Thailand is known as the land of smiles, which is amazing considering the traffic jams in Bangkok. For budget travelers, Thailand simply can’t beat on price alone.
Thailand
Thailand is an odd mix of contrasts. It can be extremely stressful while trying to get around in Bangkok and gloriously relaxing while laying on practically any of the beaches that populate the coast of the country. Regardless of the situation, the Thais have a habit and custom or smiling regardless of what you ask or how you ask it.
Beaches
The beaches of Thailand need no introduction. Used as the setting for hundreds of movies, they come in a variety of styles. The beaches of Phuket and Phi Phi fall along the lines of traditional beach resort areas like you might find in a place such as Cancun, Mexico or Tamarindo, Costa Rica. On the other end of the scale, you can find more rustic beach areas in places like the island of Ko Chang where you’ll have a few beach bungalows, a couple of bars and one or two stores. If you’re looking for a little of both styles, just ask around.
Da North
Infatuated with the beach life, many people fail to head up country when in Thailand. This is a mistake as the north is the host to such locations as the city of Chang Mai, the Summer Palace of the King of Thailand and interesting little villages. For the outdoor enthusiasts, rafting, hiking and mountain biking are very popular and widely available.
Prices
If you’re on a budget, Thailand is a perfect travel destination. For some reason, flights to Thailand are particularly cheap with my recent flight on Korean Airlines running roughly $650 round trip. Once in country, your money will go a long, long way.
I think a note of caution is need at this point. Please beware. If you decide to take a trip to Thailand, you won’t want to come back to your native country. You will, however, definitely come back to Thailand!
Rick Chapo is with NomadJournals.com – makers of nomadjournals.com/travel_accessories_journal.cfm travel journals. Visit NomadJournalTrips.com to read more articles about nomadjournaltrips.com/thailand_travel Thailand travel and nomadjournaltrips.com/travel_journals_travelogues Adventure Travel.
If you travel with a disability, handicap, physical limitation, mobility limitation, or developmental disability, have special needs, or use an electric wheelchair or handicap scooter, it’s a good idea to learn as much as you can to make disabled travel easier.
Or if you’re a mature traveler or senior who is a slow walker or just wants a slower pace, becoming more informed about disabled travel services and disability travel resources, will lessen the anxiety that often accompanies disabled travelers.
The following travel tips, resources and information for the disabled will help make trips, tours, holidays and vacations a lot easier for you, or for a child with a disability, whether short-term or long-term.
1. Plan your trip well in advance! Do you need to order extra supplements, medications or renew prescriptions, fix eyeglasses or change prescriptions, get a physical, have dental work done, have your wheelchair fixed or tuned up, etc.?
2. If possible, always book your travel through an agency that specializes in helping people with disabilities. This is important because specialized travel agents and tour operators for the disabled are experienced and can save you some awful headaches.
They offer a lot of good tips and a wide range of services for the handicapped traveler. Among other things, they can arrange for a: wheelchair at the airport, wheelchair accessible hotel room, wheelchair rental, lift-equipped accessible van, full van, minivan, RV, handicap scooter, or any other handicap vehicle.
Travel agents for the disabled can help arrange accessible transportation, help plan the best accessible cruise, give cruise line and cruising tips, arrange travel insurance and take care of special needs.
Agents can check with hotels for: inner and outer door widths to accommodate your wheelchair, ADA-approved handicap bath tubs, grab bars, or for roll-in showers. Just tell them your needs.
Travel agents can help you find cheap airfare, cheap tickets, cheap flights, cheap travel auto insurance, cheap hotels, cheap car rentals, cheap cruises, cheap vacations and cheap travel of all kinds.
3. Besides taking along your travel agent’s phone number, you’ll also want to take with you the phone numbers for the travel agencies that specialize in disabled travel at your destination, in the event you can’t reach your own agent.
These travel agents may know how to solve problems that come up regarding your hotel, car or van rentals, etc., even if you didn’t order your tickets through them.
