Celestial Seas

Stuart S. Travel asked:


Traveling in a group? You are the holiday packagers dream! Imagine being able to offload bulk airline seats, rail passes and entertainment packages in one booking. A group traveling is a wanted commodity and because of this you can secure great deals for your group. But as always, beware of any hidden ‘extras’ such as cancellation policies and preferred partners when stepping outside the package. Be prepared to shop around for the best deal. 

 

Here are some tips for the traveling group on a budget:

1. Travel insurance can be bought through some companies where savings can be ten percent or more. A group usually consists of four or more. Contact a number of travel insurance agencies and compare quotes.

2. Pack as many people as you can into your hotel room (keeping it legal). The more heads in the room, the higher the number to divide the cost by.

3. Renting a car when traveling in a group of four is usually cheaper than buying travel passes – and more convenient.

4. Food, guidebooks, taxi fares can all be split between the group bringing costs down.

5. Rail passes for groups or pairs may find discount offers in some countries.

6. Some airlines offer discount rates to groups of ten or more traveling together.

7. Group package bookings that have everything included in the price will have all expenses covered so you won’t be surprised by any extra costs, apart from shopping!

8. Discount holiday packages for large groups of travelers are offered through a number of travel agencies. Sports fans may be able to travel to big events using one of these travel packages for much cheaper than organizing it on their own.

 

If you want to join a group tour so you don’t have to travel alone consider all the pros and cons. Will there be like-minded people? Is there any flexibility to the travel arrangements? If not, will this outweigh the savings you’ll make on joining the tour? Some travelers like the convenience of all the travel arrangements being made for them. Group tour operators will find the best fares and reputable places to stay in. This saves you the hassle but it may mean that some of the cultural experiences you want will have to be put aside for the relatively cheaper ride.

 

Traveling in a family group can also benefit from a number of offers. Inform your booking agent that it is a family and ask about any special offers or deals. Can you visit any amusement parks or tourist attractions at family discount rates?

 

When traveling in a group, never be afraid to ask for a discounted rate. Everyone involved in the tourism trade is looking to get large numbers on seats or through doors. Groups are welcomed and catered for accordingly.

 

This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru

www.stuartstravel.com

Stuart S. Travel asked:


Of course you could! There are plenty of opportunities for travelers who want to work overseas especially if you speak English or better yet, are bilingual. But to work abroad there are some things to consider before you go.

 

1. Find out if Americans can work in the country you intend to travel to. Not all countries allow foreigners to work there while they are visiting.

2. Get a work permit. This documentation is different from your passport or visa. You can organize a work permit before you leave home or once you arrive in the country you want to work in. This will depend on where you intend to work. 

3. If you are a traveling student, it may be easier to get work through a student work exchange plan. Or you may even be able to organize a transfer through your company to work abroad. If so, all the leg work will be done for you.

4. If you have a particular job in mind, in a particular country, then you will need to do some research and contact potential employers before you go. If you do find someone wishing to employ you before you leave on your travels, get them to send you a letter stating the employment offer with a copy to their respective government. You will then be issued with a work permit for that country.

5. Consider working as a volunteer on your travels. Volunteer organizations are looking for helpers to assist with programs all over the world. You will be paid by the organization (usually just transport, food and board expenses), not the country you are going to. You do not need a work visa to be a volunteer in these programs.

 

If you are going to work overseas while traveling, register with the nearest embassy in the country you are visiting. Make sure you find out about the country you will be working in. Know if there are any travel warnings, political unrest and cultural conditions you should be aware of before you go. What immunizations do you need? Find out about the local laws, including employment legislations. And don’t forget that while earning an income overseas, you will be subject to that country’s tax laws.

 

Will you need to drive for your job overseas? If so, you will have to arrange an international driver’s permit. You must also take with you your valid American driver’s permit. All countries handle driving a little differently so check out what rules you’ll need to abide by to drive in your country of choice. 

 

Working while traveling is a great way to immerse yourself in the culture of the country you are visiting. Be organized if you want to subsidize your travel budget dollar in this way. Don’t forget you can always offer to work in hostels in exchange for cheaper (or even free) board as a way to supplement your traveling costs.

