It really depends upon what type of vacation is wanted. Someone might want to learn more about the people living in an area especially when traveling abroad. They like the idea of eating at local restaurants and outside cafes rather than calling room service for every meal. Many rentals have their own kitchen so someone can go to the local market and find their own food. This might be especially important for people on restricted diets. Some rentals also have laundry facilities, and the traveler does not have to pay extra to clothes washed, or waste time looking for a public laundry.

If someone wants something a little fancier there are villas that can be rented. This is especially when traveling in Europe. For example, let’s take a look at villa possibilities in Spain. May, June and September are the best months to travel in Spain. Eurail Spain Rail Pass It is one of the most beautiful countries in the world and should not been seen in a hurry. Renting a villa for a few weeks might be a wiser option than staying in an upscale hotel. Look for one that has weekly or monthly rates would be a wiser choice. Keep in mind that landlords tend to give large discounts to tenants who stay longer. Some of the best villas in Spain are near the famous vineyards that thrive there. From that vantage point travelers can afford to move around and see the real Spain

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Technorati Tags: Holiday rentals, villas that can be rented, travel in Spain

There has never been a time in my life when my feet did not have the itch to travel. When I was small I kept my mother busy looking all over for me. The world was a big place and I wanted to see it all. It was always a challenge to see what was over the next mountain or beyond the next horizon.

It is no wonder that my favorite magazine was the National Geographic. I used to read all of the wonderful articles that told about world cultures and famous landmarks. I could actually see myself standing in front of Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace or St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. Everything interested me. At that time I did not realize that all my daydreaming would actually come true. My family didn’t have a lot of money. My father was a miner with six children, and my mother an average American housewife. Dreams do come true.

Then in a college marketing class students were supposed to put together a whole publicity campaign, and present it to the class. My subject was Travellers Warehouse. This happened before the Internet explosion where so much data was literally available to everyone. So, now I can carry that vision into reality. I don’t have to open up a store, or pay for expensive advertising to get my points across. This is a much better way of presenting pertinent travel information, and a whole lot quicker.

There are a number of things I would like this website to do.

1. Provide information about up-to-date travel changes that affect all of us who get on a plane, train, boat, or decide to drive in order to arrive at a distant location.

2. Education. It is good to learn as much as possible about the areas to be visited. I do a good amount of research before going to a another country. It helps a person fit into the local surroundings better, and makes any visit in another part of the world more enjoyable. So, on this website there will probably be some book and article reviews with tips on how to learn more.

3. Provide tips to make a trip easier. How does a family travel together? What can be done to make the trip easier?

4. Furnish links for all types of travel information. This can save a lot of time for the trip planner. It takes a good deal of time to surf the Internet. It would be nice if a lot of information could be accessed from one place.

5. I hope to furnish links to various sites where someone can buy travel supplies at a discount. Perhaps a budding hiker is going on a trip with a group of more experienced outdoorsmen. The group may have some good leads for equipment purchases, but it would be nice to check out other avenues without having to surf the whole web.

The other day after having breakfast with a friend, we went into the hotel gift shop, and picked up a little book called The Itty Bitty Guide to Business Travel. This book can fit nicely into a purse or a traveler’s pocket. It is ideal for the young person embarking on a corporate career after finishing college. There is a whole section in this little gem of a book on “How to Pack Like You Mean Business.” This section would help any traveler. It covers how to pack various types of bags: roller bags, duffle bags and garment bags. This little book would be a great tool for new travelers. There is an old saying, “Great things come in small packages.” There is a lot of information really jam packed into a small space.

I always look for more information that I can pass on to people about the wonderful world of travel. That is the heart of this website.

References:

The Itty Bitty Guide to Business Travel by Stacie Krajchir and Carrie Rosten.

The Port of San Diego has a huge repair facility for the ships that can be viewed from the Coronado Bridge, and Cabrillo National Monument. Coronado island is where naval recruits are trained for duty. Today, a good portion of San Diego’s military personnel is serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Camp Pendleton is one of the largest military training areas in the United States.

So, how did it all happen?

Just north of the city is La Jolla, California, one of the most elite and exclusive communities in the Western United States. A little further north on Torrey Pines road (which becomes Highway 101) is the famous stretch of beach known as Torrey Pines State Park. Besides sporting some of the most beaches in California the Park is full of hiking trails for outdoor enthusiasts.

East of San Diego the old mining town of Julian is located in the Desert Mountains that separate San Diego from Palm Springs, California. Julian is known for its’ unique shops, and its wonderful homemade apple pie.

Escondido, which is North of San Diego just off of Highway 15 is the site of the Lawrence Welk theme park.

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered San Diego in 1542. He was an interesting character. No one knows for sure where he was actually born, or where he is buried. He was a wealthy landowner and shipbuilder who also loved the art of discovery. After landing at San Diego, and doing some exploration, he and his crew continued up the California coast. He sustained an injury on the voyage, and died January 3, 1543. His crew went ahead and finished his work by exploring the whole coastal regions all the way up into modern day Oregon.

San Diego was an area that had only a few houses until 1790 when the population jumped to 200 people. At that time the remained small and there were no homes on the present day site of Old Town. Settlers did not settle in this particular area until 1820.

