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Learn to travel fast, light and cheap Bob Pennell photo Writer and world traveler Maureen Hennessy doesn�t much like airports; she makes them as painless as possible by traveling with only a carry-on bag. The Medford woman has published a book on how to see the world on a shoestring budget. Medford woman�s book reveals some secrets of the tourist trade By Bill Varble On the train from Casablanca to Marakesh, Maureen Hennessy once met an American woman bound for a World Bank conference. The two met a Turkish woman headed the same direction. Striking up a fast friendship, the three left the train, rented a car and explored the Atlantic Coast of Morroco, getting by on Hennessy�s high-school French. "And I�m a long way from high school," she says. For adventurous souls wanting to travel on the cheap, Hennessy�s new book, "How to Go Almost Anywhere for Almost Nothing," (Writers Club Press, $9.95) tells you how to see traditional art in Singapore, where to get a good beer in Tangier and why you don�t want to go to Macau. It�s available at Barnes & Noble in Medford, Bloomsbury in Ashland and at Amazon.com; e-mail Hennessy at [email protected]. Hennessy says she looked forward for years to the day she�d have the time to travel for pleasure, her appetite whetted by years of travel as a pharmaceuticals rep. She�d seen a bit of the world, but, she says, "Business travel is boring." When she began traveling for fun in 1988, she quickly realized it had a nasty way of gobbling money at an alarming rate. Convinced there must be an alternative to high prices, and not willing to settle for packaged tours, the Medford woman began a quest for REALLY cheap travel. Since then, Hennessy, 65, has traveled at very little expense in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Her secrets? Flying as an on-board courier, staying in youth hostels and doing lots of walking. She first flew as a courier to Singapore in 1988 and loved it. "That began it," she says. "I started amassing all this information." She put together a forerunner of her book almost 10 years ago. The new edition is greatly expanded and updated. Once at her destination, Hennessy often stays in hostels for anywhere from a couple dollars to $10 a night. Many are listed through the American Association of International Hostels in New York City. She also stays at colleges, YMCAs and monasteries. How do you get around during two weeks in, say, Kuala Lumpur? "I do a lot of walking," Hennessy says. "I�ll get an all-day bus ticket and do a round trip, then walk back to the parts that look interesting." She saw China for a month for $700 including air fare. To prepare for travel in China, she studied Mandarin at Southern Oregon University. A favorite pick in Europe is Prague, Czechoslovakia. "It�s incredibly gorgeous and relatively cheap," she says. Large firms regularly use people who aren�t employees to carry materials abroad for them. Many advertise in newspapers, usually for trips originating in cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Miami. Hennessy says as a courier, $350 will usually get her to London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore or Bangkok. Sometimes she pays even less than that, especially if she can take a trip on short notice. Once in London she saw an ad for courier flights and picked up a quick flight to Budapest for $120. Courier companies often require a $100 deposit before the flight. Most trips originating on the West Coast require a stay in the destination country of about two weeks. That suits her fine, since her real interest is seeing the world. An on-board courier usually flies coach. She needs a passport and, for some destinations, a visa. She has to be at the ticket counter when the baggage is processed, usually about two or three hours before a flight. Couriers are usually allowed only carry-on bags. That�s fine with Hennessy. It�s the fastest way out of the airport and through customs, and it fits with her travel-light philosophy in exotic places from Chiang Mai to Casablanca. Once she delivers a pouch in the destination airport, she�s free to begin her holiday. Couriers don�t know what company they�re working for. "You meet the rep at the ticket agent," Hennessy says. "They check in the bags." She says she�s not heard of reputable companies trying to smuggle drugs or contraband like powdered rhino horn, so she doesn�t worry about it as she did at first. She�s seen no sign that couriers are in danger of being replaced by e-mail. The bad news is couriers have to be at the airport a couple hours early. "I hate airports," she says. 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