For many families jetting off to the sun, the time spent in the airport departure lounge is often one of the most arduous periods of any holiday experience. Keeping the kids amused while you wait for your flight can be particularly difficult – especially if your aeroplane is delayed for any reason. After all, kids really aren’t interested in browsing the duty free shops and they’ve already read the comics you bought them for the journey. So what else can you do to keep them amused?

Some airports have made attempts to help alleviate the problem of bored kids by introducing facilities especially for children, such as soft-play areas and arcades. While younger children might enjoy the soft-play areas, older children are still likely to experience boredom relatively quickly – especially when they realise that they could be spending all their holiday money in the arcade before they even get on the plane! Furthermore, some foreign airports don’t offer any sort of kids’ facilities, which can leave parents and children at loggerheads.

If you’re travelling with kids this summer, investing in a hand-held console could help banish those boredom blues and allow peace to reign in the departure lounge. What’s more, a hand-held console can also help keep kids occupied during the flight, and your holiday hotel stay as well. The two most popular consoles available are the Nintendo DS Lite and the Sony Playstation Portable (or PSP), with both offering a range of options to help keep your kids amused.

The Nintendo DS Lite has two screens, one of which is a touch-screen that allows greater interaction with in-game elements and is capable of Wi-Fi connections. This means that your kids can play games with other children from anywhere in the world, while the console’s ‘Pictochat’ feature allows short range instant messaging between users. The Nintendo DS Lite also boasts a large choice of games, including kids’ perennial favourites, Pokemon and Super Mario, as well as being backward compatible with games released for Nintendo’s older Gameboy Advance console. Music fans can also purchase a MP3 player, which can be added to the console to provide music playback capability.

Sony’s Playstation Portable (PSP) is a single-screen console and, like the Nintendo DS, also offers a Wi-Fi connection to other users as well as internet capabilities. In addition to having a wide range of games from which to choose, including favourites such as FIFA and Tomb Raider, the PSP console can also play movies, with many blockbuster films available for the gaming device. Furthermore, the PSP console can also play MP3 files so kids will be able to listen to their favourite music when they’re not playing games or watching a movie.

With each console offering so much, there’s never been a better solution to battling kids’ boredom. With games, films, music and chat capabilities aplenty, a hand-held console will ensure kids will be entertained for hours on end, enabling you to relax while you wait for your flight to finally be called.

On paper, teaching English abroad is a pretty sweet option – exploring new cultures, getting paid to travel, notching up awesome stories to tell your mates back home.

But thinking you’re going to do it, and actually, properly getting on that plane are two very different things. So what holds people back? Fear that’s what! Teaching abroad may be great, but leaving everything you’ve ever known (including gravy, Radio 4 and Jaffa Cakes) behind can be a tad daunting. So, to help you turn feeling scared into feeling excited about the opportunities offered by TEFL, here are people’s most common TEFL fears and how to face them:

Fear 1: My students will eat me alive

Kids. A lot of the time they’re cute and well-behaved, but sometimes it feels like the spawn of Satan is sat at the desk in front of you. Lovely Astrid for instance recently had one kid sitting in class systematically breaking pencils in half. Not nice. Adults aren’t an easy option either – while they probably won’t smash up your stationery they can undermine your authority and start taking over your show.

Solution: Be assertive and take a stand, as students (of all ages) can smell fear, seriously. You’ll also feel much more confident about situations, and know how to cope with them better, if you do a TEFL course before you head out.

Fear 2: My school will treat me like dirt

The optimistic part of you is hoping for golden sands, friendly locals and lots of spare time to explore. The less optimistic part of you is imagining a dungeon-esque classroom which you’re locked into 7-days a week and forced to run English corners for the rest of eternity.

Solution: Research! Make sure you chat to people on forums and do a few Google searches of your school before you sign your name of the dotted line. You also need to negotiate with your employer to make sure that your expectations are going to be delivered. Ultimately though, take things you read online with a pinch of salt, as if everyone took everything the read on the internet seriously we’d never leave our houses. Also, if your school isn’t what you hoped it would be, there will be other options while you’re in-country. And if you do feel you need that extra support, a supported internship program like these might be the thing for you

Fear 3: I’ll be alone

All together now… ‘All by myself, don’t wanna be…’

What use is experiencing all these amazing new things if you don’t have anyone to share them with? You could be in the most incredible place in the world, but if you’re sat in a crummy apartment eating instant noodles and watching TV shows you can’t understand you won’t be having the best time in the world.

