Tag: Travel Plan

Planning Your Great American Road Trip

A traditional American holiday that more people need to try is the famous road trip. Even if you’re not from America, there are countless reasons why you should do this at least once in your life. Be it a solo adventure or a trip with your friends and family, travelling across this massive country and passing through dozens of states is something that few people have experienced, but everyone that does it comes home with fond memories, plenty of souvenirs, and countless photo albums. But what makes the great American road trip such an attractive holiday, and what does it take to plan one? Read on to find out.

 

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Prepare documentation for your group

If you don’t live in the United States, then get yourself a passport and a visa. Instead of getting a regular visa to enter the United States, you can choose to get an ESTA instead. This is essentially a visa waiver that people can apply for if they come from certain countries. You can use this ESTA application checker to monitor the status of your application if you’re eagerly waiting for it to come. In addition to a visa, you might need to carry your driving license with you if you plan to be the driver. When you rent a vehicle, you might also need further documentation, so be sure to check online because it heavily depends on the state you start your road trip on. It’s preferable if you can connect with Americans to make this step a lot easier since they can rent the car and drive it instead of you jumping through legal issues to rent a vehicle.

Plan a route

Road trips are all about the journey, not the destination. If possible, try and plan your route so that it crosses as many iconic destinations as possible. For instance, the famous Route 66 is one that plenty of road trip enthusiasts have travelled at least once in their lives. It crosses through several different states including Chicago, Texas and California, giving you plenty of varied scenery. Make sure you also plan ahead when it comes to accommodation. Although sleeping in your vehicle is a valid way to spend the night, you only get the full experience if you stay at the various bed & breakfast and motel establishments along the route. You also get to experience classic American dining as you stop off at each city. Just make sure to carry a GPS device with you so you don’t get lost!

Carry essentials

Something that is often forgotten during the road trip is that you pass by countless stores. You don’t really need to carry many things with you. Just a bit of luggage, travel documents and medication is usually enough. You can buy plenty of snacks along the route, there are places to sleep so there’s no need to camp, and there’s plenty of entertainment along the way as well. The most important devices to carry are a GPS unit and a camera to take pictures. Don’t carry too many things. Lighten the car, carry just the essentials, and remember to bring money for gas!

Planning A Long-Haul Vacation

Planning a vacation is one thing, but going for a long-haul vacation is an entirely separate set of challenges. To be in the position to choose a destination on a far-flung side of the world is a blessed one. Deciding to go on an adventure and trek the foothills of the mountains or ski down the slopes covered in fresh, powdered snow instead of lounging on a beach an hour away is a big decision.

 

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Before you do anything, though, you have to plan. For some, planning is hard and boring and for others, the excitement of an adventure is in the planning. Proper planning is an absolute essential when you have only a week or two to play with for your vacation. You not only have to ensure you have all the right travel documents – including any visas for the place you are going. There are so many websites that can tell you what you will need to have alongside your passport and you can check out FAQs here to see if you will need authorization to travel through Europe. You also need to look up the right insurance cover for your vacation; long haul destinations tend to need better coverage so ensure you look into that.

The absolute first thing you need to decide is what you want from your holiday. Are you looking for lush jungle treks or lounging on the white sandy beaches? Are you aiming to city hop your way around a country or scale to the summit of a mountain? Whatever your tastes, you have to check the local advice with the Foreign Office for travelling to ensure you’re covered for any visas you need and health requirements. Some places require you to have injections before you go to protect against certain diseases, and you don’t want to be turned away at the airport because you didn’t check!

 

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Next, you need to decide if you want to create a package holiday, or if you want to book everything separately. Sometimes, it’s cheaper to book a holiday as a package but for others, it makes more sense to book flights separate from hotel. All-inclusive breaks are easier to come by if you book a full package, and if you want less hassle, a package break is an easy option. There are plenty of travel agencies that offer vacations that are quite specialist, including specific skiing holidays and mountain hikes. Wanderlust is infectious and you should think carefully about exactly what it is you want out of your holiday before you book it.

