Want to stay free when you travel? Swap homes
September 13, 2007
Want to stay free when you travel? Swap homes
by: M.T. Simon
Experience the life of someone in New York, Florida, California, Italy, France, Switzerland, Great Britain or many other destinations. Enjoy their home, lifestyle and car. Meet their friends. Visit their home town and country. You can do all these things and stay for free by exchanging homes.
For more than 50 years Americans have exchanged homes with families in the U.S. and abroad. Every year, approximately half a million (500,000) people swap homes for a week, a month or more. Anyone with a home available for an exchange and the willingness to find a good swap partner can participate in a home exchange.
For purposes of home exchanges, what is a home?
A home can be a single family home; condominium, rental apartment; yacht or sailboat; motor home; or houseboat.
How do you exchange homes?
Once you find out if you are a good home exchange candidate, you can begin the home exchange process. To do that you will have to decide: Where you want to go; who you want to travel with and when; how much money you can spend finding an exchange and on the trip; and what you are willing to offer prospective exchangers.
7 Killer Ways To Beat Jet Lag
September 12, 2007
7 Killer Ways To Beat Jet Lag
by: Daphne Cameron
When you’re headed out on a vacation or business trip the last thing you need is to feel tired or run down. But with these seven tips to beat jet lag, you’re sure to stay alert and ready for your entire trip.
Keep it the same
When you’re not traveling for long, you can usually avoid jet lag by sticking to your normal routine. Keep your watch set to your ‘home’ time and just do what you’d normally do at home—eating, sleeping, exercise, etc.
Your body won’t even notice the time chance when you do this, and it will readjust without any problems on the way back.
Sleep like a baby
When you’re traveling out of your normal time zone, you’ll want to try to keep to normal bedtimes. And while you might have troubles at first, try to get the same number of hours of sleep per night. This will help your body fall into a new rhythm for the time when you’re away.
A Guide To Resorts In The Alps
September 12, 2007
A Guide To Resorts In The Alps
by: Peter Wilson
The alps are a popular winter travel destination. Skiing, snowboarding, ice skating and other winter activities abound throughout the mountainous area. The Alps are shared among many countries, including Austria, France, German, Italy and Switzerland. Whether you are looking for a family vacation or are more adventurous and enjoy mountaineering and extreme skiing, you will find something for every one in this area.
Family Resorts in the Alps
Many resorts throughout the area cater to families. In these resorts, families with children make up the bulk of their business. There is plenty for both parents and children to enjoy. Horse drawn sleigh rides, skiing and snowboarding are popular family activities. Just about all family resorts offer ski instruction especially for children as well as adult lessons for mom and dad. Some offer night skiing, either nightly or on certain evenings during the week.
After a day of skiing, parents can enjoy the sauna and Jacuzzi, while children enjoy the variety of play areas and activities geared especially for them. If mom and dad want an evening alone, many resorts offer babysitting services. Many family resorts are low tech and don’t have internet access or video games, but some do have these features available. Many families enjoy the low tech atmosphere, which encourages children to enjoy the outdoors and other activities offered.
Have a “Home Base” with a Vacation Rental or Holiday Home
September 11, 2007
Have a “Home Base” with a Vacation Rental or Holiday Home
by: Milan Matchev
The number of families taking vacations is on the rise along with the need for something different. Some families want ski vacations while others might want to go to the beach or a popular tourist attraction. Regardless of the destination, impersonal hotel rooms are being ditched for vacation rentals and holiday homes.
Vacation rentals and holiday homes are a great alternative for those who wish to have more privacy and space to maneuver, something that hotels don’t really have. For example you can see here http://arrangeyourvacation.com. Staying in a hotel involves tipping porters and valets; there is the added expense of dining out daily. Plus, if staying at a hotel for several days, it can be a bit tedious to stare at the same four walls and share a room with family members without a modicum of privacy. Just like there are hotels everywhere, there are vacation rentals and holiday homes all over the world ready to be booked.
The secret to a great vacation is having a “home base” and vacation rentals or holiday homes provide that service to travelers. Among the many other advantages to booking vacation rentals or holiday homes are:
Guidelines for Safe Traveling
September 10, 2007
Guidelines for Safe Traveling
by: Vern Paserge
Guidelines for Safe Traveling
It’s important to be prepared for any eventuality when you
are heading out of town. You can never tell what kind of
situation you might have to face. So, be prepared to handle
situations like disease, crime, or loss.
If you’re traveling out of the country, you want to check to
see if there are immunizations that are required to enter.
You can check with the country’s health department to see
if there are any recommendations. While you have to
complete some, you might also want to look into those that
are just recommended. Talk with your doctor as to where
these are given and get them well before you leave in case
there are side effects that you experience.
You will also want to talk with your health insurance
company to see what their policy is in other areas. You may
need to pay for additional coverage for foreign travel, so
be sure that you are covered no matter what happens.
