Really Nice Vacations

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain

The top tourist attractions in the British capital are the most expensive in the world according to a survey of major cities by The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

Visitors have to pay more at London’s fee-paying sights such as Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London and Madame Tussauds, than at other similar attractions around the world.

A family of 4 would have to pay 549.30 pounds if they wanted to take part in all the 10 activities in London (Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London, London Dungeon, British Museum, Tutankhamun at the o2, Westminster Abby, Madam Tussauds, The London Eye, the London Zoo, The Original London Sightseeing Tour). This is in comparsion with Paris, New York, Berlin, Sydney, Barcelona, Hong Kong and Dubin. Just citing 2 examples, Paris and New York:

The same family of 4 only need spend 386 pounds in Paris for 4 Day passes for Disneyland Paris, Versailles, the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Pompidou Centre, Hotel Des Invalides, Musee d’Orsay, Montpanasse Tower, Arc de Triomphe, L’Open bus tour.

Whey they only require to spend 376 pounds in New York for Empire State Building, New York Sky Ride, Madam Tussauds, Central Park zoo, Top of the Rock Observatory, Guggenheim Museum, Beast Speedboat habour ride, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum, New York Sightseeing Downtown Loop bus.

Although the British tourism folks said there are many free attractions, many of the art galleries including the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery actually impose hefty fees for special one-off exhibitions. So art lovers paid more in London than in Paris, NY or Rome. Even the Louvre and the Pompidou Centre allow anyone age under 18 free access to permanent collections and special exhibition. Tourists who want to go Westminster Abby must pay 12 pounds for a ticket. In contrast, it is free for all at the Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur in Paris.

Dr Tristram Hunt, a historian got this to say to The Sunday Telegraph: “The visitor expereience at the Tower of London and London Zoo is pretty poor. Other cities are much better at making sure other people have open access. It instills a sense of ownership and pride. But I am afraid it is something that we are very bad at”

If you are still set to visit London or UK, you really might want to spend some solid hours to scour all the relevant hotel, air ticket, tourist hotspot attraction web sites to see how you can save money. A penny saved is still a penny saved. No fun to go off for a few fabulous weeks and then cry over paying interests to your bank for the next couple of years! You might be interested to pop over to this website, Airfare Secrets, by a fired airline agent who said he is been threatened by legal actions for exposing the secrets of getting cheap airfare.

For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Rising fuel prices adds to the cost of traveling - from buses, taxis, tubes, airfares and even courier charges.

So, my friends, you must have some in depth airline knowledge if you like to get low-cost air travels deals. Ticket costs around the world can vary significantly, but it is still possible to fly to most destinations for less than regular standard fare.

How adaptable you are can determine the price you are going to pay. If you are versatile enough and are willing to compromise on the day and time of year you travel, there is a high chance of getting a cheap seat. Airlines lose money when there are empty seats. In another words, you can get some real savings if you are agreeable to modify your flight dates to suit the airline’s agenda.

Frequent flyers usually win in the ‘dog eat dog’ world of airlines and airfare deals. Handing out benefits to frequent flyers is the norm for most airline companies. Passengers can earn air miles or bonuses when they stick to one carrier and you can use those bonuses to redeem for free tickets or for some other award.

The internet is the best-known source to find airfare deals. However, you got to be real careful when transacting with online sites that offer a fabulous discount. Run a check to see if they are legitimate. You can phone the booking office for more information. You can even visit the office if it’s not too far off from where you are. Get onto the internet to check if anyone has a positive or negative comment on this agent. Whatever it is, never take it at face value and never, never, never rely on email contact as the only source of communication with the company. Also, ask lots of questions like stopover locations, the airline you will be flying with.

Other tips to get a cheap airfare …

1. Book your flight early.
Airlines sell only a limited number of seats at the lowest fares, and when those seats sell out, the price goes up! Discount fares often require advanced reservations of 7 to 21 days in advance.

2. Fly on a weekday.
As a rule of thumb, it is less expensive to fly on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

3. Consider stop-over.
You may enjoy significant savings if you are willing to stop-over at certain airports

4. Try surrounding dates.
To get the lowest round trip fare, the same fare must be available on both the departing and return flights you select. If the fare is sold out on either of these, the price you end up with will be much higher. If possible, consider flying on another date.

