March is in like a lion and it’s time for another strange and wonderful issue of Perceptive Travel webzine, home to the best travel stories from book authors on the move.

Fresh off our third year in a row placing as “Best Travel Journalism Website” in a major awards competition, this month we’re putting out some offbeat tales from not so offbeat places: Gatlinburg, Montreal, and Nairobi.

These aren’t perky surface-level tales you’ll read in an airline magazine however. First, Vera Marie Badertscher of A Traveler’s Library makes her debut with a Tennessee trip to check out the progression of Moonshine in the Smoky Mountains. Darrin DuFord returns with a quest to find seal meat in Montreal, while Luke Armstrong finds a day of futility at a Kenyan soccer match with the Prime Minister in attendance.

William Caverlee highlights new and noteworthy travel books, from the Silk Road to the Appalachian Trail. Graham Reid is back to spin some new world music albums worth checking out from Senegal, Turkey, Portugal, and the world of Samba.

As always, we’re giving away something free to some lucky reader who is staying in touch. Two lucky readers actually: we’re giving away two nice watches from Armitron. Yeah, I know, you’ve got a pocket watch to tell you what time it is, just like they had in the 1800s, but that’s not so handy when you need your hands free. And when you’re abroad, you’re probably not going to be on your pocket watch, I mean smartphone, so often with international roaming being such a reaming.

Last month we gave away a Battery Porter portable charger from Digital Foci. If you’re on our newsletter list like Daniel from New Mexico is, maybe you would have won. Sign up here for next month, or get in on the action for the watches by liking Perceptive Travel on Facebook.

The February issue of Perceptive Travel is out, with more of the best travel stories from book authors on the move.

Once again it’s fair to say “best travel stories” because for the third year in a row, the publication I edit placed for “Best Travel Journalism Site” in the annual awards from the North American Travel Journalists Association. We got the Bronze this time, but first was National Geographic Traveler’s website and I think theirs is actually produced in a real office with a water cooler. (Two of our stories won too—see the home page for details.)

This month we travel to three distinct places and go beyond the usual tourism brochure fluff.

Chris Epting has a story on where the Rolling Stones spent their early years while touring around the U.S. David Lee Drotar finds the dark side in Costa Rica, looking at what all that tourism and real estate development is doing to howler monkey habitats. I’ve got a piece on a place few people seem to visit, but should get onto their radar: the eastern half of Slovakia.

Susan Griffith highlights new and noteworthy travel books, including a biography of legendary travel writer and adventurer Redmond O’Hanlon. Laurence Mitchell is back to spin some new world music albums worth checking out from troubled Mali; Persia via India; and Bollywood and Havana via Canada.

As usual, one of our readers will get something new by entering the monthly gear contest and winning. Last month’s winner is getting decked out in a travel clothing outfit from Mountain Khakis. This month we’re giving away a small portable battery pack for your quick-dying iPhone or other gadgets. If you’re on the monthly newsletter list, you already got your chance to enter. If not, sign up here for next time and get a shot at this month’s by following Perceptive Travel on Facebook.

And between new issues, don’t forget to check out the cool PT blog!

The December 2012 issue of Perceptive Travel is an Americas issue on the features, with a few trips to Europe and elsewhere in the books and music.

Niall McCrae makes his debut doing what not many British visitors have probably done: visiting the faded rust belt town of Gary, Indiana. He ponders the future of manufacturing centers built for automobiles in What’s Wrong Gary?

Chris Epting knows a thing or two about obscure landmarks and claims to fame. This time he takes us on a road trip across America, visiting the world capitals of items like fire hydrants, bedding plants, and cow chips. See We’re the Greatest! World Capitals of…

We’re happy to see the return of former contributor Darrin DuFord, with a piece about the opening of Panama’s top observatory to tourists. See The Astrotourists of Panama.

Susan Griffith returns to highlight new and noteworthy travel books on obscure islands, voluntourism, and Naples. Laurence Mitchell is back to spin some new world music albums from South America, Europe, and yoga studios of the world.

One lucky reader who enters our monthly contest will score a new $200 GPS unit for their car from Magellan. This RoadMate 5265T-LMB GPS will ship out to someone before Christmas, maybe to you if you sign up for the monthly newsletter or join Perceptive Travel on Facebook.

Much of the “traveler” vs. “tourist” division people have in their head really comes down to time and money. Do you have more time than money? You probably consider yourself a traveler and look down at those crazy tourists who blow so much money overspending on everything. If you don’t consider yourself a tourist but your budget is huge and you’re in a hurry, you’re going to be viewed as one, fair or not. But you may look at those shoestring backpackers as having no fun at all.

I’m not here to judge as I’ve been in both camps quite a lot. At times I’ve had all the time in the world. But last Saturday I drove to Orlando just for the day to take my birthday girl daughter and two of her friends to a water park. Like everyone else there, I was a tourist. No way around it. If there were any question about it, look what we paid to rent a locker—and we needed two of the big ones.