4. When traveling to another city, check out the local health and medical associations before you go. For example, get the phone numbers for the local MS chapter if you have MS. These organizations can be great resources.
They usually know what museums, restaurants, theaters & other local facilities are wheelchair accessible and where you can get oxygen, emergency supplies or medical assistance. They may be able to help you with any problems that arise.
5. If you plan to rent a handicap scooter, wheelchair, electric wheelchair, handicap van, full van, mini-van, RV or other vehicle in another city, don’t wait until you get there. Make all the arrangements before you leave on your trip.
Make sure you ask any specifics like, are there tie-downs, ramps, or hoists, etc. Check on what van, RV, car or auto insurance you’ll need before you go.
6. Don’t leave anything to chance. If you can, double-check all the arrangements your travel agent makes. Call the airlines, hotels, scooter, wheelchair, car, RV or van rental companies, medical equipment rental companies, etc., and verify the specifics, especially if you’re traveling in a wheelchair or have any other special needs like oxygen.
This is important if you haven’t used the agent before.
7. If you need oxygen or any other special medical equipment, call airlines and suppliers well in advance of your trip. Don’t wait until the last minute. Start calling them as soon as you know you’re going to be traveling or taking a trip.
Then double-check with your travel agent and the airline at least three to four days before your flight.
8. Arrive early at the airport. It’s better to wait around there than miss your plane. This will eliminate some of the pre-trip anxiety you might feel and make for more leisurely travel. This seems like common knowledge but many people still arrive at the gate just in the nick of time.
With all that’s going on in the world today there are many reasons why you want to allow for more time at the airport.
9. In your airplane carry-on bag keep copies of the prescriptions for your medications and eyeglasses, extra eyeglasses, sunglasses, all your medications and supplements, and a list of your doctor, dentist and other health professionals with their addresses, and phone numbers.
Include your doctor’s fax number for prescriptions in case you lose your medications. Keep duplicate copies of these in your luggage and at home by the telephone. Know where your medical records are kept.
10. When you travel, and for any other time too, if you take medications, learn their names and exactly what they’re for if you don’t know. People come into the emergency room all the time and don’t know what medications they’re taking. You might be surprised to find out that most people say ‘a little yellow pill’ or ‘a white capsule’, etc.
Emergency workers need to know what you’re taking so they don’t give you medication that would interact adversely with it, overdose you or somehow interfere with their treatment and your recovery.
11. If you’re traveling by air, tell the flight attendants when you board, of any medical problem you might encounter on your flight. Note the location of the closest restroom before getting seated. Tell the flight attendant if you think you’ll need assistance getting to it during the flight.
You may need or want an aisle seat for easy access to the restrooms. Discuss seating with your travel agent.
12. If you need someone to travel with you, ask your travel agent for ideas or suggestions. Call the local chapters of medical associations and ask if they can recommend a travel assistant or travel companion to help or accompany you.
There are national companies who offer traveling nurses, traveling companions or travel assistants to accompany disabled travelers or people with serious medical issues.
13. Make sure to take with you: any medical cards, Medicare cards, discount cards, car or auto rental discount cards, auto insurance policy numbers and agent’s phone number, passport, airline tickets, etickets, American Express Travelers Cheques, debit cards, credit cards, and drivers license. Photocopy everything.
Keep photocopies in your luggage and at home by the telephone or someplace where someone has access to it in case you need it.
14. Read everything you can about traveling with a disability. Read disabled travel books, access guides, accessible guidebooks, disability travel articles and travel publications for the disabled traveler. Read the personal travel experiences of wheelchair users and others who have traveled with disabilities. Be informed.
These travel tips, information, resources, and services for the disabled should help you, or anyone with a disability, handicap, physical limitation, or who uses a wheelchair, have an easier, more pleasant, anxiety-free, trouble-free trip, tour, holiday or vacation.
Helen Hecker R.N. is the author of ‘Travel for the Disabled’ and the ‘Directory of Travel Agencies for the Disabled’ and other books for travelers with disabilities. Get FREE weekly ‘Travel Tips for the Disabled’at AllAboutDisabledTravel.com www.AllAboutDisabledTravel.com
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When you decide to visit Spain, Barcelona should be on the top of the list of the cities worth visiting. It’s the most unusual and the least Spanish city in the whole country.
