I will be spending my honeymoon in Malaysia next summer. This didn’t come about by choice, but rather by circumstance. My fiancée is attending an event in Penang and since we both have limited vacation time and funds, we decided to role her trip into one grand vacation.
When we made this decision, I was lukewarm about it. I knew that Malaysia had the tall towers in Kuala Lumpur and I knew that it had some nice beaches, but other than that it was a blank hole in my visual map of Asia. I knew some people who traveled through the country, but mainly because they were trying to go to Thailand.
After doing some research and looking around, my lukewarm feelings have turned into unbridled excitement. By all accounts, Malaysia is an excellent place to travel. It has plenty of options for both the budget and the more upscale traveler, it has a rich culture, it has friendly people who speak English, and it does have some splendid beaches where you can get away from the world and even get away from other tourists.
Airfares to Malaysia are not always cheap, but they are also doable. The moral of the story is to never discount a country as a possible travel destination until you do some research. Well that, and make sure you marry someone who is cool enough to want to cool to far corners of the world for her honeymoon.
Pick up a globe, spin it around and point your finger on it to stop it. What location have you landed on? Me? I have ended up with Entebbe, Uganda. I have never been to Entebbe, Uganda and until I played this game I had never even heard of it. But after a little research I am intrigued. Such is the nature of the traveler. We can be captured by places that don’t even exist in our own minds.
This is my favorite time of the year. The leaves are colorful, the air is crisp in the morning, there are football games on the telly, and flights to Europe are ridiculously cheap. Take note, my friends. If you ever want to travel to Europe and not fight the crowds or pay out the nose for an airplane ticket, travel in Autumn.
Ask the average person to start naming the countries in Central America and there is a good chance that they will miss Belize. There is a reason for this. It is a small country that has rarely ever been in the news. It is not a country that has undergone conflict and outside of the occasional hurricane, it has been largely spared from the disasters that have hit other countries in the region.
Imagine what it must have been like to have been the first person to slap some wood on his feet and to propel himself down a side of a mountain. The thrill must have been something. According to the experts at Wikipedia, there’s evidence that skiing existed as far back as 5,000 years ago. That means for 5,000 years people have been shredding powder, running into trees and tearing up knees all in the name of the ski adrenaline rush.
Los Angeles might have the star appeal and San Francisco has the impressive sites, but if you are looking for the best city experience in California you need look no further than San Diego.
It doesn’t seem long ago that the Canadian dollar couldn’t buy you the cheapest spot in Monopoly. My how times have changed. The Canadian dollar has leveled against the US dollar and is only getting stronger. What that means for you, dear traveler, is that your vacations to Canada are becoming more and more expensive by the day. That pint of Molson is going to cost more. That gallon of maple syrup is going to eat away at your savings account. The medicines you can’t afford in the US…well, those are still a bargain but not as much as they used to be.
Tell people that you are taking a trip to Iran and you will receive a look of shock and amazement. Iran isn’t exactly a popular destination in the travel magazines and on Rick Steves these days, but for the adventurous traveler now is an excellent time to visit Persia.
Some people are of the opinion that once you have children you no longer can travel. Kids cost a lot of money and they are a lot of extra work. Travel just isn’t the same with them in toe, so they say.
If you are looking for a familiar city with some unfamiliar elements, look no further than Budapest, Hungary. A city that has a rich history, Budapest is a mixture of old world Europe, the Eastern Bloc Cold War, and the modern united European Union. It is a city that will offer you familiar things like international fast food chains and shopping centers, while also giving you the opportunity to glimpse building and infrastructure that shows what life was like behind the Iron Curtain.