Solution: Get out there! There are loads of ways to make friends whenever you’re in a new country – start with the people directly around you (other teachers at your school, students) and branch out from there. Emma Foers has some great advice for making friends when you’re new in town. Alternatively, sign up to a supported programme, like the Teach in China internship, where you’ll get a chance to meet lots of other people who are in the same boat as you.

Fear 4: I won’t like the food

Tasty Chinese food

It’s a fact of life – some people just aren’t that adventurous when it comes to food. In fact I had one ex-boyfriend whose entire diet consisted of beige food: cheese, bread, chicken, more cheese. I think he made an exception for bacon. Buut – it has a happy ending folks – he went out to Japan to teach English after uni and is having such a great time that he’s still out there. So I figure if he can get over his irrational fear of tomatoes to fulfil his travel dreams, anyone can.

Fear 5: I’ll be unemployable when I get home

You’re clued up, you’ve got a five year plan, but how does TEFL fit into it? Won’t employers see your swanning off around the world to teach English as rather indulgent? I mean, shouldn’t you have been back at home chained to a desk like they were at your age?!

Got more TEFL fears? Click here to request a free consultation with an i-to-i TEFL expert to chat through them.

*For the uninitiated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHDMZEw5f7Q”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHDMZEw5f7Q

What are your TEFL fears? And how did you get over them?

A lot of tourists visit Nice, France year after year. Nice, France has always been known as a popular vacation spot for both tourists and locals. This charming city tucked in south-eastern France is known all over the world for its intertwined narrow streets and picturesque houses and establishments. It also boasts a spectacular promenade, La Promenade des Anglais which draws in a lot of people day in, day out.

If you’re planning a vacation break in Nice, France, you should definitely consider renting a car. Visiting Nice’s various scenic spots such as the Cours Saleya Flower Market, Matisse Museum, and Le Chateau could be quite difficult and tiring if you’ll rely on public transportation alone. There are a lot of Nice-based car rental companies scattered all over the place so it’s makes the rental quite convenient and accessible for the tourists.

Searching for Nice car rentals online could also help you a lot in finding great car rental deals. You could have instant access to a number of car rental companies such as Car Hire Nice through the use of various search engines. With the advent of modern technology, tourists can now request for rental quotes and book online. It gives the convenience of getting the best deal without even leaving the comforts of your own home. As a final tip, try booking as early as possible. This way, you could avail of discounts and other perks.

Car Hire Nice offers affordable car rental services to both tourists and locals in Nice, France. From airports to railway stations to key spots in the city, Car Hire Nice would surely bring you to your destination.

Thereare numerousdatingagencies whichassist men and women, lookingfor goodcompany,datingand marriage. If you are also lookingfor goodRussianbrides, startby lookingfor decentagencies. Try to findan agency whichis updated regularly, has many profilesand is genuine,withgoodreputation.

Onceyou get to see profilesand addressof the womenlisted there,startwriting letters.Try to write detailedletters giving informationaboutyourself;, yourhobbiesand yourwork. Russianwomenare veryeducated and prefer crispwriting without;any errors.If you are lookingfor BeautifulRussianBrides;, impressthese girlswithyourletters.

In yourletters, small errors of punctuation may irritate her and give her wrong impression;, so be careful how you write. A languagepattern like chatting willnot do for Russiangirls. The education system in Russia is veryformal, so the girlsare trained to speak and write formal English, unlike theirwesterncounterparts.

Onceyou haveknowna womanfor sometime,you can sendsmall gifts as well. Russiangirlsare veryromantic and like gettinggifts thoughthey are not at all materialistic by nature.If you finda girl whom you like and she also is interestedin takingthe relationship ahead, prepare to travelto her country. You can beginby learning a bit of Russianlanguage, so that you can communicate in her native tongue.

