Since it was sold to the BBC, everybody's favorite guidebook company has had uncertainty looming in its future. The brand took a step away from its paper-and-binding roots recently by signing a deal with Expedia and Hostelworld. The trio will join forces to provide an online hotel booking service.

Lonely Planet will put all those hotel reviews it has in its vaults to good use, while Expedia and Hostelworld will provide the nuts-and-bolts.

The move is good for LP. They are actively bringing the brand to an online audience, and by doing so, are ensuring their survival in a world populated by websites featuring user-generated travel reviews and tips. With guidebook writers already scouring the globe and bringing back write-ups about hotels, guest houses and hostels, it shouldn't drain the budget too much.

Expedia might also come out well in the deal. They are a giant among booking sites, but perhaps not much of a player when it comes to the backpacking set. By working with LP, they will gain exposure to a new group of customers.

Hostelworld and Lonely Planet are a match made in backpacker heaven. The budget accommodation booking service gets to put its name next to two of travel's biggest, LP gets the technical side of the venture taken care of without having to break a sweat, and Expedia, like I mentioned above, gets some exposure in a new demographic.

No word on when the service will be up and running, but I'm sure quite a few people are holding their breath in anticipation.

Photo from Flickr user ChihPing

In the world of travel, it is impossible to keep up with the Joneses. No matter where you go and what you experience there, "they" have always been someplace more remote, did something more adventurous, and saw something far better than you.

Now, try to keep up with the Indiana Joneses!

On Friday, Expedia launched 10 Indiana Jones adventure vacations. Travelers can take a custom tour to 10 locations that either appeared in--or were inspired by--the Indy movies.

How do some of these sound to you?

• Horseback riding in Petra, Jordan (like in "The Last Crusade")
• Elephant safari in India (like in "Temple of Doom")
• Visiting Incan ruins in Peru (like in the new movie, "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull")

I can tell you right now, they all sound great to me, even though I am not a huge packaged-vacation fan.

According to CCN Money, Expedia is also holding a Summer of Adventure Sweepstakes, offering an opportunity for site visitors to win travel prizes and daily giveaways. The contest will award one grand prize of two Indiana Joneses travel experiences for two; weekly prizes will include a family movie adventure to Southern California complete with Disneyland Resort Park Hopper tickets, a VIP visit to Universal Studios Hollywood, movie tickets to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and more.

As I've written over the past few days, my and my sister Ali's trip to Tampa started about fairly rocky. There was the disinterested and blatantly untruthful American Airlines customer service agent, and then the lost car rental reservation with Expedia and Payless Car Rental (we still don't know who to blame, but Exepedia eventually worked it out for us).

But while I sat around the Payless Car Rental office, watching a TV blaring Fox News and learning new swear words from Ali, I witnessed half a dozen clients come to Payless to pick up a car, only to learn that their reservation had been cancelled because the customer was late. Payless employees maintained that reservations are only held for four hours after the original booking time. No cars were left once the reservation was cancelled, so travelers had to take the shuttle back to the airport and start over with a different agency. This was December 28th, right in the middle of the holiday season, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for travelers that were late for their reservation through no fault of their own -- flights were delayed and connections missed, as I knew well. One couple was late because their luggage was lost, and they had even called Payless to let them know they'd be late.

After Ali and I finally made it to Tampa, a good 18 hours later than we should have, we took a shuttle to Payless Car Rental to pick up a car Ali had booked through Expedia. The night before, when we knew we were stuck in Dallas for the night, she immediately called Expedia to let them know we wouldn't be able to pick the car up until the next day. The Expedia representative put her on hold for several minutes, then returned and told her he had spoken to Payless and that the company would hold the car for us. We just had to show up between noon and 4:00 p.m.

When we arrived at Payless, there was no record of the reservation change, and the Payless rep told us he had no car for us. After a bit of a go-round, the rep explained that when Expedia supposedly called the night before, the Payless offices were closed -- so no reservations could've been changed. Ali called the customer service number listed for Expedia on her reservation, where an Expedia rep told us that there was nothing the company could do for us. She maintained that Expedia had called Payless, and even had a contact name. It didn't matter -- Payless didn't have any record of it, thus they didn't have a car. It was the height of the holiday season, and finding a replacement car, let alone a cheap one, seemed unlikely.

After about 20 minutes of going back and forth between Expedia and Payless, trying to make one company take responsibility, Ali got angry. I watched her from inside the car rental office as she screamed out in the parking lot, her face red, hands flailing, and occasionally her high-pitched voice carrying through the glass. The Expedia rep continued to tell Ali there was nothing she could do.

