Whenever you are traveling to a place that you have never been before, particularly where a vacation or relocation is involved, you should always make sure that safety is your top priority. Every year, we see reports of people who are reported missing while on vacation. Most recently, there was a report of a woman who went missing while on a cruise ship!
For instance, if you are traveling by car and you are by yourself, make sure that you pack everything that you need prior to departing your home, and make sure that whatever you have packed in your vehicle is mostly out of sight and in a place where you will not fiddle with it later. For example, when I was moving my stuff back home to New York from college in North Carolina, most of the items fit in the trunk of my car. However, there were some items that I had to put in the main body of my vehicle. So, what did I do? I covered these items with an old bed sheet so that they were not visible to anyone outside of my car.
Too often, we see or hear of people who stop at rest stops along the highway or gas stations, and then they suddenly realize that they want to dig through all of the items that they have packed in their vehicle in order to get whatever it is that they were searching for. In the meantime, unknown to them, someone is watching everything that they are doing. Then, as soon as the person leaves their car to go inside and use the bathroom or get food, they come back out to realize that their car has been broken into, vandalized or worse- stolen! If you do find that you need to retrieve something from the items that you have already packed, make sure that you do it after you have come out of the rest stop. In doing this, you can then retrieve your item and then leave the area immediately versus giving someone else the opportunity to see just how much stuff you packed in your vehicle.
When traveling, you should always travel with an emergency kit of some sort. If you are traveling by car, your emergency kit should be a tub that you keep in the trunk area of your car that contains items such as a spare tire (not necessarily housed in the tub), a car jack/car kit, flashlight with batteries, cell phone charger, blanket, first aid kit, paper map, flares, jumper cable as well as whatever else you might want to personalize your kit with. If you are traveling with someone else or by plane, etc. then your emergency kit should consist of items that are small enough to fit within your purse or bag. Items could include such things as: any medications that you may be taking, a small first aid kit, cell phone charger, a hard copy of emergency phone numbers and some loose cash to use in case of an emergency such as to call a cab, make a phone call or purchase food.

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Rajasthan is a coveted tourist destination offering a diverse array of tour options such as heritage tours, forts tours, palaces tours, wildlife tours, adventure tours, culture tour etc. Tourists from across the world step into this magical land to bask in its beauty and luxury. Endowed with various flavours, it has something for every tourist. Be it the urban or rural area, each destination here offers its own share of enchanting attractions.

If you are the one who has a fetish for luxury and royalty, then come to Rajasthan, which will please your senses to the hilt with its royal attractions. The royalty of this wonderland can be best experienced in the following luxurious establishments.

Lake Palace, Udaipur

It is a celestial establishment, which has been meticulously craved out of white marble. Overlooking the mesmerizing lake Pichola, the palace is like a romantic poetry waiting to leave the visitors enchanted. Sitting pretty on the Jag Niwas Island, the palace is one of the most famous heritage hotels of India. This five-star palace promises to offer you a five-star stay and that too in a royal style. The fabulous carved arches, lively paintings, shimmering crystal work and stained glass work are the striking features of the Palace.

Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur

Built with a special type of sandstone, Umaid Bhawan Palace was once the largest private residence in the world. It is an architectural marvel, which now serves as a stunning heritage hotel offering state-of-the-art facilities and services. The traditional Rajput style of architecture of the palace deserves mention. The exquisitely carved balconies, arresting courtyards, beautiful terraces and lush green gardens evokes an urge to plan a stay here. The museum of the palaces houses a wide range of artefacts belonging to the kings of the bygone era.

Patwon-Ki-Haveli, Jaisalmer

Sprawling over acres of land, Patwon-Ki-Haveli is an exquisitely carved haveli in Jaisalmer. The beautifully carved jharokhas (balconies), amazing stone work, arresting architecture and brilliant paintings of the haveli are notable. The beauty of the haveli earned it a great title—“The Taj Mahal Of Jaisalmer”.

The City Palace, Jaipur

Reflecting the magnificent combination of the traditional Rajasthani and Mughal style of architecture, the City Palace is an assortment of several fascinating palaces. The beautiful and regal interiors of the City Palace will transport you to the age of the Maharaja.

