Cash and Treasures, as mentioned in a previous post, is a Travel Channel show that often features kid friendly places. Host Kirsten Gum, an engaging sort, heads to where you can dig up treasure. I've been watching every Wednesday for the past several weeks, finding out more and more about the bounty one can find above and below ground. The finder gets to keep all of it for a price.

Episode: Digging for black opals

What are they? Stones of a variety of color ranging from black to blue with the shades in between that shine up into various patterns and designs. The design influences their value. Most of the opals in the world--95% come from this part of the world.

Location: Lightning Ridge, Australia--a small mining town that's a bit of a poke to get to. Gum said it took 11 hours through the Outback.

Digging details: Gum started her quest by heading to Black Opal Tours located in Lightening Ridge. This tour establishment is a place to find out about the various types of opal patterns and their value, as well as the history of opal mining in the area. While Gum was in Lightning Ridge, besides digging, she hob-nobbed with some of the miners and downed some beers, "stubbies," to find out about the miners experience and secrets. They kept the secrets to themselves. None of them looked like they are getting rich.

As I'm pawing through warm weather clothes and putting winter clothes away, I'm casting some of them off. Eventually, they may end up on the racks at a charity store in Columbus or in a pile at a market someplace in Africa.

Oprah, though, has enough cast-off clothes that she recently opened a store in Chicago so we can buy them. We can also buy her shoes. I have maybe two pairs of shoes that I could let someone buy. Usually, by the time I get rid of shoes, no one would want them. Oprah, though, has dozens. Clothes range from things she's worn to some that maybe hung in her closet until she decided they are a no show--except, of course, on you. They are sold in the Oprah's Closet section of the Oprah Store in Chicago.

To capitalize on all things Oprah, the Oprah Store also has Oprah inspired items--things that a person really needs like items peddled on her Web site. The thing is, I have so many Jamie things, that if I bought an Oprah thing, my house would explode.

If you do buy Oprah's old things, the money does go to Oprah's charity--the Angel Network. My stuff is heading to Volunteers of America. They'll come get it. [Listen to recent Weekend Edition story on NPR]

If one roll of duct tape is handy for taking care of almost everything but the kitchen sink--oh, wait, you can use it for that too, how about what happens when there are rolls and rolls of the stuff? Head to the Avon Heritage Duct Tape Festival and you'll find out. In Avon, Ohio, "Duct Tape Capital of the World," the place where Duck brand duct tape is made, duct tape shows up in parade floats, hats, clothing, sculptures and crafts.

You name it, you can make it with duct tape seems to be the festival motto. The festival, June 13-15, handily coincides with Father's Day weekend. Flowers for mom for Mother's Day and duct tape for dad. Of course, you can mix it up and make flowers for dad out of duct tape. Although, since the theme of this year's festival parade is pirates, maybe a pirate hat will do--or a ship.

Along with the duct tape events there are rides, food and music. If something breaks down during this weekend, like a ride seat cushion gets a small tear, there will be plenty of stuff on hand to fix it.

If there are any funky festivals celebrating something unusual about your town, let us know. Toot your horn so we can send people your way to toot with you. For ideas for how to use duct tape in your travels, click here.

Whenever I hear about rich individuals owning whole islands, I always wonder how one actually goes about buying such a piece of property. Do you just walk into your real estate agent and say, "you know, I'm really in the mood for an island, do you have any available?" Seems like an odd question.

If you are in the market for your very own island -- and who wouldn't want one? -- the island of Hanö, off the Blekinge coast in the southeast of Sweden, is currently for sale. The idyllic island includes 6 kilometers of beach front and even a 19th century lighthouse. Although Hanö is protected under Natura 2000, an EU ecological network which protects the island and limits planning to the fishing village, whoever ends up buying the island will still obtain hunting rights to the many deer that wander it.

The island is being sold by the Swedish real estate firm Svensk Fastighetsförmedlingen, who is going so far as putting an ad for the island on national television station TV4. So how much does the island of Hanö actually cost? The real estate agency has not made a comment on the asking price, instead it will all depend on incoming bids, which need to be made by June 20th.

Even if you're not in the market for an island, Blekinge is still a beautiful part of southern Sweden that definitely merits a visit. Last summer I spent some time island hopping in the region that has a similar, but much more rural and laid-back, feel as Stockholm's archipelago. If your summer plans include a visit to Sweden, consider heading south for some traditional Swedish relaxing.

One thing we've learned at Gadling this week is that oodles of people want those free Southwest Airlines tickets. So far, as of 3:44 pm, there are 1,162. Visiting people seems to be the biggest theme of many of the contenders' wishes.

Other numbers of note this week:

• Abha hooked us into a Web site that pairs 100 photos with 100 words in a single moment;
• Jeffrey noted that more than 600 people were rescued off a stranded ship in the Baltic Sea;
• In her world's most dangerous beaches post, Iva cited that in 2006, Americans took 55 million trips to a beach;
• Matthew clued us in on the 780,000 porno hits one man logged from his office in Japan; and
• Anna discovered that the world's longest bridge, located in China, is 22.4 miles long. If you drive across it too slowly, you'll get a fine. Since May 1, when it first opened, 300 people have had to pay up.

Share your numbers of note with us if you have any. One to think about is, how far can you get on one gallon of gas?