If you want a BeautifulRussianBride, get somedecentpictures of yourself;done up. You willneed to sendthem yourpictures along withletters.Thiswillget her more interestedin you and you can take yourrelationship ahead. Russianwomenlike honesty, so if you are thinking aboutlying yourage, background, do not do so. B truthful aboutyourself;and ask all detailsabouther as well. You should go ahead, only if both of you are comfortable witheachother. Beforeyou bring yourBeautifulRussianBridehome,tell her aboutyourfamilyalso.It is a goodideato explain her, customs followed in yourfamily. As suchyou willhaveno issues, as Russianwomenare veryhomely and are fullydevoted to theirfamilymembers.

Russianwomenlike to keeptheirfamilyhappy, so you willenjoy marital bliss withthem.Russianwomenare extremelyprettyand are famous for theirbeautytoo. In a Russiangirl, you willfindqualities like beauty,homelinessand devotion. With traditional values, they make excellent housewives. Theyare opento marry older men as well. If you choosea gooddatingan agency and keepcommunicating, you willeasilyfinda BeautifulRussianBride.

Whether you have been on a packaged bus tour or not, you probably think that the tour managers at the bus company simply pull out a map and plot out a route via interstate highways and local roadways. Trace the route in a magic marker color and give it to their drivers.
In fact, the package tours created by the bus company are very elaborate and are based upon alliances that the bus company has with a variety of entertainment attractions, restaurants, hotels and other service providers.
If you book a tour from a bus company that takes you some distance from home, then that tour needs to include restaurants where the bus can stop so that you and your group can have meals; hotels that will provide you lodging as well as meals; and even special attractions that might be a part of the tour package because they are on the way or within easy access from and back to the route.
A large independent bus company may be independent but it may have also been able to negotiate alliances or partnerships with entertainment attractions, restaurants, hotels and other service providers on their own. I feel save in saying that depending on how big that individual bus company may be may have an influence as to the reach it has beyond its headquarter city. For example, a bus company in Montreal, Quebec, Canada may have reach only into the suburbs of Montreal. So it can provide you with a great tour of Montreal taking advantage of alliances or agreements it may have worked out with restaurants and sites of attraction, but is unable to go beyond that boundary.
Other companies are large and have offices in many regions of the country so they have a longer reach and can provide you with a choice of more restaurants, special entertainment attractions, hotels and other service providers.
Then there are alliances like International Motorcoach Group. International Motorcoach Group is an alliance of 50 bus companies in Canada and the United States and each has access to the entertainment attractions, restaurants, hotels and other service providers that the alliance has been able to partner with.
Let’s face it. An alliance of many companies which can include large and small bus companies have more strength than one bus company. And it is an alliance that can negotiate partnerships with a better standing than say one large company.
What does that mean to you the traveler? It can mean stays at top rated hotels, meals at top rated restaurants, appearances at top rated entertainment attractions all across the country.
International Motorcoach Group partners with 41 entertainment attractions which include:
Andy Williams Moon River Theatre
Branson Variety Theater
Crazy Horse Memorial
Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theatre Complex
Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede
Dollywood
Graceland/Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel
Grand Ole Opry/Gaylord Attractions
IMAX Entertainment Complex
Jamestown/Yorktown Foundation
Jim Stafford Theatre
Longwood Gardens
Lookout Mountain Attractions
Newseum
Quebec Casinos
Ripley’s Aquarium
Sands Casino Resort — Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
The New England Aquarium & Simons IMAX Theatre
And more.
International Motorcoach Group has partnerships with 20 hotels and resorts including:
Allenberry Resort Inn & Playhouse
AmericInn International
Beau Rivage Resort and Casino
Best Western Oceanfront
Country Inn of Lancaster
Country Inns of America
Fairfield Inn Properties of the Smokies
French Lick Resort & Casino
Hiltons of Branson
Quality Inn Gettysburg
Turning Stone Resort & Casino
Wyndham Hotel Group
Then International Motorcoach Group has an alliance with Tour Operators who have access to entertainment and other special sites in their region. These Tour Operators include:
Branson Vacation Company/Edgewood Receptive Services
Northeast Unlimited Tours
Ozarks’Kirkwood Tour & Travel
Smokey Mountain Tour Connection
Sweet Magnolia Tours
The Maine Tour Connection
The restaurants with which International Motorcoach Group is associated include:
Branson Best Restaurant.com
Dandy Restaurant Cruise Ships
Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre/Prather Entertainment Group
Hershey Farm Restaurant & Inn
Finally, International Motorcoach Group has ties to 44 convention visitors bureaus that stretch from the East Coast to the West Coast with a large number in the middle of the country too. These visitors bureaus include:
Adirondack Coast Visitors & Convention Bureau
Branson (Missouri) Lakes Area Convention Visitor Bureau
Chattanooga Area Convention Bureau
Explore Minnesota Tourism
Gettysburg Convention Visitors Bureau
Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association
Louisville Convention Visitors Bureau
Maryland Office of Tourism Development
Memphis Convention Visitors Bureau
Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention Visitors Bureau
Pennsylvania Dutch Convention Visitors Bureau
Philadelphia Convention Visitors Center
Valley Forge Convention Visitors Bureau
Vermont Tourism Network
Virginia Tourism Corporation
VISIT Milwaukee
Visit Pittsburgh
So, again the question is what does all of this mean to you? Well, regardless what your interest, you can find package tours that fit it at International Motorcoach Group. Interested in gambling? As you can see, there are connections with gambling resorts. Interested in ante-bellum housing and pre-Civil War or Civil War history, International Motorcoach Group and turn you toward a bus company that can satisfy that. Interested in good old American family entertainment? You can get that too.
Go to imgcoach.com and check out their lists of entertainment sites, resorts and casinos and visitors bureaus. Click on any listing and you will be guided to the website of that listing.
It’s a great way to hone in on a particular tour you may want to take.