 

This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru

www.stuartstravel.com

Stuart S. Travel asked:


So you’re going on a trip. Fantastic! Exciting! But what sort of trip are you planning to take? Is it for business or pleasure? Where are you headed? Who are you going with? Just what kind of travel experience do you want?

 

Traveling on a budget can give you all sorts of experiences, depending on a) your budget, b) where you want to go, and c) what you want to do. Everyone’s budget will be different, and traveling on a budget means knowing how much money you can afford to spend and sticking to that amount. So if you have a budget of two thousand dollars, your travel experience will be different from someone who has a budget of ten thousand dollars. It’s all relative to the dollar amount, but knowing some tricks to help you save money while traveling will make your dollars stretch further therefore increasing your travel experience.

 

Do you want to travel overseas? Do you want to travel around your home country? Do you want to stay in luxury accommodation or are you going to back- pack? Are you traveling with children or are you honeymooning? Are you traveling with a bunch of friends or are you keen to experience a group tour with strangers? Do you want to go to popular tourist sites or do you want to experience a destination’s way of living in remote areas? 

 

All these questions are things you need to ask yourself before you begin to plan your trip. You can either plan your trip with your budget in mind, or plan your trip, work out how much money you’ll need and save until you can get there. The first is probably a little easier to do because when the travel bug hits, you generally want to take off as soon as possible. Knowing your budget can guide you in making your decision of how and where you will be traveling. But if you have your heart set on a trip of a lifetime to an exotic island in the Pacific then you will need to save accordingly. It’s your choice.

 

Once you know what type of experience you are after, it’s time to work out the best way to get it on your available funds. Traveling on a budget is easier than you think these days. No longer does it mean living on stale food and sleeping in questionable accommodation. If you are wise and spend some time investigating deals to your chosen destination you could be able to enhance your traveling experience more than you thought possible. A bit of research will get you a long way when traveling on a budget.

 

This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru

www.stuartstravel.com

Stuart S. Travel asked:


 

Being a poor student doesn’t mean you have to put your travel plans on hold. In fact traveling as a student, whether it be at home or abroad, can be done on a small budget as there are many deals there for you to take advantage of.

 

Use the fact that you are a student to get discounts. Before you go traveling get yourself a student discount card and use it. The ISIC (International Student Identity Card) will get you concessions on tourist attractions, food and shopping among other things. This card is for any student regardless of age or for youth aged between twelve and twenty six and can be used in over one hundred countries. This student discount card comes complete with an international phone card and a voice mail account. This ensures you can be contacted while traveling.

 

There is also the International Student Exchange Card (ISEC) which gives travel discounts across the globe. Discounts can be as much as fifty percent on such things as museums, movies, transport options and accommodation. Not only will this card save you a lot of money while traveling, it also provides other benefits including assistance with medical expenses and evacuation fees if caught in a disaster. You also have access to toll free emergency phone service world wide should you need help in urgent situations. The ISE card will also provide you with airline bankruptcy protection. If you book your flights through an ISE agency, you will be covered if your carrier goes bust.

 

And finally there is the International Youth Travel Card (IYTC) which you can get if you are under twenty six years of age. There is a small charge associated with this card, but the benefits outweigh this cost when traveling. This card will get you discounts in about fifty countries including airfare discounts, accommodation reductions and entry in to tourist attractions at a reduced rate.

 

Other student cards that offer discounts are transport cards such as the STA Travel card or Young Persons railcards issued in the United Kingdom. But the offers don’t stop there for students. In western countries it is wise to ask if there are student discounts in any place where you are about to part with your money. Discounts can be given by restaurants, retailers (on just about anything) and hostels. Not all places advertise that they give discounts so if you don’t ask, you’ll never find out what savings you can make.

 

Students aren’t the only lucky ones to get fabulous travel discounts. Seniors also have deals available to them while traveling as do group travelers and families. Investigate what discounts apply to you and ensure you take advantage of them.

 

This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru

www.stuartstravel.com

Hello India Travel asked:


Hello India Travel, offer you a fantastic opportunity for a India Travel Tours to your desired continents and as per your convenience.

