I don't knit. I've tried, but even when I've attempted a scarf, it ends up weird shaped. Anna knits. She's waxed poetic about it in a post about the pleasures of knitting and travel. Here's another reason to grab some knitting needles and yarn.

While leafing through a back copy of Reader's Digest at my in-laws this weekend, I saw a snippet on women in Houston, Texas who are turning their scraps of unfinished scarves and other knitted items into public art. They are wrapping park benches, fire hydrants, bike racks--anything that can use a bit of color and dressing up. The group is called Knitta and has been doing their thing since 2005.

They aren't the only ones. Knitters in the Midwest are also prettying up the world with their craft. There's a woman in Yellow Springs, Ohio, one of those incredibly artsy, literary towns that I adore, who has dressed a tree with help from others. With as gloomy as Ohio can look in the winter, what a great idea for making folks smile.

If you happen to pass by some knitted art, and you might--the women in Houston have knitted art in El Salvador, Paris and at the Great Wall of China-- maybe you'll get some inspiration to knit some art yourself.

Delta just launched a fare sale from Washington, New York and San Francisco to the Central American capitol of El Salvador, San Salvador. For just over two hundred bucks, you can get away from the torrential rains of the early spring for a long weekend on the Pacific.

Sounds great huh? The best part is that El Salvador hasn't really gotten up to speed on the whole tourist thing yet. With the whole civil war back in the eighties and a perennially slow economy, you're going to find a fair amount of peace and quiet, free from the spring break crowd and throngs of cruise-bound tourists. It could be that perfect long weekend away from the office and your statistical analysis software that you've been fighting with.

Use a flex search on Kayak or Delta.com to find availability. Minimum stay is three days (so you'll have to take off Monday) and availability only seems to go through late May early June. Be patient an flexible and you'll find something -- I just brought up several dates in sample bookings. Your total price should be about 231$.

Check out the Lonely Planet guide to the country if you want some inspiration, although take it with a grain of salt. LP could make Somalia look rustic, off the beaten path and hip.

If you think about El Salvador perhaps images of civil war come to mind. The civil war ended in 1992. Now there are other things for El Salvador to become well known for--scuba diving, for example.

You can open water dive to explore a wrecked boat and volcanic rock reefs and swim in the midst of schools of fish. Or, you can dive in Coatepeque Lake or Lake Ilopango, two craters surrounded by volcanoes. Night diving is also possible. Both lakes are El Salvadoran vacation get-away spots that have beachfront hotels and other water sport options.

Along with excellent diving locations, El Salvador is equipped with dive shops and places to take lessons for PADI certification. At Punta Mango Surf Trips's website you can find information about scuba diving opportunities and how to combine diving with cultural tours. Also, check out Yamelith Coreas's website . A native of El Salvaldo, Coreas has rounded up his favorite spots to promote tourism and Salvadoran culture. He lists Coatepeque Lake as one of his favorite destinations. The photo is of Coatepeque Lake posted on Flickr by traveling addict. In case the idea of traveling in El Salvador still makes you a little nervous, here is information from the U.S. Department of State.

Thailand used to be a destination for exotic travel, perhaps even for sex travel. Now, it is a well-established member of the ever-increasing ranks of surgery destinations. Yes, travel is not just for the well or even the well-heeled, now it's for the wellness-seeking. too. It's not just cosmetic surgery, either. While cosmetic surgery comprises about 80% of the travel, laser eye surgery and fertility treatments make up reasons to travel, too.

A while back, our own Erik Olsen blogged about a crazy offer to get extra frequent flyer miles to get your eyes done, and also posted an article by Casey Kittrell about medical tourism. Then, earlier this year, I wrote an article about growing cosmetic surgery tourism to the Czech Republic. Since then, the pace of this traffic has exploded, and the places have gotten even more exotic. So much so, it's worth revisiting this issue: according to the National Coalition on Health Care, over half a million Americans left the country last year for medical or dental work. A recent article even noted a man sent by his North Carolina company to New Delhi, for gall bladder and rotator cuff surgery, to save $50,000!

Tired of travelocity? A host of surgery-tourism companies have set up shop all over the internet. Costmeticsurgerytravel.com squatted on a good web address, offering "medical travel concierge" service, as well as assurance that the doctors in foreign lands are "appropriate for your procedure or treatment." Prague a little to run-of-the-mill for you? Try Tunisia, for example, through Cosmeticatravel.com. Or Turkey or El Salvador, through Medretreat.com. Or Brazil, through Medicaltourism.com. A quick google search turns up a page-topping, paid ad for medical tourism to "Bumrungrad" hospital. Is that where you get that hemorrhoid treatment done?

Follow up: The NY Times just posted an article on the same topic.