Posts Tagged ‘Travel Tips’
The 12 Best Free Activities Around the World
If you’re someone who thinks you can’t do anything fun for free, let me be the first to tell you otherwise. While the activities may not be as white-knuckle inducing as zip-lining across a jungle canopy or tumbling down a hill inside a giant plastic ball, there are a host of different things you can do that are completely free of charge and will make you smile at your good fortune for finding them.
Here are some of the best free enterprises to be had on any standard round the world trip. Take THAT budget woes!
Image credit: Ghost of Kuji
Working with travelers over the years helping set up their trips-of-a-lifetime, I’ve managed to pinpoint some of the more problematic issues they subject themselves to before they come to us. Most of the time their research is been spot on and the trip looks wonderful – they have realistic goals and are honest about their expectations. Other times a little work is needed to get a solid, cost-effective itinerary, one that won’t end up driving them crazy in the long run.
In order to avoid itinerary problems before they come to the fore, here are a few of common mistakes people make during their trip planning stages and how to see yourself out of them:
Image credit: mason bryant
Ah, the 21st century. It doesn’t seem possible we made it through the stone ages of the nineties without the online conveniences we currently have. But we did, and now here’s a list of great travel tools for the modern international traveler.
Make your traveling life a little easier and bookmark these 10 essential websites:
Image credit: nosha
There’s little doubt it’s a great time to be a traveler. With so much available to the modern nomad it’s amazing everyone’s not dumping their possessions and flagging down the next nonstop to Points Unknown.
Because travel is currently so accessible and cost-effective, you may want to take advantage of this time. But being among the new traveling masses, it should also be important to be as sensitive and considerate as possible while on your journey. Being a courteous traveler is the new standard, and it says a lot about your character just how you travel. You owe it to yourself, and the world, to be as thoughtful as possible in the face of the unfamiliar.
So how do we do it?
Departing, by Elsie esq.
“You kids don’t know how good you’ve got it,” says Grandpa from the backseat. He may be right — especially when it comes to travel. What Grandpa had to endure for better leisure traveling these days can make your head spin around: the fickle, unreliable airlines, the volatile political situations, the disease, poverty and rampaging Godzillas just to name a few.
It’s hard to quantify just how much the traveling experience has improved from your grandpa’s, or even your dad’s era to ours, but there’s little doubt that as travelers we’ve got it pretty good. From the smooth transcontinental flights, that our bags typically arrive with us, our web check-ins, etickets, electronic itineraries, planning, booking and moving around the globe, there’s no doubt it’s better now than it ever has been. And it’s in no small part due to the pitfalls the previous generation was exposed to.
To demonstrate the point, here’s how modern traveling is better than it’s ever been:
A handful of optimists out there are saying the Great Recession is winding down. But for many of the penny-pinching masses life still isn’t all caviar and yachting. Quite the contrary—budgets are still very much in fashion. But since travel never seems to be far off the lifestyle radar, how people 
travel has been angling more toward the new era. To help those who are augmenting their travel funds with ramen-noodle and tap-water dinners, I’ve put together a list of top places where the US dollar will make the most noise, the ones with the highest bang-for-buck quotient.
Generally speaking, your first-world money tends to deliver best results in developing nations, places like Central America, South East Asia and destinations such as Eastern Europe and India, where the local economy must support people who make less money. Of course some will argue that traveling to these places creates an ethical disparity since you may be contributing to the economy only to take advantage of it. I tend to disagree – most of these places are downright stunning. But even with the uneasy philosophical arguments echoing, in terms of traveling experiences, they really can’t be beat.
Image by d'n'c's
In his Jan 14 post, travel blogger Keith Jenkins from Velvet Escape listed a series of “10 Incredible Bridge Walks” around the world. Since I’m an admitted RTW-ophile, I couldn’t help but envision the bridges as a theme trip. These beautiful open-to-pedestrians bridges, when assembled in a series, would make one amazing round the world trip, and not necessarily just for bridge enthusiasts.
For continuity, I took the liberty of adding in a crazy bridge in Singapore that would fill in the South East Asia gap nicely.
So, starting in New York City here is Keith’s bridge-lover’s around the world trip. Check out his original post for lovely pictures of these bridges.
There’s a lot to be said for Number 2. It can even outshine Number 1 simply because it’s passed over by those looking for “the best”. Number 2 is your own private experience, the choice without the noise and chaos that comes from being on top.
Okay, the title of this post may be a little misleading. I certainly don’t mean to say that the common stops should be omitted because they’re popular. The reasons for going there leap out at you in full color from brochures and posters everywhere. But while the Number 1s may have time-tested reasons to visit, those looking for authenticity may end up disappointed. Expectations are tough to live up to when cutting through the masses of other travelers—the mobs and the industry built to accommodate them can taint your experience pretty quickly.
I’ve put together a list of commonly requested cities in RTW itineraries, followed by those you should visit as an alternative (or even an addition).
While these recommendations may be more expensive to have in your itinerary (major cities tend to have least impact on price) the experiences gained by visiting these alternatives can be priceless and should make any added expense completely worthwhile.
While we can look back on stressful traveling moments and laugh, there’s no reason why we should have to. With a little preparation and lot of foresight we can have the stress-free trip we deserve.
Here are my best 15 suggestions for the trip of a lifetime without problems:
In order to enjoy your trip in a maximum way staying well and healthy should be your M.O. Not to kill the nostagia, but a sunset just isn’t the same when you doubled over in pain from that fish taco you had for dinner. Of course a stomach ache is peanuts compared to other menaces lurking out there in the exotic twilight.
To assist you in the battle of the virus, with a little help from Dr. Dobrow at Safe Treks, I’ve prepared a guide to help you define and hopefully avoid some of the more widespread heath risks out there.
The first order of business is to make sure to protect yourself from getting sick before you get sick. A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so they say.
Subscribe
Around the Web
