Travel Editor

Many hotels are now following in the footsteps of the airline check-in counters with their own check-in/check-out kiosks. Like the kiosks in the airport, these kiosks are to ease the flow and the time of checking in and out by providing the opportunity to choose a room and provide the magnetic key card, as well as providing payment options and expedient check-out.

Will this finally replace the check-in desks at hotels? While it is a hope that it will decrease the labor costs because the process is handled by a machine rather than a person, it is not exactly a concrete guarantee.

According to an article in the June 27, 2005 issue of TravelAgent Magazine, the kiosks are just a service provided to customers so that they don't have to wait in long lines, and the person at the Customer Service Desk can help those who actually need to speak to someone.

More will come on this I imagine....

Labels: check-in, check-out, customer service, front desk, kiosk

Posted by Anonymous at 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments

Seeing that this is a travel blog, and I have done some traveling, I wanted to share my experience as an exchange student in London during the summer between my junior and senior years of college. Now, let me establish that the university I was attending did have a study abroad program, but the locations were not what I wanted, nor were the classes offered, so I decided to go with my own. After a few months of research, I came across the American Institute for Foreign Study. Their all-inclusive package was the one that appealed to me the most, and made sure to offer the most information which was a relief to my mother. I won't bother to go through the process I undertook to get the classes that I was taking approved and accredited with my institution, as it is not relevant to this article, but I will say... be prepared for a lot of paperwork if you're a student who is deciding to go the same route that I did, especially if you're also adding financial aid to the mix!

I budgeted about... $12,000 USD for my entire trip. The program, including tuition, room and board, and airline travel expenses all were about $8,000 give or take a few hundred, so I had about $4, 000 to spend for six weeks on excursions, dining out, a few pints at some local pubs, a Tube pass for at least a month and a few weeks, souvenirs and theatre shows for my first class. I budgeted about $200 USD/week for needs after the Tube pass necessity was out of the way. Depending on the exchange rates while you're there, you might need more or less money depending on what you have to do. For up-to-date info on the exchange rates around the world check out XE.com.

When all the I's were dotted and all the T's were finally crossed, I found myself at the International Terminal at my local international airport (again not important to name names). Outbound from the U.S. to London's Heathrow, I didn't have too much trouble with TSA, just the usual security measures, and viewing of my passport. I was there uber early, though, about three hours' worth, just in case, but it wasn't too bad. About two weeks prior to my trip, I had received my information packet, including the letter that said that I was indeed accepted into the program and that I would be staying at a dormitory, and whatnot. This was very important to keep in my carry-on stuff along with my passport, and you'll see why later. The information packet also included emergency phone numbers (which did come in handy), a travel itinerary, some information about London, and, being an exchange student, safety tips, and information about our traveler's health insurance. This is information you should always keep handy. You'll never know when you might need it.

I was excited that I was going on this trip all by myself outside the country! It was my first time, and I was a bit intimidated, too. Just before I boarded the plane I talked to my mom on the phone -- the first of many phone calls during that trip! She was a little freaked, too. After all, her youngest child was heading off to England alone!

She wished me luck on my trip, asked me to call her when I got there, regardless that it would be 2 AM EST when I arrived at the airport! She wouldn't sleep well until she knew I was safely on the ground and in my dorms. She also asked that I keep in contact with home and send pictures of my adventures. Then.. I boarded the plane, said a quick prayer to God that I wouldn't drown or crash over the Atlantic Ocean, and met the other students that were from my area who were on the same program. After months of preparation I was off to Merrie Olde England!


To prepare for the trip I had a checklist provided by the AIFS, as well as other bits of information from the U.S. State Department and the British Consulate or Embassy. I wanted to familiarize myself with where I was going, both for the sake of safety, and because it was fun! I actually started gathering and packing stuff for my trip about 2 months in advance! I also had my mother make TWO copies of my Passport and my Driver's License. This is very, very important to do, and excellent advice! I did this because I kept a copy at home with my mother, along with any paperwork and travel information she needed, and I kept the originals and the copies with myself for my trip. While in London, I carried around the copy of my passport and my actual license for ID purposes, and I kept my passport in the lock up safe in my dorm room. Hierarchally speaking, my passport (with my social security number and vital citizenship info) was more important to me than my Driver's license (which has a number and some info, but not my SSN).

