Hey gang here are a few traveling tips that have been brought to my attention.
First, keep shoulder seasons in mind when booking flights this summer. When traveling to Europe, fly in May, late August, or September to save an average of $350 per ticket. The least expensive day to depart to Europe is Tuesday or Wednesday, which can save you approximately $55 per ticket.
For domestic travel, if you are flexible, wait until late August or early September to find values on end of summer fare sales. When traveling domestically, Sunday is the most expensive day to fly, while Tuesday and Wednesday are the cheapest. Flying Tuesday to Tuesday can save a family of four $220, or $55 per ticket on average.
I also happened upon some cool travel sites as well.
http://www.hostels.com/
This site allows you to navigate through different hostels from all around the world and even book them directly from the site. This is convenient so you don’t have to run around looking for a bed when you arrive in your destination. More time to enjoy your surroundings is always a good thing.
http://uhotw.com/
This one is a fun one showing you many of the weirdest hotels the world has to offer. My favorite ones are the underground/cave ones.
http://www.thetravelerszone.com/travel-information/25-wonderful-places-to-visit-in-your-lifetime/
This site makes me want to get on a plane immediately. The problem would be which one to go to. Well that and money, but that’s another story. 25 places to visit in your lifetime. I’m sure there’s a million different lists like this, but I stumbled on this one and figured I’d throw it in there. Enjoy!
Until next time.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
BALI
My friend and I have this plan to live in Bali for about 6 months after she finishes grad school and it’s been on my mind a lot lately. It’s an exciting prospect and yet it’s frustrating trying to figure out what to do with my life and how to stay alive until then haha. Anyway, I figure I’ll just talk about Bali and show videos and websites dedicated to Bali. Why not?
I have recently been turned on to this show “No Reservation” with Anthony Bourdain. I’m addicted now! I’ve read some of Bourdain’s books and they’re fun reads. But this show is what I want to do with my life. It’s awesome. But here are the links to the Bali episode segments on youtube. Check the other’s out too if you haven’t seen it before.
My friend sent me the link to this site http://balispirit.com/ that’s really cool. It’s got all things Bali including where to visit, non-profit organizations there, insight into the art scene, and also HOUSES and VILLAS to rent for really cheap!! If you click “Bali Accommodations” and then go to “Houses to Rent” you will find villas, houses and apartments that are available to rent. It’s a pretty sweet site as far as I’m concerned.
That's all for now.
I have recently been turned on to this show “No Reservation” with Anthony Bourdain. I’m addicted now! I’ve read some of Bourdain’s books and they’re fun reads. But this show is what I want to do with my life. It’s awesome. But here are the links to the Bali episode segments on youtube. Check the other’s out too if you haven’t seen it before.
My friend sent me the link to this site http://balispirit.com/ that’s really cool. It’s got all things Bali including where to visit, non-profit organizations there, insight into the art scene, and also HOUSES and VILLAS to rent for really cheap!! If you click “Bali Accommodations” and then go to “Houses to Rent” you will find villas, houses and apartments that are available to rent. It’s a pretty sweet site as far as I’m concerned.
That's all for now.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Going Long Term
Hi gang! I found this great article on this site PickTheBrain.com. It said a lot of what I was trying to get across in my first post, but I think it says it a lot better. So I figure why not attach the link? And so that’s what I’m gonna do. Here it is…
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/the-1-way-to-shake-up-your-life/
This article has a lot of tips and helpful websites for those of us that would like to go on an extended travel experience. You can go to these other sites in order to get your voyage underway. Some of these sites I have heard of before and others I haven’t. I have also found some other sites not mentioned in this article I will alert you to. Now I have not actually put any of these sites’ tips and advice in action so I can’t vouch for any of them. But I figure this could be more of a resource to help guide people looking to travel for extended periods of time and make it easier for them to do research. The web is a big place and having different resources all in one place can be quite helpful. So that’s mainly what this is. However, if anyone has tried one of these sites or programs please let us know how it worked out. Was it an enjoyable experience?