Standing in line at immigration be it at the airport or on the road can be frustrating. I remember once waiting for 3 hours at Ambassador Bridge at the Detroit border crossing; I had two bored kids in the car and a screaming baby. Nowadays there is no need to wait in line for long periods. The NEXUS card offers expedited travel by road, air and sea. NEXUS cardholders can cross the border much faster by using designated NEXUS lanes; there is also less intrusion from customs and immigration officers.

Qualifying as a NEXUS Card Holder

NEXUS cards are given to low risk travellers who are permanent residents or citizens of either the US or Canada who have lived in one or both countries on a continuous basis for at least the last three years. Low risk means that you have no criminal record or previous border violations. Even the simplest of offences will count against you no matter how many years have passed since the crime or violation was committed. Border officials security check every applicant to make sure that their immigration and citizenship details are correct and legal. Criminal history is checked with the US FBI, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, CSIS and Interpol. No-fly lists and databases tracking known terrorists are also checked – for every applicant.

Applying for a NEXUS Card

Getting the card is simple. You can fill out an application online at the Global Online Enrollment System or print off a paper application from the Canadian Border Services website and mail it to the NEXUS offices in either Niagara Falls or Montreal.  Filling out the form online takes around one hour providing you are computer literate, but the benefit is that you don’t have to scan in documents for submission with your application. Some of the jargon is technical and you must check your application thoroughly before you certify that the contents are accurate – incomplete or inaccurate information will result in your application being delayed and in some instances denied. The paper application contains a lot of detailed notes but they are not laid out in a user friendly manner. Nevertheless, there are fewer questions to answer with the paper application – but nothing to significantly reduce the form filling time from an hour. A point to note for those who despise filling in forms is that every person in your family or party must be a NEXUS card holder if you are to fast track the border together; even young children have to have their own NEXUS card. This can mean a lot of work to those applying with family, friends or loved ones. The cost for each application is $50 payable in US or Canadian dollars.  Once your application is conditionally approved you attend an interview for an iris scan, fingerprinting and a chat with a border official about the NEXUS program. After this your card is issued and you can use it immediately. The best news is that the NEXUS card is also accepted in place of your passport when travelling between Canada and the States.

Apply now for your Nexus card !

Most people with young children know that eating out with kids can be stressful at times. A little pre-planning can make all the difference:
* Always bring your own crayons/markers and coloring books or scrap paper.

* Keep interesting children’s books in the car. An adult can easily dash to the car for back-up materials.

* For kids who are too old to color, try games like Tic-Tac-Toe , Hangman, or 20 Questions. Adults at the table should be included. It’s more fun for the kids and will help keep them happy until the food comes.

