Holiday Traveling Tips

By: Sally Rutherford

The holidays certainly can be stressful, and traveling during a holiday is certainly not fun. The roads are packed, traffic is thick, and everyone is anxious to get to their destination. Traveling is also more expensive. Don't you love it when people take advantage of the holidays like that?!?

I thought I could give you some tips for when you travel this holiday. Hopefully these tips can save you some peace of mind as well as money!

• If you are flying and have presents to take ship them in advance. They will be there when you arrive and you do not have to mess with taking them on the plane. If you do take them on the plane do not wrap them. With the heightened security at airports they will probably just be unwrapped and checked anyway.
• Consider renting an apartment or condo for a week. You can find some great deals online and save a considerable amount of money over paying for a hotel. Depending on the size of your family you may want to look into renting a vacation home.
• Don't eat out anymore than you have to. Eating out is expensive. Use your rental to its full advantage and go to the grocery store and buy what you need to cook your own meals. Get the kids involved and let them help pick the meals and even help cook them.
• Recreation during the holidays is one of the great benefits of having a family. You can play board games or card games. Take along a Frisbee or football and get outside and throw them around. When you rent a place for the week it offers you all kinds of ways to save money. You can take along your favorite DVDs and have some family movie time everyday.
• If you rent a vacation home you might want to share it with another family. Being able to split the costs with someone you enjoy being around during the holidays can save you a lot of money as well. This idea may or may not work for you depending on the ages of your kids and the common interests of the family you travel with.

These are just a few holiday travel tips if you are on a budget. Even if you are not on a budget you can save some money during the holidays and have some quality time with your family that you might not get staying with a relative or in a hotel.

I recently did a review of a product you may be interested in. It explains how to save 50 to 75% on hotels and flights using travel agent only special rates! Check it out here.

Related articles

• Bring home the holiday fun with new Hasbro games (newswire.ca)
• Honeymoon Deals: Are You Aware Of These Precautions In Planning Your Honeymoon? (raunchyjohnson.com)
• Airline Passenger Numbers in Finland Continue Nose Dive (planegrazy.com)
• Croatia- the best destination for a weekend getaway (raunchyjohnson.com)

Related Sites:
Naked Pinay Views, Friendly Remarks , Greeny Fashion, Money Talks , Marc Nand's Blog , Nodding Nanding's Journal, Amusing Disclosure , PC Operatis , Online Shopster
Sites to visit :

Mizuno, Calvin Klein, Nike, Moschino, Adidas, Puma, Converse, Dickies, Skecher, DKNY, Emerica, Kayland, Miss Sixty, Umi Kids, Tommy, Wee Box, Onex, Olukai, FlyFlot, Fratelli, Gravati, Daniel Green, Jumping Jack, Yellow Box, Nine West, Tatami, Coclico, , Via Spiga, Naturalizer, Ecco Golf

Making Friends Online

Ever thought of making friends with people you do not know? It might sound intimidating to think of establishing relationship with strangers, especially with all the cases of road rage, spousal abuse, stalkers and various other social ills taking rounds. The world seems to be moving faster and faster each day without any sign of slowing down in the near future.

In the good old days, your school, your workplace and the church were the common places where you met people. These were far more secure places than bars or clubs. However, since work places have lost their reputation for being safe due to increased problems with sexual harassment, they are no longer considered a practical option for many.

School, in particular college, remains one of the most likely places for two people to become friends or establish a relationship. However, balancing the high demands of coursework along with the stresses that go along with a relationship can be demanding. Due to the high pressure placed upon young adults to succeed in their careers, the importance of friendship and relationships has diminished considerably.

Church has also ceased being a good place to meet people if for no other reason than the fact that so few people are attending on a regular basis. This is especially true for young adults so there remains few options for meeting people in a relatively safe manner and having the possibility of establishing a relationship.

Although many people attach a certain stigma to meeting other people online, the fact remains that it is one of the best ways to talk with other people like yourself in hopes of making a connection. There are literally millions of people out there using cyberspace in hopes of making a connection.

There are a number of services that allow people to set up a profile and meet other people with similar interests and tastes. For people considering this option, be sure to use a service that has been around for awhile and has a large number of members. Because these sites often charge money for their service, you definitely want to find sites with as many people, male. & female, young & old, native & foreigner, Asian & Caucasian, etc. as possible to increase your odds of making a connection.

