Travelling Studies

Many people spend their vacation time, or nights away from home, in hotels and motels all across America and the world, sometime during each year. The choice of a hotel for them may depend on many different things.

It seems that the favorite hotels are those that are associated with a chain, that are located in many different cities in the U. S. and all across the world. Why do so many people prefer the chain hotels? Let’s think about some of the top reasons that people prefer these hotels.

First of all, chain hotels are much better known hotels. They are usually located near an interstate highway, or in the center of the downtown area. Always, they are located in the nicer part of the city. The service in this type of hotel is always a little better, and they go to greater lengths to make you comfortable, with certain amenities that are included along with the room that offers you rest.

If you make a habit of staying in chain hotels, another good thing that you will notice is that each of them in the same chain have the same amenities and have the same type of service. You can, thereby, pretty much know what to expect when you get to the place where you are going. In chain hotels you are usually able to book ahead if you know when you are going to arrive in the area, and have confidence that you will have a nice place to stay, when you arrive.

Accommodations are always as you expect. No one wants to choose a hotel room, get inside and realize that the bedding is not quite up to par and the room looks like it has just barely been cleaned since the last guest. Chain hotels must keep their rooms and bedding clean and up to par, because they are located in a lot of places, and if they are not careful to keep things clean, neat, and tidy it will ruin not only the local hotel’s reputation, but all the others in the chain. It would not take long for word to get out in every place where their hotels are located, and guests would begin to turn away from their hotels.

Amenities are another thing that people have come to appreciate from chain hotels. Hotels offer many different amenities including, but not limited to: 24 hour room service; flat screen TV’s, baby sitting; pet care; fitness centers; courtyards; hot tubs or saunas; early morning breakfasts, including cereals and bagels. Many have small, or perhaps not so small, rooms where you can sit down and have your breakfast items and drink your coffee, perhaps visiting with other hotel guests. Other amenities include, coffee makers, hair dryers, shampoos and conditioners, tissues, and perhaps even small refrigerators in the rooms. This makes for a convenient overnight stay.

In the busy world in which we live, many people enjoy the fact that most chain hotels have added WIFI internet service to their amenities. Many business people use their computers as they travel from one place to another, and it is very important for them that they have connections to the internet. Whether they use their computer for business or for pleasure, it is always nice to know that the service is there if it is needed.

There are many hotel chains in America and across the world. When traveling in the USA or abroad you can, more than likely, find your favorite one located somewhere in the city to which you travel. Anyone who travels quite frequently, has probably chosen a favorite hotel which offers the amenities that they most often use. Once you have chosen your favorite hotel, you can feel comfortable staying with that particular chain wherever you travel.

Most chain hotels, also, can be found online, and reservations can be made online. You can shop around for the best prices, and locate the hotel before you arrive at your destination, thereby saving you time and the trouble of driving around looking for it when you arrive at your location.

Chain hotels offer you the best accommodations for your money, and are always clean and ready to be occupied by you when you get to your location. Check out the various chains to discover what awaits you at your next night away from home.

On the map it just looked like a long thin sea creature floating in the South Pacific off the east coast of Australia. Kind of small I complained; but WOW, I was certainly glad that I did decide to join my friends there last summer (winter in the US). When you get there you realise that the whole place is pretty much just one big holiday destination; it seems to have everything, and all within remarkably short driving distances.

As a country with abundant lakes and rivers, and literally beaches everywhere, the whole world’s water activities are there. Rafting, Kayaking, river and sea fishing, great swimming and surfing to name just a few. Oh, and if you haven’t bungy jumped over one of their crystal clear rivers, well, I’ll leave that hair-raising experience for you to discover for yourself. Many of the water activities are dotted amongst highly scenic wilderness areas, which are numerous right up and down the country.

The thing I liked best was how warm and relaxed the locals were. Every time we asked questions somewhere they seemed really keen to help and to tell us about the wonders of the place. The European New Zealanders are called Kiwi’s for some reason (named after a flightless bird that only comes out at night), and the indigenous people are Maori’s. Apparently in pre-colonial times the Maori’s used to eat people, but they seem a pretty friendly bunch now. Apart from the major cities, which were like small European cities, the pace of life seemed real nice and slow.