5. Book your trip late at night/ early in the morning.
Between 11:00 PM and 5:00 AM fewer people are booking flights so less of the good fares are temporarily tied up.

PS: You might be interested to pop over to this website, Airfare Secrets, by a fired airline agent who said he is been threatened by legal actions for exposing the secrets of getting cheap airfare.

I update this blog irregularly, and one of the reasons is I’m always on the road. It could be once or even thrice a month. Business traveling is not as fun as a leisure trip naturally but I sneaked off meetings, conferences and business lunches as often as I could to explore. It was during one of these trips that I got interested in rugs.

We were too early for one meeting and didn’t want to loiter around the lobby while waiting. So me and my colleague popped into the rug shop across the road, not so much to browse but to get away the scotching heat of India. Mumbai was so hot that I honestly believed you could fry an egg on the road. The Indian proprietor gave us a cursory glance and went back to his books. Surprisingly, this place was very well stocked and even more surprisingly, well labeled. There are many sign boards explaining the origins of the rugs in English! It was there I saw the difference between Persian rugs and Oriental rugs. I was so impressed thatI bought my very first oriental hand made area rug, a small 4′ by 6′ woolen piece. After all, I was in the Orient. While negotiating the price, (yes, you absolutely must bargain in India. They charge foreigners a tourist price because they assumed we got more money than the locals), the glum looking proprietor brightened up and started giving us a mini lecture on India rugs. According to him, India is on of the largest producers of hand-made oriental area rugs. Most of India’s rugs are modern except for the decorative, collectible and sometimes very expensive Antique Agra and Laristan. India produced a tremendous amount of Aubusson & Chinese Ming designs from 1960-1980, but the most popular rugs woven throughout the country today are Persian designs.

It was when I returned home and did my research that I realized that I should have bought a dozen or more back. The choices in India were mind boggling and the price was a steal. However, all is not lost as I recently discovered that I can get cheap rugs online. Online shopping may not be as fun as physically touching and feeling the rugs but I am not complaining because I save on airfare, hotel and food. If you have a similar experience of being to the treasure island and was so dumb as o bring out only one piece of gem, you might want to check out online for treasure coves.

Actually the benefits of shopping online is the information the sites provided. Though I got a mini lecture from the Indian boss, I must admit that I was totally at sea during parts of the conversation. Indian accent can be thick and make it tough to decipher and comprehend. So the following area rug selection tips I found at SuperiorRugs.com definitely helps. I’m extracting some important bits and pieces and put it here to serve as my external memory bank:

Selection Tips for Area Rugs
- Choose a rug that will perform well, with the right combination of density and fiber. The denser the pile, (with closer tufts or stitches), the better your rug will wear. Synthetic yarns - nylon, polyester, acrylic, and polypropylene “olefin” - and the naturals - wool and cotton - are durable, soft, and easy to clean.

- Machine-made rugs often look strikingly similar to the hand made kind, but they’re usually much less expensive. And as a reminder, you should consider the fringe. If the rug you like has fringe be careful when using the vacuum cleaner.

- If you have the opportunity, you may want to start with a totally empty room, choose a rug first, then paint or paper the walls in colors found in the rug. Choose furniture that will enhance the colors or patterns found in the rug.

- If you already have your furniture, choose a rug that picks up the colors used in your furnishing patterns. Patterns can be mixed if they are coordinated by color. Elements of a rug design can be further incorporated into the overall design scheme.

- Don’t underestimate the value of an underlay or pad. Protect your new area rug with a proper padding. Not only will the pad absorb the impact of feet and noise, it will reduce wear and tear on the rug and make vacuuming easier. A proper rug pad will also prevent the rug from sliding on hardwood or laminate flooring.

I was also pleasantly surprise that SuperiorRugs has a section on “Clearance Rugs” and “Final Area Rug Clearance”. Don’t call me cheapskate but I was already thinking these 2 sections will be good avenues to source for a nice Christmas present for the old lady. I mean a 81% discount from the list price is a big saving, and I have got another 21 people on my Christmas list! Honestly, I’m running out of out-of-the-box gifts to surprise mom. She always has this impression that I will surprise her every year with a gift from overseas. Well, I hope she will be surprised when Fedex knocked on her door with a bigger box than usual.

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” ~ Cesare Pavese

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” ~ Mark Twain