Taking off Travel blog

The American Automobile Association (AAA) has released its annual Independence Day Travel Forecast, in conjunction with IHS Global Insight. The figures predict a 2.5% decline in travel by car for the upcoming holiday weekend. Still, some 39 million travelers will be on the road, going at least 50 miles from home. The survey sees gas prices as a key contributor to the downward trend:

Gas prices remain a significant headwind for not only the overall economy, but also for the travel and tourism industry. While almost 25 cents less than the nearly $4 a gallon peak of early May, the national average price for regular gasoline is still more than a dollar higher than at this time last year. The 37 percent year-over-year increase in prices far outweighs any short-term benefit that the recent five percent decline in prices over the last several weeks might provide.

However, there is some good news. For those who are traveling, holiday spending is forecast to increase. Party on!

The full report is available for download here. And if you’re one of the people on the road to the airport for the Independence Day holiday, don’t forget to check out our coupon for off airport parking savings.

A recent article on cutting the cost of road trips sent me running to do some research. I wanted to find out which are some of the great apps if you’re going on a road trip. I know we’ve already done a roundup of the best iPhone apps for travelers, but what if you’re going on the road rather than in the air? Here are some iPhone and Android apps to consider.

GasBuddy

GasBuddy helps you find gas stations near you – or near where you’re going to be. Plug in the zip code to see a list of gas stations sorted by price and you can pick the kind of gas, too. Stations are also shown on a map, so you can easily navigate to them. This free app is available for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone.

UrbanSpoon

Available for iPhone and Android (or via your mobile browser), Urbanspoon provides restaurant recommendations for meals on the go. The app version works like a slot machine – just shake it to find a place near you to try. You can also see lists of all nearby eating establishments, as well as a comprehensive range of reviews. This app is free.

Yelp

If you need more than just food, then consider Yelp. It has a large database of places to eat, shop, drink, relax and play and you can narrow your search by location, distance and price. You can also find businesses near you. There are versions of Yelp for practically every phone OS so you won’t have to miss out.

Trip It

Trip It, available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry, is a free app that helps you track your itinerary. Plan your trip, email your confirmations to the Tripit email address and get your itinerary in one easy-to-browse screen.

Trapster

Want to know where speed traps and other hazards are on your road trip? Then you need Trapster, available for a range of smartphones as well as GPS devices. Trapster uses GPS to keep track of your current location and provides an early warning system for police checkpoints and the like. It also incorporates functions from some of the other apps, such as displaying a range of businesses (including parking lots) on the map. You can report your own traps too.

Bonus: Foursquare

If you want to have a little social fun on your road trip, add Foursquare to your mobile device, so you can check in wherever you are. Be warned, though, you may not always want to make your check-ins public, especially if your home is empty.

Watch out for two posts on road trips later in the week!

I recently worked with someone who had taken a couple of years off from his highly paid job. He spotted an opportunity and, rather than just dream about it and stay at his desk, he jumped in with both feet and committed to it. During this time, he immersed himself in a new culture and picked up some new business skills. The result? A new direction for his life and business and a renewed zeal for getting up in the mornings.

In Europe it’s been common for quite a while for students to have a gap year between finishing high school and starting college. They use this time to do something worthwhile, such as volunteer at home or abroad. This looks good on their resume, gives them some life experience, and gives them a chance to decide what to do next.

Here in the US, this is becoming more common, but it’s not students who are making the most of it. Taking career breaks has become an increasingly popular way for people who are mid-career to do something a bit different. With some, it’s a chance to enter a new career; with others, it’s just a case of needing a break and avoiding burnout. Some people quit their jobs, while others take sabbaticals and then return refreshed.

While some say that fewer of us can afford to take a career break, others say that career break travel is more popular than ever, as the wealth of opportunities on the Gap Year for Grownups site shows. I like the idea of a gap year – in fact, if I weren’t already location independent, I’d be tempted to take one myself. What about you?