Here’s some of the absolutely must do things if you go there:

• Taking a boat trip around the great labyrinth of the Marlborough Sounds
• Fishing in lake Taupo, a lake the size of Singapore
• Tramping the Heaphy track (especially if you’re into exotic bird life)
• Doing the Kawarau Bridge Bungy, the original bungy jump from high over the glistening Kawarau river
• Visiting the garden city of Christchurch
• Seeing, and smelling, the amazing volcanic activity all around Rotorua
• Drinking great coffee and locally brewed beers all over the country
• (Apparently in winter, skiing the world-class ski fields of Mount Hutt)

Anyway, if you get a chance to go there just be careful, you might not want to come home. Oh and make sure you get a car or camper. This is a sparsely populated country and it just wouldn’t be the same without the freedom to drive where you want. We got great service from Rent-a-Dent. They seemed to have the country pretty well covered, in fact we couldn’t believe a couple of the tiny towns we saw their owner-operated branches in.

Just in time for the travel season, here is a guide to travel and altitude sickness that can help you prepare for any destination.

The term “altitude sickness” describes a group of disorders affecting the lungs, brain, and central nervous system after travelers arrive at an elevation over 8,000 feet (2,500 meters).

The most common altitude-related disorder is acute mountain sickness, or AMS. The hallmark diagnostic feature of AMS is headache. AMS occurs in persons who have recently arrived at altitude greater than 8,000 feet suffering dull, throbbing headache, worse when bending down or straining to reach, and more intense at night and during the morning. Other AMS symptoms may include vomiting, nausea, fatigue, vertigo, or insomnia. Mountain sickness may strike as soon as 1 hour after arrival, but more usually develops within 6 to 10 hours. It can be relieved by descent to a lower elevation, and usually dissipates with or without treatment in 3 to 7 days.

There is a set of factors that do not protect against AMS, including:

• Gender
• Physical condition
• Pre-ascent training
• Previous high-altitude experience
• Smoking or not smoking
• Youth or age

Counterintuitively, persons in good physical condition are actually more like to suffer AMS, not less. Younger, fit individuals are more likely to engage in vigorous physical activity and to go higher and faster than the less athletically inclined. Moreover, common conditions such as coronary artery disease, mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, hypertension, and pregnancy do not increase (or decrease) susceptibility to AMS. Persons under the age of 50, however, are more susceptible than older adults.

What are the factors that increase risk of AMS? The most important risk factor is previous incidence of altitude-related illness. If you have been to a given altitude before without symptoms, you can probably return to that altitude safely. However, if you have had problems at an altitude before, you will probably have problems at that altitude later.

At the other end of the spectrum of altitude-related disorders is high-altitude pulmonary edema. It less common than mountain sickness, but also strikes even the physically fit. About 8 per cent of climbers who develop acute mountain sickness at altitudes greater than 15,000 feet go to develop HAPE. HAPE is diagnosed by a combination of two symptoms and two signs in the setting of a recent gain in altitude:

Symptoms (at least 2):

• Dyspnea (being out of breath) at rest
• Cough
• Weakness or decreased exercise performance
• Chest tightness or congestion

Signs (at least 2):

• Rales or wheezing in at least 1 lung field
• Central cyanosis (blue color not just in the fingers but also in the lips and mouth)
• Tachypnea (breathing fast)
• Tachycardia (racing heart)

The symptoms of HAPE usually begin 1 to 3 days after arrival at a high altitude. There may be a dry cough, followed later by coughing yellow sputum and/or blood. A mild fever of up to 101° F (38.5° C) is not uncommon, although higher fever suggests pneumonia. These symptoms are caused by a condition analogous to a high-pressure leak in the lung. When the concentration of oxygen in the bloodstream goes down, the pulmonary artery constricts, and pulmonary artery pressure increases. This vasoconstriction, however, does not occur evenly throughout the lung. Some regions of the lung become engorged with blood, and the capillaries relieve their pressure by pouring water and proteins into the lung. As small patches of the lung are “flooded out,” the lungs absorb even less oxygen and the pathological process accelerates.