I also made sure I met the luggage requirements for the airline I was traveling. The two major carriers for the U.S. to U.K. travel are Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. In addition to all that, also had to make sure I had enough medicine and toiletries for six weeks, and I had enough room in my luggage for all of it. I know that stores in England would have what I needed, like shampoo and other hair care products, and pretty much anything major that I needed, but I'm pretty picky about stuff for my hair, and since I was going to a foreign country, then I wanted to make sure I knew what I was using. For the most part, however, if you're staying longer than two weeks, just buy your toiletries over there.

Another piece of good advice that I received was to have at least $200 USD in British pounds sterling (they don't use the Euro) as free money divided among my person and things. It would be useful to have some cash on hand at least at the beginning. Trust me, it was very useful!

Finally, I had to make sure I packed correctly. I wanted to bring back souvenirs for family and friends, and I needed to make sure I'd have some room in my luggage for the t-shirts, shot glasses, and other memorabilia.


Photo of the British Phone Booths courtesy of Mirakel G. Mayoral (latinspaceangel), Morguefile.com

Labels: British, London, passport, student, study abroad, Travel

Posted by Anonymous at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments

As airplane passengers, anticipation and excitement (or dread) usually comes with being unaware of who you will be placed next to when you board a plane. If you fly frequently, you're sure to have experienced the seat adjacent to the crazy old grandma, the snoring narcoleptic, the crying baby, or better yet, the insomnia-stricken blabbermouth. Unfortunately, airlines don't provide a little red button reading "trap door" to send your seatmate into a cloudy abyss, but if you dig a little bit, you will find that there are many advantages to simply knowing how to interact with strangers.

Flying is a perfect place to pick up ideas and trends, especially in technology. In striking up a conversation, you may find that this new seatmate of yours would actually be a potential client and you may find yourself giving him your business card. A few good etiquette tips are: be sure to speak softly, avoid personal questions, and read the person's body language. Somehow being confined to a small space for a number of hours gives people a sense of togetherness and it's not hard to find something in common (like how horrible the flight is).

However there are some perils to provoking even small-talk with a complete stranger. An example of this would be listening to seemingly endless hours of nonsense about the person's last surgery. In these cases you must be prepared with escape techniques. You may use gestures and body language to do this rather than rudely ending a conversation and being stuck in an "awkward silence" position for the rest of your flight. Putting on headphones, reading a book, or faking sleep, are all not-so-rude techniques to get out of a fix.

While terror attacks and bomb threats have decreased tourist activity in the past few years, numbers are once again rising. Airlines are beginning to replace their 136-seat MD-80s with 188-seat 757s in order to better accommodate the mass quantities of travelers. So in the midst of your travel to a new and exciting land, be sure to be friendly because you'll never know the treasures you'll find!

Labels: advice, airplane, etiquette, Flight

Posted by Sparkling at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments

We love to travel, but how do other countries see us? Even more of an issue is how do we not stand out as the "Ugly American" or even as an American in foreign countries we are visiting?

Recently MSN's Travel Editors published an article talking about the "Ugly American" and it is now a debate topic on the MSN message boards. Many of us don't see (and some don't care) about how the world views American tourists. Over the past decade views of American tourists have worsened around the world, mostly due to our government's actions, but also due to the collective cultural identity that we have established over the course of world history. When we go overseas we represent the United States in some way, and while the outspoken American is valued here in the States, it may not be so around the world.

It seems that we have somehow obtained the collective personality of being crass, boastful, arrogant, and disrespectful of the local culture. While some people are like that, not everyone is, but a few bad apples ruin the bushel.

An organization named Business for Diplomatic Action was has published the World Citizen's Guide as a tool to suggest proper behavior when traveling abroad. Some might think there is no need for such a guide, and that Americans should be able to act any way they please, but the BDA seems to feel as the economy and business go global, it is imperative to take a look at how the rest of the world views us, and take a long, hard look at how we act when visiting another country. It's like being in someone's home. You don't want to go into someone's home and insult them, do you? By the same token, don't go into another's home country and insult the culture! It's called the Golden Rule - Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

Some of the tips they offer on their website include:

• Be humble. No one like a braggart, and in many countries it's considered rude to boast, so keep the fact that you have money or power to a minimum.
• Keep from lecturing. If it's not a compliment, or even necessary, don't say anything. No one likes a know-it-all. Who knows? You might learn something!
• Keep your voice down. Being loud is considered rude in a lot of countries, especially those with a particularly reverent kind of people or religion.
• Keep your words clean! There are a lot of places where even casual profanity is frowned upon, or even implicitly unacceptable. Keep the profanity to your hotel room, or save it for your private moments, but don't go offending the local populace, even accidentally.
• Appearance is everything. In many countries throughout the world there are standards of dress. For example, while here in the U.S. it's perfectly allowable for women to go around in shorts and a tank top, there are other countries that will find that kind of attire disrespectful to their culture or their beliefs.
  