 

India Package Tours  We, are a leading online travel portal which has set new benchmarks and reshaped the perspectives in Indian travel industry scaling new heights for years it has emerged as a leading service provider offering a complete range of travel related services at the most competitive rates. India Travel and Tourism offers numerous services along with a variety of well-planned tour packages. Vacationers may plan their pleasure trip their own with the help of valuable information. India Pilgrimage Package Tours, Even our ‘Hot Deals’ are really hot as we offer some tour packages at unimaginably lower rates. So, allow us to take you to some of the most exotic locations of ‘incredible’ India; you will return cherishing those mind-blowing moments. Hello India travel offer you a fantastic opportunity for a india tour which includes Ayurveda Tours India , Hill Stations Tours India , Indian Pilgrimage Tours and  India famous tourist destinations as per your convenience. Hello India travel are able to supervise the best  India Tour deals covering the maximum places in minimum time.

 

What if distances in India are very long and most of the Indian trains aren’t the world’s best, traveling aboard in these adds a completely new dimension to any visitor’s experience in India. Indian Railway which is the third largest rail network in the world, has some luxury trains includes Deccan Odyssey Luxury Train for exclusive domestic and international tourists.

 

Hill Stations are God’s precious gift to India, in fact, they forms an important part of Indian topography. Soaring several thousands feet above the sea level, Indian Hill Station Tours provide a cool retreat to people living in the plains. Blesses with pleasant environment, lush green surroundings, snow-capped mountains around, India Hill Stations Package Tours takes you close to the mother nature. Great Indian Himalayas sprawling across the northern part of India is home to a number of hill stations. India Hill Stations Tour  provides you a wonderful chance to visit the Hill Stations Tours India and enjoying a vacation in the lap of mother nature.

Money For Traveling asked:


Have you ever wanted to travel the world and make money for writing about what you see? It’s not as hard as you may imagine. Using a few underground techniques, you can be making a healthy income in no-time flat for writing about traveling the world!

Here are the ways you can make money as a travel writer:

1) Traditional Method: Selling Your Stories To Travel Magazines and Newspapers.

This is the most common and most well-known method. Ironically, it also pays the least of all the methods.

You can take two paths when selling your article to a magazine. First you can query a magazine on their interest about a particular subject. If interested, they will agree to buy your article if it meets their standards. The second method is to write the article, then try and sell it.

To find magazines and periodicals that purchase travel stories, go to the library and check out the most recent Writers Market and you’ll have over a dozen periodicals that pay anywhere from a few hundred bucks to a few thousand dollars for an article.

The risky side to this is that there are no guarantees of payment, and you must either have a great story or be a great writer to make this work. Not impossible, just tough.

2) Writing For Other People’s Blogs.

If you can write a 400-1500 word post on any given subject, you can sell the post to a blog at a set price. Heres why: Blogs constantly need new content. It’s how they stay fresh with their readers and how they stay well-ranked in the search engines.

However, writing a new post every few days is a difficult task! If you take over that task for a blog owner, you’re going to be saving them a TON of time and effort, providing their readers with great value, and making an income for a project that is relatively easy for you to complete.

You can get paid anywhere from 20 bucks to a few hundred dollars for this kind of writing… and it’s a LOT easier to do that writing for a magazine.

Think of it: You spend a day writing 5 articles and sell the articles for $30 dollars each. Now you’ve made $150 dollars for a couple of hours of work and everyone is happy.

3) Writing for Your Own Blog.

Another option is to write your own blog and use your travel stories to drive traffic to it. You’d be surprised at the number of bored, lifeless people who want to live vicariously through someone traveling the world. You can then monetize your blog by selling adspace or selling products related to your blog. This sounds basic, but it has made many-a-traveler tens and even 100’s of thousands of dollars per year.

4) Completing Writing Projects on ‘Project’ Sites.

There are literally hundreds of writing projects posted every single day on Elance, Guru, DoMyStuff, and other ‘project’ posting websites.

