With Boeing's 787 Dreamliner planes still grounded around the world, analysts are asking how much money the company stands to lose. Carol Hymowitz has been covering Boeing for Bloomberg News, where she's the editor-at-large.

Stephanie Rosenbloom is a travel reporter with the New York Times.

Barbara Ireland, creator of the “36 Hours” column in the New York Times, and editor Nina Wiener talk about the new book The New York Times 36 Hours: 150 Weekends in the USA and Canada. The Times has been offering itineraries in its popular weekly "36 Hours" column since 2002, and this book is a compilation of where to go, what to see, and where to stay in hundreds of cities and destinations, always with an eye to getting the most out of a short trip.

The plane sat at a gate with its door open for more than three hours, a violation of flyers' rights.

The current states of some national parks, despite our country's efforts to conserve them, are still threatened by climate changes. In the future, they may be radically different, especially the parks primarily composed of glaciers and snow.

Andrew Blackwell talks about traveling to the most polluted places on Earth and considers what they mean for us. Visit Sunny Chernobyl: And Other Adventures in the World's Most Polluted Places is equal parts travelogue, expose, environmental memoir, and faux guidebook.

New York Times reporter Matt Richtel (and author of the forthcoming "Floodgate") talks about what he learned from an unsuccessful vacation about disconnecting and getting away.

Listeners: How do you get away? What are your rules for a relaxing vacation? Give us a call at 212-433-9692 or post here!

The Fourth of July sparks patriotism for many Americans, and in honor of today's holiday, what could be more patriotic than America's National Parks? Audrey Peterman is the author of "Legacy on the Land" and is a recognized National Park enthusiast.

 

The travel site noticed that Mac users seem more likely to spend more on hotel rooms. So, it's experimenting with showing them costlier options than Windows users see. Is that smart business or unfair in some way?

President Teddy Roosevelt, prior to his political life, briefly led the life of a rancher. The land left a lasting impression on him, which eventually influenced his conservationist policies. Because of his efforts, national parks have become a part of the United States' identity. Today the great-grandson of President Roosevelt discusses his quest to preserve the Elkhorn Ranch, where Teddy Roosevelt had lived as a rancher.

Scientist and explorer John Oldale shares a wealth of fascinating facts and the unexpected stories behind them. His book A World of Curiosities: Surprising, Interesting, and Downright Unbelievable Facts from Every Nation on the Planet touches on history, travel, politics, natural history and more.

This year, hundreds of thousands of Americans will travel abroad, not to see ancient ruins or visit historic sites, but to undergo affordable medical care. These medical tourists will go to Mexico, Thailand, Costa Rica and elsewhere for everything from root canals to hip replacements. And while this type of tourism has been around for decades, it’s become more and more popular as health-care costs in the U.S. continue to rise. Paul Vehorn is a behavioral psychologist who’s visited Thailand for two different procedures, and James Surowiecki is a journalist with the New Yorker who explores what the bigger economic implications of medical tourism might be in his article entitled “Club Med.”

It's long been said that when you travel, the best way to get to know a new place is to meet the people who live there. And, while it's not always possible, perhaps the best way to know the locals is to live among them, maybe spend a night or two on their couch. Patricia Marx wrote about couch surfing for The New Yorker. Valerie is a couch surfer from Chicago.

The company, now in bankruptcy protection, would eliminate as many as 16 percent of its jobs. "But we will also preserve tens of thousands of jobs that would have been lost if we had not embarked on this path," CEO Tom Horton says.

Divers and rescue personnel are still trying to reach areas of the cruise ship Costa Concordia that haven't yet been explored in a bid to see if any of the 29 people who remain unaccounted for after Friday's crash off the Italian coast are alive.

Prompted by "cupcakegate," the Transportation Security Administration clarified its cupcake policy in a blog post.

Among the changes: Pilots must have more time off and "a 10-hour minimum rest period" prior to going on duty.

Eric Weiner describes tackling our most pressing spiritual questions: Where do we come from? What happens when we die? How should we live our lives? His book Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine is the story of his search and his travels—from Nepal, where he meditates with Tibetan lamas, to Turkey to China, where he attempts to unblock his chi; to Israel, where he studies Kabbalah, and to Las Vegas, where he has a close encounter with Raelians.

Weighed down by losses, a weak economy and the ripple effects of Europe's financial crisis, the company is looking to reorganize. It says operations will continue as normal.