I've decided to leave Budget Travel after five of the most amazing years I ever could've imagined. It wasn't an easy decision, because I truly love BT, but in every journey there comes a time to move on.

Someone once said to me that Budget Travel reads like the people who work there have fun, and we certainly do. Of course, it helps that BT staffers are smart, creative, and engaging—the kind of people you wouldn't mind sitting next to on a long airplane ride. I have learned and laughed every single day, and they have my deepest gratitude for all their hard work. The BT community is in very good hands.

But I'd also like to thank the readers of Budget Travel and BudgetTravel.com. Not just for actually reading what we produce (though thanks for that!). Thank you for using the magazine and website. We receive letters all the time from people who've taken a trip they learned about in the Real Deals or stayed at a hotel that we recommended, and it's incredibly fulfilling for us. Thank you as well for contributing as much as you do: BT wouldn't be what it is without 20 Tips, True Stories, and this lively blog.

On a personal level, thank you to everyone who has read my Editor's Letters and blog posts. I've written a lot about my partner, Adam, over the years, and I remain delighted by what a warm reception he has received.

What am I going to do next? I don't have a clue, and I find the possibilities exciting. Maybe I'll write, maybe I'll edit, maybe I'll move to one of our Coolest Small Towns and open a café. No matter what I do, I'll always travel, and I'll always read BT. And if I unearth any great travel tips, you know where I'll be sending them.

We gave Homewood Suites by Hilton an Extra Mile Award last year for its Suite Selection tool, which allows guests to choose their specific room when they check in electronically. (The tool includes floor plans showing where the elevators, ice machines, and local restaurant options are.) At the time, you could only access Suite Selection if you were a Gold or Diamond member of the Hilton HHonors program, but now anyone who has signed up as an HHonors member can use it. This is yet another good reason to always, always sign up for loyalty programs, even if you're not planning on using the company more than once.

The folks who founded CruiseCompete.com--the website where travel agents compete to get you the best cruise deal--have launched ResortCompete.com. Like it sounds, the website is built on the same model as CruiseCompete, but it's dedicated to all-inclusive resort deals. Currently, there aren't all that many resorts on offer (you have to choose from the company's list); it'll be interesting to see how it grows. We'll do an investigation into whether ResortCompete really can get you a better deal than you can on your own (with cruises, agents have quite a bit of wiggle room to give you a better deal and/or better amenities; whether that's the case for resorts remains unclear). Look for it in a future issue of the magazine.

The folks who founded CruiseCompete.com--the website where travel agents compete to get you the best cruise deal--have launched ResortCompete.com. Like it sounds, the website is built on the same model as CruiseCompete, but it's dedicated to all-inclusive resort deals. Currently, there aren't all that many resorts on offer (you have to choose from the company's list); it'll be interesting to see how it grows. We'll do an investigation into whether ResortCompete really can get you a better deal than you can on your own (with cruises, agents have quite a bit of wiggle room to give you a better deal and/or better amenities; whether that's the case for resorts remains unclear). Look for it in a future issue of the magazine.

Bill Marriott, I'm disappointed in you. In this week's Travel Weekly, the chairman and CEO of Marriott International admits that he doesn't write all of the entries on his blog, Marriott on the Move; his public relations team contributes, too. That'd be fine, I suppose, if such posts were identified as being not by Marriott. But if you look at the handful of comments posted on the blog, you'll see that people think Marriott is doing the writing.

Why am I so annoyed by this? I'm not stupid (I hope), and I have a sense of how the world works; I know by now that a non-journalistic blog shouldn't be trusted more than a press release. I guess it's that I liked that Marriott was blogging; I thought that maybe he was really trying to communicate with his guests. And as someone who labors to blog interestingly and honestly whenever possible--sometimes to a fault--it irks me when I see PR types co-opt what could be a useful tool.

The Wisconsin Dells, an area I wrote about in a recent road trip story, has been flooded as a result of a dam break (caused by two days of storms). We're thinking of you, Dells--hang in there. If you have a great memory of time in the area, post it, and we'll send them all to the folks there to show them how much we care. (My personal great memory was at the Kalahari resort, where I had a blast at the indoor waterpark--particularly the slide that's like a big funnel/toilet.... My friend Shawnda did a move we called "cleaning the rim.")

While returning a rental car at LAX yesterday, I learned something interesting: The Hertz rep said that if you drive fewer than 100 miles during your rental--as we did, remarkably--the computer automatically charges you for gas ("and if I don't catch it and you don't catch it, you get charged for it," he said). Anyone else ever come across this problem?

For our 10th-anniversary issue, we enlisted readers to write and photograph our June issue. I hesitate to make fun of any of our readers, but...a few of the pitches we got were kind of funny. Here are the top six stories we didn't assign:

"China. Most challenging restroom facilities. Especially for women. Title: Bathrooms I have Known."

"I would like a get away from it all--especially automobiles. I have been hit three times within a five year period. After recovering from injuries, I would like to go celebrate and truly feel like I can relax away from our auto based society."

"My dream trip to Tahiti turned out to be a disaster. I vomited on the French man beside me."

"I always thought it would be really cool to make a coffee table book about toilets around the world. Everyone needs them, uses them and they are such a cultural thing... I've heard of the places that are just a hole you stand over. And, since this could be a monumental project... but you would pay the tab... I say we choose a venue that would over a lot of toilets, yet not be a round the world trip. Toilets of the Orient Express. I think it has a nice ring to it..."

"My friends always ask for my travelogues after my trips. They say reading them is almost like being with me. They even request my work trip stories from pig farm tours."

"Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands, and Belgium: The best destinations for your final days. A story about death tourism, or the practice of some persons choosing to die in a country other than their own, would certainly grab the attention of readers."

A new survey from Y Partnership says that one in six Americans will spend their tax rebate on travel. Does that include you? If so, tell us where you're going... And if you haven't figured out what to do with the stimulus check yet, Liz Webber had some ideas in the BT exclusive How to Spend Your Tax Rebate.

I'm just back from the Today show, where I was on to discuss affordable family travel--farm stays, state parks, family camps, and off-season deals at ski resorts and hot-weather destinations. The specifics are all here. One behind-the-scenes moment: Afterward, Ann Curry grilled me about other ways to save and explained how her family buys food at the supermarket and gets a fridge brought into their hotel room.