Planning on an affordable Barbados travel getaway? Is such a thing even possible? Well fret not since here are a bunch of tips to help you get that perfect island getaway while saving as much money as possible.

Tip 1: The first thing that anyone, who wants to save money on a vacation, should do is to do some research first. One needs to know a lot of details about the island as possible so that one may be able to know the cheaper alternatives. Also, planning is very important. Not only will it help one save time and money, it will also help one stick to an itinerary that is more affordable. This principle is of course not only applicable to a trip in Barbados. This is all about considering all the possible alternatives and choosing the best and most cost effective ones. Also, knowing things such as customs, routes, and the best spots to visit will also make any trip safe and worthwhile. Finding the average cost of staying at a hotel will give one an idea of what’s cheap and what’s expensive. Also, for those who prefer a certain island activity then knowing where to do these activities will be important. For example, surfers should stay near the northeastern coast of Barbados.

Tip 2: Here’s a good tip for an affordable Barbados travel vacation, rent a condo instead of renting a villa or staying in a hotel. This is for those who want the luxury of a large place but want to save money as well since villas and large hotel suites can be extremely pricey. Getting a condo in Barbados will also get the vacationer the benefits of a kitchen. Preparing one’s own food will help save a lot of money since one serving of hotel food and restaurant food will cost probably five to ten meals prepared at home. Another great idea is to get two bedroom units that can be split with another couple which will also cut the costs by half.

Tip 3: Making use of cheap public transportation will immediately lower the cost of any trip. The bus route in Barbados is decent. Using the bus will only cost vacationers a mere seventy five cents for each ride. However, take note that these busses will pass to the Bridgetown first as the starting point. It is therefore advisable that one calculate this short loss of time in one’s itinerary. Aside from taxi’s and car rental services that may be affordable, a much more affordable way to go there is to take the Zed vans in the island that go a whole lot faster than other modes of transport. For adventurous backpackers, renting a bike is another available option that is not only cheaper but also a healthier and fun way to take in the island atmosphere and sceneries.

Tip 4: One of the best ways to save on airfare is to fly during the low seasons. The low seasons for Barbados are usually around the middle of April to the middle of December. Also, booking flights a long time before the travel date will help one get the best deals and discounted prices for tickets. A lot of money can be saved this way and it makes affordable Barbados travel quite possible.

Source by Joel Owens

Emergency situations are sometimes unavoidable and you have no control on them. Cruising seems fun and entertaining and completely safe but who knows when an emergency or unnatural situation arrives? Previously a lot of ships have been full of reports such as storms, weather delays, disabled ships and many other situations that have spoiled the fun and upset the passengers.

Due to such reports, passengers have now started packing an emergency kit along with their other stuff so that even if some emergency situation comes up, they would know what to do.

So, if you are also super excited for your trip and scared too of the inevitable situations then here is a packing guide for your emergency kit which would later aid you a lot.

Headlamps And Flashlights

Just in case the power of your ships is gone and it is dark everywhere and you’ve got you, kids, along then flashlights and headlamps are a must for you. Headlamps would be more preferred as they can easily be worn on the head and are easy to use than a flashlight.

Food Storage

The worst situation that can come up on your cruise travel is that if you get stranded on the cruise and the water and food supply of the cruise have come to an end. In that case, you don’t have to panic and just use your food storage that you brought with yourself. Buy the food which has got some proteins and vitamins in it so that you can maintain your energy levels.

Medicines

You yourself are aware of what medicine you need in case you or your child gets sick. And on the other hand, it might be possible that the cruise is not having the medication that you require, so always bring your own medicine box. It is but a fact that everything on a cruise ship is double the price and so is the medicines, so avoid spending too much money on the unnecessary stuff rather bring it on your own.

Power Banks

As said earlier, there are situations that reported a complete power shut down in cruises and people were deprived of lights and batteries. In such cases, you must have power banks with you that can charge your mobiles and tablets so that you can stay in contact with your family and friends and keep them updated about your cruise travel.

Hand Sanitizers And Wipes

It, in fact, is a very awkward situation but there are times when the toilets of cruise ships stop working and you actually have no way out to keep yourself clean so for that kind of a disaster, you must have a huge supply of hand sanitizers and wipes to keep yourself clean and also don’t forget to keep a few reusable plastic bottles as they will aid you a lot when the toilets are blocked.