Be practical about your holiday. We’ve talked about travel documents and the possible need for vaccinations for a holiday. Being practical about timelines before you go on holiday is important, because if certain travel authorizations and visas take a little time, you need to plan ahead so that you don’t lose out on a great holiday deal. There is nothing better than planning a break away, so doing it carefully will get you memories to last a lifetime!

 

Coping With The Top 3 Worst Travel Troubles

In an ideal world, every trip will go as smooth as can be. There will be no problems, and we travel with complete confidence and no hiccups. Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world, and things go wrong all the time.

So, here’s my list of the top travel troubles and how you can cope with them:

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Cancelled Flights

When your flights get cancelled, it can ruin your travels. It prevents you from getting somewhere on time and can cause a great deal of stress. Especially if it’s your flight home, as you end up lost in a foreign country with no way of getting home.

It’s hard to cope with this travel trouble, but there are some things you can do. Mainly, try and have a plan B wherever possible. This doesn’t mean you should book multiple flights, but more that you should prepare for the worst. For example, reserve a room at a hotel near the airport for the day of your flight. Then, if your flight gets cancelled, you have somewhere to stay for the night. If your flight isn’t cancelled, you can cancel the reservation free of charge (check with the hotel that you can do this, most allow you to, but some don’t).

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Lost Luggage

Losing your luggage is one of the worst travel troubles out there. When an airline loses your stuff, it can put you in a really bad position. All of your clothes and precious belongings have gone, leaving you stranded with nothing.

Thankfully, you can cope with this problem in two ways. Firstly, you can prevent it from happening by avoiding paying for hold luggage. Try and only use hand luggage, and you can keep your bags with you at all times. This may be hard for some people, but you can always pay for extra hand luggage too if you can’t keep it all in one bag. The second idea is to help you cope with the aftermath of some lost luggage. What you should do is buy travel insurance to protect you when this happens. There are loads of places like GoBear that compare travel insurance so you can find the best one. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be protected if any of your luggage goes missing or gets damaged. You can claim compensation and get replacements or money for anything you lost.

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No Cash

Most of us like bringing foreign money with us when we travel. This is because it can cost a lot to use our cards, and our banks may see activity in a foreign country and block our account as a security measure. This leads to a long phone conversation as you prove who you are and get the account unblocked. So, we use cash, but what happens when we run out? It can cause a big problem for us, particularly if we didn’t bring our card at all.

Well, coping with this issue is easy. First, always bring more than you need, just in case! Secondly, get a travelcard and load it up with money. You can use this card at ATMs to withdraw cash without being charged fees!

There you have it, three travel troubles complete with ideas on how to cope with them. Now, you can travel with confidence this summer.

 

 

A Well-Traveled Life Is A Life Lived Well

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Everyone will have their own pleasures in life. Whether you love a hearty plate of food or a fine piece of art, it’s these small luxuries in life that help to keep us alive and kicking. For some, it will always be travel. Travel is one of the few things in life that we spend money on, yet it makes us richer. From experiencing different cultures and meeting new people, to seeing some of the world’s most breathtaking sights and enjoying different climates, travel can really broaden your horizon.

So, it’s not all that surprising that more and more are enjoying a well-traveled life with their children. When you travel as a family, not only are you benefitting from a wealth of experiences, your children are too. You can help to shape their minds, perspectives and even their futures by filling their lives with travel. And, of course, you’re making lots of memories at the same time. If you’re interested in adding a lot more travel into your family life, whether you’re on a tight budget or not, here’s how you can do it and make a life full of travel work for your family.

Pack Well

Firstly, when you’re planning your travels, you’re going to want to be very selective as you pack. Whether you’re going on a summer-long adventure, or on a weekend trip, you want to make every item count. When traveling, it’s always best to pack as little as possible, so that you can get from A to B easily, but you also want to make sure you have all your bases covered. With everything from clothing for the right climate and any survival equipment you may need, you need to pack smart.

Do Your Homework

Alongside packing, you’re also going to want to make sure that you get all of your paperwork and research in order before you leave for your travels. Whether you need to sign up for the Visa Waiver Program before coming to the US, or getting something similar sorted for international travels, or find yourself some insurance, these are the things you should cover off as you plan your journeys.

