If you're reading this, I've got to believe you survived the arrival of 2000. So take a deep breath. Congratulate yourself.
Now let's get out of town.What follows are my top 10 picks for ways you can do just that in 2000. Also -- and this is a first -- I've added my picks for places to miss. Though they ordinarily are terrific destinations, this is the year to pass them by.
Many of my go-tos will give you a firecracker bang for your buck. Some are far enough away for jet lag. All are fun and fascinating.
1. Asia. This is the world's greatest travel bargain. And if you ever yearned to see China's Great Wall or the soon-to-be-flooded Yangtze River, Thailand's Golden Triangle, the beaches at Bali or Japan's Buddhist temples, go now.
I promise you, it's never going to be cheaper.
If you compare the price of a week in New York City with its skyscraper-high hotel bills to a week in Bangkok (including airfare), you'll find that Bangkok is cheaper, especially if you use a package tour.
The same is true for Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Bali. Even Japan -- while never exactly cheap -- is at least more moderately priced.
The downside is a mind- and buttocks-numbing flight across the Pacific and the jet lag that follows. The upside is pretty much everything else. And don't worry about not speaking Chinese or Thai. English is spoken at most places visitors go.
Make reservations soon. The devalued yen, which was a major reason for many of these low prices, is steadily gaining strength. The era of great deals won't last forever.
2. Mexico. Great beaches. Great restaurants. Swimming, sailing, diving, kayaking, parasailing. Wonderful pyramids and historic buildings. Art, fanciful and serious. And fascinating, friendly people.
It is said, with some truth, that nowhere in the world can you find two more different countries sharing a border than Mexico and the United States. For Americans, the advantage is a chance to get a truly foreign experience within hours of home. And the dollar is so strong, the Mexican peso seems like play money.
And once again, language is rarely a big problem. Sure they speak Spanish, but in Cancun or Cabo San Lucas, you'll hear more English than you will in Miami.
3. Cruises. The simple truth is, most people who go on cruises like them.
And why not? They're a great value. You get a trip on a boat that hardly rocks, 17 opportunities a day to eat, entertainment that ranges from crab races to gambling, Broadway-style shows and, on Royal Caribbean's new Voyager of the Seas, even ice skating.
What's more, every day you wake up at a different island or in a different country. You have to unpack only once, and you never change rooms.
The year 2000 promises to bring more great prices for cruising the Caribbean, Alaska and the Mediterranean. Prices are still good because, even though cruising grows in popularity each year, the cruise companies are building ships faster than they can fill them -- at least for the time being.
So shop around for the best deals -- 2-for-1, air-included, 40 percent and 50 percent off and so on. You should not have to pay the rack rate. Ever. You can get prices of less than $100 a day on many cruises.
Cruise lines also are going to many new destinations, and one of the newest is the Great Lakes.
It's actually the return of cruise ships to our sweet-water seas. For 100 years, cruise boats plied the northern waters, only to disappear for about a 30-year stretch with the advent of comfortable cars and interstate highways.
Now the ships are back, at least a few of them. Their sailings usually run from summer through fall-color season, and they include two superb European vessels -- the Columbus (German) and Le Levant (French). You can make reservations through the Great Lakes Cruise Co., Conlin Travel in Ann Arbor (734-477-6047, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays).
The more modest but fun Niagara Prince will do two Great Lakes sailings this year. One is a 14-day trip from Chicago to Rhode Island, running through the lakes, then the Erie Canal and Hudson River and back.
Also, for the first time this year, the Niagara Prince will make several one-week circle tours of Lake Michigan that start and end in Chicago. Contact the American Canadian Caribbean Line (800-556-7450, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays).
Finally, the Georgian Clipper will do three- to seven-night cruises in the beautifully pristine Georgian Bay in northern Lake Huron. Call Heritage Cruises in St. Catherines, Ontario (888-271-2628, 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. weekdays).
Travel agents also can help with any of these cruises.
4. Getaways. Here's the trend: shorter vacations, but more of them.
For years Americans have shot their vacation wads on two weeks in the summer. But that is changing.
Now travel analysts and agents say that people are finding several short vacations more rejuvenating than one long one. Often using a weekend, they run for three, four, even five days.
Even the sense of the term "getaway" is changing. It used to mean going someplace nearby, often within the range of one tank of gas.
But now, with fast, efficient -- and if you plan -- inexpensive air travel, people also can take getaways to Orlando or Cancun, Mexico. They leave in the morning and can be on the beach for an afternoon of sun. No problem. They also can go shopping and hit a play in New York or fly off to ski in Colorado or (Editor's note: Shouldn't they make that Utah?).
5. Michigan. Michigan just gets better and better. You can take a getaway to Grand Rapids, loll for a week on the Lake Michigan shore, or tour the Upper Peninsula from the Soo Locks to the Porcupine Mountains.
In case you missed it, Detroit is getting hot. The city will open its new downtown baseball park this spring. For the more culturally inclined, there's the Detroit Institute of Arts, one of America's great museums, which will have a major Van Gogh exhibition March 12-June 4; the Museum of African American History; and first-rate performances at the Detroit Opera House.
And don't forget the renowned Montreux Detroit Jazz Festival at Hart Plaza at summer's end. In Grand Rapids, it's now actually fun to visit the Gerald Ford Museum, since its exhibits have been jazzed up to be more experiential. The nearby Frederick Meijer Gardens has the magnificent Leonardo Da Vinci Horse, based on the artist's original design and a match of one erected last fall in Milan, Italy. And Grand Rapids' downtown restaurants can rival Detroit's.
Mackinaw City boasts terrific live musicals at the Mackinaw Playhouse. And Mackinac Island, that "Somewhere in Time" place with just horses and bikes for transportation, should be high on your list.
Though it seems like the island will never change, if the proposed new TV show about it actually runs, you may just find there's no room on the ferry.
6. Journeys of the Heart. In 1999, we encouraged you to take the trip you've been yearning to take, the trip that has great personal meaning. It's still a great idea.
You might want to check on your family's roots in Poland or Senegal. Visit a Tibetan monastery or Machu Picchu. Walk through Graceland or stare at the marker for Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.
This year is another great opportunity to go somewhere that your heart will remember forever.
7. Ireland. Think of it as a chance to visit the whole Fitzgerald family -- Barry, Jim, F. Scott and Ella.
Every year more Americans discover the sweet wonders of Ireland. They take bus tours to Dublin and counties Cork and Limerick; hike the ragged coastlines and ride bicycles from village to village. Everyone returns with glowing reports of friendly people, endless green fields, giggling streams and tavern conviviality.
8. Canada. So much variety, such good manners. And it continues to be a bargain. One U.S. dollar is now worth almost $1.50 Canadian.
Toronto is Canada's New York, simply one of North America's best and most sophisticated cities. It has great musicals, live theater, jazz, museums, baseball and restaurants. Its skyscrapers are such a good match for New York that filmmakers often substitute T.O.'s buildings for the Big Apple's.
The important difference is that Toronto is clean and safe.
On the west coast, Vancouver has great seafood and a California attitude, and Whistler-Blackcomb -- regarded by many ski publications as North America's best ski area -- sprawls over two mountains just minutes away. Daily lift tickets cost a paltry $41.
The Canadian Rockies are a spiky-topped heaven for downhillers and fly-fishers; Winnepeg . . . hmmm, let's see, Winnepeg has Canada's bitterest winter winds and one of its best ballet companies; Montreal is tr