According to Forbes magazine, for the second year in a row, Seattle takes the top spot in our study. Why? The city does poorly on all counts, but was at the bottom when it comes to job growth, and the cost of living is very high. “It's true the housing prices here have just gone through the stratosphere,” says Charles Knutson, spokesman for the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. The city got hit hard by the tech bubble, and took a big employment dive. “We're coming out of that, but if you're looking at a line chart, there's a huge gap between income and housing costs.” Still, Seattle may become easier to afford should big local employers such as Microsoft, Boeing and Starbucks stay healthy.

About a dozen people have been killed by salt-water crocodiles in Australia in the past 20 years. Now divers in northern Australia are calling for development of crocodile warning devices following two recent crocodile attacks. The numbers of crocodiles have increased rapidly in recent years, due to a ban on hunting passed in the 1970s. The deaths have also reopened debate as to whether limited limited hunting should resume. The salt-water crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is the largest living reptile in terms of mass. There is a large population in Australia, with the majority being in the Northern Territory.

Spotted by webmaster Paul: “Because your first trip to Tokyo can be like going to another planet.

Planet Tokyo is here to guide you through the culture shock that many western travellers experience upon arrival in Japan. If you're planning a trip, or just hoping to learn something new and interesting in this western traveller's guide to Japan” http://www.planettokyo.com/

Alligators have clashed with non native pythons before in Everglades National Park. A 13 ft long python tried to swallow a 6 ft alligator whole and then exploded. Scientists have documented four similar encounters in the last three years. The encroachment of Burmese pythons into the Everglades could threaten an $8 billion restoration project and endanger smaller species, said Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor. The gators have had to share their territory with a python population that has swelled over the past 20 years after owners dropped off pythons they no longer wanted in the Everglades. The Asian snakes have thrived in the wet, hot climate. “Encounters like that are almost never seen in the wild – and we here are, it's happened for the fourth time,” Mazzotti said. In the other cases, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw.

Thai Airways, Thailand's national carrier, has announced that it will fly non stop from Bangkok to Los Angeles as of Dec. 1. The flight used to stop in Osaka, Japan en route but now, using an Airbus A340-500, the flight will be non stop.

An independent media watchdog group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, (CPJ), says press freedom was under siege in every corner of the globe last year. The CPJ says Iraq remained the most dangerous place in the world to work as a journalist in 2004. In its annual report, entitled “Attacks on the Press,” the CPJ said 56 journalists were killed worldwide last year as a direct result of their work.

At least 23 journalists and 16 media support workers were killed in Iraq last year. Another 22 journalists were abducted while trying to report on the Iraq conflict. 122 journalists were imprisoned in 2004, three-quarters of them in just four countries – China, Burma, Eritrea, and Cuba.

Eight journalists were murdered in the Philippines last year, allegedly for criticizing the government or reporting on corruption.

Eleven journalists have been killed in contract-style killing since President Vladimir Putin came to power.

Zimbabwe was named one of the world's worst places to be a journalist because of the government's continued crackdown on private media and Bangladesh was found to be the most dangerous county in South Asia for the media.

Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid

You may have heard of the Paris – Dakar car rally, well, here's a slightly different take on the idea of driving a car across deserts and getting lost, but for those with less cash. The aim is to drive the route from Plymouth in the south west of the UK to Banjul in The Gambia (on a limited budget) with the principle aim of helping some charitable causes in Senegal and The Gambia. The rules include competing in a car that costs less than £100, not spending any more than £15 on getting the car ready and having no assistance whatsoever, once under way. If this sounds like your cup of tea, take a look at: http://www.plymouth-dakar.co .uk/

The Danish Air Force admitted last month that it paid about $5,000 in compensation to a part-time Santa Claus whose reindeer died of heart failure when two fighter jets roared over his farm. The reindeer, named Rudolf, was grazing at the farm of Olavi Nikkanoff in central Denmark when the F-16 jets passed overhead at low altitude earlier in the year. The reindeer collapsed and died, leaving Nikkanoff with only one animal pulling his sleigh next Christmas. Mr Nikkanoff complained to the Danish air force, which agreed to compensate him for the cost of the reindeer and veterinary expenses. “We got a letter from Santa complaining about his reindeer's death and looked into it seriously,” air force spokesman Capt. Morten Jensen said. The air force checked flight data and veterinary reports and concluded the planes had caused the animal's death. Mr Nikkanoff said he would use the money to buy a new reindeer before Christmas.

