Travel Tips (Monday)

Category Archives for Travel Tips (Monday).

Bali’s Mount Agung Volcano Disrupts- What to do if affected.

 The Indonesian disaster management agency has raised the threat level for Mount Agung (around 75km from Bali’s tourist hub of Kuta) to the highest possible level 4, amid fears of a greater eruption. Ash up to half a centimeter thick has settled on villages around the volcano and masks were distributed on the weekend. Rumbling can be heard up to 12km away. Since July 2017, Agung has been discharging volcanic gases after being inactive since 1964.  Its eruption in 1963 killed 1,549 people when Agung spewed ash ten kilometres into the air with lava flowing seven kilometres from the…

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Easy Wifi Worldwide..travelling happily with Skyroam

I first started travelling when a postcard was the main communication with my friends and family.  Now wifi is more important to me than almost anything. My banking, travel plans, communication are all based on having access to the internet. That is not always easy. Ever had any of these scenarios?: The advertised free wi-fi at the hotel turns out to be only on the 9th floor and you can only get a room on the 26th The Airbnb’s free wi-fi has the speed of a sloth and the reliability of the same (no offence…

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Using User Reviews

User-review sites are a staple of my travel diet. I love Tripadvisor, for hotels! Here is the link to my profile.   Yelp is my go to for city services and restaurants. Airbnb, of course, builds in reviews into its system. Skytrax provides reviews from air travellers about their flight experiences.   I have several rules of thumb with reviews: The more reviews the better. For example, an apartment on Airbnb with 3 reviews is usually skipped by me for one with 20+ I take away the number of worst reviews from the number of best reviews.…

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How many holidays are enough? According to Science

How much vacation have you taken so far this year? If you live in Brazil,  Finland, France, Spain and the United Arab Emirate you are (on average) entitled to 30 days paid holidays per year and on average, those days are fully taken.  At the other end of the spectrum, South Koreans only took eight days of their 15 days and Japanese took 10 of their 20. 37% of US workers had not been on a holiday in more than two years. This comes from Expedia’s Vacation Deprivation® study, an annual study of vacation habits amongst 9,424 employed adults aged 18…

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Malaysia Introduces daily Tourist Tax

The Malaysian government has introduced a 10 Malaysian Ringgitt ($US 2.35) per room per night tax for foreign tourists.  This will be added to your room rate and charged to you. On a seven night trip to Malaysia, you would pay $16. Malaysians will be exempt. According to Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz the tax could reap RM654 million (US$147.47 million) if the country has a hotel occupancy rate of 60% in its eleven million “room nights”. The money will be used to develop the country’s tourism industry. If you want to avoid paying?…

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The Top Seven Cheap Airfare Mistakes

I love saving money on my airfares. I have scored some great deals such as Business Class seats that have saved me thousands for a few tweaks of date or destination airport. There are some mistakes people make in scrooging their travel. Here are the seven biggies: How reliable is the airline? When things go wrong, how likely is the airline going to be to help you? Look at this example from Allegiant where passengers were initially stranded. Cheap fare- High Extras: If you are only taking a small carry on, do not care where…

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Laughing through the new British Airways Safety Video -for a good cause

Just watched the new British Airways safety video which will be rolled out onto their aircraft on September 1st, 2017. This safety video was produced in collaboration with Comic Relief, who are a major charity based in the UK, with a vision of a just world, free from poverty. Ten British celebrities are depicted auditioning for a coveted part in the new BA safety video in front of comedian Asim Chaudhry character Chabuddy G. There are eight sketches advertising the safety features and procedures on the aircraft. It starts with Chiwetel Ejiofor, who was nominated for…

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Hack that Trip – keeping fit on Business Travel

I was sitting next to a man who was travelling 13 hours by plane for a two-hour meeting and then back again- in the same week! We talked about the loneliness and hectic craziness that results from such a rough schedule. He admitted to eating most of his meals in his hotel room. We reflected on how many business people put on weight and feel unhealthy. Some thoughts on hacking our trips: Be clear on our travel goals- why are you travelling to your destination? Evaluate whether you are meeting those goals – was the trip really worth…

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Preventing a Pickpocket Ruining Your Trip

Pickpockets have been around since the dawn of money. A skilled pickpocketer can have relieved their victim of money, watch, passport, identification and credit cards and have moved on,  before that person has noticed anyone is close to them. Pickpockets have a large variety of ways of operating and are always coming up with new schemes, so it’s almost impossible to totally protect yourself. There are some things that can reduce your risk Assume you may be next. Many people travel thinking they will be exempt from losing stuff but experiments have shown that we…

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Inside Voices Please

I have just endured two four hour journeys listening to people shout at each other in a confined space. The context was I was travelling on a train in an Asian country where people speak in very low volumes. When they take a mobile phone call, they carefully do all they can to minimise noise. In this space, we were assaulted by people from a different cultural background whose speech volume was in complete disregard to those around them. Oblivious to the glances, glares and smouldering stares, they spoke at this volume for the entire…

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