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Music insiders offered insights and travel tips about the world of music festivals at a Saturday panel at the L.A. Times Travel Show called "On the Road: Traveling for Music & Festivals." The panel returns noon Sunday. Times staff writer Jessica Gelt led the discussion with Betto Arcos, host of KPFK's Global Village; Rick Farman, creator of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and Outside Lands; and Nigel Dick, filmmaker. Secrets to tickets If tickets sell out quickly, Farman recommended companies that sell packages, noting most are VIP packages. Bottom line: Be prepared to spend more if you really want in to a particular festival. If you miss out on buying tickets to the multi-day Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts in England or other big festivals, Nigel Dick suggests checking out smaller festivals in Europe, even if there are no big acts. It's still a chance to have a cool cultural experience. Navigating a festival Do not get overwhelmed by all there is to see and do. "Festivals are not programmed for people to see everything. They're for people to have lots of different experiences," Farman said. Arcos said to "spend some time looking at the program, highlight those shows you have to see and then if you feel you've seen enough you can leave and go see another act." Farman recommends that you "budget more than half of your time for just wandering around." That is how you learn about new artists and acts, he said. Split time between city and festival If the festival is in a field, it may be hard to spend time sightseeing. But if it's in or near enough to a city, plan to squeeze in a few tourist activities between shows. "Spend a few hours in the morning making sure you can check out the sites or leave early and go to a local restaurant," Farman said.

ASPEN, Colo. - This winter I put my relationship to the ultimate test: a romantic ski vacation. Many couples ski together, but my fiancee Sheri Askinazi is just learning while I've been skiing for more than two decades. We'd done group ski trips, but never skied alone. To make this trip work, we needed some advance planning and clear expectations. I wanted to ski with Sheri but also desired time to speed down the harder trails. We chose four days at Aspen/Snowmass in Colorado because it offered a little bit for each of us. "I am a little nervous about the trip. It's a lot of time skiing," Sheri confessed to me a month before we left. When I mentioned that I had found ski buddies for a day, she asked: "A whole day?" The conversation continued at dinner a few nights later. One of our friends flat-out said: "He has to ski with you. That's it." We chatted through our desires and made a plan. Sheri would take two days of lessons. The first was at Snowmass. Elk Camp Meadows, a new beginner's area there, is fenced off from the rest of the resort so experts don't race through on their way to the lift. She quickly advanced to other parts of the mountain. I took a refresher course - it's never too late to learn something new - and we met up for lunch. The next day, she took a lesson at nearby Buttermilk Mountain. It's geared toward beginners but has some great intermediate trails that she mastered by the end of the day. I met up with some friends and got my adrenaline fix on the harder Aspen Mountain. Lessons were key - it was much better for Sheri to get tips from a professional instead of me. "Taking feedback from someone you love can be the hardest thing. You start to personalize it," says Katie Ertl, who oversees the ski and snowboard schools at the four mountains of Aspen/Snowmass. (Warning: Skiing isn't cheap. If purchased a week in advance, a four-day lift ticket costs $396. Adult group lessons start at $139; full-day private lessons start at $660.)