* Choose a restaurant that seats and serves quickly. A long wait, coupled with hungry kids, can be a recipe for disaster.

*Dine early! Most kids go downhill as the evening progresses. Try to keep to your child’s schedule or you will pay.

*For safety’s sake, don’t let your children run around the restaurant. A waiter carrying a hot tray could easily trip over a small child.

*If your child begins to scream and can’t be consoled, take her outside until she is calm again. You’ll appreciate the same courtesy when your children are grown.
Cape Cod Overview
The Mid Cape, from Hyannis to the Harwich & Brewster lines retains a rural, historic flavor on its northern coast, while the southern coast is more developed, for those who love shopping & more hustle-bustle, on the go vacation. The Mid-Cape includes the town of Barnstable, with its many villages (Hyannis being the largest) as well as the towns of Yarmouth and Dennis.
The Lower Cape is the travel destination of those looking for a quieter vacation. It is less populated than the mid-Cape and has retained the charm of the Cape Cod of yesteryear. It consists of the towns (east to west and moving northward) Harwich, Brewster, Orleans, Chatham, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro and Provincetown. Its north-south forearm, includes the National Seashore.

Mumbai – formerly Bombay – is a city that is built on a long, thin strip of island that lies just off the west coast of Maharashtra, western India. Mumbai is the business and financial centre of the country and has an eclectic mix of old and new, where glittering skyscrapers and designer boutiques intertwine with grand colonial structures and relics.
Usually people traveling to India from London (UK) book air ticket to there in hurry without enquiring about the discounted airline deals and cheap air fares. But the fact is that, if you take out some time and thoroughly inquire about the airlines to Indonesia, you can really get exciting deals on air ticket and get cheap ticket to Mumbai.

Several leading international airlines offer cheap flight to Indonesia from USA. Many airlines from UK operate daily flights for major cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad.

Sight Seeing: There are numerous attractions and market places that attract millions of travelers round the year like Marine Drive, Cowpat Beach, Airman Point, Crawford Market, Fort Bombay Stock Exchange, Gateway of India, Hanging Garden, Collabra, Prince of Wales Museum, Essel World, Film City, Haji Ali, Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Kalbadevi etc
India has always been an important destination for travelers, be it for business, tourism, spiritual or adventure. During the last 8-10 years there has been tremendous growth in tourism industry. There are ample numbers of accommodation from 5 star hotel chains to 3 star and the budget motels.
Most other sites make offers of low prices like myvacations, but they come up short. A flight from London to Mumbai is at $354 on Oman Air. The plane and airlines is top notch but the price is not necessarily cheap and there is a stopover in Muscat.

There are a number of occasions in our life when we think of moving in to the confines of a Jungle. We sometimes wish to move out of the drudgery of modern city life and see things in their natural forms. The honking of car horns makes us sick. The twitter of the birds are the only sounds that we want to hear.
Every that thing that we are holding back in our hearts can be experienced in reality by going on a Safari in South Africa. A Safari trip to South Africa allows us to unfold our lives and gives us the space, so that we can let our imaginations to go wild.
Riding around dirty trails is the most enjoyable experience that a human can ever get. We are in cloud nine when we rush past lush plantations, or when we are crammed among magnificent old trees, noisy birds, chattering flying foxes, and blooming colorful flowers.
Things can go from wild to the wildest at Kruger Park!
If you are dead serious about getting in to the thick of the Jungle then Kruger National Park can be the destination worth going for. Things can go from wild to the wildest here because this is a place that hoards an endless numbers of wildlife species. Kruger National Park is the largest  game reserves of South Africa and this vast terrain can be explored only when you are riding an open vehicle. Likewise, if you want to get closer to the wildlife then a guided nature walk can come in handy.
The main ‘drawing card’ of Kruger Park is the central region because majority of lion population is perched at this very portion of the park. Lions are not the only species that you’ll find here, but there are plentiful leopards, cheetahs and the hyena, that roam about dexterously in the central region of the park. The far north region of Kruger Park is a crowd puller because its the abode of some hard to find animal species like, the knocking sand frog, the stocky bush-pig, and the shy Sharpe’s Grysbok.
Game viewing on any of the game reserves of South Africa is an opportunity that cannot be missed at any costs.