We hope you enjoy your cruise journey to the fullest without having to worry about anything!

Source by Hammad H Sheikh

You’re browsing online for your next tour and some of them look absolutely fantastic and so inexpensive! But wait, there are a couple words that I’m not sure of recently: hosted tours and independent tours. You know what they mean in general conversation, but what do they mean where travel is concerned?

Good question, with a simple answer, but knowing the difference will make a significant impact on your travel decision.

“Independent” means you are on your own. The travel company will book your hotels and, if you’re traveling to various cities, perhaps they’ll also book your train seat. When your plane lands you’ll make your way to the hotel and, if you want to see the sights, and well, that’s why you’re traveling, isn’t it? You will for the most part, have to make your own arrangements. You’ll get to each place by any method you choose…car, cab or bus. Carry a good guide book or perhaps hire a local at the sight.

Why book this type of package if you are on your own for the majority of the time? Well the tour companies have buying power, so you may save a little money by purchasing a hotel stay from them, but that’s not always the case. Check with your travel agent who will be happy to price it both ways for you to ensure you receive the best value.

“Hosted” involves a little more hand holding. You may be met at the airport and transported to your hotel, which is pre-booked for you as well, and you’ll have breakfast daily. Your “host” is a local tour professional (usually) who represents the tour company with whom you booked. This person is available to you at certain hours of each day, to advise you on sightseeing, restaurants and shopping in the area. They will also have available optional tours you can book through them and travel. You will have plenty of time to do your own thing, but have the security of being able to consult someone throughout your stay. If you are visiting multiple cities, then the transportation is also arranged for you in advance including train, bus or flights.

Escorted is the best choice if the language of the country you are visiting is very foreign (In most European countries you will find many locals who speak English fluently). Your guide will meet you, great you, introduce you to others in your group…because escorted tours are almost always of a group of 24 to 40 people. (The exception are luxury tours in which your group consists of only you and your travel companions with a private guide.) All of your hotels and transportation are included. The guide checks you into each hotel and hands you the keys. Your luggage is taken to each room and then picked up and placed back on the bus so that you can relax. The guide and driver will accompany you on all sightseeing tours, smooth your admission to museums and monuments, entertain you (hopefully) on the bus ride to the next town and, all in all, act as your “big brother” or “sister.” You will be well taken care of and probably get the most out of your journey. Knowledgeable guides make a career of sharing their inspiring insights, and are well versed in local customs and must see hidden treasured. Most travelers agree that the tour guide is the key to good vacation due to their wealth of information, warmth and efficiency.

In conclusion, “independent travel” is best suited for the very savvy traveler who knows what he wants to see and do, but is happy to have someone book his hotels and train seats. A “hosted” trip is good for those who are capable of budgeting their time, is up and out to see all there is to see, and has done their homework. The traveler may need or want some assistance in choosing from the many sights the city or a specific venue has to offer. “Escorted tours” are the most comprehensive way to visit another country. It doesn’t mean you’re lazy…just time-conscious and maybe not too well versed in the history and lore of your chosen destination. Better to have a professional show you all there is to see.

Tour operators offer a variety of travel options to meet each travelers needs. Whichever travel style you select, know what you’re buying in advance.

Source by S Lobo

People love to travel. Whether it is to large, ancient cities visited by millions of tourists each year, or cosy little bread-and-breakfast towns-people love to go out into the world to discover what it has to offer. No wonder tourism makes a significant portion of the revenues of many towns.

If you’re looking to put your town on the map, writing travel articles is a great way to reach travellers. The birth and growth of the Internet has significantly changed the way we gather and disseminate information. These days, one can do a simple search for a holiday destination and be rewarded with literally millions of travel articles. The good news is, by the same vein, what you write about your hometown can reach thousands of readers from all over the world; it’s just a matter of great writing and proper marketing.

People read travel articles with a single goal: information. People love learning about their place of interest, and knowing what to expect when they get there. They appreciate recommendations on where to stay and what sites to see, events and activities they can participate in, great restaurants and the local delicacies, ‘what the town is famous for’, and other helpful information, including famous residents and sites of historical significance. The more someone can learn about your hometown, the more excited they will be about visiting this new place and the more comfortable they will feel about making the journey. Therefore, doing your research is important. The more information you have, the better you can sell your product.

