Stewart Palmer asked:


Madeira cake from France and Tenerife in Bulgaria

The other day, I was sitting at my favourite restaurant when I overheard a conversation that went something like this:

First Person: “I think I am going to have a slice of Madeira cake”

Her Friend: “That’s a good idea, I ll join you. Not that Ive got a clue why they call it Madeira cake, have you?”

First Person: “I think its named after some place in France.”

I am not sure why that sort of ignorance about places makes me feel so frustrated. After all, why should everyone be as fascinated by travel and far away places as I am? Whatever the reason, I just could not help myself interrupting the two women as soon as they had ordered their cake to inform them that Madeira is a Portuguese island about four hundred miles off of the north African coast in the Atlantic ocean. I added that it makes a fabulous holiday destination but did bother to tell them that it is actually not one island but an archipelago and actually an autonomous region of Portugal.

Just as well – their expressions told me that I had already said more than they were interested in knowing.

This attitude of having little or no interest in travel destinations is actually very common and it is not confined to people who are generally under educated. Frequent examples can be seen on television quiz shows when contestants who are obviously well educated stumble on simple questions like;

Which of the following is not a Caribbean island (A) Jamaica (B)Cuba (C) Majorca (D) Barbados

Even more incredible are the people you sometimes overhear in a travel agent, booking holidays to resorts without having any interest as their location as long as its warm and sunny with cheap booze available.

Travel destination ignorance is not just a British thing. An air stewardess once told me a story about an American couple visiting their parents country of origin, Bulgaria, one February.

They had used a travel agent in New York to plan their journey and book the two flights that were involved. The first flight took them to London where they boarded the ongoing flight to complete their journey. When this flight landed at Reina Sofia airport the couple looked a little flustered and hesitated at the top of the flight steps, turning to the stewardess to ask why everywhere looked so sub tropical and sunny, and adding that their parents had always told them that Bulgaria was cold in February. At first, the stewardess was at a loss to think of anything that could possibly explain how someone trying to get to Bulgaria in Eastern Europe could end up on a flight to Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Then she realized that the name of Bulgarias capital city is Sofia. She asked the couple whether they thought they had boarded a flight to Sofia, Bulgaria. The answer was yes and it turned out that their travel agent had probably just typed Sofia Flights into her computer and accepted the results that the query gave without questioning any further!

Best travel tips and holiday destination information

Travel destination ignorance rubs me up the wrong way because I am so passionate about travel and that is also the reason that I started up a website dedicated to providing information, articles and travel tips, about holiday or vacation destinations worldwide. As well as wanting to help people to make the right decisions when planning their vacations, I hope the travel articles will fire peoples imaginations so that they can enjoy dreaming about places they have never been to, even if they never get around to visiting them.

Li Ming Wong asked:


Many people get time off over the holidays, and they want to make the most of that time. There are plenty of places where you can spend the holidays enjoying a lovely vacation. Disneyland and Disney World are among the busiest places on holidays, including Christmas day. People of all ages find the magic kingdoms to be a delightful place to make memories for the holidays with their entire family.

Since Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday, many people find themselves with a four or five day weekend over that period of time. Going to Las Vegas is a great place to spend this holiday as it is always alive with action 24 hours per day. You will also find plenty of restaurants in Las Vegas that offer you the best Thanksgiving Day meal you have ever been a part of.

Las Vegas is also one of the most popular locations for New Years Eve. The entire strip is shut down from traffic and people are dancing, drinking, and having a good time in the streets. Many people compare it to the activities taking place in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.

Spring break is a very popular holiday for the high school and college crowds. They often choose to spend that time at various beaches including those in Florida and California. Hotels are over run with these people having parties all night long and then spending their days at the beach.

Most of these beaches host fabulous activities during spring break to make sure people keep coming back year after year. Live music, dances, and various contests are just a sample of the different contests you can enter. Since spring break falls differently for various schools, these beaches are often full from the second week of March until the very end of the month.

Surprising someone you love with a fun vacation to another country or a part of the world they have always wanted to see is a great way to share the holidays. Imagine waking up Christmas morning in Spain or Paris instead of at home. There are plenty of great places that you can see during the holidays so don’t limit your options.

The down side to traveling to popular vacation spots for the holidays is that they are in demand. That means you will likely pay more to visit them during that time of year than normal. You will also need to make your reservations early or you will find that all the flights or the hotels have sold out and you won’t be able to spend the holidays there.

Take a look at various vacation package deals to help you save as much money as possible when you take a vacation over the holidays. Most package deals for travel include your airfare, hotel accommodations, and a rental car if you want one. You can also choose to add tickets for shows or events you want to take part in.

Once you have decided where you want to spend the holidays, you can start comparing prices. Find out what your local travel agent can offer you and surf the internet on your own. Don’t forget to look in the travel section of the newspaper or to take advantage of advertisements you get in the mail. For many people the ability to be able to take a vacation over the holidays will depend on the price they are able to get the trip for.

There will also be more people to deal with at that particular vacation spot over the holidays in most instances. If you don’t like being a part of a large crowd or you hate to wait in line, you will want to prepare yourself for these issues while vacationing over the holidays. This way you can focus on having a great time instead of getting stressed out over such issues that you have no control over.

Money For Traveling asked:

Ever had the desire to quit your lame 9 to 5 job, tell your boss to shove it, pack up and start traveling the world?

All of us have had that desire at one point! The thing that stopped you was probably the same thing that stops most people: money.

“How will I pay for my flights, food, lodging, transportation, yada, yada, yada,” you asked yourself.

Don’t let these concerns bother you too much, because there is an underground, growing group of travelers who are utilizing some simple but hidden techniques to make significant incomes while traveling.

Here’s an overview of how we make money traveling and by landing travel jobs:

Underground Travel Income Method #1 – Traditional Travel Job - Hold a job that either a) pays for us to travel or b) is located in the place we wish to travel to. This is the lowest paying and most complicated method of all, but is the most commonplace.

Common jobs that pay for travels are for professional speakers, salespeople, package couriers, flight attendants, travel nurses/doctors, conservationists, cruise ship workers, etc.

Travel jobs located in the places we wish to go to can be any of the above, but also are specific to the location we travel to. There are some FUN jobs overseas that are looking for foreign workers!

Underground Travel Income Method #2 – Travel Writing – Travel writing jobs for magazines are more common than you may imagine. However, there are LOADS of other ways to write as you travel and make money, including blogging, picking up projects from sites like Elance and Guru, and writing travel guides, both online and offline.

Underground Travel Income Method #3 – Selling Affiliate Products – Using a simple website, you can drive online traffic to a product that will be of interest to your online followers. Don’t be intimidated by this! It can be as easy as using your very own Facebook or Myspace profile. Affiliate products typically pay 50% to 75%, so you can make a very healthy income for selling just a few objects.

Underground Travel Income Method #4 – Filming Your Adventures – If you’ve got the camera out and you’re taking pictures, why not switch it to ‘film’ mode and make money from it? You simply make a video of your destinations using iMovie or Windows Movie Maker, then use your videos to create a customer base!

Underground Travel Income Method #5 – Podcasting – If filming scares you off or intimidates you, you can make an iTunes podcast. It is easier than ever to get listed in iTunes and there’s a HUGE audience of podcast listeners. Simply talk about the places you visit two or three times a week and watch how your following grows… and how your bank account grows!

Underground Travel Income Method # 6 – Ebay – The common misconception about Ebay is that you have to sell a physical product to make money. Here’s the trick: You can set up a fulfillment house to ship your product (or hire your little sister or the neighborhood kid). All you have to do is create your Ebay post from an internet café and collect the money!

Take any one of these six ‘travel job’ methods, and there are hundreds of travelers all over the world making more money than they would at a regular ‘job…’ and they’re living it up at exotic, world-class destinations. Take your pick, and take action on the ideas here!

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Devendra Kundaliya asked:


New Opportunities

Advancement in the field of adventure sports has enabled India to stand in the league of few countries that promote adventurous and thrill-filled sports worldwide. Winter sports in icy-chill hills, summer sports under scorching sun and water sports in the waves of shimmering seawaters have gradually created a niche for themselves in the country. India has become a buzzword in the world of adventure lovers. Travelers having panache for adventure are now turning towards India with earnest visions. 

Options Available for Adventure Sports

India has every basis and potential to support any kind of adventure sports. Rock climbing, for an example, on the steep rocky mountains in Manali warrant a lifetime experience for the risk takers. Scuba Diving in the depths of deep-laid oceans of Goa is an exhilarating experience for water lovers. Trekking on the challenging action-packed snow-covered peaks in Shimla is a good option for mountain crazy population. Skiing is offered in the serene white ambience of snow-covered ranges of Narkanda. River rafting in Ganga in Rishikesh is a good option for those who crave for a free bounce with the natural flow of river. Paragliding in the Solang Valley and Deori Ghat is ideal for those who wish to fly freely in the air. Cycling is the most simple and convenient form of adventure one can crave for anywhere in India. For the laid-back travelers, fishing, camel safari and wildlife safari are some other interesting adventure options.

Better Late than Never

Emergence of adventure sports in India has never been a long-lost dream and its topography and weather conditions have supported the onset of adventurous activities in India. With the economies of the world going global and distances becoming shorter, the advent of such activities in India has suddenly gone high. Today, people from all spheres of life are highly keen to invest their precious time and effort in the exciting and adventurous world of sports. Due to India’s promising reputation globally, a traveler can confidently turn towards India to satisfy his desire for adventure.

Anidhanta asked:


Car travel games are a tradition wherever families take vacations or long trips by automobile. Long drives are always more tolerable with some diversion or entertainment, and reading might not be the best choice, at least for the driver. Why not try some games that everyone in the car can play?

“Blue Car” Travel Games

These are travel classics. Each person guesses how many blue cars will pass in the next ten miles or ten minutes. Of course it can be red cars, or trucks, or whatever everyone agrees to. By the way, it’s considered bad form for the driver to slow down, letting more cars pass, so his guess will be the closest.

Another classic travel game involves the alphabet. Everyone tries to spot something starting with an “a”, and be the first to call it out (“apple tree!”). Since the Qs and Xes are difficult, they can be skipped. The person with the most “firsts,” is the winner.

Educational Travel Games

These are car games that get you thinking, learning something, or at least showing off what you know. In one game, the driver, or another designated host, asks questions like “At what temperature does water boil?” or “What is the Capital of Columbia?” or “If sales tax is 7.6%, what’s the total cost of a sweater priced at $22?” If you want the kids to love this one, pay twenty-five cents for each right answer.

In another car travel game, someone looks out the window and randomly selects an object. Everyone in the car then tries to imagine a creative way to make money with it. Overpasses become places to advertise, cows are rented out, and a truck becomes a traveling discotheque.

Other Car Travel Games

Turn on the radio and you can have a game in which everyone tries to be the first to call out the name of the artist when a song starts. You can change the station, so you don’t have to wait through a whole song to continue the contest.

In another car radio game, each person in the car chooses a word. Then you turn on the radio. The person whose word is spoken (or sung) first on the radio is the winner.

Finally, have one person in the car start a story with a sentence or two. Each person in turn adds a line to the story. This can get personal, but usually creates a story that has everyone laughing.