The City Palace, Udaipur

Occupying a great place on the tourist map of India, the City Palace, Udaipur invites you to experience the grandeur of the Royal era. Overlooking lake Pichola, the palace is a perfect combination of Medieval, European and Chinese architectural style. Its lavish aura will leave you spell bound. The palace abounds in several attractions.

Hawa Mahal, Jaipur

Beautifully carved out in red sandstone, Hawa Mahal with its 963 windows is truly a wonder. Overlooking the bustling streets of Jaipur, it was especially built to allow the royal ladies to view the various processions held in the streets.

This royal land of Raja-Maharajas is truly a wonder in itself and so are its attractions. Pack your bags and embark on a journey to explore the ‘wonders of Rajasthan’.

I have stumbled upon this brilliant new website specialising in helping people who are dog loversand wanted to share it with everyone so that you don’t skip past it without a second thought. I take my dogs away with me and did when I went to Cornwall recently. I do travel a lot and I wanted to write about it here.
They put you in touch with the perfect dog friendly accommodation places to stay in the United Kingdom. You can easily look up the area that you want to holiday in and pick the accommodation type too. Guest House
There aren’t any pay per click adverts distracting you, the site is thought out well and laid out cleanly The pages can be easily printed for use later. As well as a detailed description and map of the area, each web pagehas details of the areas that you are allowed to take your dog. e.g. living areas.
Travel the easy way and be organised to boot. You want to be happy in the knowledge that when you get to your destination that there won’t be any unforseen problems relating to travel with your dog.
If you like what you are reading, then click on the link and see for yourself. Dog Friendly Accommodation.
If you are a Hotel, Guest House or Campsite, it is possible to add your own listing. The site has been up and running for two months and is still relatively new. As we speak the site ranks # 6 (and climbing) for “Dog Friendly Accommodation” in Yahoo! Click here for more Dog Friendly Accommodation information.

TripTouch is launching their travel widget for Netvibes and iGoogle. The widget is updated automatically to the user location. It’s suitable especially for frequent travelers and / or travelers during a trip.

It features updated local information and services for more than 5,000 destinations worldwide. The widget includes travel guides, activities, restaurants, current events, accommodation, transportation, weather, currency rates, nearby travelers and more. For many services online booking is available.

“We launched our travel homepage last November”, says Gil Ruda, TripTouch’s co-founder and CEO “we’ve got good reviews and our travel community is growing. Now we thought that we could use our platform to serve our users and new audiences in more ways, and we’ve decided to develop a widget for start pages”.

Currently the TripTouch platform aggregates and integrates content from the best sources in the web: Wikitravel (travel guides), eventful (worldwide events) , Google maps, Kayak (transportation), Priceline (hotels), OpenTable (restaurants), Viator (activities), Sportsevents365, HostelWorld.

The official language in Aruba is Dutch and most speak Spanish, too.  You may be wondering what “alquilar carro en Aruba” or “huur een auto in Aruba” means.  Chances are that you’ve been looking around for a car rental in Aruba.  Simply put, this means, “rent a car in Aruba”.

Don’t worry there’s no need to brush up on your Dutch or Spanish.  Most of the natives speak English, too.  In addition, this island accommodates the tourists because tourism is Aruba’s bread and butter.

Furthermore, the road signs based on the European signage method are easy to read because there are no words.  You just have to figure out what the pictures mean, and you’re in the clear.

If you’re an international driver, all you need is to hold an international driver license or have a driver’s license for over 2 years in your homeland.  Most rental cars in Aruba require the driver to be 23 years old.  In some cases, you can be 21 if you pay an additional fee.

The only things you might encounter in another language are the Dutch airport signs.  That shouldn’t be hard, though.  The signs are in blue and they say, “Reina Beatrix”.  If you see something that says “verboden” in Dutch, you probably don’t want to do whatever the sign is showing…

The rental car companies will provide you with road maps in case the roads are hard to navigate.  The difficulties don’t come from language barriers, though–most of the roads don’t have signs!

Just remember that 1A is the main road going from north to south.  Everything that branches off of it will probably circle back around.  It’s hard to get lost when you “alquilar carro en Aruba” or “huur een auto in aruba” or however you want to say it. Have fun!

