The world’s first bio-fueled flying car started the 6,000 mile trip from London to Timbuktu, a few days ago, but ran into an early hitch. The permit to fly over the English Channel hadn’t come through, so the car will be heading over the water on a ferry. The car can accelerate from zero to more than 60 miles per hour in 4.5 seconds. In the air, the car can fly at speeds of up to roughly 66 miles per hour, cruising at an altitude of up to 3,000 feet while a paraglider-style canopy keeps it aloft. Click on this Times Online article to learn more about the hitch, the car, the trip, and see images.

Looking for a company that offers family adventures you and your kids will love? Here are several companies that offer family adventure travel chock-full of activities just for kids, plus adventures the entire family will enjoy as a group. With these companies that offer special family trips you can raft down a rushing river, head through the African brush on a safari or watch glaciers calve off the coast of Alaska.

If there's snow covering the ground at a winter resort near you, odds are excellent you can learn to cross country ski or snowshoe free next Saturday. Some of the areas also offer guided nature hikes on the annual Winter Trail Day, January 10, 2009. During the rest of the month, "learn-to" ski and snowboard deals for first-time and novice downhill ski and snowboard lessons are offered at many resorts. Click on Winter Feels Good to learn more about the nationwide event and find the closest area to you.

Photo credit: www.kevinarnoldphoto.com

So you've returned from a trip and have dozens of digital memories, which you need to print out and insert in a photo album. There's an easier way to preserve your memories. My husband chose our favorite images from a recent trip to Amsterdam and slid them into a photo album -- all on the computer. A few weeks later we got our hard-bound photo album via mail, with our own photos on the cover. Here's a review with Richard's impressions on creating permanent memories in a personalized photo album with SmileBooks.