Of course, chatting remains an option and sites like Yahoo offer this service for free and it has thousands of people chatting on its site at all hours of the day, and night! Plus, Yahoo even offers chatting rooms that are specially created for individual states and regions so there is a good chance of meeting someone within your area. Even if you don't make any long lasting connections, the chances are pretty good that you will at least get to spend the night communicating with new people instead of just lounging around watching television.

Meeting people online is a different ballgame altogether. Unlike a superficial encounter over dinner and a movie it allows you to have an intimate conversation with the other person to get to know each other. The only disadvantage of online chatting is the risk of spending your time chatting with someone who is pretending to be someone else. In all other respects it is one of the safest and most effective ways of meeting friends that might lead to a long lasting relationship.

Kerri Glenton is the owner and operator of F friends, the best place on the internet for information about friends. For more articles on friends why not visit: www.friendsunltd.com/articles

Related articles

• Travelling With Friends - Are You Travel Compatible? (raunchyjohnson.com)
• The Rules of Office Dating (abcnews.go.com)
• Is There Feminist Discourse Beyond The Veil? [Telling Stories] (jezebel.com)
• Morality and What We Wear (jilliancyork.com)

8 Tips for a Stress-Free Vacation

Preparing for a vacation should be exciting and fun. Unfortunately, it seems as though whenever we go on vacation, there are always last-minute household concerns to attend to, such as: Who will take care of our pets? Who will water our plants? How will we keep our home secure?

Without a plan, we may be left wondering whether we left the oven on, locked the doors, or packed everything we needed for our trip. These concerns can make our journey less enjoyable and our vacation worrisome. The following helpful vacation preparation tips will ensure that you always leave for vacation feeling fully prepared, relaxed, and secure so you can get the most out of your trip.

Vacation Tip #1: Use a packing checklist when you pack.

Whether you’re packing for a long weekend or a 3-week excursion, a packing checklist simplifies the process. When you use a packing checklist, you can be certain that you have everything that you need to fully enjoy your vacation. You can get a comprehensive travel packing checklist free from GoSightsee.com. Sign up for the free travel newsletter and you’ll also get insider travel tips, helpful articles, and travel discounts.

Vacation Tip #2: Arrange for your mail and newspapers to be held until you return.

Mail piled up in your mailbox and unclaimed newspapers stacked on your doorstep can indicate that you’re not home. This can signal to would-be thieves that your home is unguarded and a good target. Prevent this by calling the Post Office a few days before your trip and asking them to hold your mail. Once you return, you simply go to the Post Office to retrieve your mail and they’ll start delivering it to your mailbox again.

You can do the same thing with your newspaper by calling their subscription line and asking them to pause delivery for the days you’ll be out of town. They’ll either extend your subscription or give you a reduced bill for the non-delivered papers.

Vacation Tip #3: Ask a friend to check your home while you’re away.

It’s a good idea to ask someone you know and trust to stop by your home a few times while you’re on vacation. Give them a key, directions, your contact information, and the dates that you’ll be away. Your friend can park their car in your driveway, check your home for any signs of entry and/or theft, can water your lawn and/or plants, and can take care of anything else you need.

This achieves several goals:

• Your friend’s car will be parked in your driveway sporadically, giving would-be thieves the message that your home isn’t a good target.
  
• If they encounter a problem or suspect entry or theft, they can contact you right away instead of you having to wait to discover and deal with the issue once you return.
  
• Your friend will be taking care of your plants and lawn so they’ll be alive and well when you get back into town.

Vacation Tip #4: Hire a petsitter to care for your pets.

A petsitter will feed, groom, play with, and watch your pets while you’re on vacation. If you have pets and you’re going for longer than two days, it’s definitely a good idea to hire a professional petsitter.

You’ll want to familiarize them with your home and the location of your pets’ supplies. Provide them with a key, written instructions on how to care for your pet, your contact information, and the name, address, and phone number of your veterinarian.

Vacation Tip #5: Set automatic light timers throughout your home.