Jeffrey recently wrote a post about the Gettysburg electric map that depicts this battle in different colored electric lights. The map may become no more, but here is a new opportunity to learn about the Civil War. In Washington, D.C., starting Memorial Day weekend, the bus tour "Civil War Washington: Soldiers and Citizens" will be taking people to several sites important to the time period.

On the list of stops:

• Lincoln Cottage on the grounds of the U.S. Armed Forces Retirement Home. This is where Abe Lincoln went to as a summer retreat.
• Fort Stevens which was attacked during the Civil War
• The African American Civil War Memorial
• Peterson House where Lincoln died. He was taken to this house from the Ford Theater where he was shot.

As with any bus tour worth the money, this tour gives insider type information like how Matthew Brady, a Civil War photographer attempted to get his shots. For information about the tour, click here.

Here's a way to win a trip to Europe for two. Here's one catch. You have to either travel to Europe and shoot a video of the experience--or have been there before and have a video on hand, or there's no hope for you. The European Travel Commission's, "You and Europe" contest is one where travelers submit video footage of their European trip to www.visiteurope.com. There it can be viewed by the public and the judges.

If you're heading to Europe this summer, you have time. The deadline isn't until September 30. After that the judges will decide who wins. According to the Web site, videos can be "funny, poignant, romantic, serious, or silly--capture an aspect of the culture--whatever captures your imagination."

Videos need to be no longer than three minutes. As a bit of advice, based on "an aspect of the culture," I wouldn't make this a Borat-style film where your interactions are the focal point. The Web site is pushing Europe to travelers. As darling and stunning as you are, you're not it.

To give you tips and ideas, there is a how-to video on making a travel video from CompulsiveTraveler that is geared towards the contest. You can also view what others have submitted for a shot of inspiration.

Hint: These are good. Make yours better.

Here's what I do to deal with jet lag. I don't go to sleep much before I travel. I think I was a hamster in my past life. I'm the type who wants to get every last project done, every last dish washed, every last chore behind me before I head out the door. I ruminate. I become more compulsive than usual.

Sometimes, I stay up so late that going to bed may not make sense. That's what happened before the good-deed travel Mexico trip. It got to be 4:00 a.m. and I thought, I'm getting up in two hours anyway, so why bother? I slept on the plane on and off, and went to bed early the following night. When I travel across time zones, this staying up late makes me tired enough that the jet lag is not as noticeable. I'm thrown off already, what's a bit more?

When I was living in Singapore, one of my closest friend's parents visited from the U.S. They are the hearty, cross-country skiing type who stay on a scheduled routine. Their answer to jet lag was to go on a long hike through the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve almost as soon as they arrived at our apartment. Our complex edged the preserve which made hiking there pretty darned convenient. They went to bed when they normally do, and seemed not to suffer much. Getting out in the air and sunshine is one way diminish that groggy, disheveled feeling.

There was an article recently in the New York Times that explains how a combination of coffee and naps can help thwart jet lag. I suppose this is what I do, but less scientifically. I always order coffee and a club soda when I fly. Coffee for the boost, and soda water for the hydration. It feels fancier than regular water. Anything one can do to spruce up travel in my opinion.

The photo is of my 2nd cup of coffee on the Southwest flight. It's slightly out of focus, but then, so was I.

When a person goes missing in the wilderness and people try to find them, it's not cheap. In Steve Fossett's case, the price tag was $687,000. In Nevada, the state where multimillionaire Fossett disappeared, people don't have to pay the cost of the search parties who are look for them.

If you get stuck on a mountain somewhere without a dime in your bank account, you don't have to worry that you're too poor to find. In Fossett's case, having oodles of money didn't matter either. He wasn't found. Still, since his wife has all that money, Nevada is hoping that his estate will help cover more of the costs. $200,000 was paid early on. The family isn't obligated, it just would be nice. With state budget crunches and shortfalls, some extra cash would come in handy the governor's thinking. [see AP article]

I'm thinking, there is a bit of a dilemma. When people take off in the wilderness,or head off in a small plane that might go down in a hard to find place, there is risk involved and bad things do happen. Being found is a costly undertaking. People who don't take such risks are then paying for those who do. However, leaving someone out there is not an option, unless it can't be helped because the person is just too lost. I can see how some might be miffed that a rich guy gets lost because he was a risk taker and thus, put even more of a strain on a state's strained budget, but how do we put a dollar amount on human life? There's something in us that wants lost people to be found. Perhaps its primal--as in, if I'm lost, please come get me mentality.

We all want someone watching our back when we set off into the wild. Metaphorically speaking, isn't the wild a symbol for life? It's just that the line between safety, adventure and a dollar sign is not so clear.

Cash and Treasures, as mentioned in a previous post, is a Travel Channel show that features kid friendly places. Host Kirsten Gum, an engaging sort, heads to where you can dig up treasure with or without kids.

Episode: Digging for antique bottles

What are they? Antique bottles. As in bottles. As in antiques. As in old.

Location: Gum headed to the Sacramento Valley in California, however, you can dig for antique bottles anywhere people lived years and years ago. You have to promise not to go all shovel happy, though. There are rules involved for where and how you go rooting around.

The Sacramento Valley offers promise for good digs because of the influx of people who settled here after gold was discovered in 1848. To find bottles, you have to find an outhouse. People used to throw out their trash down the holes. These days, the holes are often buried, and in this case, under a parking lot outside a store.