San Diego struggled as a community, and did not really start to grow until after the Mexican-American War when California was ceded to the United States in the final treaty signed by both U.S. and Mexican leaders. In 1846 the American military moved into San Diego, followed by the Mormon Battalion in 1847. Then in 1848 gold was discovered in Northern California, and the gold rush that followed caused a marked increase in the population all over the state.

San Diego struggled as a community, and did not really start to grow until after the Mexican-American War when California was ceded to the United States in the final treaty signed by both the U.S. and Mexican leaders. In 1846 the American military moved into San Diego, followed by the Mormon Battalion in 1847. Then in 1848 gold was discovered in Northern California, and the gold rush that followed caused a marked increase in the population all over the state.

Today San Diego is the 7th largest city in the United States. Lindbergh Field, the international airport is located on the bay near the downtown area. It is named after Charles A. Lindbergh because the first leg of his historical trans-Atlantic flight originated on North Island on May 9, 1927. He flew from San Diego to New York before making his epic journey to Paris. Palomar Mountain in North San Diego County is home to the famous Hale telescope, and is one of the finest astronomical locations in the Western Hemisphere. Old Town remains a unique shopping and business district visited by many thousands of people each year, The original San Diego Presidio which lies just above Old Town has been turned into a public park, and all along the main waterfront area several historic ships have found their final resting place. This collection is one of the worlds’ finest with The Star of India as the center of attention. The exhibit is hosted and maintained by the San Diego Maritime Museum.

A quick 30 minute drive south is Mexico. Tourists can take also take the San Diego Trolley down to the border. A special pass is needed to cross over into Mexico. By the end of 2008 anyone returning from Mexico will need a passport or special documentation Keep in mind that border regulations are must stricter today than they were a few years ago.

A nice way to see the whole west coast is to ride the train. The Amtrak train station is in downtown San Diego, and has rail service all the way to Seattle, Washington. Travelers would probably need to transfer somewhere on the route in to travel further than Northern California. Amtrak has several different service routes, but there are two that are the most popular. The Pacific Surfliner service goes as far north as San Luis Obispo. The Coast Starlight Service goes from Los Angeles to Seattle.

There is plenty do in San Diego and, for the most part, doing it in beautiful weather. Surf, hike, see the giant pandas and enjoy the easy life of San Diegans for a while.

San Diego! My home turf.

Paris is built on the Seine River, and had its roots and beginnings back to ancient times. We really start hearing about the French connection during the time of Julius Caesar when he brought Roman culture into Europe. He was a conqueror, and he was tough with all of the “barbarian” tribes of Europe. But, his journeys did change the course of Western History.

One of my favorite places in the world is the Cathedral of Notre Dame that sits on an island out in the Seine. There is the most wonderful feeling there, and I wondered why. I have visited a lot of holy and sacred sites around the world, but there was something special about Notre Dame. So, I started researching. One day I was in a used bookstore, and my hand literally landed on a book called The Biography of a Cathedral by Robert Gordon Anderson.. It is an incredible book, and is a must read before visiting the place. The book was written to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the completion of Notre Dame.

The saga begins in 32 B.C. Anderson talks about the island in the Seine all the way through to 1239 A.D. He talks about the fact that this particular spot was always special to someone or some culture. First, Druids came followed by the Romans, and then by the Christians. Some groups of individuals have always found something special about the site, and millions still find it inviting today.

There is so much to see in Paris. There is The Louvre , an ancient palace that has been made into one of the finest museums in the world. It is the final resting place of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. It is true that the eyes of the painted lady seem to follow a person around the room. A tour of The Louvre might take up 3 days, and then that might not be enough. Just making a trip to take in all of the art that is stored there can easily take a whole day. Dress comfortably, and wear good walking shoes.

The Paris underground is an excellent way to get around Paris and surrounding areas. The rail service all over Europe rates five stars. A traveler can check into a EuroRail pass, and save a lot on travel. A short train ride from Paris is the Palace at Versailles, birth place of the French Revolution. Versailles was the home of the French Royal family, and today serves as a museum. The grounds are magnificent. One area to visit on the grounds is the buildings where Marie Antoinette lived and raised her children. She didn’t always stay at the larger palace, and preferred her own corner on the estate. A lot of the buildings are quite simple, and nothing like the regular palace area.

Paris is a town where churches, old palaces and museums thrive. The traveler should try to get to the Impressionist Museum before moving on to another city. Examples of all of the Impressionist artist\u2019s works are housed there. In The Louvre the paintings are sometimes huge, and can take up a whole wall, while the works at the Impressionist Museum are smaller. The impressionist ideas represented have a beautiful, esoteric, and ethereal quality to them.

Of course, the city is a wonderful place to shop, and is one of the main fashion capitals in the world. Other high fashion districts in Europe are Rome, London, and Munich. A Paris fashion show is really a major event all by itself. Then, of course, there are the sidewalk cafes, good food, and nighttime cruises down the Seine.

A French dictionary is a handy tool to have anywhere in France. In a lot of European countries English is taught as an additional language. In France, however, the people are very proud of their home grown tongue. It doesn’t hurt to take a short course in French before leaving. Making this effort could mean the difference between finding a good restaurant or a restroom (Toilette–to the French).

Paris can honestly be called “The City of Light.”