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Shop Around

When it comes to booking your travels themselves, make sure that you shop around. If you’re on a budget, you want to make sure that you get flights or hotels for the best price possible – especially if you want to travel often. Traveling can cost you as little or as much as you’d like it too. You just have to shop around and be flexible with the places you’d like to stay or see at different times throughout the year. If you can grab a good deal on one place, snap it up now and see somewhere else later.

Make The Most Of Breaks

Another key trick to ensuring that your family can travel as much as possible is to utilize the school breaks well. Not only do you have a whole summer to fill with travels if your schedule permits it, but you can also get a lot done in short week breaks or even in a weekend. By being flexible and even working with plans last minute, you could see a lot more of the world.

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Plan Cultural Experiences

When you start to travel more, you’re opening yourself and your family up to so many incredible cultural experiences. Even if our beautiful United States, there is a lot of heritage to take in – so make sure you see it. It’s a great way for you to boost your kid’s education and ensure that they learn about their history, as well as the history of other cultures around the world. It’s these kinds of experiences that can nourish their little minds as they grow.

Try New Things

It’s always great to open yourself up to new experiences, but the idea can really come alive when you travel. With a wealth of different activities, foods, cultures, experiences and more, available to you, start to say yes to things when you’re traveling. You may find yourself on so many different adventures by just being open to trying new things.

Encourage Exploration

And finally, while you’re traveling with your family, encourage your children as much as you can to embrace every experience. Encourage exploration and curiosity and adventure in them. Not only will this allow them to open up their minds and see things differently, but you’ll also be installing a hunger for travel in them, which they can go on to use in their futures or enjoy with their own families as they grow up.

 

 

The Unexpected Joys Of Packing

When you have a tripped planned, whether it’s a camping trip or a luxury break one of the things you need to do well before you leave is pack. Now, a lot of people hate packing. They see it as a chore to be over and done with as quick as possible. So then can get to the airport and get on with their trip. But not me. For me packing is a joy, as well as a very valuable exercise and below I will explain why.

It helps you transition from everyday life to vacation life

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One of the biggest benefits packing your suitcase is that it helps you get from daily life into vacation life. It’s a symbol that the waiting and dreaming are almost over and you are about to embark on that adventure that you have planned for ages.

All those times you have dreamed about laying on the beach with a cocktail in your hand when you were having a hard day at work, or with the kids, and it’s all about to come true. Packing helps you build you excitement, and that is why it can truly be a joy.

Of course, it’s not so much fun if you haven’t got everything you need to hand to make it as pleasant an experience as possible. So remember to get the washing and ironing done before hand. Then you will just have those last travel items to purchase before it’s bon voyage!

It ensure you will have the best time Something else that I love about packing is the way a little forward thinking can help you the best time when you’re away. All you need to do is think carefully about the items that are essential to you.

For folks with kids, it’s likely to be their bottle sterilizsers, the kid’s cuddly toys or their favourite game to play on the beach. For couple heading to a luxury, location is might be their Kindles, makeup, or sunscreen. So they can sit on the beach without a care in the world.

That means all you need to do is think about the things that will maximise your experience, and make sure to pack those. It make you feel calmer

Packing is also a great activity because it’s a way of putting any anxieties to rest. This is because you know if you pack right that you are prepared for any eventuality.

Travel, while wonderful can also be stressful at times, and that is why it’s important to pack items that will minimise this. It could be a thing like a neck pillow for the flight or your insurance and travel documents, which will get you through the electronic travel authorisation system in place at many airports now. Or it could be the emergency number for the police and a few key phrases for when you get there.

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It helps you to look critically at what you have. Lastly, one of the most fun things about packing to be are looking for all the clothing items, jewellery and accessories to see what you have. Not only do you get to pick out the things that are most suitable. But you also get to see how blessed you are with all the item you do have. As well as rediscover some things that you might have forgotten all about.

All you want to know about Everest Base Camp and Trekking.. Plan your trip now..!!