"Oh, yes there is," Ali replied. "You can find me a car right now, and honor your rate." "I have no way to do that," the rep maintained. "Yes, you do," Ali said. "Here's how: pick up your cellphone, start calling rental companies, and find me a car within an hour. I've got nowhere to go since I don't have a car. Put me on hold -- I'll just wait right here."

I've always been a patient traveler -- or so I like to think. Missed trains and delayed planes don't normally phase me beyond a general annoyance. I've always regarded the stressed-out angry traveler as someone who needs to take a chill pill and enjoy the journey. I plan to get sick, get robbed, and/or see big insects in my guesthouse; so I don't take valuable items with me, and usually sleep with the lights on (just because I expect to see big bugs doesn't mean I'm not scared of them).

But this holiday season, I had the experience that made me understand just why travelers get so pissed off. I'll be discussing it in a three-part series coming up, but for now I want to apologize to travelers out there on whom I have formerly passed judgment. It sucks being stranded in the U.S.A.

Here are the lessons I learned this dismal holiday travel season:

1. Landing in Tampa does not have the charm of landing in Bangkok or Delhi. There's no $1.50 tuk-tuk or rickshaw to take somewhere if your car rental reservation gets effed-up. When you're stuck in a hotel room in Dallas outside the airport (a hotel with no bar, nonetheless), it's not as cool to have to order a $12 pizza from Dominoes as it is to eat street food for a few cents. Thus, being stranded while traveling domestically loses any glamor it might've had in a foreign country.

In the past, JetBlue sold most of its tickets through its website. But last year, the budget airline listed its fares on "global" distribution systems, which mainly serve travel agents.

Now, JetBlue has gone all the way online; it started selling tickets on travel websites like Orbitz, Expedia, and Priceline. The company explains that with rising fuel costs and a slower economy, it needs to "expand its reach and step up competition."

And perhaps gain back some of the customers it lost during all those crazy delays and cancellations last February?

Any first-time visit to a city brings a host of potential problems. Among them, especially for the more budget-oriented, is finding a decent hotel to stay in, one that promises a measure of comfort and convenience, as well as cleanliness. Face it, if you look around on the Web for hotels, many of them appear quite different online than they are in person. This has happened to me before, for sure. Online the place looks lovely and well-tended. But when you get there, cockroaches skitter into the shadows and those pearly-white walls you saw on the Web site are soiled with water stains.

Well, if you are heading to Europe any time soon, you might be able to avoid this problem. A new site called tvtrip.com offers video tours of European hotels. The site was created by managers of Expedia Europe, so you can be relatively sure the quality of the site is good. And it is. It is not only well organized, it is good-looking and easy to use.

I clicked through several of the tours and thought that if were were heading to, say, Paris, this could be a very useful research tool. In fact, I imagine that we'll be seeing a lot more sites like this that allow you to check out tourist sights, restaurants and more. If a picture says a thousand words, a video says a million. Give it a look-see to see what I mean.

I used to be a big fan of buying tickets on travel websites such as Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, Orbitz.com but lately, I found that it is often cheaper to buy them directly through the airlines's websites. Have we come a full circle?

I picked a random date--a long weekend Sept.13-17 from New York to San Francisco--to see what rates would come back.

A sample of a few direct flights:

• United: $303 on Expedia, $298 on United.com
• Continental: $357 on Expedia, $352 on Continental.com
• Delta: $303 on Expedia, $358 on Delta.com
• Alaska: $343 on Expedia, $498 on Alaskaair.com (hello!)

OK, so it's a mixed bag. I have to say though that I have yet to find a flight that is cheaper on Expedia or Travelocity than it is on Continental.com. Their website is really good, I think. It is comforting to know that airlines are starting to understand how to use the Internet to their--and our--advantage.

I now use kayak.com to see the best rates and then book directly on the airlines' sites. Plus, I get extra miles for booking online. Expedia, be worried!

The winners of the 2007 Webby Awards have been announced, and while Gadling didn't take home a trophy this year (though we were named an "Official Honoree"), several other great travel-related websites did. Here are the nominees and winners in the travel category of the 2007 Webby Awards:

• Winner: WikiTravel
• People's Voice Winner: TripAdvisor
• Nominees: Expedia, Gods of Chinatown, Kayak.com
• Official Honorees: Clear Registered Traveler, Fodor's Travel, Frommers.com, Gadling, gaurdian unlimited Travel, Hungry Suitcase, Lonely Planet, NYTimes.com Travel, SeatGuru, Sidestep, Travelocity

Maybe next time we can take home a Webby!