When it comes to health abroad, it is best to keep away
Dine Under the Stars on a Panoramic Ocean Terrace Overlooking Las Tres Islas and the Sparkling Bay of Mazatlán
September 9, 2007
Dine Under the Stars on a Panoramic Ocean Terrace Overlooking Las Tres Islas and the Sparkling Bay of Mazatlán
by: Shawn Bishop
Those who stay at the Hotel Playa Mazatlan are likely to find a Mazatlan restaurant that suits their dining needs without even leaving the resort. Mazatlan offers a wide variety of dining options including authentic Mexican cuisine as well as a variety of other ethnic specialties and an assortment of steak and seafood restaurants. While Mazatlan does offer a wide variety of dining options at the Hotel Playa Mazatlan like at many Mazatlan hotels, you can find an onsite restaurant that will fulfill your culinary desires.
Barcelona, Spain’s Rebel City
September 8, 2007
Barcelona, Spain’s Rebel City
by: Matt Goldman
Barcelona is a town with a history that like a good Catalan red wine is both rich and dark. Its foundations stretch back to at least the 15th century BC, if not earlier. Like so much of ancient Europe the Romans founded the first semblance of the town we know today as Barcelona. In the centuries that followed Barcelona was invaded by many powerful groups of people including the Visigoths, the Moors and the Muslim ruler Al Mansur. Plundered, conquered, nearly destroyed and under siege for much of its life, it comes as no surprise that Barcelona is also a city with a particular penchant for civil rights and freedom. Where the fight for liberty, and some evidence of both local and national political justice and peace, would eventually lead to Barcelona becoming one of Spain’s largest strongholds for those who believed in the idea of anarchism.
In the most basic of essences anarchism is a system of political beliefs which dictates that a society (or group of people) will be free from laws, police, governments and other forms of imposing authority. Instead of this type of governed society anarchists feel that a libertarian culture should be founded around mutual cooperation and help amongst the members of the anarchist society.
Free Advertising for Vacation Rentals and Holiday Homes
September 7, 2007
Free Advertising for Vacation Rentals and Holiday Homes
by: Milan Matchev
Do you have a vacation rental or holiday home that you want to allow someone
else to stay in? If so, then this website, Arrange Your Vacation, has a
special offer - free advertising of your vacation rental or holiday home.
This offer comes with several advantages in order to allow you to advertise
your rental and attract the right people to your property.Placing a
free advertisement
for vacation rentals or holiday homes will have unlimited opportunities.
First, this site is not limited to a particular place in the world. From
Canada to China and everything in between, you will be able to specify
online the area where your rental is. This will allow the visitors to this
site the option of discovering new areas where they think would be best for
them to stay.
Another advantage to the advertising that is offered on this site is in
relation to the different ways in which you can advertise. Several free
A Day In Whistler
September 7, 2007
A Day In Whistler
by: Henry Schlee
The snow is falling furiously outside my window when I am woken by telephone ringing at 0710. I remember that I asked to be called early if it was snowing, and Stefan, my hunky Austrian instructor is at the other end of the line. “I’ll see you at the bottom of the Creekside gondola in 20 minutes”, he says. “Can you really make it that quickly?”. He doesn’t realize that I am staying at one of Holiday Whistler’s ski-in, ski-out homes in Taluswood, a spectacular development of ski lodge homes on the lower slopes of Whistler Mountain. All I have to do is pull my ski clothes on, ease into my boots, grab my skis and poles, press the button that opens the garage door and walk the 10 yards to the ski-out trail. A minute later I am at the bottom of the gondola. In fact - and to his astonishment - I am here before Stefan. It is only 7.24. We have agreed to meet early to take advantage of the conditions. We have our ‘Fresh Tracks’ tickets, which entitle us to catch the first lift up and breakfast at the Roundhouse. Whistler skiers know that when the snow is falling heavily in the Village it is really falling at the top - after all, it’s over a vertical mile higher - and that if they want to find some untracked snow without a hour’s hike they’d better be first up the mountain, which means ‘Fresh Tracks’.
Traveling to Nice and the South of France
September 6, 2007
Traveling to Nice and the South of France
by: Alice Flowers
Nice is in the south of France. The Queen of the French Riviera, which the French call ” la Cote d’Azur” (AzureCoast or Blue Coast). It is a wonderful city with lots of charm and character; a mixture of French and Italian cultures where the people are easy-going and friendly even if you don’t speak French.
Although you might think it is a summer resort, you can visit Nice at any time of the year and still have a good time. If you happen to go in the winter, you will be surprised to see flowers in their numerous parks and gardens. Nice has a Mediterranean winter, so the temperature stays around 40 to 50 degrees during the coldest months but if you like skiing, ski resorts such as Valberg and Isola 2000 can be reached by car in one or two hours. If you go in the summer, get ready to share the city with lots of tourists. The popular streets where most restaurants and cafes are, can get crowded, but they can be a lot of fun if you enjoy people watching; and since most of the streets are closed to traffic, it is not hard to just walk around and enjoy the upbeat atmosphere.
