Down Under, in Australia, the problems created in the aftermath of the cyclone called the Ului has once again underlined the importance of carrying a comprehensive visitors insurance package when traveling overseas.

The cyclone that did little damage in terms of human casualties did reduce the travel plans of many travelers to absolute chaos. It was reported that massive parts of Queensland where completely blacked-out and there was no access to basic of utilities for many backpackers. As it turned out, many of these backpackers couldn’t seek an emergency evacuation simply because they realized that the impending costs for seeking such services would leave them virtually broke, making it difficult to return to their native country. If these travelers had bothered to pay the token amount of premiums that are charged for most of the visitors insurance packages that offer emergency evacuation services too, such issues could have been easily resolved.

And this situation arose when Australia is counted among the global touring destinations that are least likely to have travel plans cancelled at the last moment due to natural or human factors and where the healthcare services are largely affordable. Just imagine the size of such a crisis if it happens in a country like the United States wherein despite breakthrough healthcare reforms being just introduced by President Obama, healthcare is perhaps the most argued issue even for US citizens and seeking medical care, if you happen to be a tourist, can literally bankrupt you. This is why when vacationing experts and travel guides ask you to buy visitor insurance, they aren’t pushing you towards making an unwanted expenditure. The idea is to recommend investing a little something in a form of insurance that can safeguard you in an overseas destination.  Read more...

A savvy road trip planner knows that if she sees a trip with both the words March and Beach in the itinerary, chances are she’s looking at a destination near or south of the equator. While someone living in the Northern hemisphere might remark, “February & March are our bundle-up months,” an Aussie would say, “Nah, mate, that’s the hook end of summer here.”

Summer is equated with beaches…and fun! And there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy a summer road trip in July or August and get another taste of it in February or March (or vice versa). Memories of your double summer vacations will keep you toasty all winter long.

So let’s plan a road trip to one of Australia’s beach towns. BUT FIRST, DID YOU KNOW Australia is the only country that has a whole continent to itself? While Antarctica is also a continent unto itself, it is not considered a country nor has it been claimed by any other country. That said, even though it’s the “smallest” continent, it still has over 4 million square miles, a population of over 20 million people and some of the most awesome beaches you’ll find anywhere in the world.

AUSTRALIA’S SEASONS:
- Summer: December to February (first rains in November with the Wet Season in January and February, into the last of rains mid-April)
- Autumn: March to May (Last of rains into the beginning of the hot dry period)
- Winter: June to August (cooler dry period)
- Spring: September to November (humid period into the first rains)  Read more...

Byron Bay
A magnificent seaside town located in Norther New South Wales and home to the most eastern point of Australia. Back in the dream time period of Australian History, Byron Bay was known as Cavvanbah and was a place for the native Australian Aborigines to congregate swap stories, find marriage partners and trade goods. Now Byron Bay is a tourism magnet to backpackers and people looking for a small beach town holiday. Home to some of Australia’s best music festivals, they include the East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival and Splendor In The Grass. Byron Bay is also a very popular whale watching destination during the winter migration of the Humpback Whale.

Mt Tamborine
Mt Tambourine is located high above the Gold Coast on a plateau within the Gold Coast Hinterland. Mt Tamborine has developed a booming tourism industry thanks to the increasing popularity of its locally owned and unique restaurants, accommodation options and health and spa retreats. For nature lovers and hikers Mt Tamborine also has a number of well cared for trials that snake through rainforest, past cliffs, waterfalls and across trickling streams full of life. Some of the well known tracks include Curtis Falls rainforest track, the Knoll. Mt Tamborine also host a very popular town market that is held on the second Sunday of every month.  Read more...

Pre-industrial

Several centuries BC: (Relief carvings made at this time show Assyrian soldiers crossing rivers using inflated goatskin floats. Several modern authors have wrongly said that the floats were crude breathing sets and that they show frogmen in action.)

Ancient Roman and Greek times, etc.: There have been many instances of men swimming or diving for combat, but they always had to hold their breath, and had no diving equipment, except sometimes a hollow plant stem used as a snorkel. See this link (in Portuguese).

About 500 BC: (Information originally from Herodotus): During a naval campaign the Greek Scyllis was taken aboard ship as prisoner by the Persian King Xerxes I. When Scyllis learned that Xerxes was to attack a Greek flotilla, he seized a knife and jumped overboard. The Persians could not find him in the water and presumed he had drowned. Scyllis surfaced at night and made his way among all the ships in Xerxes’s fleet, cutting each ship loose from its moorings; he used a hollow reed as snorkel to remain unobserved. Then he swam nine miles (15 kilometers) to rejoin the Greeks off Cape Artemisium.

The use of diving bells is recorded by the Greek philosopher Aristotle in the 4th century BC: “…they enable the divers to respire equally well by letting down a cauldron, for this does not fill with water, but retains the air, for it is forced straight down into the water.”  Read more...

Getting a discount airline ticket has its obvious benefits, but is it worth waiting and rearranging your schedule just to save $20, $50, or even $100? I would argue that yes it is.

If you are anything like me, you cannot stand it when you find out that someone paid a much lower (discounted) fare than you did. When I find out that the passenger next to me got a cheap airfare, I think, “Why was that seat so much cheaper than mine?” It looks the same, feels the same, smells the same, but somehow it was worth much less then my cramped isle seat. That makes me a very unhappy backpacker, especially when I am traveling on a budget.

When you board the airplane you will be sitting next to a variety of travelers, and the likelihood is that there are some who have paid full fare, while others got their tickets seriously discounted, why? Simple supply and demand. When there is high demand for a certain route, the airline wants you to pay full fare. When the demand is low, they are much more willing to offer discounted airfare.

You may think that if there is low demand then they will simply cancel the flight. Maybe. But not likely. When the flight goes on sale, people begin purchasing tickets almost immediately. Consumers depend on airlines to honor the ticket that they have been issued. For Business Travelers this is especially important. It would be detrimental if an airline got a reputation for unreliable and poorly scheduled flights. I admit, this does happen, but look at the reputation of the airline that does this – likely not very good!  Read more...