An easy way to make your home look inhabited while you’re out of town is to program a few light timers to automatically turn lights on and off throughout your home. These devices are inexpensive and can be found in any discount retail store (such as Target). They are simple to program and work best if you use them on lamps in different areas of your home and stagger their on and off times. For instance, if a lamp in your living room is programmed to stay on from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., then a lamp in your upstairs bedroom could be programmed to stay on from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m.

These are also helpful if you have pets so they aren’t spending an unusual amount of time in darkness. Using automatic light timers can help your pets relax more while you’re on vacation by keeping up their regular light exposure.

It’s also a good idea to have some of your outdoor lights automatically turn on at dusk and turn off at dawn. This will not only make your home look inhabited, but may also thwart would-be thieves who will be deterred from breaking into a well-lit home.

Vacation Tip #6: Turn off and unplug electrical equipment and appliances.

The day you leave for your trip, you’ll want to check all of your major appliances and electrical equipment to make sure everything is turned off. This includes:

• Oven and stove
  
• Lights that don’t have an automatic timer
  
• Computer, printer, and other home office equipment
  
• Televisions
  
• Fans and plug-in heaters

You also want to unplug electrical devices and some major appliances to help prevent potential fires. This includes:

• Plug-in heaters (baseboard, dish, etc.)
  
• Hair dryers
  
• Curling irons
  
• Shredder
  
• Blender, food processor, toaster oven, and other kitchen electrics

While you’re checking and unplugging these devices, also check your faucets to make sure that no one has inadvertently left water running. Taking these steps will help put your mind at ease and ensure that your electric and water bills don’t balloon out of control while you’re away.

Vacation Tip #7: Adjust your thermostat.

To keep your gas and electric bill in check while you’re on vacation, set your thermostat to a lower temperature (in the winter) or a higher temperature (in the summer) than you would normally use in your home. Since you won’t be there, you can save money on your heating and cooling bills by keeping the thermostat slightly higher or lower.

If your pets will still be at home while you’re away, make sure to keep the temperature comfortable for them and show your petsitter how to operate your thermostat in case any extremes in temperature are experienced.

Vacation Tip #8: Lock all doors and windows.

One of the last things to do before gathering your packed luggage and loading up the car is to check that all of your doors and windows are securely locked. Be sure to check your garage doors and windows as well.

Using this checklist to prepare for your vacations will give you less to worry about while you’re away. Less stress translates into a better vacation. Knowing that you have everything you need and that your home and pets are secure and being cared for will give you peace of mind. You’ll be able to truly relax and enjoy your vacation. Happy travels!

Sheri Keyser is the Founder and CEO of GoSightsee.com, a travel website that will save you time and money on your next vacation. Get insider travel tips and recommendations on sightseeing destinations, vacation planning resources, and travel deals at GoSightsee.com. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sheri_Keyser

Related Sites :
Mizuno, Calvin Klein, Nike, Moschino, Adidas, Puma, Converse, Dickies, Skecher, DKNY, Emerica, Kayland, Miss Sixty, Umi Kids, Tommy, Wee Box, Onex, Olukai, FlyFlot, Fratelli, Gravati, Daniel Green, Jumping Jack, Yellow Box, Nine West, Tatami, Coclico, , Via Spiga, Naturalizer, Ecco Golf

Stress-free sites::
Naked Pinay Views, Friendly Remarks , Money Talks , Marc Nand's Blog , Nodding Nanding's Journal, Amusing Disclosure , Cyber Tweaks , PC Operatis , Bytamin I , Cool Gizmodgets , Online Shopster

A Closer Look at Olympic Beijing

People

The people of Beijing are wonderful. They are promptly hospitable, friendly and helpful. They love to have pictures with foreigners for posterity perhaps.. Everyone you’d have any interaction with would bring you joy from to waiters to taxi drivers. Just get prepared to be swarmed and run over on the sidewalks. There are literally hundreds of thousands of others sharing the sidewalks and boulevards with you, but they move deftly around you. There is no rudeness or pushiness. Yes, they are among the friendliest people in the world.

It will really surprise you and impress you mainly with the people and the energy you’d feel from the people. They're just pretty happy people and a great sense of humor and they really are welcoming the world there and that's what you’d feel like. They're really serious and really intense and you have to be also to get ahead and to be competitive in anything with 1.3 billion people. But they also have a really funny side and you’d see just how proud these people are and how much it means for the local Olympic volunteers to be part of the great event.

