How Not To Miss Your Flight

Sometimes the most stressful part of going on holiday, or travelling far away for business is getting to the airport on time, and with good reason, because as we all know, missing a flight can mean having to pay for tickets for another flight, with long delays in between. But if you want to avoid this stress, here are some tried and tested ways to ensure that you wont miss your flight and ruin the start of your holiday.

Be Prepared

This isnt just a motto for the Scouts, but also one for everything that life throws at you, including going on holiday. So as the saying goes, be prepared, mark the dates of your holiday in your diary, a calendar, or even your mobile phone, so you dont forget. Inform your work of your chosen holiday dates so that you wont get caught up in any least minute work problems and time how long it will take you to get to the airport, because every second counts when youre on holiday.

Get Up Early

Set an alarm or two, so that you can get up early and make sure everything is ready for your trip. Ensure that you wake up your family and travelling companions so that they have plenty of time to get ready, and pack snacks and entertainment, such as an MP3 player, books or a portable DVD player.

Get to the Airport

If you got to travel far to the airport, make sure you leave in plenty of time, if you need to take a taxi, book it in advance and let them know what time your flight is, so that it arrives promptly. Keep listening to the radio for the road traffic updates, so that you know which roads should be avoided if youre driving yourself to the airport. The check in time for international flights is three hours before take-off, so make the most of this time in the airport, and read up on information on your destination that you can make the most of your summer holiday.

Forgotten Items Could Be Sent To You When Travelling

A lot more people, particularly younger people, are now travelling and seeing more of the world than many of our parents or grandparents have ever seen with destinations as varied as South America and the Far East being particular favourites when it comes to backpacking and spending a gap year doing something exhilarating and life-changing.

With many parents having anxieties when it comes to their offspring flying the nest it can be made much more worrying when they are on the far side of the world and not easily contactable. When packing for such as journey and trying to keep your rucksack full of all of the essentials it is easily done to forget one or two important items and being faced with difficulties whilst travelling. This could be medication or particular items of clothing that will be needed but you havent planned on needing.

Fortunately there are possible ways to get important items to your child, friend or any other relative that are out travelling the world and that is by using a leading international parcel delivery firm or courier company. These companies are able to ship parcels quickly and carefully making them ideal when you want to send parcels to someone travelling, in particular where they may not be able to stay in the same place for extended periods of time.

The nature of backpacking is that the person will often be travelling and not staying in one place so sending a parcel quickly is a very important aspect to any delivery these companies carry out and means that people back home can send parcels knowing they wont be inconveniencing you with waiting around for a parcel and potentially marring your own travel plans and itinerary.

Many international couriers have offices and depots throughout the world and make it very clear that they can deliver parcels much quicker than in the past with other services such as the general postal service here in the UK. As well as this there is the benefit that your parcel will be handled by one system so there is no chance of handover issues where one company loses the parcel as it is handed off by another.

In fact with online tracking offered by these delivery services you can even track the parcels progress and make sure that it arrives on time or if the person who is meant to receive the parcel wants to know when to expect the parcel then they can also go online and armed with the unique tracking code they can see where the parcel is and when it has been delivered.

What’s So Great About Travelling Alone

The hardest decision that faces most gap year and career break travellers is not choosing between Africa, Asia, Europe or South America. Nor is it, packing the complete world travel guide (just in case) or a lifetime supply of insect repellent. Choosing whether to travel with friends or to go it alone is actually the most important decision youll ever make, and its one that will affect every aspect of your trip.

Whether youre 17 or going on 70, if you havent ever been away by yourself before, it can seem like the most terrifying thing in the world. Though it seems incredibly daunting, boldly going where youve never gone before can be a fantastically liberating experience. Travelling alone gives you the freedom to go wherever you want and do whatever you want; all you need to do is make sure that you make the most of every opportunity and experience along the way!

A little soul searching

Spending time away from everything and everyone youre used to will give you the perfect opportunity to not only do new and exciting things, but to learn a lot of things you never knew about yourself. Relying on your own abilities may seem a little too Bear Grylls but youll be surprised by your newfound sense of capability and independence.

Travelling is a great way to learn about new cultures and challenge yourself, and that doesnt necessarily mean eating unidentified bugs. From climbing Everest to teaching a class of 200 in northern Africa, going it alone will open up a whole world of new experiences that you never thought you could cope with, and give you a whole new set of skills to bring home with you.

A social extravaganza

Travelling with friends can be an amazing experience, but it can also be a limiting one. Setting off with your buddies or your partner might feel comforting, but its all too easy to end up relying on each other so much that you miss out on opportunities to meet new people. Without your trusty friends at your side, youll be far more likely to make an effort to seize each chance to make new friends and youll get to know a lot more people.

Whether youre travelling independently or with a company you will come across people from all walks of life; staying in hostels, interacting with the locals and even as you travel from place to place, its guaranteed that youll meet some like minded people along the way, and almost certain that youll find a few lifelong friends. Dont forget that there are hundreds of travellers out there who have decided to go it alone and they will be just as keen as you are to make new friends.

If you want, a cast-iron guarantee that youll see a few friendly faces when you get out there, the best solution is to go through a company. Travelling as part of a group or volunteer project, you can be certain that there will be other people there and quite a few of them will be solo travellers too. Companies like Real Gap send out a buddy list a few weeks before you go, which gives contact details of all of the travellers going on the same trip as you so you can get in touch before you leave, swap packing tips and maybe even arrange a group flight.

