While guidebooks, websites and concierges may be useful places to find markets, meals and amusements, there is one place that I find really useful for finding cheap tips – even if you are not staying there and thats the youth hostel or backpackers. They are used to giving tips to bargain markets, less pricier meals, discount deals for amusements. Most usually have boards up with information and deals. Even if you are not staying with them, they are very helpful. I am a Youth hostel member, even though I would stay at one a year-…
Travel Tips (Monday)
Category Archives for Travel Tips (Monday).
Pack Good Attitude
Travel is rarely “perfect”. The careful plans one makes at the start of a trip can easily go awry. Whether its a delayed flight, a less than perfect meal, a rude hotel clerk, a stomach upset or a storm, your holiday or business travels can be quickly impacted. Best-selling author H. Jackson Brown, Jr. in a book titled “Live and Learn and Pass It On: People ages 5 to 95 share what they’ve discovered about life, love, and other good stuff” printed a quote by an unknown 52 year old who said: I’ve learned that you…
Learn Some History
I cringe on tours when people say the stupidest things or ask the most embarrassing questions that show the traveller has not taken one minute to learn about their destination. As an Australian, one gets tired of the jibes “all of Australia came from convicts” which ignores the 60 000 years of human settlement followed by the waves of migration from Europe and Asia in the last 230 years. Standing in the Forum in Rome listening to people confuse Greece and Rome or ask if the Colosseum was built in the Middle Ages is enlightening…
Trip Advisor is my friend!
I am a huge fan of Trip advisor. I read Trip advisor reviews for pleasure either as a way of armchair travelling or to see what weird and wonderful things people add. I also glean vital information when making decisions about hotels. Trip Advisor reviews have given me great advice on the best services, hotels and restaurants from New York to Seattle to Myanmar,to Sydney. I was interested that at my last hotel in Rangoon, Myanmar, every staff member implored me to leave a positive review on Tripadvisor about the hotel. There seem to me there are five types of reviews on…
2015 Handy Tipping Guide
Tipping is confusing across the globe but nowhere is it more confusing than the USA. I discovered recently that the American Hotel and Lodging Association has an official guide to tipping. It can be easily printed out and carried with one or downloaded as a photo or bookmark on my phone. Related Posts Know Your Tipping Treat People with Respect
Location Change gives cheap flights
When searching for a flight, I experiment changing the location on my computer to that of my destination or to that of a particular carrier. For example, I have saved $300 on a $1000 fare by booking a ticket on skyscanner.th (Thailand) compared to the same ticket, same airline, same date and same time on skyscanner.au (Australia).
Don’t do Jetlag
In 2012, I flew so many times that I used to joke that I was so permanently jetlagged, I no longer felt it! (That year I flew 300 000km (200 000mi) to 15 countries on five continents with 22 airlines). That experience of flying so much for work required me to use my jet lag lessons! Jet lag is the fatigue and sleepless caused by raidly travelling across different time zones, usually by aeroplane. There is no cure but as mentioned, there are things I do to try and minimise it: Try and fly westwards.…
Don’t be pound foolish
This old English saying comes from the early 17th Century. It describes a person who is thrifty (or miserly) with small amounts of their money, but wasteful with larger amounts. Travelling I see plenty of people guilty of this! I used to work with a very wise man called Tom. He taught me the value of valuing my time and money. He noted that his predecessor used to drive across town two hours and back to save the $10 delivery fee on a particular supply. Tom noted it was costing the company $35 to save that $10. Tom noted…
Don’t eat near a tourist site!
I have three rules for eating when travelling: 1. Never eat in a tourist zone. They always have a higher price tag and lower quality than they should or could! Up a tall building, opposite a touristy square, next to a landmark, then expect to hand over the moolah! 2. I use yelp and/or tripadvisor to find nice places that the locals hang out in 3. Check if the restaurant actually has some locals eating there! I am amazed how often I have found amazing food in places just metres away from the tourists! At a third…
US Tornado App
The American Red Cross has a free tornado app which may be useful for people living in or visiting a US tornado area: Southern states’ tornado season is typically from March to May In the Southern Plains, it is May and early June On the Gulf Coast, tornadoes occur most often during the spring. Northern Plains, Northern states and upper Midwest, peak season is June or July Tornado Alley which covers the northern region of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, the eastern edge of Colorado, southwest tip of South Dakota and the southern edge of Minnesota have tornadoes…
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