical and Safety; and Maps.
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Travel Tips
Book online or on main street?
According to the Los Angeles Times ( 01/01/04 ), more than $3 of every $5 spent on travel online in 1993 went through Expedia, Orbitz or Travelocity. We suggest using a local travel agent to secure a great deal on airfare while feeling great that you gave your money to an individual rather than a Web site.
It's back-to-the-basics for substance over style
Are up-to-date travel guides a resource of the past? The publishing trend seems to be glossy paper, full-color photographs and few useful tips. That sounds like the perfect coffee table book. When you buy a travel guide, your best bet is to look for the guide's publication date to see if it is updated yearly (or some other variation). Skip it altogether if you can't find the date because it most likely highlights restaurants and must-see venues that have since closed. Stick to the basics: Lonely Planet, now 30-years-old, and Let's Go (even older) deliver specialized content with every new edition.
Alarm clocks that pack a punch at little expense
Vacations are for sleeping in, right? Well, travelers who see the glass half-empty know that waiting to face the day guarantees longer lines and twice as much frustration. The solution is one of the most basic inventions: A battery-operated analog alarm clock. Buy a 4-pack of AA batteries, and you will enjoy hours of on-time security. Timex offers a basic Indiglo version (a.k.a the Senator model) for about $16, or you can travel in style for about $4 more with the Governor model in metallic champagne. This type of alarm clock is so basic, Mattel even makes a Barbie version. Go figure.
Cultural Misunderstandings:
The French-American Experience by Raymonde Carroll
Sure, it's more than a decade old but this classic University of Chicago Press title ( translated by Carol Volk, June 1990) is arguably more essential to read in today's global climate than in the early 1990s. For example, many people wonder why the French don't smile? The answer is not because they hate Americans. The French reserve that gesture for people they know not a stranger on the street. One of the glories of hostel travel is you learn about these cultural misunderstandings with other guests on common ground. But it doesn't hurt to do your homework, and this book illustrates that it's easy to misinterpret each other.
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