Posts Tagged ‘Miami’

Ten Necessities for Your Vacation


2010
05.28

Are you ready for a great vacation in a sunny, warm, and possibly sandy area? Ingredients for a hot holiday youll remember for a lifetime are easy to plan. Here are a few to keep in mind:

First, make sure your rooms at the resort are booked in advance. Many of the best vacation resorts are fully booked ahead of time, and having reservations will make sure you have a roof over your head. In fact, some of the best destinations are booked months in advance, so do your planning early. Also remember that you may get better rates on your hotel by paying in advance.

Second, make sure your money is safe. Rather than carrying cash, use travelers checks. If travelers checks are lost or stolen they can be quickly replaced. Or, better yet, use a credit card. Most resorts take the major bank cards. Youll have a record of your purchases and the ability to dispute any inaccurate claims. If your card is lost or stolen, it can also be quickly replaced and you wont be responsible for fraudulent purchases made with it. Nothing could ruin a great vacation faster than having your cash lost or stolen with no way to replace it, so dont take that chance. Use credit cards or travelers checks and be safe.

Third, make sure the kids are taken care of. If your children are traveling with you, make sure the resort has adequate play areas and hopefully a daycare service so that youll really have a vacation without chasing the kids through the sand all the time. Many resorts have activity directors for the childrens events, and the kids will have a great time.

Next, what is the nightlife like? If you and your significant other want to dance the night away, fantastic! Just make sure that the location you pick has a reputation for quality nightlife. Warm vacation spots that pride themselves on good nightclubs include Key West a favorite of Ernest Hemmingway; Miami the home of Gloria Estefan; Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Diego, and if you dont mind skipping the beach, Las Vegas has some of the most exciting night life on earth. And remember to take along some cab fare. Definitely dont drive when youve been drinking.

Next think comedy. Are there good comedy clubs in the area? Nothing beats a good stand up comedian. And if stand up isnt your bag, what other entertainment do you prefer. Magicians and musicians are always popular.

Water sports and excitement go together, and most warm, sunny vacation spots include plenty of both. How about parasailing or hang gliding? What about Scuba diving, snorkeling, or swimming with the dolphins. If you like the water but dont want to get wet yourself, check out the deep sea fishing if you are ocean side. If in Florida, remember all the inland lakes and the trophy bass they hold.

Number seven in our list of necessities is a practical matter. Make sure that either you speak the language of the natives, or they speak English. That makes Jamaica a great hot spot, as well as Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Also Bermuda, Tahiti and the Dominican Republic are waiting to provide you with a wonderful vacation in paradise.

Number eight is rather simple. Is transport in and out of your vacation paradise easy? Do they have a quality airport? Or will you be driving. Make sure the transportation needs are easily taken care of.

Next, number nine, sure to be a hit with the ladies, is shopping. Does your warm sunny vacation destination have adequate shopping facilities? Nothing makes a woman happier than a chance to shop.

Finally, the top necessity for your warm and sunny destination is that it be a place youve always wanted to visit. Whether youve always desired a Florida beach, a California surfing wave, or a tropical island, make sure that your destination is one youve always wanted to visit. And number eleven, as a bonus, is to bring along the video camcorder and still photo camera so that you can record the memories of your vacation and enjoy them for years to come.

Spending Less On Your Grand Bahamas Vacation


2010
04.29

Want to travel the Grand Bahamas but have a tight budget? Starting to get tired of listening about everyones exotic getaway adventures? Are you ready to have your own Grand Bahamas vacation for less than what they spent?

The Grand Bahamas Islands are located in the Bahamas fifty-five miles south of Miami. An ecological wonder with emerald green water, captivating marine life, fascinating fishing villages, and endless breathtaking beaches are just some of the attractions that make it a perfect destination for a perfect vacation. But just thinking of spending your perfect vacation in the Bahamas makes you think that you will need to spend a fortune just to get there. Well theres a way for you to have that perfect vacation and spend less than a fortune. Its either save money before getting there or your savings come once you arrive at your selected spot in the Grand Bahamas.

All you have to do is to plan the places you want to go, activities you want to do, hotels you want to stay at, and the type of flight to Grand Bahamas you want to have. After planning out your vacation, look for websites on the Internet that give great deals on Grand Bahamas vacation packages. Simply by comparing each of the sites vacation packages and their prices can give you options on which of the packages suit your vacation needs at an affordable price.

Knowing what you want, what you need, and what you want to experience may help. Getting information about the island may also help in determining the places you want to go and what activities are happening in those places. By searching the web you can also discover that you can have that dream vacation with prices of up to eighty percent less than what your friends are spending.

You can also refer to resource directory websites. They offer vacation information for major vacation destinations such as the Grand Bahamas. Most websites offer great deals on Bahamas vacation packages, and they contain information on Bahamas vacation properties for rent like cottages and houses, romantic island vacations, and premium Grand Bahamas vacation condominium rentals.

