Taking off Travel blog

In the past year, I’ve grown as a travel blogger. I’ve also taken a heck of a lot of trips to various far flung locations. In 2010, I want to do the same and to do it even better. Here are some ways that I plan to get more from travel in the coming year.

Take More Photos

I was talking to some friends a while ago when I realized that I don’t have a single photo of my year in Nimes - not one. I have some photos of the places I visited near there, but nothing to mark the time in the actual town where I lived. These days, there’s no excuse for letting that happen. Even if you don’t have a decent camera with you, most phones take pictures. In the coming year, I will use this technology to get more great photos of the places I visit.

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It’s Christmas Eve, so it’s a good time to get in some holiday reading. Here are some of the travel posts that have caught my eye in December:

First of all, there’s a thought-provoking post on Man vs Debt, titled Is Travel Worth It? The post examines the pros and cons of his family’s semi-nomadic lifestyle and makes a clear assessment of what worked for them, what didn’t - and why. While admitting that there have been difficulties, Baker also says there have been a lot of pluses, not least this:

Tomorrow, while much of the U.S. bitches about the cold weather, we’ll pack our bags and catch a plane to what is widely considered one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

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Don't be forced to park like this. Use coupons to save on a better parking space.

Travel has become so expensive that we’re always looking for ways to save money. One area where you can cut the cost of your trip is with off airport parking. This is usually much cheaper than standard airport parking, with a number of useful additional facilities. But there’s no need to stop there; you can make off airport parking even more affordable by using coupons.

Local Airport Parking Deals

One good place to start is in your local newspaper. You’d be surprised how many off airport parking coupons I have found simply by looking through the ads at the back of the paper or in the travel section. You can get some great reductions for the price of a newspaper, which isn’t a bad deal at all. Read more »

I love this time of year - Christmas trees, decorations, finding special gifts and spending time with family and friends. This year my relatives are coming to me, but if I were travelling, here’s the advice I’d give them.

Last Minute Travel

Planes and trains run all through the holidays, so if you don’t mind traveling on Christmas Day, you could save a fortune. Leave early Christmas morning, or late night on Christmas Eve and you could still be there in time to grab a turkey leg or some slices of roast beef. Plus, you won’t have to fight the hordes of people travelling at peak times. Read more »

A travel agent recently commented on an old post on whether we really need travel insurance. She said:

I highly resent the implication that we are “scamming” the public to steamroll our clients into purchasing insurance.

Our post on the issue of travel insurance was pretty balanced, examining reasons why people might not need that insurance but concluding that it was wise to be insured, so I didn’t think the commenter was taking exception to what we had said on the insurance issue. More likely, she was blowing off steam because of things that others had said in other places. But I thought I’d expand on my response to her.

When I travel, I always buy travel insurance. No exceptions. Ever. Read more »