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*Note: This week's show is a special encore presentation of The Savvy Traveler. For this reason, some of the news and info. may be out of date. The stories originally ran on 6/20/03. For the most current travel updates, check out the "Travel News" box on our homepage, www.savvytraveler.org.
Rundown
for the Week of September 5, 2003
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The Jonesboro Story festival by Jill Jordan Sieder 
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Over the last few decades, America has seen a resurgence of live storytelling. And, a national storytelling revival that began about 30 years ago has really come into its own. There are now nearly 100 storytelling events held across the country each year, put on by storytelling guilds in almost every state. The most prestigious of them is the National Storytelling Festival, held each year in Jonesborough, Tenn. As Jill Jordan Sieder reports, this is where the power of the story not only saved one town, but continues to spark a national movement.
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Online resources
If you'd like to learn more about the National Storytelling Festival, and the storytelling center in Jonesborough, go to www.storytellingcenter.com. To find a storytelling event near you, go to www.storynet.org.
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Interview with Global Grover
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Sesame Street is now in its 34th season on PBS, and one its stars is earning a heap of frequent flier miles this year: the loveable blue, furry Muppet Grover is now "Global Grover." He's traveling now, showing preschoolers how people live all over the world. He joins Savvy Traveler host Diana Nyad for chat about where he has been, his favorite souvenirs, the one thing he absolutely can't leave home without, and where he will be going on his summer vacation.
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Music with Bob Duskis, Natacha Atlas and Bembeya Jazz
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Bob Duskis, co-founder of Six Degrees Records in San Francisco, is our world music guide. This week, he joins us with sounds from Natacha Atlas, one of the greatest living interpreters of modern Arabic music, and Bembeya Jazz, a Guinean group that melds traditional music with Cuban styles and Congolese rumba.
Click here for more info. about the artists
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Fix My Trip e-Tickets Aren't That e-asy
By now, most of us are used to traveling with e-tickets. Usually, there are no problems. But listener Steve from LA found out the hard way that e-tickets are not without pitfalls. What happened?
Steve, a longtime elite-level frequent flyer on United, was taking a flight to Seattle with a ticket paid for by his employer on a corporate credit card. But when he tried to check in, the gate agent told him he had to present the credit card used to purchase the ticket -- otherwise he wouldn't be allowed on the plane. But he didn't have the card because the travel agent had it. The gate agent wouldn't budge. It wasn't until after he called the travel agent and spoke with a supervisor that he was allowed to board. Was Steve wronged? Why?
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So, will Steve get the detailed explanation he really wants from United? Good thing it's time for Fix My Trip, where we help people fix travel snafus. We asked our Travel Troubleshooter, Chris Elliott, to see if he could get Steve back some peace of mind
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Online resources:
 www.elliott.org: Christopher Elliott's Web site
Got a trip that needs fixing? Have you exhausted every possible remedy and don't know where to turn? Send us an e-mail at fixmytrip@savvytraveler.org and tell us what happened to you. Be sure to include your daytime phone number.
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Most recent Deal of the Week Athens in the Off-Season
(from the 8/29/03 show)
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Our Travel-Expert-in-Residence, Rudy Maxa, says that with fall fast approaching, most of the summer tourists are starting to clear out of Europe -- and that's why there are great off-season bargains in Athens, Greece.
THE DEAL? If you go to Athens now, you'll notice how crowded it can be in August -- and how empty and magical it can be when you visit in the dead of winter, for example.
That's why a tour company called Friendly Planet has put together some nice packages for travel on certain dates to Athens from November through March. By then, the heat will have subsided and the crowds will have retreated.
To get the very lowest prices, you'll have to hurry and book by Sunday, Aug. 31st. But even if you wait until next week to make firm plans, you'll still get a nice bargain.
DETAILS? You'll get roundtrip airfare from New York aboard Swiss (Air), 5 nights in a deluxe hotel overlooking the Acropolis, plus breakfasts and 4 full days to explore the sites of Athens...for only $699 per person, based on two people traveling together.
After Sunday, the price goes up by $200 per person -- but even that is a sweet deal.
WANT MORE? Add three extra days to your itinerary and get some guided tours as well as visits to outlying sights, including Delphi, for another $349.
And, you'll find some add-on fares for departures from other cities, such as $60 from DC, $100 from Chicago and Miami, and $150 from Los Angeles. Taxes will add about another $135 per person.
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