Barcelona is one of the largest cities in Spain and one of the main tourist destinations. It’s also the capital of Catalonia, a province with its own language and big ambitions.
Millions of visitors Barcelona receives every year, are attracted by the original architecture and live attitude.
The conditions for tourist in the whole travel infrastructure are perfect. Barcelona has more than 300 hotels, like Madrid, but the capital of the Spain is twice as big as Barcelona.
When you think of Barcelona architectural attractions Antonio Gaudi buildings are the first things that come to mind. The best known is his unfinished structure – Sagrada Familia (the Holy Family) cathedral. This masterpiece of the architectural thought has became the symbol of the city. Its image adorns the postcards, photos and travel guides devoted to Barcelona.
Barcelona has small Gaudi museum – in Apartment and office block – La Pedrera, – also of his work. His style is unmistakable and is noted for clear, bright colors and the untraditional lines.
Old city with almost two thousand years history, Barcelona survived its rises and falls. After Roman and later Arabian invasions, in Middle Ages Barcelona became one of the most significant cities of the Mediterranean. If you like to sink into the medieval atmosthere, you can visit the houses of the nobility, which still adorn the centre of Barcelona.
Don’t forget shopping when you come to Barcelona. Its most famous shopping street La Rambla (also called Las Ramblas) has the numerous amount of the prestigious boutiques and the small shops with the works of the local craftsmen.
Barcelona has gained its glory not only by its architecture, but by the people born in the city too. Pablo Picasso, Juan Miro, Jose Carreras, Montserrat Caballe and the above-mentioned Antonio Gaudi – are the greatest Barcelona citizens.
One of the unique attractions in Barcelona is Barcelona Aquarium. It’s the biggest aquarium in Europe with more than 300 species of the sea fauna. 80-meters tunnel goes under the huge oceanarium with sharks and the rare fishes.
Barcelona is also one of the Spanish sport centers. Its stadium “Nou Camp” (or “Camp Nou”) is considered to be one of the best stadiums in the country, and Barcelona clubs (football and basketball) are always among the leaders of the Spanish championships.
Barcelona warm climate makes the city a very popular destination for summer trips and beach holidays. The most of the beaches are situated around the Olympic Village, built in 1992 for the Olympic games. The only problem is that they are often overcrowded.
If you like to book hotel, please visit allrez.com/static/spain/barcelona/ Barcelona hotels
Providing an extraordinary, scenic and eventful destination for a vacation, the state of Hawaii has a lot to offer to tourists, honeymooners or those just seeking to get away from it all and relax. One of the best things that one can do in preparation for a journey to the
Hawaiian Islands is browse through travel packages. There are a wealth of advantages to
choosing from the abundance of Hawaii travel packages. Simply by browsing through
these one can gain some knowledge of the area but this is merely one of the many
benefits of going through this process.
Perhaps the most beneficial advantage of perusing through travel packages is that one can
find a trip that best suits their needs and desires as the vast majority of travel packages
are fully customizable. If budget is of the most concern, cheaper packages, which provide
nearly all the same amenities and services, are available. If a major concern is the
proximity to various attractions, such as the beach, then a package offering
accommodations near to the beach can easily be identified and selected. For those in
search of a honeymoon destination, all-inclusive packages are available as Hawaii is
among the most frequented of places by honeymooners and many of the accommodations
in the area have honeymoon suites. Regardless of your needs or wants you can find a
travel package ideal for you.
There are a profusion of agencies providing travel packages to Hawaii also. Choosing one
can be quite the daunting task yet the excess of packages available makes finding one
suited to your needs much easier. Many agencies offer special rates as an incentive and
many profess to having knowledge of the area as well, thus you can easily get a firsthand
account of what Hawaii is like. Most agencies also provide a help service that customers
are encouraged to take advantage of should they have a questions.