It looks like Americans will be flying overseas this summer, according to the latest forecast from the Air Transport Association of America (ATA). Some 26.3 million of the 202.6 million Americans likely to travel this summer will be booked on international flights.  This beats last year’s record of 25.8 million. The daily average of 2.24 million people a day is a 34,000 increase over last year.

“The growth in international air travel reaffirms the pivotal role that commercial aviation plays in connecting the United States to the global economy. In the next decade, the majority of travel growth will take place outside of our borders in developing economies. To facilitate U.S. competitiveness and meet customer demand, airlines must be able to operate in an environment that is conducive to international expansion,” President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio said.

In other air travel news, there are two news articles worthy of attention. The first, from the San Francisco Chronicle, explains recent Department of Transportation airline rule changes in plain English. The second, from the Sacramento Bee, asks What If You Lose Your ID? Not something you want to think about, but in case you do, here’s the TSA’s list of approved forms of ID for airport checkpoints.

A guest post by Nick Ball on an island that’s worth a visit if you’re heading over to Europe.

The Canary Islands are much like a European Caribbean. These seven specks of Spain are located off the coast of West Africa – hundreds of miles south of the Iberian Peninsula – and on the same line of latitude as the Bahamas. They boast a clement climate that can be enjoyed by sun starved Northern Europeans all year round, whilst remaining little known to most American travellers.

Lanzarote is the fourth largest and one of the least spoilt of the Canaries. On larger neighbours such as Tenerife and Gran Canaria high rise hotels and apartment complexes have swallowed up some of the best scenic spots over the last twenty years. But on Lanzarote the landscapes remain much as nature intended, thanks largely to a local artist and architect called César Manrique – who campaigned tirelessly against over development.

Manrique was born in the island capital of Arrecife in 1919 and fell in love with Lanzarote during long family holidays spent on the picturesque North West coast at the huge sweeping beach at Famara. During the 1950s he was at the vanguard of the Spanish surrealist movement and in the 60s spent most of his time in New York, where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Andy Warhol and exhibited his paintings under the patronage of the wealthy Rockefeller clan.

By the late 1960s package tourism was just starting to take off in Spain, as General Franco opened the country’s borders in an attempt to attract much needed foreign currency. Property developers and hotel chains were quick to take advantage and large swathes of the Spanish Costas were soon buried beneath a sea of concrete. This development boom was also sweeping the Canaries – so Manrique resolved to return home to preserve his birthplace from a similar fate.

Thanks to friends in high places Manrique was able to help push through legislation that banned all high rise buildings outright, whilst also outlawing advertising hoardings. And as a result Lanzarote pursued a far more ecologically friendly path than many other Spanish sunspots – the benefits of which are readily evident today.

Lanzarote’s main jewel in the crown are the volcanoes and lava fields of the Timanfaya National Park, the scene of massive eruptions during the 1730s which lasted for around six years. It transformed around one quarter of the island into a surreal and eerie moonscape. Indeed Apollo 13 astronauts were shown pictures of this region in order to help them prepare for their own lunar landings.  Numerous science fiction films have also been shot on location here.

Elsewhere on the island the pragmatic Manrique worked with this terrain in order to create environmentally friendly visitor attractions that would provide an alternative to the water parks and golf courses so common elsewhere in Spain, resulting in the creation of some truly stunning sights such as the Jameos del Agua – an enormous lava tunnel which he turned into a breathtaking auditorium and concert venue. And the Mirador del Rio, a former gun emplacement perched some 600 metres up a cliff face – but now a breathtaking look out point granting incredible views down to the neighbouring island of La Graciosa below.

The combination of Lanzarote’s lunar like landscapes and Manrique’s creations helped to earn Lanzarote UNESCO biosphere protection in 1994 – the first island in the world to enjoy such status.

Nick Ball is the editor of Lanzarote Guidebook, the in depth Lanzarote tourist guide. Visit their site to download a free Guidebook and to book Lanzarote villas and car hire in Lanzarote direct online.