So here are some of the other sites I’ve happened upon.
http://abroadjobs.com/
http://www.vagabondish.com/8-tools-travel-long-term-live-rent-free/
http://www.worldlearning.org/225.htm
http://acis.com/
I hope these are helpful. Obviously there is a lot more out there and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I have studied abroad while at University and traveled Ecuador and Mexico for about a month each on two separate occasions. Since graduating I have not lived in another country or traveled for months and months at a time. I have, however, met people on my trips who were doing just this. People who were traveling throughout Europe, or Mexico and South America. People who had not been “home” in over a year. So it can be done. I hope to do it one day soon. Hopefully, these websites can be some of our tools. Good luck!
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/the-1-way-to-shake-up-your-life/
This article has a lot of tips and helpful websites for those of us that would like to go on an extended travel experience. You can go to these other sites in order to get your voyage underway. Some of these sites I have heard of before and others I haven’t. I have also found some other sites not mentioned in this article I will alert you to. Now I have not actually put any of these sites’ tips and advice in action so I can’t vouch for any of them. But I figure this could be more of a resource to help guide people looking to travel for extended periods of time and make it easier for them to do research. The web is a big place and having different resources all in one place can be quite helpful. So that’s mainly what this is. However, if anyone has tried one of these sites or programs please let us know how it worked out. Was it an enjoyable experience?
So here are some of the other sites I’ve happened upon.
http://abroadjobs.com/
http://www.vagabondish.com/8-tools-travel-long-term-live-rent-free/
http://www.worldlearning.org/225.htm
http://acis.com/
I hope these are helpful. Obviously there is a lot more out there and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I have studied abroad while at University and traveled Ecuador and Mexico for about a month each on two separate occasions. Since graduating I have not lived in another country or traveled for months and months at a time. I have, however, met people on my trips who were doing just this. People who were traveling throughout Europe, or Mexico and South America. People who had not been “home” in over a year. So it can be done. I hope to do it one day soon. Hopefully, these websites can be some of our tools. Good luck!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Getting There
Hey gang! So when traveling on a budget it always helps to save money on plane tickets. If you save $500 on your flight then that’s $500 extra you have to enjoy yourself in you destination. Have a few more expensive meals, treat your loved ones back home (or yourself) to some gifts, see a show, whatever. Whenever I type in “cheap flights” or something like that into google, the search usually yields the same results: Travelocity, Orbitz, Travelzoo, ect. But through talking to friends I have found some other really cool sites that can help you save money when traveling. My friend recently showed me farecast.com. Like a forecast tries to predict what the weather will be, farecast tries to predict what the trends in plane tickets will be. When you search a flight it will tell you whether or not it thinks it’s a good idea to buy the ticket at that moment or to wait it out because the ticket prices should be falling soon. A very helpful tool in my opinion.
Another good one in my opinion is studentuniverse.com. The catch here is that you have to be a student or a teacher to get the discount. The site will let you know if there are discounted seats for students and teachers left on any particular flight. Great way to travel and save money when you’re a poor college student.
Virgin America is good airline to check out when traveling within the US. They will occasionally have day deals where if you purchase a ticket that day you get the deal. My friend who is always checking Virgin America was lucky enough to stumble upon it on a day where they had a 2 for 1 deal. So she got 2 tickets for the price of 1 and the next week we went to visit a mutual friend in D.C. So keep an eye out for deals on this one.
Another thing to keep in mind when traveling domestically is the bus. It might take a little longer but if you have the time it can be a refreshing change of pace. Or in some instances it could be so awful (I have experienced a few of those instances) that you will never complain about hassles at the airport, flight delays, or what have you ever again.
Now when it comes to traveling for cheap when abroad I can only speak from what I know. And since I’ve only really spent a great deal of time in Europe, Europe is all I can really speak of. But if you do happen to be in Europe and visiting multiple destinations, make sure you check out ryanair.com and easyjet.com. I’ve had friends who have gotten flights for as cheap as $20. I have not been that fortunate when using these sites but I have still found tickets traveling between different countries in Europe than I have found when just traveling between states here in the US. Sometimes the airports these airlines fly out of are a bit out of the way however. So take the time and money needed to get to and from the airport into consideration when planning your flight. When visiting my friends in London from Paris it made more sense to take the train since the cab fare from where easyjet or ryanair to my friends’ place would end up making the trip more expensive than spending more on the train, which would bring me to more of a centralized location where the tube would go to.