Weather

The daily weather in Beijing is referred to as being “overcast” with a one to two kilometer thick by several hundred kilometer wide pall of smog. You hardly see the tops of buildings, or clearly across the wide boulevards. You can feel the smog on your skin, in your nostrils and taste it in your mouth. A haze usually hangs over the city for the early part of the day. Anyone with breathing or respiratory problems must have a hard time with it. Or you better not come.

The temperature is rather warm. At street level with the crowds, the temperature must be about 95 F. Everyone is sweaty, and when greetings are exchanged, the hugs and handshakes are slick.

Food

At a Chinese restaurant you’d be served very large dishes of fresh, hot steaming food, plus a couple of large beers and sodas worth a whopping 137 yuan ($23) – that’s for eight people. And no tips for such gracious and prompt service.

Speaking of sense of humor, there was some pretty good Chinglish on the menu when you’d go to a restaurant to enjoy a traditional Chinese hot pot. Among the items was "obese beef," "aftertaste sausage," and "cube roll of moo cow." Doesn't matter what they call it; it was awesome.

There would always be a 24-hour lounge somewhere where those working on the 24-hour clock could stay and relax with a cold beverage whenever the day is done. Here’s an account from a pal: As I’m picking up a tray or two for the crowd, I need to ask the comely young barkeep how late the joint may be open, trying to figure out how early I’d have to get there. She goes, confers with some supervisor ‘cause I don’t think she quite understands my English and comes back to report: "Sir, we are open all the hours.” A local with some knowledge of the place looks at me like I’ve got three heads and says, “Don’t worry, you can smoke in restaurants here. I think you can smoke in hospitals if you want.”

Streets & Travel

Hutongs are the narrow streets or alleys that are formed by the traditional courtyard residences all over Beijing. The neighborhoods where these alley ways exist are usually referred to as hutongs. You’d have a lot of offers from the bicycle rickshaw drivers to take you around, but you can stay on foot and maybe much more exciting.

Taxi cabs, so far, represent the only element of this Olympic experience that needs a serious upgrade. The drivers seem to be from anywhere except this city, for some reason, and don’t know their way around town, or how to find anything. That’s even with the little specialized maps that Olympic organizers have printed out. Sometimes a cab driver misses the mark, but still does you a favor. Even when they’re lost and clueless,

though, the drivers are polite and friendly and provide stories for the telling. If you miss the mark a mile away, a local would insist on escorting you for a walk of the entire distance and he wouldn’t even accept beer money in return. What a walk, though. But you could have beautiful grounds, with lakes, giant trees, gardens, temples, fine old buildings, groups of people doing the Tai Chi thing on flawless green lawns. Well, if you get on the right place…

You see a lot of things in the first class lounges of various train stations and airports – not that I go there very often in these budget-conscious times. Things like famous people sometimes. Free food. The odd drink. Comfortable chairs. And, apparently, bugs. Big, stinking scorpion-like bugs.

Sponsor Brands :
Mizuno, Calvin Klein, Nike, Moschino, Adidas, Puma, Converse, Dickies, Skecher, DKNY, Emerica, Kayland, Miss Sixty, Umi Kids, Tommy, Wee Box, Onex, Olukai, FlyFlot, Fratelli, Gravati, Daniel Green, Jumping Jack, Yellow Box, Nine West, Tatami, Coclico, , Via Spiga, Naturalizer, Ecco Golf

Take a closer look at these sites:

Naked Pinay Views, Friendly Remarks , Money Talks , Marc Nand's Blog , Nodding Nanding's Journal, Amusing Disclosure , Cyber Tweaks , PC Operatis , Bytamin I , Cool Gizmodgets , Online Shopster

Related articles

• The next time you're in Shaanxi.... (jamesfallows.theatlantic.com)
• Beijing's Best (Chinese) Restaurant Guide (china.blogs.time.com)
• Notes from China (2) (smearedtype.com)
• U-Turn plus bathroom break in Beijing keeps Jen and Kisha from the final three (realityblurred.com)