Embarking on a tour to visit the world’s foremost leaning towers would demonstrate that Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa is no longer the world’s furthest leaning tower.

Along with bogus snow in a desert oasis, buildings made to appear like pieces of a chess board and islands in a map of the world, Abu Dhabi now lays claim to the building with the most lean to it. The Capital Gate building in Abu Dhabi was recently voted as being the foremost-leaning tower in the world, by the Guinness Book of Records. The building leans at 18 degrees, which is about five times that of the Tower of Pisa.

The Capital Gate deliberately erected to lean, unlike Tower of Pisa. The floor plates are staggered in such a way, to reach an 18 degree lean after the 12th floor.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, the most prominent leaning tower of all, is a free standing bell tower. It started leaning soon after its erection in 1173, due to a poorly laid foundation and unsafe substrata.

Galileo is said to have thrown two cannon balls of different sizes from the tower, so as to demonstrate that their speed of descent was independent of their mass. However, this story may merely be a fantasy of Galileo’s secretary.

Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Australia, Russian, China, United Kingdom, Malaysia, North America and the United States all can lay claim to ownership of a leaning tower.

The leaning tower of Suurhusen, East Frisia, Germany, a late medieval steeple, once held the world record for being the most tilted tower on earth.

Tjabbo van Lessen, local historian, claims the church was constructed on marshy lands, where old oak tree trunks were preserved by underground water. As the land became drier, throughout the 19th century, the wood decayed, creating the leaning tower.

Built by a Chinese builder, Leong Choon Cheong, as a clock and water tower, as well as a beacon for shipping, in 1885, the Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan, began to lean four years later, because of an underwater stream.

The Leaning Tower of Nevyansk, Russia, was erected in the 18th century. Many believe that the tower was intentionally built at an angle, while others say the cause was drifting substrata.

Tradition claims that the tower weeps, as water endlessly dribbles down the southeast wall. On top of the tower is the first created lightning rod, built 35 years prior to Benjamin Franklin.

It is also the earliest known building to use reinforced concrete, 130 years prior to the first recorded use by a Parisian gardener in 1860.

The tower also brags metal parts that show no detection of deterioration. Scientists state that the iron composition is 99.6%. Although commonplace today, it stands as a mystery how 18th century builders used such high-grade material.

A trip would of course rejuvenate you. But, being well prepared while on a vacation is the best way to thoroughly enjoy it. Imagine, you visit a place for the first time, but no clue of how to proceed further on arrival. No one would like to go through such an unpleasant experience. Here is a few city travel guides to avoid you being in a state of oblivious on arrival.
Reaching a tourist destination spot can be by airways, sea route, or via a train, but doing a little bit of research about the place would mean a lot. There is aplenty of online travel guides to provide travelers with required tourist information. If you have a rough sketch of the airport or railway station you arrive to, you will be able to fairly manage the commutation in the city. Like to make it even simper? Then go for airport limousine or book a hotel that offer pick up facility. Opting taxi for this purpose wouldn’t be a wise decision, especially when you are unfamiliar with the place.
Wherever you go, it is worth carrying a travel map. A destination guide book will also be a good companion. If you feel that assistance is must to go further, just check with any of the airline staff. In many airports, the concerned place’s tourism department have assistance booth to guide people on arrival.
Incidents, especially repulsive, are unexpected, and hence being attentive can avoid worsening a situation. So, during vacation, make sure that your belongings like cash, cards, and documents are secured and kept out of scandalous reach.
You cannot just be running around the airport to withdraw money. Before you head off for the trip, have some amount of money converted to the local currency. Keep a small amount of cash at easy-to-reach place, so that you do have to open your wallet every time you need to make a payment. This way, you can protect the large sum of earning from getting lost.
Follow these tips, and may this journey stay green in your mind!

It is always good to carry a map with you when in an unknown city, and Berlin is no exception. But what maps should you get and where?

What’s special about Berlin is that if you know how to make good use of it’s public transportation and have a suitable map, you can easily get anywhere you want.