So those are all the tips I can think of for the moment. If anyone has any helpful advice for getting to desired destinations (and even how to get around when there) feel free to enlighten us.
Until next time, have a good one.
Another good one in my opinion is studentuniverse.com. The catch here is that you have to be a student or a teacher to get the discount. The site will let you know if there are discounted seats for students and teachers left on any particular flight. Great way to travel and save money when you’re a poor college student.
Virgin America is good airline to check out when traveling within the US. They will occasionally have day deals where if you purchase a ticket that day you get the deal. My friend who is always checking Virgin America was lucky enough to stumble upon it on a day where they had a 2 for 1 deal. So she got 2 tickets for the price of 1 and the next week we went to visit a mutual friend in D.C. So keep an eye out for deals on this one.
Another thing to keep in mind when traveling domestically is the bus. It might take a little longer but if you have the time it can be a refreshing change of pace. Or in some instances it could be so awful (I have experienced a few of those instances) that you will never complain about hassles at the airport, flight delays, or what have you ever again.
Now when it comes to traveling for cheap when abroad I can only speak from what I know. And since I’ve only really spent a great deal of time in Europe, Europe is all I can really speak of. But if you do happen to be in Europe and visiting multiple destinations, make sure you check out ryanair.com and easyjet.com. I’ve had friends who have gotten flights for as cheap as $20. I have not been that fortunate when using these sites but I have still found tickets traveling between different countries in Europe than I have found when just traveling between states here in the US. Sometimes the airports these airlines fly out of are a bit out of the way however. So take the time and money needed to get to and from the airport into consideration when planning your flight. When visiting my friends in London from Paris it made more sense to take the train since the cab fare from where easyjet or ryanair to my friends’ place would end up making the trip more expensive than spending more on the train, which would bring me to more of a centralized location where the tube would go to.
So those are all the tips I can think of for the moment. If anyone has any helpful advice for getting to desired destinations (and even how to get around when there) feel free to enlighten us.
Until next time, have a good one.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
A Bit About Me
Okay, so I guess I will tell you a bit about myself because why not? Originally born in Danvers, Massachusetts, I have moved around a lot with my family, including other parts of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Switzerland, Connecticut, and Hawaii. This may be where I got the traveling bug from. Just as I would start to get settled in a place we’d move. Perhaps that’s the reason I feel uneasy whenever I’ve been in one place too long. I graduated from college in 2006. During my time at university I study abroad in Paris, France my junior year. Gaining a taste for travel at a young age, I have since traveled throughout Europe as well as North and South America and New Zealand. One travel experience I would really like to have someday would be to travel on the Trans-Siberian Railroad from Russia and into Mongolia.
The Beginning!
Hey there, gang! I’m new to this blogging thing, but there are a lot of hours in the day to kill and I figured this was as good a weapon as any to kill them with. Let the slaughtering begin then.
I, like many, find great pleasure in traveling, be it inside of or outside of my home country (the United States for me). I am very passionate about travel and experiencing different cultures. I think it’s very important to travel and in a way it’s a very essential form of learning, sometimes equally, if not more, beneficial than traditional classroom learning. I have made many friends over the years from different countries in addition to living with a host family in France for a year, which I think has allowed me a better perspective on similarities as well as differences between cultures and being able to respect these differences.
I also like traveling within the United States as well. I’ve found that I don’t need to go too far to find different ways of living and experience new and foreign things. Until recently, on the continental US I have only visited or lived in cities on either coast. It’s like living in a home and not exploring your own backyard. I’ve decided to make more of an effort to travel to different parts of the US, do weekend trips, adventures, ect in addition to traveling abroad.
In addition to being lots of fun, I believe traveling to be an incredibly valuable educational experience and I think it’s important for everyone to have a chance to travel and to learn about another culture in addition to their own. I feel it helps a person gain a better perspective on themselves as well as the world around them, which is very important in this age we live in.