All you have to do is set up a free account as a content provider, then answer people’s requests for writing projects. Once you’re done, the funds will be electronically deposited into your bank account, and you can withdraw the money from any ATM in the world. You can then pick up another project… or complete several projects all at once!

Many projects go for $1000+ dollars, so it doesn’t take a lot of these to be able to travel well and travel often. You can even do the work on the airplane ride to your next destination!

If you have any writing skill at all, you will be able to pick one of these methods and become a well-paid traveler.

**Attention Readers**

To get your copy of our free step-by-step guide showing you how to make money as you travel without ever holding a ‘job,’ visit http://www.moneyfortraveling.com. The expert authors at www.MoneyForTraveling.com

have all made a substantial internet income while traveling or they have been hired and paid well to travel the world and will show you how to do the same.



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Money For Traveling asked:


Have you ever wondered how to get paid for traveling? What if I could tell you that by documenting your travels on film, you could get paid for it? It’s not as hard as you may imagine… so let’s get started.

Most people would imagine selling their videos to The Travel Channel or to The Discovery Channel, that is not the method you’re going to take. Those are sometimes well-paid jobs, but they don’t meet our criteria of getting paid quickly and allowing us to travel wherever we desire.

So how do you use travel videos to get paid? The answer is simple: By using your videos to drive traffic to third party websites who give you money for doing so.

Here is how it’s done:

Unless you’ve lived in a cave, you have probably heard of YouTube (actually, even people in caves have heard of it). It is not uncommon for basic, elementary videos to get 10’s and 100’s of thousands of views. Even videos with millions of views are becoming more common by the day. So how do you drive traffic to a third party site with these videos?

When you post a video to YouTube, you are allowed to make a description of your video. To drive traffic, put a hyperlink in the description to your affiliate link of your third party site. Simply format the address you want to send people to with ‘http://YourAffiliateLink.com’ and it will become a live link within YouTube’s description.

So where do you send people to? There are thousands of affiliate programs out there, but the easiest way to get started is to search Clickbank for products that are related to your video. For example, if you recently went to an Italian Vineyard, you could direct people to a product that teaches “wine tasting” or “how to create your own wine.”

You will make a commission on each sale that is made. So, if 10,000 people watch your video over the next year, and 10% of them click your link, you send 1,000 visitors to the site. If 10% of those visitors buy, you make 100 sales. Oftentimes that’s at $20-$50 dollars per sale, so based on this model, you can make $2000 to $5000 dollars for that video!

You are probably getting excited now. That’s for only ONE video! If you have 10 videos out there, you’re now making $20,000 to $50,000 dollars per year just for having some silly videos on the web.

To be entirely realistic, it can be difficult to get that many views for that many videos… but it’s NOT impossible. Many people are doing it, so there’s no reason you can’t do it as well. You just need to know what you’re doing!

Here are some last minute keys: First, make videos people are going to share with their friends. They should be instructional, funny, or amazing. Second, consider putting your link ON the video itself. That way, people type the address into their browser if they like your video, and if people embed your video, you’ll still drive traffic. Third, find GOOD affiliate programs that ‘convert’ well… meaning they sell a lot of their stuff.

Using this model, and with a little more training, you’ll be off to the races, traveling the world while you make money for filming your adventures!

Traveling Mum asked:


When friends and family call me crazy for traveling with my toddler and preschooler to cities like Chicago, New York, and Toronto, I just laugh. My kids have munched on picnic treats while watching the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Millennium Park, clambered up the monkey bars in the shadow of the arch in Washington Square Park and peered through the glass floor on the observation deck of the CN tower. Though it wasn’t always easy navigating the city streets with two little ones in tow, it was well worth the trouble. I had a fantastic time and I could tell from the way they talked about the trips for months afterward that my kids had a great time too.

The city is full of fun and educational activities for children. From skyscrapers to top-notch museums, kids can see and experience things that are simply unavailable in small towns. Though city travel with small children can be challenging, with careful planning and attention to detail everyone can have a good time. Here are a few tips to help the trip go smoothly:

Take a stroller. Even if it’s been a while since your child has used a stroller, you’ll be glad you brought it. City trips tend to involve a good deal of walking from spot to spot and a little one can tire out easily. With a stroller he can ride in comfort and you won’t worry about losing him in a crowd. I’ve found that the inexpensive umbrella strollers work much better than the large, heavy-duty strollers complete with food trays and cup holders. Umbrella strollers fold up smaller and are lighter, making them more convenient for toting up and down flights of stairs or carrying onto the subway.

