Posted by Charlene Jaszewski on May 9th 2008 in Travel Tips, Travel Blogs
Quick: which sounds like a better vacation to you:
* Plan out infinite details, take a tour bus, rush from site to site, have a tour guide tell you where to go, stay in an American-style hotel, eat in regular restaurants
* Rent a local house, hang out with locals, buy local groceries, have lazy unplanned days of randomness
If you liked the second option, you’ll fit right in with the “slow travel” movement. 
The “Slow” Travel Movement: Pretend To Be A Local
Posted by Samantha Evans on May 6th 2008 in Samantha Smiles
Fact #1: There’s tremendous fun to be had by meeting new and interesting love interests online and well documented success stories, even including marriage.
Fact #2: These days airport layovers can be extremely long and annoying affairs.
Combine with a liberal dash of social media and you have the makings for a perfect blind date! Use Government TSA airport security (Transportation Security Administration) to screen your blind dates for free!
Absent a personal security force, the risks inherint with meeting strangers by way of social media sites like Craigslist outweigh the thrill for most. Though the vast majority of social media dating connections probably do not stem from murderous motivations, one certainly has to be wary.
Prearrange exciting social liaisons on Craigslist, Yahoo Personals and other dating sites, even with strangers during long layovers, knowing full well that they have been screened for weapons and subject to eyewitness scrutiny including federal marshals, state police and even military personnel. Use American Government to Screen Craigslist Blind Dates During Airport Layovers
Posted by Charlene Jaszewski on May 1st 2008 in Travel Tips
When you travel, you may think that if you don’t know the language, you can just communicate using gestures. BUZZER! Knowing what gestures and body language mean in foreign countries can mean the difference between making friends and getting beaten up and it’s all too easy to make mistakes.
Take the quiz to find out how much you know about body language, gestures and foreign customs:
International Body Language, Gestures & Manners: Don’t Be “That Guy!”
Posted by Charlene Jaszewski on April 25th 2008 in Discount Travel
This is part three in a three-part series on using Priceline and Hotwire to get killer travel deals. See part one: The Secret To Getting Best Travel Prices on Priceline and Hotwire, and part two: Beat The System: Killer Priceline Tricks For Hotel Deals.
Priceline.com can be used to get incredible hotel deals – if you know how to work the system. But you’re taking some risks to get a good deal, the worst being unable to cancel for any reason. But you might also encounter problems at the hotel because you’re a PRICELINE guest.
I found this great post on a random website from a hotel worker, telling the honest truth about what the hotels think of Priceline customers. I’d love to attribute it but he posted anonymously.
Rule #1 — If the hotel is full, you’ll get the worst room, and if it’s oversold, you’ll be first to be relocated to another hotel (after all, you didn’t choose the hotel in the first place, did you?). Flip side, if the hotel is empty, you might be able to sweet-talk your way to a suite. Why Hotels Hate Priceline Guests & Other Dirty Little Secrets
Posted by Charlene Jaszewski on April 23rd 2008 in Discount Travel
This is part two in a three-part series on using Priceline and Hotwire to get killer travel deals. See part one: The Secret To Getting Best Travel Prices on Priceline and Hotwire.
So you’ve gotten a good deal on cars, now it’s time to use Priceline get to the REALLY good deals: hotels. However, Priceline is not for the faint of heart. To get a really good deal, you have to do your homework.
Bidding on Priceline can pay off royally – getting 50-75% per night off lowest hotel prices – but it comes at a cost. You don’t get to pick the hotel, and if you screw up, you are stuck. Priceline’s cancellation policy is ironclad – they don’t give any (except in EXTREME circumstances). Are you willing to do the work and take the risk? Let’s go! Beat The System: Killer Priceline Tricks For Hotel Deals
Posted by Samantha Evans on April 17th 2008 in Travel Tips, Samantha Smiles
This is part one in a three-part series on using Priceline and Hotwire to get killer travel deals.
Who has a better price on hotels, Hotwire or Priceline? Is there a “secret” to bidding? What sort of travel booking is always a win-win situation?
These questions and more will be answered in today’s episode of BETTER BIDDING WITH SAMANTHA!
This is part one in a two part series of how to use Hotwire, Priceline and other sites in your arsenal of tools for finding the best travel deals online.
The big secret
Most articles make you read through the whole thing to get to the money shot, but I’m going to give it to you right up front. Are you ready? The Secret To Getting Best Travel Prices on Priceline & Hotwire: Part One
Posted by Charlene Jaszewski on April 10th 2008 in Travel Tips
Americans can sometimes be loud, boorish, and extroverted. We’re the class clowns of the world. But we’re also the biggest tippers. We know that clowns are laughing on the outside, but crying on the inside, right? According to Michael Lynn, associate professor of market and consumer behavior at the Center for Hospitality at Cornell University, countries with more “extroverted” and “neurotic” people gave tips to the greatest number of services and also tipped the largest amounts – with the U.S. topping both categories. Tipping & Gratuity Guidelines For International Travel
Posted by Samantha Evans on April 3rd 2008 in Travel Tips
These days the rising cost of oil, steady erosion of natural resources and climate change are on everyone’s mind. The travel industry has taken notice. In response to growing flocks of truly eco-sensitive tourists, hotels, airplane manufacturers like Boeing, Mexican destination-villagers, and even the United States Government are getting into the show.
Make no mistake. These days “green” equates to cash-on-table for the travel industry, while at the same time tourism-operators do right by savvy customers. It’s pretty dang chic’ to treat Mother Earth with respect whilst out and about frolicking in the surf. 14 Totally Green Travel Tips & EcoTourism Resources
Posted by Charlene Jaszewski on March 30th 2008 in Travel Tips
What do you do when you’re an intrepid traveler short on cash? Get creative. I recently had to travel to New York for a conference and since most of my money was tied up in paying for a cross-country move, I had to make it work on the cheap.
Tip #1: Keep Up On Airfare Deals
Luckily I knew this conference was coming up in advance, so I had time to book a cheap deal. I looked through all my point sources but was just shy of the amount needed to book a flight. Suddenly Northwest Airlines (the hub flying out of Minneapolis) started offering PerksChoice, a program that lets you use points for half a ticket! Bang! $110 off my flight! A great forum I discovered to keep up on things like this is flyertalk.com.
Airfare cost=$110 12 Days In New York On $130 Without Missing a Beat
Posted by Charlene Jaszewski on March 20th 2008 in Travel Tools
If you’ve ever had to schedule a business trip you know you can be deluged by confirmation e-mails for every detail, including flights, hotels, and car rentals. God help you if you have multiple destinations! Tripit.com promises to relieve the headaches of travelers by aggregating all the details of your trip into master itineraries, available to be shared with friends, accessed by SMS text messages and supplemented with additional information like weather, google maps, and more!!
Tripit! Master Your Itinerary with Emerging Social Travel Tools