My advice is simply to do your homework before you go anywhere that's not in the United States. Make sure that you know a little about the place you're going (or a lot if that's your preference ^_^) . Learn about some local customs, local foods, or even local ways of saying hello, thank you, etc. If we can all make an effort perhaps the negative "Ugly American" stereotype will start to change.

Labels: American, foreign travel, tourist

Posted by Anonymous at 2:57 PM | Permalink | Comments

When entering one's home, a visitor abides by the invisible rules of respect and courtesy in exchange for the host's hospitality. The same applies to a tourist in a foreign country; you would not want to disturb the citizens of Israel in their own homeland. However, foreigners are encouraged to ask questions because the friendly natives are more than eager to share about their heritage, politics, and religion. Just be sure you are talking to trustworthy people who won't take advantage of your naivete. If you take a trip to Israel, the one phrase you will probably learn return home with is shalom which means "peace" but is used as a greeting.

Contrary to popular belief, you won't find the majority of the country walking around in jet-black suites with curls streaming down their heads, running around reciting words from a little prayer book all day long.

Israelis are dressed, for the most part, casually. Exceptions are in religious holy places where modest attire is appropriate for the occasion. If you want to see the Orthodox in mass quantities, go to the infamous Wailing Wall where you will find many people bowing and praying or writing prayers on little pieces of paper which are then shoved into cracks in the wall.

Customs are slightly different than that of other countries, especially America. Almost everything shuts down for shabbat which is the Jewish Sabbath, or religious high holidays. Shabbat always falls on Friday nights at sunset until sunset the next day. Most people stay indoors during this time, for it is a holy time, so you won't find buses running or shops open, and very few people will be on the roads. You will want to find a place to stay and rest, keeping in mind that smoking is usually offensive to the Orthodox Jews on this day.

Cuisine in Israel is absolutely amazing. The different styles of foods, from spicy to sweet, represent the different places Jews have come from all over the world. Most restaurants follow the original dietary laws and are labeled kosher which means "fit to eat." These dietary laws stretch back thousands of years. Even though prescriptions are specific, there is room for interpretation in many cases. Don't be weary, you may find some places that will serve a pile of bacon and a cold glass of milk, you just have to search.

As for transportation, buses are the most efficient automobiles to get from place to place because of how cheap and fast they are. Many citizens do not even own cars, but rather use the bus transportation system provided by the government. Two bus companies EGGES and DAN are the most popular.

For a guided tour of the land, go here. You may build your own dream tour and go to the places you personally would like to visit. Ofcourse you may have to do some research of your own to find a less expensive price.

All-in-all this country is not one you would want to miss when traveling the world. They say if you ever get a chance to travel anywhere in the world, go to Israel. It is rich in religious diversity and is overflowing with enriching historical facts and sites that can even be found in the Bible.

Labels: foreign travel, Israel, tourist

Posted by Sparkling at 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

It has been decreed by the powers that be (aka The United States Department of State) that now everyone traveling outside the US needs a passport! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that means that your 3-month old child needs a passport if you're taking them over the border to Canada to see Niagara Falls. On the U.S. DoS website, under "Minors under age 14" there is a list of documents needed for all minors under the age of 14, including infants, to get their first passport.

For minors under the age of 15, a passport is valid for 5 years, while for those 15 + it's valid for 10 years. It is a good idea, however, to get Baby's passport renewed every few years if you are the type of family that travels a lot.

Something to remember: First-timers under 14 years of age need to have certain documents, as well as both parents' signatures in order to make their application official and satisfactory. If the child is under the custody of one parent only, then that parent must show notarized proof (such as a court order of custody, including travel) that he/she can sign for the minor without the other parent being present. If that, or any of the forms listed in the "under 14" section of the site, is not available, then the parent will have to fill out a separate form - the DS-3053 which also needs to be notarized.

Another reminder: It is now required to have an appointment with a Passport Agency (if you decide to go that route instead of, say, your local post office or any other public passport acceptance facility). Each one is designated a specific area and being found in Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Connecticut, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington D.C.

So if you want to take your new baby to your family's home somewhere outside the U.S. for the holidays, you better start the passport paperwork now, as it takes approximately six weeks for all the processing to go through.

More to come regarding passports and international travel...

Happy traveling and clear skies!!


Passport Photograph by Kevin Connors - Morguefile.com

Labels: baby, foreign travel, passport, Security, Travel

Posted by Anonymous at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments