Travel Tips

At a time when fuel, food, and even the price of postage are more expensive than ever, an affordable summer vacation may seem to be slipping out of reach. But there are still plenty of places, both in the U.S. and abroad, where travelers can enjoy beautiful beaches, outdoor adventures, wine tastings and spas, and unique cultural experiences–without breaking the bank.

Pauline Frommer, series editor of Pauline Frommer’s Travel Guides, has selected ten top budget destinations, from romantic getaway spots to family faves to exotic destinations for adventurous travelers.

Here they are, in no particular order:

Berkeley Springs, West Virginia

America’s first spa town–even George Washington came to take the waters here!–is still a delightful and very affordable spot to get pampered. At the historic Bath House in Berkeley Springs State Park (tel. 304/258-2711), a soak in 102-degree thermal waters and a Swedish massage starts at just $40. Berkeley Springs offers quaint shops, horseback riding, golf, excellent hiking (in nearby Capacon Resort State Park) and, of course, lots of history. [Read more…] about Best cheap trip for summer 2008

Well the Summer camping season is not her yet, but it is not too early to make plans for what to do for vacation this Summer. With gas prices on the rise there is always a bit of nervousness about going away on a long road trip.

I am a tech guy by background so I tend to overanalyze situations. The last couple of days I spent at least six hours trying to decide on which pair of headphones to buy for my home stereo…maybe overanalyze is not really the right word.

Anyway there are a few things to look at besides just gas prices for what you should do for a summer trip this year.

Deciding on a Camping Holiday

Gas prices

Hotel or camping?

How many hours of driving a day?

New destination?

Where have you always wanted to go?

These questions will hopefully help you answer your summer vacation plans. Another really important lesson that I have learned with my kids being so young (4 year old and an 8 year old) is that there is no point in driving for more than 4 hours in a stretch and 8 hours driving in a day is really pushing it with young kids. I always tried to get more driving in and now that I drive shorter hours per day on holiday we all enjoy the driving a lot more.

It may seem odd but there is perhaps no better way to travel than on a road trip. You may think that road trips are only for teenagers and young adults who do not have the means to travel any other way. The thought of traveling cross country in your automobile may not appeal to you at first but if you give it a chance you may discover that a cross country road trip is the vacation of a lifetime.

Whether you embark on your road trip with a carefully planned out itinerary or with no plan at all, you are likely to find that your adventure is a memorable one. [Read more…] about Taking a Road Trip

Vacations are marred by bad eating and not only bad eating but usually our daily schedules are thrown out the window.

When you are away from home it is very common that you eat based on hunger and snacks are almost always bad food. Both of these are very bad and there are ways to avoid it. Last month while on vacation my family was able to counteract this bad eating structure by planning all of our meals and snacks and here is how:

Kitchenette – The hotel we stayed at had a kitchenette and this was easily the best way that we were able to avoid any eating issues. Kids are terrible for not wanting to eat when it is time to eat and then being suddenly starving. With the kitchenette we were able to prepare probably about half of our meals and warm up other meals as well. [Read more…] about Saving money and eating healthy on vacation

Do you really see animals at the zoo? A little while ago, on a trip to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Santa Monica, I overheard a tourist guide say the average time expended having a look at a piece of art in the museum is 5 to 10 seconds per piece. Initially this surprised me. At the time I was standing hypnotized next to Truck Gogh’s ‘Irises.’ I imagined museumgoers not even breaking their walk as they blew past. Then I noticed it was the “seer syndrome.” Unfortunately, most individuals who came here were visitors of art, not observers of art. As it seemed, this was the guide’s point too.

Sadly, in this situation ‘visitor’ isn’t as the word implies. In reality it’s the precise opposite. Where many of us picture a seer as mystic or as somebody with unique idealist information and knowledge, the visitors I am talking about are the tourist-like visitors.

Tourist-like visitors go to the zoo “to see the animals.” And, they definitely do.

Too frequently nowadays we use our zoos and museums as a method of satisfying social needs. In the chaos of socialization, the wonderful thing about the individual exhibit is lost. So as to appreciate both natural and synthetic masterpieces, folk need to decelerate and take some time to actually appreciate individual works. Briefly they must observe not just see. THE Change Many years back the San Diego Zoological Society modified me from a seer of animals to an observer of animals. My change happened when I started working as working in the society’s Behaviour Observer Programme .

I’d watch a single animal for a complete shift, taking note on what my focal subject did. By the end of the first hour I knew I was guilty of years of wrong zoo use. In my past life as a visitor, I’d set out to defeat an entire zoological park in just one day with my family in tow. Sore feet and costly mementos were often the ultimate result of the journey. As a seer, I might glance at the animals in their cages, read the giant print part of some of the signs ( name, habitat, diet, and so on.

Look again at the enclosure and then hypnotically move on to the next cage. Then this everyday process would repeat. I could cover smaller zoos in a single visit. Boy, did I get my moneys worth? Nowadays I enjoy familiarising myself with one or two new exhibits and visiting buddies from past trips. I seldom see more than a tiny bit of any zoological park in one day nevertheless, the experience takes over my soul. As an observer, I study each animal and enclosure design, take note and stills for future reference, then relax and watch my quarry.

SHOE BILL ODYSSEY For instance, during my work, I came to grasp and appreciate watching the most peculiar of animals. At first peek, this creature would cause Richard Simmons to become dozy. The zoological society had asked me if I would take observation on the 1st Shoe Bill Stork released on an island at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. For those inexperienced in this species, let me just say this, Shoebills are huge, dreary grey, early looking birds that move rather slower than most dead stuff. My first days notes on a nine am to one pm observation period read “11:08 walked 3 step to pools edge”, “11:19 drank ( duration 35 seconds )”, “12:01 turned away from water”.

Try and provoke the curator with that judicious piece. Luckily, by her 3rd day on the island my target had loosened up ( now moving almost every hour ) and I had settled down. The visitors would pass us by. Each strained cerebrally trying to work out why I was gazing at the statue of the dinosaur bird. “Are you sketching it?” “What is the sculpture of?” “What do you mean it’s real?” “No it isn’t.” “Is it?” The odd photographically inclined seer would stare thru a telephoto at this photogenic statue. The scared seer would launch straight backward. Then, the statue would refreeze and I might make my note for the hour quietly giggling on the ground.

Together we might await our next victim. As a seer I might possibly still be not aware this species even existed. So, how could I appreciate it? I actually wouldn’t ever have found a Shoe Bill entertaining had I not given it due time.

NEW PERCEPTIONS A precautionary note here, although it is comparatively straightforward to from reform a seer to an observer, it’s not possible to reverse the process.

You may never be in a position to suppress being more observant and return to the area of the visitors. This is similar to making an attempt to stuff a full grown chicken into its shell. Zoos as a socialising event will change into a living hell! Seers will find Observers to slow. Even an Observer that’s moving at his maximum potential speed of 2.5 exasperated minutes per exhibit will get left in the dust by that average ten seconds per exhibit of the stealth-like visitors. In turn, an observer will be revolted by the seer’s shortage of interest in and appreciation of the individual animals.

Visitors to the zoo will smack their lips together in an effort to get an animals attention. Do not do this! What are you thinking? “Oh, animal 2,000,000 retards a year subject you to this relentless noise. Now, I’m doing it. To be your selected one.

” Good grief, give me a break.

An observer will need to slap a smacking seer. The observer must restrain, for visitors travel in packs. The observer is a zoological loner. An important person to realise and share quiet time with is hard enough to find in the world outside. Wretchedly though, plenty will never ever try to make the change. A natural avoidance of the unfamiliar will happen.