HAPE is a medical emergency, requiring immediate treatment on site and evacuation to lower altitude. Mountain sickness, however, is treatable.

The first thing travelers can do to avoid mountain sickness is to travel to high altitudes slowly. If you trek to a high altitude during the day, try to sleep at a lower altitude at night. Especially when climbing above 10,000 feet (3,000 meters), it is important to sleep at an elevation no more than 2,000 to 3,000 feet (600 to 900 meters) higher than the previous night. An alternate strategy is called staging.

You spend 2 to 3 days at an intermediate altitude (typically 8,000 feet/2,500 meters) before traveling higher. Every 3,000 to 4,000 feet (1,000 to 1,300 meters) up you spend another day acclimating to altitude. Unfortunately, few guided tours allow you the luxury of spending a day acclimating to altitude, and AMS is common.

Travelers to mountain destinations are also well-served to abandon their high-protein diets. Why? Eating carbohydrate and fat encourages they hypoxic ventilatory response. Simply put, carbs and fats have to be burned. The body produces more carbon dioxide, increasing the volume of respiration of carbon dioxide out, but also increasing the volume of respiration of oxygen in.

Finally, travelers to mountain destinations can take prophylactic treatment. The standby of mountain climbers, Diamox (acetazolamide) forces the kidneys to excrete bicarbonate. This acidifies the blood. Metabolic acidosis is a stimulant to respiration, increasing ventilation and oxygenation. Diamox prevents extreme hypoxia during sleep, but it also increases the need to urinate, which may be complicated in conditions of extreme wind and cold.

Be careful with the use of aspirin and Ibuprofen, particularly pretreatment with aspirin before travel to the mountain destination. NSAIDs stop headache, but may make you unaware of serious symptoms. Sleeping aids are also not recommended because they may depress respiration and decrease oxygenation.

Tourist Destinations at Elevations of More than 7,000 Feet Above Sea Level

Location
Altitude (Feet)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 7,900
Arequipa,Peru 7,559
Bogota, Colombia 8,653
Cuzco, Peru 11,152
Darjeeling, India 7,431
La Paz, Bolivia 12,001
Lhasa, Tibet 11,830
Mexico City 7,546
Quito, Ecuador 9,300
Sucre, Bolivia 8,530
Thimphu, Bhutan 7,700
Toluca, Mexico 8,793

Just in time for the travel season, here is all you need to know to avoid an unpleasant surprise from that seaside feast on your next vacation.

A frequently overlooked source of food poisoning is toxins in seafood. Shellfish poisoning, fish poisoning, ciguatera, red tide illness, and sombroid are special hazards to travelers because the toxins typically do not affect the taste, smell, or appearance of the fish or shellfish. Moreover, cooking, drying, freezing, or smoking does not affect them.

Ciguatera poisoning occurs in coral reef fish that have consumed toxic algae. The highest concentrations of ciguatera toxins are found in the gut, head, liver, and roe, usually disdained by Western travelers. Since the toxin is concentrated up the food chain, ciguatera is most common in carnivorous fish weighing more than 6 pounds (2.5 kilos). Barracuda, sea bass, grouper, jack, and moray eel are the most common reservoirs of the toxin. Most ciguatera outbreaks occur in Florida and Hawaii, although the toxin also occurs in fish caught in the Caribbean.

Symptoms of ciguatera poisoning begin with abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, with neurological sequelae, numbness and tingling in the arms, legs, and lips. There may be sensory reversal where cold objects feel hot; for instance, biting into an ice cream cone may cause a sensation of burning in the mouth. The teeth may feel numb or loose.

Symptoms may last weeks or months, and can be reactivated by eating alcohol, fish of any kind, or nuts.

Most cases of shellfish poisoning result from eating bivalve mollusks (clams, mussels, oysters, and scallops) that have been exposed to algal blooms or “red tides.” Fortunately, most cases have symptoms no worse than diarrhea, although amnesia, memory loss, and paralysis are not unknown. There is no medical treatment for shellfish poisoning.