Make frequent stops at playgrounds. The best part of visiting a city can be simply strolling around, popping into unusual shops, watching the people and enjoying the city energy. Remember that while your toddler or preschooler might be very patient, he’s got his limits. I’ve found that stopping to play for a few minutes at playgrounds that we happen upon is a great way for the little ones to work some of their energy off. They also love the novelty of playing on different equipment than the same old stuff found at the parks back home.

Bring a travel pack of wipes. Even if you’re not a germ nazi, you’ll be glad you did. Those city playgrounds, banisters and benches can be extremely dirty, but after cleaning the little one’s hands up with a wipe you’ll feel more comfortable about letting her dig into a tasty hot dog from a street vendor.

Choose your eateries carefully. If you’re eating at a nice sit-down restaurant, make sure it’s noisy enough to absorb your child’s prattle. I learned that one the hard way when, tired out from our long drive, we decided to eat at our Chicago hotel’s in-house restaurant, the kind of place with a hushed atmosphere and waiters in white gloves hovering about. Naturally my two-year-old decided to belt out the “itsy-bitsy-spider” over and over again. We wound up having the meal sent up to our room. The next night we chose a popular, lively Italian restaurant where the little guy was no louder than anyone else in the place.

Plan activities for kids. Big cities offer all sorts of interesting and educational activities for children of all ages. Do a little research online and in guidebooks ahead of time to find a few age appropriate sights for your child. Has it been over twenty years since you took part in any of these activities yourself? You just might find yourself enjoying seeing the tyrannosaurus rex skeleton at the natural history museum and watching the polar bears glide through the water at the zoo.

Plan activities for adults. Destinations like art museums can still be on the agenda, but keep in mind your child’s limitations and be ready to cut the outing short if need be. Try to engage him at the art museum. Ask questions like: “What do you see in that picture? Do you see a boat? What picture do you like best in this room?” Visit any children’s exhibits the museum might have and ask at the information desk which exhibits are the biggest hits for kids.

Take the bus or subway. Mass transit is an adventure for a small town kid. After the trip is over, he’ll talk about it as much as the dinosaur bones. Try to avoid traveling at rush hour, though, when the sardine can atmosphere might be overwhelming for a little one.

Money For Traveling asked:


Have you ever thought about making a steady online income… while traveling? Ebay provides a fantastic platform for doing this and it’s not very difficult or time consuming. You can travel overseas for a LONG time by holding just a few online auctions per week if you set things up properly.

Most people dismiss Ebay as a viable travel business because they think you’ve got to have a physical inventory present… and while traveling, that would clearly be limited by the size of your luggage.

There’s good news and more good news. The first piece of good news is that you definitely DON’T need to have a physical item or inventory to sell. You can easily sell a digitally delivered product or inexpensively hire a fulfillment house to ship your stuff for you. Here’s the ‘more’ good news: because most people dismiss Ebay for making a travel income the market is left wide open for this type of marketing!

The other big reason entrepreneurs dismiss Ebay is because they think it’s for selling old junk lying around the house. They take a ‘garage sale’ mentality about Ebay (sell your extra stuff lying around the house). This is great for some people, but wrong for business!

So, Here is your basic model for traveling and making money with online auctions:

1)    Find a product to sell. This is easy. You can sell a digital E-book if you don’t want to carry an inventory, or you can resell items from wholesalers at a markup. Simply get on the lists of a few dozen wholesalers and start watching their wholesale product listings.



2)    Based on those products, narrow it down to what people WANT. This is the biggest pitfall would-be auction sellers make… They sell a product they think people need instead of what people actually BUY. You’ve got to find where the highway traffic is flowing and stand in front of it with a big money net.

3)    Study Your Competition. You should steal what other competitors are doing that is working! Watch for the sellers who consistently sell products in the market you’ve chosen, and see what they are doing. They’re on Ebay because what they’re doing is working! By the way, don’t get scared off by competition. Competition means there’s a market of buyers!

4)    Get your feet wet. Jump in there and make a listing! Start the bidding price low so that people get emotionally invested in your product. Show lots of pictures. Consider utilizing an auction listing template to make things look nice… but remember, it’s the STORY that people get drawn into more than a pretty website, so make them feel like they already own the product and show them the benefits of owning your product, not the features.



5)    Scale Bigger. After you’ve experienced some success with a few auctions, you can now make more sales and bigger sales.

So how do you travel and sell on ebay? Easy. There are internet café’s all over the world that you can login to for as little as $0.10 cents per hour! Most will be around $1-$2 dollars per hour, and you’ll get a surprisingly high-tech computer to access the web with.

You can modify your listings from abroad and have your fulfillment house (or your little brother!) handle shipments. If you like, you can even have a customer service center answering buyer questions.

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Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site as long as you leave all links in place. You may not modify the content and must include our resource box as listed above. However, you may sign up as an affiliate at MoneyForTraveling.com and insert your affiliate links to earn income for your efforts.

Stuart S. Travel asked:


The best time to travel is in the holidays, right? Not if you want to make big savings on your traveling costs it’s not. If you travel in off peak (or low season) periods, or even in the shoulder season, you’ll find traveling costs a lot less.

 

Where are you traveling? Do you know the peak travel times for this destination? Summer and spring, no matter where you are, are generally considered the peak seasons to travel, unless you are a winter sports enthusiast. In that case, ski resorts will be having their peak season in winter. And what hemisphere are you thinking of visiting? The seasons differ depending on whether you are north or south. For example, the North America summer months are June, July, August but in Australia the summer months are December, January and February. You will need to research your destination to find out the low season times to visit.

 

First of all, what type of savings can you expect to make if you travel in the off-peak season? 

1. Air fares are much cheaper. There are less people wanting to fly so air carriers drop their prices to attract customers. Take advantage of these great savings. If you are traveling in the high season, see if you can book a flight mid-week. These flights are generally cheaper too.

2. Accommodation is cheaper and more readily available. In high season it can be difficult to find a place to stay in popular tourist destinations and when you do find somewhere it can be up to twice as much as when traveling in the off peak.

3. Eating in restaurants can be cheaper too. Owners will be trying to attract patrons so see what sort of deals you can find when eating out.

 

There are some other positives to traveling in the off peak season, other than saving money. There are fewer tourists for one, so visiting any cultural sight will be much more enjoyable. You can get more of an idea of what a destination is really like without the thousands of extra people. Experiencing the true culture is a real bonus. Did you know that opera season is in full swing in Europe in winter? Or that winter in Australia is often the best time to visit places in the north when the humidity and heat are bearable. Or how about visiting the best holiday markets in Germany in December? Do some research to find out what your chosen destination can offer in off peak, ones that you won’t experience in high season travel times.

 

So what are the negatives of traveling in the off peak? Well there are a few, but if you plan well you can overcome most drawbacks. Off peak usually means traveling in colder weather and that also means less daylight hours. Pack wisely and remember to dress in layers for the cold weather. Some tourist places close earlier or do not open at all in the off peak, so check up before you go so you are not disappointed. You will also find that in some areas the public transport system does not run as often as in peak tourist season. Find out what options you have to get to places and don’t be caught out missing the last bus home in the middle of winter, in the middle of nowhere! Some hotels and museums close down for the winter to re-furbish and get ready for the next high season influx of tourists. You can gamble and bargain your way to a great accommodation deal once you get to your destination, but all your bartering skills will be of no use if the hotels are all closed. It’s best to check what’s open before you go.

 

If traveling in the off-peak doesn’t sound attractive to you, then you might like to try the shoulder season and still get some travel price reductions. The shoulder season is considered the period leading up to and away from the high season. Usually in this time you’ll get decent weather, less crowds and lower travel costs – not the great bargains you’ll get in off peak, but lower costs nonetheless.

 

This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru

www.stuartstravel.com