Since my wife, daughter, and I took advantage of cheap Southeast Asia this summer (see travel prices in Cambodia), we know a thing or two about what it costs a traveler with the time and means to get out of the USA or Europe. For that $20 we spent on two jammed-full lockers for five people, we could have eaten two good meals, taken 10 taxi rides, or gotten four one-hour massages. For what those lockers cost, one person can enter one of the great wonders of the world: Angkor Wat.

For what a beer costs at this park ($6.35 for a 16-ounce Yuengling—I passed), I could have gotten legless in Siem Reap with 12 drafts and a tip or six bottles. For what I spent on parking alone, you could get an air-conditioned hotel room with a private bath in Vietnam. See the post linked at the bottom for details, but when we went to a smaller water park in Mexico, parking was free and a locker was a dollar.

If you’ve been around the world, you’re used to traveler prices. If you only go on vacation for a week or two once a year, you’re used to tourist prices. That’s why most of your relatives think travel has to be expensive. It can be—especially if you’re headed to one of the 10 most popular foreign destinations for Americans—but not if you’re taking your time exploring The World’s Cheapest Destinations.

It’s not that one camp is smart and one is stupid though. They’re two different worlds that sometimes intersect in the town square. Many in one camp could never dream of being in the other, but both can be just as happy because the don’t even want to be on the other side.

Despite the hit to my wallet, I had a blast at that water park.

But…here’s what a simpler one costs in Merida, Mexico.

One travel perk of moving to Tampa for a couple years has been a big improvement in flight options. Besides having lots of airports within a 4-hour drive if needed, one 30 minutes away is a hub for Allegiant Air.

Never heard of them? I hadn’t either before moving here, but it’s a godsend for people living in small and mid-sized cities in the U.S. who want to get someplace warm and sunny in a hurry. If flies direct from St. Peterburg/Clearwater airport (with the yummy abbreviation of PIE) to all kinds of places with normally crappy air connections. Places like Lexington, KY; Roanoke, VA, Chattanooga, TN; Appleton, WI; Duluth, MN, Greenboro, NC. They also send lots of flights to Myrtle Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, and Orlando, plus you can get from Florida all the way up to Niagara Falls direct, which would be an easy way to get to Canada too. They have other hubs in Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Meyers, and five cities out west. See the full route map here.

Their fares are routinely lower than anyone else’s by a wide margin, so besides the time factor, the price is enticing too. Just one problem though: you’ll pay for everything after that. Like Spirit and RyanAir, Allegiant looks at the airfare as a base. It’s the starting point from which they pile extra fees on top of to make the real money. So you’ll pay for anything to drink, a seat assignment, using your credit card, and even a carry-0n if you bring a bag.

Allegiant Bag Fee Blues

Is there any way to avoid all this? Well you can avoid eating/drinking in flight and take your chances on a seat upon arrival—probably ending up in the middle. You can use a debit card instead of a credit card. And you can pack lightly. Really lightly.

I’ve now done four flights on Allegiant without paying a bag fee. It wasn’t easy and when I head to a wedding in October where I have to dress up, I’ll pay up to bring a real suitcase. These two trips were just for a long weekend to hang out with my father though, leaving on a Friday, returning on a Monday. The photo here shows the back I packed and my secret weapon—a Scottevest.

Allegiant and Spirit Air both say to avoid baggage fees, your “personal item” must fit under the seat in front of you. Apparently Allegiant Air’s seats are smaller than Spirit’s because while the latter allows dimensions of 16 by 14 X 12 inches, Allegiant limits you to 16 X 15 X 7 inches. That’s a tad larger than the size of a laptop bag for those with a 15-inch screen or less.

Obviously there’s more height than 7 inches under the seat, but their rules are rules and they enforce them with vigor. Gate agents were slapping $35 fines, errr, baggage fees, on anyone who dared to carry two items of any size or had a bag larger than these dimensions. (Talk about a horrible job to get up for every day!)

Despite all the luggage  and bags I’ve reviewed at Practical Travel Gear, I had to resort to a trade show schwag bag to find something of this size. It held my laptop, laptop cord, and the following: one pair of Sanuk Rasta Pouch shoes, one extra pair of pants, a pair of shorts, two collared shirts, two t-shirts, three pairs of socks and underwear, and a small toiletry kit. In the outside pocket I had an inflatable travel pillow I ended up not using.

In my Scottevest went everything else not in my pants pockets: phone, iPod, earbuds, keys, portable charger, loose change, sunglasses, ticket, boarding pass, lip balm, etc. It could have held a lot more (like underwear or some toiletries) if I really wanted to push it.

Would I go through all this for a longer trip? No, even for a cheapskate like me who’s got plenty of lightweight travel clothing, it would be hard for a real vacation. But since my option was to pay $64 in fees or have $64 to spend with my dad over the weekend, it was worth it.