Scombroid poisoning occurs after eating fish that has not been adequately chilled after capture. Tuna and related species contain high concentrations of the amino acid histamine. If the flesh is allowed to stand at warm temperatures, histidine is chemically converted to histamine, although the fish tastes, smells, and looks normal.

Histamine causes allergic reaction. Scombroid poisoning symptoms include abdominal cramps, diarrhea, flushing, headache, hives, nausea, and vomiting. Treatment with antihistamines (your product?) is very effective.

How do you avoid seafood poisoning?

• Avoid any fish that has a sharp, peppery taste even before it is seasoned (risk of scombroid poisoning).
• Avoid any fish that has an ammonia smell (risk of scombroid poisoning).
• Avoid reef fish that are larger than your plate (risk of ciguatera).
• Avoid shellfish harvested in areas suffering red tide
• Do not eat bivalve mollusks (clams, mussels, oysters, and scallops) in developing countries.
• If fish makes your tongue tingle, suspect ciguatera poisoning.

Spring Break is the time of year most college students look forward to. It’s right before the end of the semester and exactly what students need before cramming for finals, thesis projects and such. Spring break is a chance to get away from it all and have some fun. Spring break is essentially the biggest party of the year. And the college spring break experience is far different from that of high school, but it can also be quite expensive. Not every starving college student can foot the bill for a massive drinking fest in some exotic location. However that doesn’t mean they can’t still have the unique experience a spring break can bring, it’s all just a matter of timing and packaged deals.

Obviously the sooner you book your spring break plans the cheaper it will be. So plan early. Get together with your friends and decide where you want to hang out for a week then commit to it by making it happen. The more people involved the cheaper it will be as well. Check out all your options. By sitting down and figuring out the numbers you might be able to save a wad of cash. Or ask your travel agent about packaged deals. Some Spring Break companies in both Panama City and South Padre Island offer packages that include food, a specified number or hours of drinks and more. Think about it, forty hours of free drinks can be a lot if you schedule your days rights. Party it up for two days then relax for a couple and your alcohol bill won’t be that high.

Another great affordable spring break option is an all inclusive. For one flat fee you have access to an entire resort, all the food and drinks you can consume and lots of extras such as entertainment, sports and scheduled activities. Or catch a party bus! Party buses take you to your destination and allow you to start the celebration on the way there. Many even have connections with hotels and will offer a packaged deal. One special to Mazatlan in Mexico offers a 5 night stay at a hotel, transportation and some drinks for only $299. Now that’s a steal. A spring break experience can be planned on a budget; it is just a matter of doing some research and early planning. Have fun and try not to get yourself into too much trouble!

The word Tulúm is said to be a Yucatec (Mayan language spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula) Mayan word meaning fence or wall. The wall was about eight meters thick and 400 meters long on the side parallel to the sea. Though it is believed that’s its old name is Zama, meaning a city of dawn. Tulum really have a beautiful sunrise which is worth getting up early in the morning. This walled city gained its greatest importance during the 13th-15th century. Also became a major site in the Maya’s extensive trade network for the Post classic Mayans. Salt and textiles were just a few of the goods brought to Tulum by sea that would then be strewn inland. Exported goods include feathers and copper objects. Tradespersons could come ashore with their seafaring canoes. These canoes were up to 50 feet which were also carved from tropical hardwoods. El Castillo, the most impressive building in Tulum now, served as a lighthouse to make navigation easier. The castle is 7.5 meters tall and has a small shrine.

Tulum sits on the edge of a limestone cliff facing looking out over the vast turquoise ocean. Mayan ruins are one of the best-preserved coastal Maya sites and have a number of interesting structures from the ancient Mayan world. It is also the most visited archaeological sites on the Yucatan Peninsula. One can choose to ride a collectivo, which is a public transportation white colored van. Tour bus package prices vary widely, depending upon what is included. Just be early when you’re planning to visit the site. The view is really breathtaking. The pristine beach is so beautiful it is almost unreal. Some visitors bring their swimsuits and grab the chance of a refreshing swim. Don’t forget to bring you’re sunglasses, and a bottle of water which you can also buy at the entrance. Wear your sunscreen and hats.