I know all to well how difficult it can be to find time and money to travel though. If I could I would travel constantly. That requires money, however. Then once you have the money, you need to get the time off from work. This might be hard to do if you find yourself in a job that could lead to something bigger and better and you really need to put in the long hours to do so. You may have a family to think about. Many factors can prevent us from having the freedom we’d like to travel as much as we’d like. Some people can find ways to make it work. I’m not suggesting that I have all the answers, or even some of the answers. Since I’m new at this I’ll have to take it as it comes, but I figure I’ll write about my travel experiences and what’s worked for me as far as planning trips goes. I’ll also search the web for websites with advice and tips on how to travel, hostels and hotels to stay at, restaurants and bars to visit, things to do, and maybe even ways to work abroad for those that wish to do so. I am only one person though, so I was thinking people that happen upon the site and like it (or even if they don’t, and think they have more worthwhile tips and comments) can also suggest websites or give advice from personal experience to help us all become better travelers. It could be a lot of fun or it could suck and go nowhere (hmmm a travel blog that goes nowhere. How unfortunate).
But yeah, if I figure a variety of experiences and findings can only help. If my experience in a place or stuff I’ve found out about a place is very tame or safe compared to your experience or what you’ve heard there is to do in a place feel free to comment on it. I may be like “Frommer’s says suggests going to the main quarter and buying little trinkets from the local markets.” You may see this and think to yourself, “That might be nice, but personally I never made it out of the opium den. And by opium den I mean the space under a bridge on the outskirts of town where I consumed unknown substances for 2 weeks straight and had a total of 3 overdoses." If that is the case, first of all thank god you’re still alive. Secondly, that’s great. Tell us about it so that people with similar interests will know what to do when arriving wherever.
I, like many, find great pleasure in traveling, be it inside of or outside of my home country (the United States for me). I am very passionate about travel and experiencing different cultures. I think it’s very important to travel and in a way it’s a very essential form of learning, sometimes equally, if not more, beneficial than traditional classroom learning. I have made many friends over the years from different countries in addition to living with a host family in France for a year, which I think has allowed me a better perspective on similarities as well as differences between cultures and being able to respect these differences.
I also like traveling within the United States as well. I’ve found that I don’t need to go too far to find different ways of living and experience new and foreign things. Until recently, on the continental US I have only visited or lived in cities on either coast. It’s like living in a home and not exploring your own backyard. I’ve decided to make more of an effort to travel to different parts of the US, do weekend trips, adventures, ect in addition to traveling abroad.
In addition to being lots of fun, I believe traveling to be an incredibly valuable educational experience and I think it’s important for everyone to have a chance to travel and to learn about another culture in addition to their own. I feel it helps a person gain a better perspective on themselves as well as the world around them, which is very important in this age we live in.
I know all to well how difficult it can be to find time and money to travel though. If I could I would travel constantly. That requires money, however. Then once you have the money, you need to get the time off from work. This might be hard to do if you find yourself in a job that could lead to something bigger and better and you really need to put in the long hours to do so. You may have a family to think about. Many factors can prevent us from having the freedom we’d like to travel as much as we’d like. Some people can find ways to make it work. I’m not suggesting that I have all the answers, or even some of the answers. Since I’m new at this I’ll have to take it as it comes, but I figure I’ll write about my travel experiences and what’s worked for me as far as planning trips goes. I’ll also search the web for websites with advice and tips on how to travel, hostels and hotels to stay at, restaurants and bars to visit, things to do, and maybe even ways to work abroad for those that wish to do so. I am only one person though, so I was thinking people that happen upon the site and like it (or even if they don’t, and think they have more worthwhile tips and comments) can also suggest websites or give advice from personal experience to help us all become better travelers. It could be a lot of fun or it could suck and go nowhere (hmmm a travel blog that goes nowhere. How unfortunate).
But yeah, if I figure a variety of experiences and findings can only help. If my experience in a place or stuff I’ve found out about a place is very tame or safe compared to your experience or what you’ve heard there is to do in a place feel free to comment on it. I may be like “Frommer’s says suggests going to the main quarter and buying little trinkets from the local markets.” You may see this and think to yourself, “That might be nice, but personally I never made it out of the opium den. And by opium den I mean the space under a bridge on the outskirts of town where I consumed unknown substances for 2 weeks straight and had a total of 3 overdoses." If that is the case, first of all thank god you’re still alive. Secondly, that’s great. Tell us about it so that people with similar interests will know what to do when arriving wherever.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)