Two stories concerning Wales and those of us that visit the country cropped up this week. Together, they may offer a future that will boost visitor numbers. But then both plans are so far away.

Yesterday I was down in Portsmouth. Co-incidentally HMS Ark Royal was being positioned by tugs at a wharf before it is taken from Portsmouth for the very last time and cut up for scrap.

Does some masochist calculate train fares spending days in locked-up windowless, tea-deprived cells trying to calculate these unfathomable things? Many moons ago, did I dream that some government minister or another potential human say that the huge array of fares would be simplified or was that wishful thinking?

The kings of extracting money in additional charges have to be the airlines. EU rules have altered some of the ways such as banning add-on prices behind very low fares but more needs to be done. Some add-ons can be avoided and others can’t

Kaye loves London, so why did she leave? Read the fifth part of her story exclusively on CD-Traveller

One of the attractions of going on a cruise has been the fact that it often looks like a cheap holiday. This needn’t be true because cruise companies have developed their own ways or rifling your pockets for that odd £100 or so.

Over the years, CD-Traveller has considered the problem of review sites. I had no idea that a company could set up 40,000 different addresses to use. And where one company exists there must be others. All working with companies to deceive us.

Yesterday’s headline story in Metro and other publications about the unfortunate lady who travelled to Madagascar as a part of a charity exercise and then came down with a tape worm in the brain with life-threatening implications produced an eye-catching story.

It is bank holiday time and millions of us will take to the roads to visit attractions throughout our countries. The main reason must be due to the good weather, weather that a week or so ago we thought we wouldn’t see soon.

Readers living outside London and the south east of England can turn away now for the debate on whether there is enough airport capacity in the south east has taken another turn.

We have five pairs of Heat Holders socks – loved by the likes of former five time Olympic skier turned TV presenter, adventurer and journalist, Graham Bell – up for grabs!

Carnival Cruise Lines own many of the brands we would instantly recognise; Cunard, P&O, Princess, Holland-America and Carnival itself. The 40% sale which it is running until the end of this month makes me wonder why they are offering sucha huge discount

Fussy eating, disorganisation, control freakery, playing music loudly and being tight with money are the top five habits that irritate us about our fellow travellers

One of the consistent complaints about travelling to the US is the length of time it takes to get through immigration control once you land there. If you can pass through the controls in Dublin and Shannon, why not at UK airports?

Condolences and prayers for Boston visitors and locals alike, from all at CD-Traveller

Kaye loves London, so why did she leave? Read the fourth part of her story, exclusively on CD-Traveller

You might have seen in the papers this morning, or heard it on TV, that it is projected that transatlantic flights may get a little more turbulent. Except that the way it was reported was in such a way to nervous flyers of some of us.

So Samoa Air has started to charge passengers for a plane seat, according to how much they weigh

So Home Secretary, Theresa May, has pledged to improve the visa system in an attempt to attract more Chinese visitors – both for business travellers and tourists – to Britain

Whether you stayed put in Blighty (brrrrr!) or escaped to sunnier climes, I hope you had great Easter

Hot on the heels of the Holiday Extras survey comes the news that Air Samoa is charging passengers by their weight. Pricing air travel by passenger weight is a hoary old chestnut that is probably – and I say that because nothing is definite in a world where stupidity outweighs common sense – never going to happen here.

Today, increases in APD came into force meaning we will pay more in tax to the government when we fly. But since the industry has known about it for some time you will have already been charged by airlines for any tickets you have bought to fly after today.

Kaye loves London, so why did she leave? Read her story here

A very Happy Easter to all CD-Traveller readers

Brazil’s Costa Verde coastline has plenty of places to entice travellers who manage to tear themselves away from Rio de Janeiro but, in my mind, peaceful Paraty – particularly the old colonial centre – is the state’s star attraction

Just when I thought the whole world had been completely Google mapped and Starbucksified, I stumbled across the Brazilian island of Ilha Grande – a two and hour half bus and boat trip away from Rio

Kaye loves London, so why did she leave? Read the second part of her story, here

CD-Traveller would like to wish all our Irish readers a very Happy St Paddy’s Day!