You can find beachfront cabanas which is more expensive, but if your budget tight or looking for a bargain try those tulum hotels in town. Tulum accommodations, for the most part, are rustic and simple. Electricity around the beach area is limited. You won’t find air conditioners but most hotels have ceiling fans inside the rooms. This place is not for those people who are looking for luxury and updated facilities. This is the place for those who wanted to escape the busy modern world and searching for a serious and quiet relaxation.

If you’re a frequent flyer, you’ve probably heard about Yapta, the online travel site that helps consumers find discount flight tickets, plus track their flights for drops in prices. Yapta (Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant) is an innovative and very handy tool. It can be used in a variety of ways to help you save on flights, but it is primarily aimed at U.S. flyers.

If you regularly fly out of Heathrow Airport in London, you can still take advantage of Yapta to receive bargains and discounts on certain flights and airlines - especially if you’re flying to the U.S. The savings can be substantial and Yapta is so easy to use, there’s really no reason not to try it.

Tracking Flights Pre-Purchase

The first way to save on airfare with Yapta is by monitoring the price of flights you’re interested in before you buy. If you know you want to fly from Heathrow to Barcelona, you can search for available flights for your travel dates on Yapta. You can browse the possible flights that are returned in Yapta’s results, and then decide which flights you would like to track. When you choose to track a flight, Yapta will automatically alert you if the price of that ticket drops, so you know how airfares for your potential flight are trending.

The obvious benefit of tracking flights with Yapta is the ability to be informed about price drops you can take advantage of when making a purchase. Yapta will let you know if the ticket you’re tracking drops in price, but it’s still up to you decide when to make a purchase.

The majority of airlines that fly out of Heathrow are not yet supported by Yapta, but several major International airlines are. This means you can find and track flights from Heathrow on these airlines. Heathrow airlines that are currently supported by Yapta include:

American Airlines
Continental Airlines
United Airlines
Lufthansa
Air France
British Airways
Singapore Airlines
Cathay Pacific
Japan Airlines
SAS
Virgin Atlantic
Air Canada

Tracking Flights Post-Purchase

There’s another way you can potentially save on flights out of Heathrow with Yapta, and that’s by tracking flights post-purchase. The advantage of tracking flight prices after you make a purchase is that some airlines offer travel vouchers, credits or refunds if your ticket price drops. Not all airlines offer these types of refunds - in fact, most of Heathrow’s airlines do not. However, if you are traveling on American Airlines, Continental Airlines, or United Airlines, you could be eligible for a refund or credit voucher if your ticket price drops after purchase.

In order to be eligible for a refund or credit voucher from an airline, you essentially need to cancel and then rebook your flight at the cheaper price. Continental and American Airlines charge a fee of between $150 and $250 U.S dollars to rebook, depending on your destination. However, Yapta will take this rebooking fee into account when alerting you of price drops. United Airlines does not charge a rebooking fee at all.

Although Yapta will only be of limited use to Heathrow travelers in terms of post-purchase refunds, the pre-purchase potential savings on airfare is impressive. Since Yapta is free and very easy to use, you have nothing to lose by signing up and tracking your flights with Yapta-supported airlines. It takes just a few minutes to visit Yapta.com, create an account, and choose your alert settings. You’ll be amazed at how efficient this service is, and when you see your first airfare price drop - you’ll be delighted, too.

Christmas is fast approaching us and it will soon pass by in a flash of a second. Schools will be breaking up soon as well as people getting a hard earned break from work. Christmas is a great festive season for more than one reason to be honest, lets just take a brief look at why:

1) You get to spend time with the family, time that has been lost throughout the year.
2) You get to have a break and relax. You have probably been working hard all year and a lot of companies only close over the festive season.
3) Catch up on all your favourite programs and movies over the festive period.

But once Christmas and New Year is over people start to go into a state of depression again. They look outside and it is cold and dark and they really have nothing to look forward too. But that’s where everyone goes wrong. There is plenty to look forward too. Let’s just take a look at a few things that you can potentially do to cheer yourself up.

