Yo! I’m taking a break from training my new adopted pet cicada to to rap with you about starting your travel planning using the Internet. Hold on a second while I put him in his pen -- I named him John -- John Cicada. It’s got a nice melodic ring to it, don’t you think?

Anyway, I digress. For years I’ve traveled around the country sleeping in the back of a pickup truck, letting my whimsy lead me to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and civilizations.

But when the ‘Net came out, my travel planning has become a lot more sophisticated. Visit Medina County’s Family Web Site -- www.MedinaMall.com -- for links to cool travel sites on the web.

People sometimes forget that there are enough destinations right here in the Great Buckeye State to fill up a whole summer’s worth of raveling. The Ohio Tourism site (www.ohiotourism.com) is a great place to start.

The easiest way to find information from states and countries about their tourist attractions is to type “tourism” in a search engine like Yahoo. Presto, you’ll find all the official tourism sites across the country. The great thing about these sites is that the respective governments are trying really hard to get you to come to their state or country to spend your dough. Many of the official tourism sites are non-partial and very informative.

www.MedinaMall.com even has sites for fishing, boating and more. You’ve got to check it out . . .

Oh no, John just stopped breathing! Hang in there, my little buggy! . . . John Cicada, I hardly knew ‘ya . . .

Net Surfer Dude’s Radical Reviews:

www.ohiotourism.com - There’s a lot of things to do within a three hour drive. My Rating: 4 Airplanes

www.50states.com - Info about each state, a good site to make your kids visit before you go visit a state. My Rating: 3 Minivans

Our Disney Vacation (www.neosoft.com/sbanks/vacation/vacation.html)- Think boring vacation slides on the “Net. A family shares its vacation with you. My Rating: 1 Scooter

NEXT MONTH:

The pumpkin heads are back! Yes, the Cleveland Browns will be playing in August, three seasons after Antichrist Art Modell stole them from us. ‘Net Surfer Dude won’t miss a minute of the action, and he will visit useful sites to make following the Browns in 1999 an entirely new experience than in 1995.