When listing the selling points of your town in your travel articles, remember that people are multi-faceted. They have different interests and passions, and travel for different reasons. Towns or cities are the same-they all have different facets and points of interest. Many travel magazines and blogs ask for general information, whereas others prefer more-targeted, special-interest information, such as the local cuisine or local events and festivals. Providing the right information for the right market is therefore crucial. For example, when writing for budget travel magazines, consider giving recommendations on safe but affordable accommodations, great but cheap food, and free attractions.

However, as helpful as facts and figures are, what sells a destination is its unique charm and characteristics-a personality that is only its own-and the history and experiences it offers to visitors. As someone who loves your hometown, you are in the best position to tell the story of your town, make it come alive to your readers, and invite them to become part of it. Write passionately about what makes it unique and why you and your fellow residents love it, and you won’t help but produce a compelling article. What you do with it it then is up to you!

Source by Laura Jeeves

I’m going to take you on a brief tour of the Mariners’ Museum, starting with actually getting to the place, and then through all the galleries, and ending with the Library – which contains the largest collection of maritime books and records in the United States, and is ideal for the maritime researcher.

How Much Time Will You Need?

If at all possible, plan to spend the whole day at the museum – there is that much to see, from the Mariners’ Museum to the brand new Monitor Center.

Family members who get bored or need a break can eat a sandwich or dessert in the Compass Café (but not on Sundays or Mondays, and not after 2.30 pm, mark you!), rent a paddle boat and go for a paddle on Lake Maury, or go out for a walk on the Noland nature trail which winds around the lake. They could also browse in the large store, visit the Library, or play on a few wooden ships in the rear grounds of the museum. And if that’s not enough, just about 20 yards away is the Peninsula Fine Arts Museum, for those of a less nautical and more artistic bent. (Although there is much of the artistic in the Mariners’ Museum yourself, as you will see.)

Museum Drive

The Mariners’ Museum is located off the intersection between J. Clyde Morris Blvd and Warwick Blvd. (See Directions at the end of this article.) For the purpose of this article, I shall assume that you’ll approach the Museum by driving (or biking) south along J. Clyde Morris (which starts out in York County as George Washington Memorial Highway, and is also called Highway 17).

When you stop at the intersection between J. Clyde and Warwick Blvd., you will see on your right hand side, on the other side of Warwick, a 30-foot tall statue of Christopher Newport, captain of the Susan Constant which brought the settlers to Jamestown in 1607. This statue marks the entrance to Christopher Newport University.

Three Lanes of Traffic

Going south, J. Clyde Morris has three lanes – the far left lane is to turn left onto Warwick, the far right lane is to turn right onto Warwick. You want to be in the middle lane. When the light turns green, drive straight across Warwick Blvd, and get into the far left lane at this point, because you’ll be turning left onto Museum Drive. (The road itself continues on to the University.)

The sign for the Museum turning will be on your right hand side, on your left hand side you’ll see a statue of Leif Ericson (about half the size of the Newport statue, but still impressive), which used to be inside the Museum.

Parking Lot

Unless there’s some function going on, the many parking lots will not be filled up. There’s probably no reason, therefore, to turn into the first parking lot that you’ll see on your right. You’ll want to park here only if you intend to use only the Noland Trail, a nature trail that winds along Lake Maury. This is of use only for walkers, bikes are not allowed. (There are several starting points for the Noland Trail, this is just one of them.)

There is plenty of parking space right by the museum, either on your right hand side as you drive up to it, or behind it. If you’re going to be using the Library, you’ll want to park in this back parking lot.

Back Entrance

The back entrance is only for museum people. However, you’ll want to take a walk to this back entrance, to see the bas relief murals flanking the doors. They feature nautical scenes, from a mermaid to a fisherman to the god of the sea.

A couple of ship replicas -made out of wood – pretty much featureless and simply designed for kids to run and jump on – are in the back grounds. The Library is also located just a little further on down the sidewalk. Across the parking lot is the Peninsula Fine Arts Museum.

Front Entrance

You’ll walk in through the front entrance. On your left hand side you’ll see a little strip of water on which reside the paddle boats. If you walk down to take a closer look, and look up at the museum itself, you’ll see the life-size replica of the Monitor as it stands outside the Monitor Center.

Walk through the entrance hall, and on your right you’ll see the Compass Café, with its offerings of various kinds of sandwiches, desserts, and drinks. You can eat your food in the Café, or take it outside and dine beside the water (depending on the weather, of course.)