A report from Malaysia's Star newspaper gives examples of how soaring fuel costs are impacting on air fares in certain instances. They gave two examples: a return ticket to Colombo, Sri Lanka from Kuala Lumpur costs RM400 but the fuel surcharge is RM450. Another bargain – a two-night return package to Bangkok from KL on Thai Airways costs RM399 but the fuel surcharge, airport tax and insurance will cost an additional RM323. With the rising demand for oil and hurricanes hitting the United States, world oil prices are not expected to come down in the near future. One Malaysian travel agent commented: “It looks like the days of cheap air travel are over as the high fuel prices are here to stay.” Another agent said: “Some of the fuel surcharges are so expensive that they make a mockery of their special cheap short flights from KLIA to regional destinations like Jakarta and Bangkok.”

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Europe From a Backpack travel book series are now accepting submissions for Italy From a Backpack and Spain From a Backpack. They are looking for first-person must-tell stories. If you have a story to tell, visit www.EuropeBackpack.com for details.

Length: Stories average 800-2,000 words. While we will accept stories up to 3,000 words, shorter stories have a better chance of being accepted.

How to Submit: Send your story by MS Word attachment to submit@EuropeBackpack.com with the following information (make sure to include all information in the Word Document):

• name
• story title
• story location
• address
• phone
• primary e-mail
• secondary e-mail
• College or University you graduated from
• Include a fun and brief bio after them story

Deadlines: The following are the deadline dates for submitting stories for Italy From a Backpack and Spain From a Backpack.

• Round 1: January 31, 2006
• Round 2: March 28, 2006

At September's World Tourism Day, the the United Nations Today said that more and more people can afford to travel. In 1950 it was 20 million, last year 760 million, and by 2020 it is expected that the number of international travellers will exceed 1.6 billion a year.

A recent survey of Americans indicates that international travel, particularly for leisure, continues to rise. A record number of nearly 62 million U.S. travellers went abroad last year, up 10 percent from 2003, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Interestingly, while the number of Americans who travel outside U.S. borders is climbing, the number of those
who have passports remains at a low 20 percent.

An estimated 21 million Americans will travel to and from the Caribbean,

Mexico and Bermuda this year. They are not required to have a passport – now. However, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 requires all Americans to have a passport by 2008 to re-enter the United States from any other country in the Western Hemisphere. The first two phases of the initiative include the Caribbean, Bermuda, Mexico, Canada and Central and South America. This will create an enormous increase in demand for passports.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against all travel to central, southern and Western Mindanao, and the Sulu archipelago including Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Jolo, where military and police operations against terrorist and rebel groups are continuing and where kidnappings and bombings have taken place.

There is a threat of kidnapping throughout the Philippines. We believe that terrorists and criminal elements are continuing with plans to kidnap foreign tourists from islands and coastal areas in the southern Philippines – ie Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago. Kidnappings from other parts of the Philippines cannot be discounted. Boats travelling to and from offshore islands and dive sites are possible targets.

There is a high threat from terrorism throughout the Philippines. On 28 August 2005, an explosion on board a passenger ferry in Basilan, Mindanao killed 2 people and injured at least 30. On 10 August, two bombs exploded in Zamboanga City, western Mindanao when at least 25 people were injured. In February 2005, bombs in Manila and Mindanao killed at least nine people and injured over 130 others. We believe that terrorist groups have the capacity to mount attacks at any time and anywhere in the Philippines

You should also be alert to the risk of street crime.

If you happen to be near Lubeck in Germany, there is a huge ice and snow sculpture festival opening 9th December. Forty ice sculptors will create sculptures for the “Kingdom of Animals” under supervision of Dave Willé. Artists from the United States, Canada Great Britain Belgium, Russia and the Netherlands carve icy animals within the coming weeks. The sculptors use a variety of methods to carve out their figures; some use chain saws, some draw a draft on ice cubes. Beginning on top of the cubes, artists always carve down to the bottom using an array of ladders and scaffolds. All in all, some 350,000 kilos of ice and 150,000 kilos of snow will be processed for the Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival.

Skytrax have conducted the world's “largest” passenger survey, was conducted over an 11 month period (June 2004 – May 2005) to find the world's Airline of the Year. The results are as follows:

AIRLINE OF THE YEAR 2005

1. Cathay Pacific
2. Qantas Airways
3. Emirates
4. Singapore Airlines
5. British Airways
6. Malaysia Airlines
7. Thai Airways

Beetle: I don't see Ryanair in this list.

If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites

A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a £1,000 travel award?

Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested?

Then see our legacy page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we'll take a look at it. Get those plans in!!

The UK's longest-running holiday operator Thomas Cook is offering family tours of Amsterdam's red-light district. The package costs £12, though half-price for children. Thomas Cook claims the tour, which is free to under threes, offers a 'fascinating insight into the oldest profession in the world'. A press release on the two-hour tour says it leaves at 8pm and 'will take visitors deep into the famous red-light district, accompanied by a reliable and trustworthy guide'. The brochure says: 'Begin with a drink at a prostitute information centre where a former prostitute will explain the system and answer any questions you may have. Then head for the Wallen (the red-light district) and see for yourself.'