Berlin’s public transportation system includes two sophisticated train systems (U-Bahn and S-Bahn), many bus lines, and the Tram trains. No single map can show all relevant information about these, but a good map with the basic routes will usually be enough for a traveler.

There are tons of maps available, usually with streets on one side and the transportation system route on the other. You’d find them in books and travel guides, and in various shops and tourist information agencies. Some of the more decent maps are actually given for free, like those offered by the BVG service centers (BVG is the main operator of city transportation).

It’s better to find a good map of the city and mark the places you want to visit prior to your trip.

BVG offer an interactive map, which can be partially downloaded as a PDF file from here.

On my blog, Berlin O Philia, I offer a few other useful links to maps and other Berlin related resources.

If you don’t look for some Walt Disney World tips before you plan your trip to Disney World, you’re going to miss out. It’s only when you map out your trip ahead of time that you’re able to do all of the things that you want to do, like meet all the characters and go on all the rides.

These Walt Disney World tips will help you to make the most of your time:

1. Plan your days, but give yourself some wiggle room. The park features the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Typhoon Lagoon, and Blizzard Beach and you probably want to spend a day at the ones that you want to visit. You should plan out which days you want to visit each park, but leave some time open so that you can re-visit your favorite ones.
2. Plan your food before you go. Bringing your food into the park is a great way to save money, but you’ll need to think ahead in order to buy food at the grocery store and pack it with you. For those that are interested in the restaurants, you may need to make a reservation, especially if you are interested in the popular restaurants.
3. Choose the right time to go. The right time depends largely on your goals for the trip. If you want to save money, for example, consider the off-season time frame. However, if you want to be there for the special Christmas show, you’ll need to plan the trip around Christmas time.
4. Take a backpack into the park with you. Inside, be sure to pack all of the items that you may need throughout the day. This could include extra diapers and wipes, snacks, water bottles, hats, sunglasses, sunscreen and medicine. These items will cost much more once you’re inside the park.
5. Study the park maps to plan out your day. The Disney World parks are quite extensive and it can take some time to get from one end of the park to the other. To make the most of your time, you want to look at the map ahead of time and plan to do things that are close together at the same time.

Having a great Disney trip all starts with proper planning. If you want to be sure to have a great trip, you need to think about what you want to do and what types of things you’ll need to take with you.

One can choose the railways, the air route, waterways or a road travel in India, in order to reach southmost Kanyakumari from the chilling backdrops of Kashmir but, the little known thing is that anyone can spot an adventure amidst his/her travel throughout the whole country.

The above written fact explains that there are numerous places determined for adventure travel in the country known mostly for its heritage and culture.

Choose any point in the political map of India and you have the big probability of experiencing a thrilling experience nearby the same.

Taking a start from the northern part of this democratic nation, one can easily spot scope for adventure sports like skiing in frozen Dal Lake of Kashmir, para-gliding in Himachal’s Manali and river rafting in Ganges flowing through Rishikesh.

Going through some images as well as write-ups published over web one can generate some confusion related to unnecessary promotion of tourism in the country. But, as one reaches these destinations he can have a watch over naturally formed adventure sport spots in India.

However, it’s not easy to find every spot open 12 months a year as heavy snowfalls and higher level of water in river mostly plays a villian for one’s adventure dreams. But then, who said that the adventure graph declines as you reach south.

Near the green beauty of Kerala lies a bunch of 36 islands jointly termed as the Lakshadweep, which rarely leave anyone out of the adventurous mood, thanks to the water sports like scuba diving, glass bottom boat etc.

If one looks for raising the graph of adventure travel in a cooler place, then Bay of Bengal can very well be recommended with Andaman and Nicobar islands not far from there.

Taking the adventure to a higher level, one can experience rappeling, rock climbing as well as the breathtaking pleasure of valley crossing sport while he camp in Kantal where the several outings are arranged for corporate masses.

In case, somebody is recommending North-East for an adventurous trip, then he is not to be blamed as the sporty and deadly nature of caves situated near Cherrapunjee keep you on your toes until you come out of the lifetime experience of Caving in here.

As stated earlier, drive, sail or even fly through Indian continent, the thrill of adventure travel walks with the traveller from start to end.