1) It’s a new year meaning a new start; all of your favourite times of the year will come around again such as summer, Easter and Halloween not to mention your preferred TV shows.
2) Book your Holiday, whether your booking it for Christmas or Summer, now is the best time to book. You can get great deals on Caribbean holidays, cruises and many more luxury holidays.
3) Your birthday will come around again, a new year means a new birthday for you, start making plans early on so everything falls into place.
4) Shop for Christmas! Yes that’s right, do your Christmas shopping in the January sales, you are bound to save yourself a fortune on gifts. You could also pick up a new Christmas tree or decorations on the cheap.
5) Plan more family days together. If the reason you love Christmas is because all the family get together, then what’s stopping you organising a weekend together. I am sure that once you plan things correctly
6) If you are a tech fanatic then you can look forward to a whole new set of gadgets and gizmos in the upcoming year, ranging from mobile phones to sound systems and more.

As you can see there are plenty of reasons to be cheerful for the New Year, once Christmas day has finished do not get upset, open your eyes and look forwards.

Watching the children grow and mature, seeing the wife having fun, and I must admit a little selfishness for myself because I like to fish a bit and explore with the sail boat; are the most important things to me. We live and work in a congested city. Even relaxed times are punctuated with some tension. We traveled to the beach one summer week end and found a different living style and a different pace.

We bought a house and enjoyed it for two years. Then the deterioration of the house and equipment from ocean corrosion, and the crowded congestion reminded us that we had accepted conditions at the beach that are all too similar to our urban living.

A friend from college days called and invited the family to spend the week end with his family at “the lake”. I was not thrilled with the thought of a day at the lake when I had the whole ocean. Our two daughters thought it would be fun. I knew that was because my college buddy would have his daughter and handsome teen age son there. So, we agreed to spend the week end at “the lake”.

His house was modest, but the water and the view were spectacular. I was surprised at my first impression. His house was nine years old and looked like it was two. No corrosion and very fine landscaping. The first morning there we just sat and caught up on the past while the children giggled. That afternoon we sailed a bit. The next morning we fished. I found that I was relaxed and did not look forward to leaving. Some friends came over the previous evening for a chardonnay party, but crowds were non existent.

The next week I thought about it all. My wife said “why do we drive to the beach and that confusion, when the lake is so comfortable”? That was all I needed. We sold the beach house and built a house we really like at the lake. We spend many week-ends there, and I am even more pleasant at work.

By the way, our house is in North Carolina at Kerr Lake. We may even retire there when the time is right.

Hainan Booths Attracted 80,000 Visits in China International Tourism Fair (Shanghai).

The 4 days China International Tourism Fair 2008 closed on November 24th in Shanghai. Hainan’s booths characteristic of plentiful tropical elements attracted a total of 80,000 people. Some of the Hainan Tourism enterprises participating the fair got booming business.

During those two fair days open to public, Shanghai citizens and tourists collect tourism catalogues, brochures and interested travel information for home and abroad tours. According to incomplete statistics, by the close of trade fair, Hainan’s dozens corporate exhibitors given out of totally 25 million copies of the travel information to businessmen, buyers, as well as tourists. 280 potential travel contracts are signed, covering 600,000 tourists. One of the Hainan exhibitor Pearl River International Travel Service and Chenda International Travel Service signed the tourism contract with the Russian enterprises, the contracted potential groups number reaches tens of thousands of people; Hainan Kang Tai International Travel Service’s signed contract involves a number of 5 million potential domestic tourists.

The Hainan Provincial Tourism Administration was awarded the “the Best Booth Award” and “Award for Outstanding Organization” in the trade fair summary meeting in the afternoon.

From the current trade situation, Hainan tourism resources’ development has two obvious trends: First, pay more attention to the depth development of tourist resources, enhance the tourism-oriented product brand of characteristics. For example, turned the tourism resources into the “eco-tourism.” Second, take full advantage of the increasingly mature tourism resources in Hainan Province like those in Sanya, Haikou and so on; and attractions such as hot springs, Hainan fish treatment, Sea View line, golf tours, and so on.