Everest: Mount Everest, earth’s highest mountain is located in the Mahalangur mountain range in Nepal and Tibet. Its peak is 8,848 meters (29,029 ft) above the sea level. It was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society upon a recommendation by Andrew Waugh, the British surveyor general in India. It is also known as Sagarmatha in Nepal and in Tibet as Chomolungma. The international border between China and Nepal runs across Everest’s precise summit point. Neighboring tallest mountain peak of Everest includes Lhotse, Nuptse and Changtse.

Conquered Everest
Trekking: Because Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. It has attracted considerable attention and climbing attempts. There are mainly two routes for climbing: one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal, also known as standard route and the other from north in Tibet. It remained the difficult peak for decades though it was finally known to have been summated by 1953. The climbing pair of New Zealander, Edmund hillary and Tenzing Norway, a Nepali sherpa record first to climb its peak at 11:30 am on 29 May 1953. They climb via south Col Route. After that, expedition era took a rapid pace due to increase in people’s interest to climb Everest.
Early Expedition: Initially in 1921 British reconnaissance Expedition, the northern approach to the mountain was discovered by George Mallory and Guy Bulloct. They climbed the north Col to an altitude of 7,005 meters (22,982 ft). The British returned for a 1922 expedition, George Finch climbed with oxygen for the first time. He reached at an altitude of 8,320 meters (27,300 ft). It was the first time a human reported to climb higher than 8,000 meters. The next expedition took place in 1924. There were two attempts in which first was aborted due to bad weather. The other attempt delivered by Norton and Somerwell. They managed to reach 8,550 meters (28,050 ft). In 1950, Bill Tilman and a small party under took an exploratory expedition to Everest through Nepal along the route which has now become standard route. Before this, all expeditions were taken place from the north of Tibet. The Swiss expedition of 1952, led by Edouard Wgss-Dunant was granted permission to attempt a climb from Nepal. Raymond Lambert and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were able to reach a height of about 8,595 meters (28,199 ft) on the south ridge, setting a new climbing record. Tenzing’s experience was useful when he was hired to be part of the British expedition in 1953.
Conquered Everest: Everest was conquered in 1953 when it was finally summated by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. The next successful ascent was three years later in 1956 by Ernst schmied and Juerj Marmet. This was followed by Dolf Reist and Hans-Rudolf von Gunten on 24 May 1957 and so on. Despite the effort and attention poured into expedition, it was only summated by about 200 people by 1987. Everest showed itself to be the most difficult place for decades, even for serious attempts by expert mountaineers and large national expeditions, until the commercial era picked up in the 1990s. By March 2012, Everest had been climbed 5656 times with 223 deaths. By 2013, the Himalayans database recorded 6871 summits by 4042 different people.

himalaya trekking

Commercial climbing
Commercial climbing: According to Jon Krakauer, the era of commercialization of Everest started in 1985, when the summit was reached by a guided expedition led by David Breashears that include Richard Bass, a wealthy 55 year old businessman and an amateur mountain climber with only four years climbing experience. By the early 1990s, multiple companies were offering guided tours to the mountain. Rob Hall, one of the mountaineers who died in the 1996 disaster, had successfully guided 39 clients to the summit prior to that incident. By 2016, most guided services cost between 35 to almost 200 thousand dollars. However, the services offered vary widely and its “buyer beware” when doing deal in Nepal. There are “budget” travel agencies which offer logistic support for such trip. However, this is considered difficult and dangerous. Many climbers hire “full service” guide companies, which provide a wide spectrum of services including acquisition of permits, transportation to/from base camp, food, tent, fixed ropes, medical assistance, experienced mountaineer guide and even porter.

Himalayan Expedition Tour

Adventure Sports at Himalaya
Tour companies: There is several tour companies providing base camp, trekking and adventure sports and HimEx (Himalaya Expeditions) is one of the best tour Company for Everest base camp trek. It is licensed from Department of Tourism and recognized by Ministry of Tourism, Government of Nepal. You can contact on website i.e. www.himexnepal.com. Its head office is in Kathmandu, Nepal which ensures to provide best facilities at reasonable rates. Do follow them and get all the information you need on Everest Base Camp and Trekking.