Some comprehensive resources can provide you with a business directory, an inter-island guide that covers not only Grand Bahamas but all Bahamas islands and travel advisories regarding hotel accommodations, Bahaman activities, breathtaking beaches, and dining options suitable for your budget. If you want your trip to the Grand Bahamas to be affordable, most travel consolidators recommend well known destinations like the Grand Bahamas because various airlines or charter planes serve them, and millions of travelers go to these places each year. Travel companies compete for customers which drives down the costs for almost everything from flight packages, hotel accommodation and tour packages.

Planning your vacation on the right place at the right time will help you achieve that vacation of a lifetime. So have a sneak peek of what is to come on your dream vacation in the Grand Bahamas without the worry of spending a fortune.

Inexpensive Travel


2010
03.23

Inexpensive travel can be accomplished in two basic ways. First, get the best deals on the specific things you want. This approach is very limited though. For example, if you find the lowest price on the best hotel in Honolulu at the height of the season, you’ll save money, but still have a very expensive room. Trying to get exactly what you want – or think you want – is an expensive proposition, in travel and in life.

The other approach to inexpensive travel is to be an opportunist. This may be difficult for some, and entirely unacceptable to others. Nonetheless, the travelers who get to travel the most, learn the most and do the most, are the opportunists.

When I first went to Ecuador, I went because it was cheap. If it wasn’t, I would have had a great time anyhow – somewhere else. A month cost $1045, including airfare, a $130 fee for a guide to take me to the top of glacier-covered Mount Chimborazo, and everything else.

I cut the cost by taking a bus from my home in Michigan to Miami. Round-trip ticket: $158. The round-trip flight to Quito from Miami costs $256, because it was a courier flight. This meant I signed for some luggage (car parts), and could only take carry-on luggage.

I never felt deprived or bored. I had a great time, eating wherever it was cheap and clean, doing inexpensive and interesting things, and traveling across the country to climb Chimborazo. I also met and fell in love with my wife Ana.

How To Be An Opportunist Traveler

Can you drink rum at a dollar per bottle, instead of your favorite beer? Can you eat chicken instead of steak? How about visiting the free sights first, and dancing in the street festival instead of the disco?

As an opportunistic traveler you’ll have more fun, and almost everything you want – eventually. Just stop trying to get exactly what you want exactly when you want it. If the guide for Chimborazo hadn’t dropped his price from $200 to $130, I would have spent $2 for a bus and gone hiking on El Altar, another great Andean mountain. It would have left me with enough money for several other minor adventures.

There are many things to learn about how to travel cheap. On our last trip to Ecuador, for example, my wife and I discovered a way to save $1000 on plane tickets. Good information can save you a lot of money. A flexible, open-minded approach, however, is the real key to inexpensive travel.

Why I Love Miami Beach Florida


2010
03.09

Among the many attractive reasons for visiting Miami Beach, Florida, are, of course, the excuse now known as the must-attend Spring Break, or the roller-blading beach beauties, or the ideal weather conditions.

But more glamorous reasons, transcending the travelers penchant for balmy bay winds and such, is in the reputation a place like Miami Beach, Florida has for featuring popular TV programs and series and hosting films which have a Miami Beach, Florida setting.

The first long-standing show of the past is of course the Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas original Miami Vice version, which highlighted the Miami Beach, Florida scenes, ocean- and landscapes, and even southern fashions of the seventies and eightiesthe open necked t-shirt and sports coat and shoes without socks look that spread through the land as fast as Disco gold chains and polyester did.

But in the same genre, thirty years later, the even more influential Miami Beach, Florida show is CSI: MIAMI. The hang-dog heroic, the neo-Clint Eastwood with an intellect of David Carusos character leads the team into the Miami Beach, Florida luxury homes, onto the speedboats and yachts, and through the hippest of clubs of the famous party town. The details are fascinating; the scenes are riveting.

So maybe the crime statisticsimpliedare too off-putting for one to think of actually taking vacation at Miami Beach, Florida.

Then the cinematic way to go is by old films and newer non-detective/mystery/crime story themes. That is, maybe one can understand the local offerings, the schools, the libraries, the networking possibilities, the real estate, by watching Police Academy or Bad Santa or Wild Things.

Maybe one can get a sense of the aesthetics, the social climate, and the politics of Miami Beach, Florida in a movie such as the new Miami Vice or the older, more non-fictionalized A Sculpture of Love and Anguish: The Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial.

Or, maybe one can appreciate the straight up beaches and wind in the palms atmosphere in films like Always Something Better; Black Sunday; or The Godfather or The Crew.

Sure, it may be an odd, quirky way to go about looking for real estate in Miami Beach Florida or deciding on the ideal vacation hotel or venue.

Then again, it might be a more realistic impression to closely watch a show than to read a pamphlet or twoand besides, how do you think 3-D advertising got its start?