Then you’ll see the Museum Store, which is quite large and has a vast selection of books for adults and children, puzzles and games, figurines, clothing, and so on.

Then you’ll come to the actual entry into the museum. Hopefully, if there’s lots of people trying to get in, there’ll be at least two people working the registers. Prices are subject to change, but at the time of this writing it costs $12.50 for adults and $7.50 for children, except for those under five years who are free.

Kidstuff

You know your kids best. Will they be interested in the exhibits they’re seeing, just because, or will they need tasks to do and games to play to keep them occupied? If so, you’ll be able to check out a “Seabag” at the front desk, which contains stuff designed to keep your kid interested as you walk around the museum. Heck – you may even find stuff of interest in there yourself!

Docents and Events

There are generally docents standing by here to talk to any visitors who approach them. On the counter you’ll also find a map of the Museum, as well as brochures for other attractions in the area. Make sure you ask the Museum representative if there is anything special going on that day. Usually there are no signs to announce special talks (as for example, at the time of this writing, every Saturday at 1 pm for the next three months a sailor will be standing by in the Officers Wardroom of the Monitor Gallery to give a talk about what life was like on the Monitor during the Civil War. But if you didn’t know he was going to be there….you wouldn’t know he was going to be there, as there are no signs to tell you so!)

A gigantic golden eagle, figurehead of the USS Lancaster, will immediately catch your eye in the foyer. Beside that figurehead is the entrance to the John L. Roper Theater, in which various short films are continuously shown. (Ask at the desk to see what’s on offer that day.)

What To See First

This all depends on how much time you have. The USS Monitor Center has only recently been opened and the main influx of visitors go there. There is so much to see and read that one is quite tired out by the time one finishes, so you might just grab a snack at the Compass Café and then go – thereby missing the rest of the museum, which of course has a lot to offer. What I would suggest is that you spend half a day visiting the Mariners Museum, and the other half visiting the Monitor Center, taking breaks as needed to refresh yourself.

Chesapeake Bay Gallery

I’m going to start this written tour and take you in a clockwise direction. First, turn left and walk through the Chesapeake Bay Gallery. The first thing you’ll see is a first order Fresnel lens, which used to stand in a local lighthouse. Usually the light is going, and provides a nice bit of ambience.

The Chesapeake Bay Gallery takes you, quickly, from Virginia as it was pre-human arrival, to the first Native Americans, to the arrival of the Europeans. Blackbeard and pirates are mentioned briefly. A much larger section is given over to the fishermen of the 30s and 40s and the crabbing industry. Various examples of boats and equipment are on view. Go to the end of the gallery and up the steps and retrace your steps along the Recreational Boating area, with all kinds of photos on the walls depicting life on the water as it was during various long-past time periods.

The Monitor Center

Clockwise after the Chesapeake Bay Gallery is the USS Monitor Center. I’m going to hold this off for last, so you’ll see the topic header much further below in this article.

The Age of Exploration Gallery

Instead of going to the Monitor Center right now, and instead of going into whatever “Changing Exhibition” might be on offer in the gallery straight in front of you, go right, into the Age of Exploration Gallery, so that you can take things chronologically. (It was here that the Leif Ericson statute used to stand.)

This gallery is chock full of ancient navigational tools, models of boats, paintings and statues of various explorers, as well as little TV screens where you can listen to information given on various topics.

The Nelson Touch

Once you’re through with the Age of Exploration Gallery, you’ll enter The Nelson Touch, an exhibit given over to Admiral Horatio Nelson, the romantic hero with one eye and one arm who saved England at the Battle of Trafalgar, only to be struck down by a sniper’s bullet at the moment of his triumph.

Defending the Seas

Once through The Nelson Touch you’ll be in the first of a long series of galleries given over to the naval sea power of the United States, from the War of 1812 to the Civil War (with a replica of the Monitor turret there), to World War II (with alcoves kitted out as briefing rooms and submarine control rooms) to the modern day – consisting of a model of the Trieste, and a single corner, glassed in, displaying a Gemini-era space suit and the overalls worn by Alan Shepard.

But you are not done yet.

Great Hall of Steam

Continue out of the Defending the Seas Gallery and walk to your left, through a room with various seascapes hanging on its walls. (This used to be where the old “Café” was.) On your right will be bathrooms, if needed. You’ll come out into a foyer. To your left is the Great Hall of Steam.

The Titanic

On your right, as you enter the room, is a very small exhibit featuring The Titanic, all that is left of an exhibit from 1998.

Then you’ll walk through a vast selection of miniature ships – which are actually quite large – modern ships from the age of steam, and a working replica, in miniature, of a steam engine. Jutting out from the walls are various intricately carved and painted figureheads.

At the end of this gallery, to your left, is the Crabtree Miniature Ships Gallery. Now, these ships are ancient sailing ships, made all out of wood by one man, August Crabtree. They took him a lifetime to build. There is also an alcove in which a brief documentary of Crabtree and his work is shown.

Ship Modelmaker

Most days, between 10 am and 5 pm, with time off for breaks and lunch, you’ll find a ship modelmaker in a little alcove just off the Crabtree Gallery. He works on his ships, and is delighted to stop and talk to anyone who comes by and wants to learn more about the hobby. Brochures are on offer there for the Hampton Roads Model Ship Society, founded in 1967. Their website is http://www.hrsms.org.

Changing Exhibitions

Now that you’re done with the Great Hall of Steam, you’ll find yourself in a gallery given over to exhibitions that change periodically. These exhibits can be displays of photos or paintings on a certain topic, to all out displays with artifacts and clothing of various kinds. The most recent exhibitions have been: By the Sea, Captain John Smith Four Hundred Project, Ironclad Evidence, Life’s a Beach, The Monitor Revisited, and Swashbuckler: The Romance of the Pirate.

Walk through that gallery to the end, and you’ll find yourself back in the entrance foyer. Is it time now to go to the Monitor Center?

Well, that depends on your taste, and how much energy you have left.

Boatbuilding and International Small Craft Center

If you like, you can go out of the doors into the fresh air and walk to the International Small Craft Center. On your way, you’ll pass a building given over to boatbuilding – craftsmen building wooden ships the old-fashioned way. Inside the International Small Craft Center is a vast collection of small boats from around the world – and even includes a bathysphere. There is also a research room within – consisting of a couple of computers hooked up to the library archives. Chris Craft enthusiasts can find information here – but more information at the Mariners Museum Library.

Okay, now it’s time to go to the Monitor Center.

The Monitor Center

The Monitor Center, which had its Grand Opening in March, 2007, is home to the artifacts brought up from the USS Monitor, the ironclad that successfully defended Union ships at the Battle of Hampton Roads against the USS Virginia (or Merrimac), but then sank off North Carolina when it was being towed down the coast in December, 1862.

The wreckage of the Monitor was found in 1973, and the site was declared a marine sanctuary – America’s first. However, the wreck had been, and still is, deteriorating so much that it was decided to bring as many artifacts and pieces of the wreck ashore as possible, conserve them, and put them on display at the Monitor Center. In 2003 came the crowning point, when the famous Monitor turret was lifted from the ocean floor and brought to the Mariners Museum, where it has been undergoing conservation ever since.

What to See First?

The Monitor Center is laid out, for the most part, in chronological order. First you walk through exhibits chronicling the building (of the CSS Virginia), and then you see what life was life aboard the Monitor, and then the sinking, and finally, the recovery. Depending on if you’re interest is the history of the Monitor and the Civil War, or the complexities of wreck recovery, you’ll either go slowly from beginning to end, or walk swiftly through the opening exhibits to get to the Large Artifact Gallery.

First, you’ll walk through the hallway connecting the Monitor center to the Mariners Museum. You’ll have a choice of turning left into a little room where there is a 5 minute film, a re-enaction of the sinking of the Monitor off Cape Hatteras, and then you’ll continue on into a brief history of ships from wood to steel, and then you’ll be in the “real deal,” the galleries focusing on the Monitor. Or – you can continue to walk down the hallway to see what’s in the Daily Press (our local newspaper’s ) changing gallery – typically an exhibit of photographs, or keep on going to the Batten Conservation Complex where you can see the turret and various other large pieces of machinery in their tanks – where they soak in water specially treated with chemicals in order to preserve the brittle metal. Walking to the end, you turn left and thus come to the Large Artifact Gallery from the other side.

The CSS Virginia

Lets turn left into the film room first, and walk through that, and into a large gallery which shows men at work on the CSS Virginia – the raised wreck of the Merrimac that had been scuttled, ineffectively, in Gosport Shipyard.

From there you enter the galleries with artifacts and information about the Monitor, from its building (and indeed, there’s a computer where you can build an ironclad of your own and see if it floats) to its crew. The Battle Theater has a 15-minute film running continuously recreating the battle of Hampton Roads.

Large Artifact Gallery

The Large Artifact Gallery consists of two floors. Some items still being conserved will be placed on the first floor, which recreates the engine room of the Monitor, while the turret will eventually be placed on the second floor.

Right now, there are two turrets there – one showing the turret as it looked after recovery – upside down, encrusted with marine life, with artifacts piled in heaps on the floor/ceiling along with mud and marine encrustation, and the other showing the turret as it originally was.

The history of the recovery of the turret, and other artifacts from the Monitor, are given in this gallery as well, with lots of TV screens to watch as the people involved speak about their activities.

At the end of the Gallery is the Recovery Theater, which has a film running every 25 minutes or so, about the actual recovery of the turret. The film is narrated by Sam Waterston, and is somewhat interactive, you can press buttons on your armrests to say yes or no to various questions.

Standing in the Large Artifact Gallery, facing the Recovery Theater, look to your right. In the middle of the courtyard is a gleaming white, eight-legged “spider.” This construct is what was used to pick up the turret from the ocean floor. On the wall of the building beyond is the silhouette of the Monitor, to size, so that you get a sense of where you’re standing “inside” the Monitor.

Look to your left. Outside the windows is a full-size replica of the Monitor. You can walk up and down its length and get some idea of the size of the ship. Unfortunately, you can’t go inside. Because it’s on land, it’s classified as a building, and building codes would not allow the construction of an interior replica.

After watching the film in the Recovery Theater, it’s time to go to the Batten Conservation Complex. Only actual workers are allowed inside this complex, but there are windows on both floors for you to see what is happening inside.

Know Before You Go

The goal of any museum is to tell you what you need to know when you’re in the museum. And the Monitor Center (as well as the Mariners’ Museum) has excellent explanatory placards everywhere. But you will get so much more pleasure out of the experience if you are actually familiar with the topics before you enter the museum – the information will stay with you longer and your brain won’t be quite so fatigued after a day of soaking in information!

How To Get There

The Mariners’ Museum is located at 100 Museum Drive, in Newport News, VA, 23606. For precise directions from your starting point – be it a hotel or private home, please check one of the many map and direction websites available on the web.

Exhibits change on a regular basis, so check the website at http://www.mariner.org to see what’s new.

Opening and Closing

The museum is open from Monday through Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM. It is open on Sunday from 12 PM to 5 PM. It is open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Better Safe Than Sorry

The phone number for the museum is 757-596-2222. I’m going to suggest that you call the Museum before you set out to ensure that it is open. This may seem like a waste of time, but I actually had the experience this summer of dropping in to visit the museum only to discover it was closed because of a power outage caused by a storm the night before! Now that’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime event — I’ve been to the Museum dozens of times in the last several years and this was the first time it had ever happened!, nevertheless it doesn’t take long to make the call and it will save any disappointment later.

Source by Caroline Miniscule

There are plenty of options available when it comes to travel money while going abroad. As the Euro is currently much stronger than the pound, it is a great time to take advantage of this by travelling further afield. By getting a good deal on your travel money you can turn your back on the current economic climate and indulge in a few extras that you normally might not be able to afford.

Carrying around a lot of cash while you are away is risky especially when you are staying in multiple accommodations or going from place to place, it is far too easy to lose cash. Also, in the event that money is misplaced or stolen, you have little recourse when it comes to getting it back. However, there are a number of other currency options you can use outside the UK. Many of them can provide an easy, hassle-free, and secure way to carry money while travelling.

One tried and tested form of travel money is travellers’ cheques. These are bought ahead of time, and usually in pounds, dollar or euro currency. In case they happen to get lost or stolen, you have more control when it comes to getting the money replaced. However, they do carry with them a few drawbacks. One is that they can be a bit of a hassle to cash in, finding somewhere to accept travellers’ cheques and additional commission rates can be time consuming, and not an ideal way to spend your vacation. Also, there are now other options that provide more freedom and security, that might be a better choice for most travellers.

Two of these choices are obtaining prepaid currency cards or using credit cards. Both work very similarly; yet have a few distinctions worth noting. Both provide an easy way to carry around money more securely than with cash or cheques. They are also easy to use in virtually any type of setting or anywhere in the world. However, with credit cards, you will generally be charged commission and a foreign exchange loading fee so you will not know the final price until you get your card’s bill later in the month. There are a couple of credit cards that offer a good deal abroad, such as the Santander Zero card, but otherwise you need to be careful or your costs can spiral out of control. For this reason, prepaid cards are a much more competitive option. As your card is prepaid, you fix your exchange rate when you load your card and then only pay a small fee for ATM withdrawals, and no fee for other transactions. Your money is safe, and you know how much you’re spending.

With a little bit of research, and selection of the right travel money product your trip can run smoothly.

Source by Claire Jakeways

To put it simple and straight, “Google trends” is a form of data provided by Google itself. This data represents the most searched topics on internet in a particular span of time. Google trends has been used in many ways by a number of website owners to increase their website traffic. If you are also a website owner, you can use Google trends to increase your website traffic too. But how does it work?

Using Google trends to increase website traffic is very easy.

The time you spend working on search engine optimization to increase your website traffic is very tiring. Though, SEO is a long term solution to get the targeted traffic but trends will get you the traffic on the same day for a particular term or topic. Simply use the hot trends.

If you are not aware how it works, you might think how to use hot trends for increasing traffic? This service works the best for news websites. This service can change your traffic statistics for once and for all. You simply need to select a topic from Google trends and start writing on it. As soon as you publish your article on your website, you will see an increase in the traffic of your website. You can always check your website’s traffic via Google analytics. Moreover, once you publish the post, it is highly recommended to submit the post to maximum number of social networks. You might be thinking why to do that? The reason is that Google bot consecutively visits the social networks, while it may take time to crawl your website. Once your article is available on the social networks it will mean your article is crawled. And once the article is crawled on time it will be available for the readers. It is important to perform all these steps in a speedy and uninterrupted manner. Once you decide to write an article you must make sure that you post in the same hour. Again do not forget to submit the post to social networks.

Google trends has many kinds of news. From technology news to world news today, and from celebrity news to sports news; the trends updates itself frequently. So make sure you always refresh the page before selecting another topic. One of the best website that has been using Google trends since its inception is News World Wide. This news website has earned worldwide recognition in a very short span of time and the reason for this recognition is its timely updates. If you too want to see how it works, you must check out the trends today.

Source by Ambreen Kazmi

If you’re an adventure travel company offering niche trips and destinations, or providing sustainable eco-tourism offerings, you don’t need me to tell you you’re in a highly competitive, low margin market.

That’s why it’s critical that you make a real effort to focus on marketing your trips in addition to providing world-class tour offerings. But the majority of companies we see in the field are “mom and pop” operations with few full-time staff members, and owner/operators who would prefer to be in the field rather than managing a marketing effort.

How can you overcome this problem? Google to the rescue!

Google offers a wide variety of excellent tools that you can use for marketing intelligence as well as viral marketing. I’ll go through a few of the easiest to use, and hopefully help you to get a jump on your competition.

First, check out the simple and user friendly Google Alerts. Using Alerts, you can set up automated search agents that will email you with daily updates of any blog postings, website updates, news articles or videos containing keywords. The obvious choices are your company name, your competitors’ names, and your niche destinations or tour types. This will let you keep your finger on the pulse of the web as it relates to your business, and lets you keep tabs on your competition’s marketing efforts and successes. You might also find some great new venues to get your own messaging out, like new forums, blogs and web magazines covering your specialties.

Next, get your stuff up on YouTube. It’s not just for bad guitar players and kids falling off skateboards– you can post all kinds of great footage of your trips and tours, and by keywording judiciously in the descriptions and titles, find a whole new audience you might never have reached. Create a YouTube homepage with links to your website, information about your company, and create a community around your videos. Check in and keep any comments on your videos on-topic, and answer any questions that are raised.

Google Groups is another great place to see and be seen. You can start a Group around your company, your destinations, or your unique trip offerings. Or you can just join up with groups of like-minded hobbyists who also enjoy “extreeem beekeeping” (or whatever it is you’re into!) and become known as subject matter expert. Use links to your website within your signature, without being obnoxious about it, and you’ll increase your credibility while getting your name associated with some great keyworded content on a site that is well indexed by Google.

The Google Local Business Center is a cool tool to let you post information about your business in a yellow-pages type of format. You’d be surprised how much traffic these can get for you, and it’s just common sense– why wouldn’t you have a listing in this directory? It’s easy, fast and free. You can also create coupon offers for those who find you in the Local Business Center, so you can get a gauge on how well your web advertising is working by the number of coupons redeemed.

Finally, think about signing up for a Google Base account, and adding your trips to the Events data type. You can upload a simple text file you can create in Microsoft Excel or Notepad, and get all your trips indexed quickly. It also might help that using Google’s APIs, any partner sites or adventure travel aggregator can display your listings and redirect traffic to you.

These are just a few quick suggestions to help you make the most of Google’s powerful online marketing offerings. By leveraging the power of Google with your adventure travel website, you can watch your traffic (and business!) increase while you concentrate on what’s important to you– providing top notch travel and tourism opportunities for your customers.

Source by Tim Kramer

Read the following:

Food Crisis in Niger, AIDS in Uganda, Somali Journalists Are Assaulted and Jailed, Shaky Rule in Madagascar Threatens Tress.

These are the top New York Times news headlines for Africa.

Pretty depressing huh?

Did you notice that none of them are about Namibia? So why is Namibia never in the news?

Here are just a few of the more obvious reasons:

– In many respects, colonialism was a huge benefit to modern Namibia. Colonialism built many of the SCHOOLS children are taught in today.

– Colonialism built many of the ROADS, paved and gravel, both of which are in excellent condition and regularly maintained to the point the Fishing Industry’s main port at Walvis Bay links with the Trans-Caprivian Highway connecting with Central Africa and its many countries (Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, to name just a few).

– The WATER is potable, thus can be drunk in over 90% of the country, a huge benefit in maintaining a healthy population.

– ELECTRICITY is prevalent and powered by Namibia’s own power plants.

– Crime is LOW.

– Located between two of the world’s oldest deserts makes the arid environment a perfect ingredient to MINIMIZE diseases such as cholera, typhoid, malaria, and yellow fever – Again helping maintain a healthy population.

– Namibia is the first country in the world to incorporate the PROTECTION of the ENVIRONMENT into the constitution, thus eliminating future issues in that topic and making it a place home to more animals than people!

– Since its Independence in 1990, the country has remained stable, GROWN productive, and peacefully elects heads of state every five years.

– The government HAS A GOAL properly named “Vision 2030” in which it aims to have Namibia’s Industrial sector competing with the 1st world, its population increased to 3 million, and its population educated and skilled in the work force.

So I ask again, why is Namibia never in the news?

An old wise man once said “plan for the future by first building a solid foundation.”

To building that solid foundation.

Source by Jeremiah Allen

Have you ever written a press release in order to get traffic to your website? No, why not? If you’re like many beginners you are just not sure how or what to do about creating your first news release. This is understandable. The good news is that there really is not a lot to it.

What Is it about Press release that make then so useful?

The Press. You are releasing content to actual news agencies and media websites. This is not your normal syndication channel or article directory kind of traffic. In fact, a well written release can easily hit thousands of high value news and media sites.

The media has greater expectations.

Don’t think that writing a simply one page article will do it for a press release. When writing these news releases you must give them a little bit extra. This is known as the “Hook”. The hook is basically your spin on the story that makes it newsworthy.

Let’s say you have a story you wish to release of a hilarious movie you made entitled “Funny Dog Driving Car”. You know people will enjoy the story, but a news agency needs that little something extra in order to really captivate the reader. You might change this to “Fido Eludes Capture As The Driver In A High Speed Car Chase”. The second title entices the reader to want to know more about what happened.

The “hook” is powerful.

The hook is a psychological method to capture the reader’s attention. The greater the attention grabber the more likely a news agency will be to publish the release to a wider syndication. The hook is important to the news agency because they need stuff to be “news-worthy” without having to make it that way themselves. The story (news hook) should be good enough to catch the journalists’ attention, and from there on your content will determine how successful your press release is in attracting new business.

If they loved the content you are releasing that would help your cause. But they have to want to see the content first before they can visit your website to access the material you are promoting during the release.

Since a press release goes out across the “news-wire”, your single release could easily get picked up by other large-scale news organizations and media sites around the world. This all could flood your pages with free web traffic on a grand scale.

Source by Derek Wood