A chance to be selfish

Travelling on your own gives you the chance to be utterly and completely selfish. You can plan to do exactly what you want, where you want, and for however, long you feel like doing it. There will be no need to compromise on which famous sites you want to see and how long or how short your trip up the mountain is; your itinerary will be completely up to you. You might miss your friends for a little while but youll soon appreciate the freedom of choice you have without them.

Youll also be able to make the most of any opportunities that come your way; if you make some new friends and decide that you want to tag along with them for a few weeks or fall in love with a place and want to stay there a little longer, you can. If youre travelling with a company and decide that you want to change your trip or project, there will be no other feelings to consider than your own, so you can always do whats right for you. After all, if you cant make your trip of a lifetime all about you, when can you?

Top solo travel tips

If youre travelling alone, there are a few essential things you need to do to get the most you possibly can out of your gap year or career break trip, here are the top 3.

Be outgoing

Life as a traveller is nothing like life at home, while you wouldnt strike up a conversation with the person next to you in Tesco, thats exactly the kind of thing that will win you friends overseas. Now is the time to get yourself down to the hostel bar, take part in the optional activities and try out your phrase book on the locals! Travelling alone is the best possible cure for shyness, and you will definitely get back what you put in!

Be aware of your personal safety

Through travelling is probably the only situation where its good to talk to strangers, you still need to be aware of where you are and what youre doing. Personal safety may not be the most exciting of things but it is important when youre in an unfamiliar country with not altogether familiar people. Making new friends is great but make sure you dont get too intoxicated, and keep any eye on your valuables when youre out and about. Its a good idea to keep your loved ones updated on how youre doing by sending emails or writing an online blog, that way theyll be able to track of where you are and whats going on.

If youre keen on safety issues, companies like Real Gap offer specialised safety courses that will help you to prepare for any eventuality and give you a lot more confidence about setting off on your own.

Manage your expectations

When youre travelling to a new country youre likely to experience a little of whats known as culture shock. The best way to make sure you get the most out of your trip is to be prepared; do some research into your destinations cultures, traditions and history. Its important to respect the culture of the country youre visiting; different countries have different social rules and different standards of life, its your job to fit in and knowing what to expect will make it a lot easier.

If youre travelling with a company youll get a pre-departure pack full of country and trip information, it might seem tedious but its a good idea to read every single page. Youll definitely be wishing youd read up a bit more if youre the only one who turns up in shorts and a t-shirt in monsoon season!

Rimowa Luggage Making Traveling A Breeze!

When packing for a travel abroad, the first thing that comes to any travelers mind is-Is the luggage lightweight enough? Most avid travelers love to backpack around the world and they would essentially require very lightweight luggage. This makes the trip a breeze through and very enjoyable. Durability and robustness also score several brownie points for the tourist.

This is where Rimowa luggage comes into play. In the market since the early 1950s, this luggage maker has proved to be a favorite with all the kinds of travelers. The most important and likeable characteristic of Rimowa luggage is the fact that it is extremely lightweight, but has a huge area for storing everything.

Now a days most of the people traveling by flight have to be accosted by the heavy airline fee. It is severely harassing when the airline authorities charge an obscene amount of money for a few extra pounds. It is a very taxing routine and most of the travelers whether at the beginning or the end of their journey want to steer clear of it. Rimowa luggage makers have come up with interesting innovations that make the luggage incredibly lightweight and also look stylish and chic.

Rimowa luggage is famous for its aluminum finish bags and baggage. These provide a sturdy storage for all kinds of important documents as well as for other travel requirements. They have a wide assortment of luggage styles to choose from. The Salsa collection is made up of 100 percent polycarbonate which is one of the toughest and quite elastic materials known to men.

When given a lot of pressure, the luggage made of this material becomes distorted. However, once the pressure is released it returns to its original position. This makes it very popular among travelers visiting rough terrains.

Rimowa luggage makers are also fairly renowned for their infallible security system and locking. Most of them come with keys that are almost impossible to imitate. They are also available in a wide variety of locking systems like the TSA lock or the combination locks.

Another very important factor about this particular luggage store is that they are very pocket friendly and affordable. They can be afforded by almost everyone and hence are preferred over other companies.

A very vital characteristic of Rimowa luggage is its portability. These are fitted with 360 degree turning wheels which are manufactured with ball bearing wheels. These have a smooth trajectory and are virtually indestructible. They can also be run on any kind of terrain. This makes Rimowa luggage more desirable.

Rentals Versus Hotels

It’s a very modern question but an important one nonetheless: why should you choose a vacation sublet over a traditional hotel? Although renting out one’s home or apartment has been a tradition for years, it has only been recently that the vacation rental industry has been booming. While the industry has mainly been dominated by giants like HomeAway and VRBO, there are also up and coming sites like us at MetroFlats.com. However, this article is not about the choice between different vacation home sites; it’s about the choice between vacation homes and traditional homes. Obviously I will be arguing on the side of vacation rentals, but I believe I have many convincing arguments to prove that it is much better for your vacation and your wallet to choose sublets over hotels.

The most obvious reason to choose a vacation home rental over a hotel is the price. Particularly in big cities like New York, hotel prices can be extremely expensive. It is not uncommon to see a large amount of hotel rooms in NYC costing upwards of 300 dollars a night. If you look at the link I provided to Hotels.com, you’ll see that most of the cheaper rooms have very low ratings. With vacation apartments, especially from MetroFlats, rarely do any of our listings crack $300. I’m certainly not going to say there are none that are a bit pricey; there are some. However, the vast majority are around $100. And with the amount of vacation rental amenities included with them, they are worth every penny.

Amenities are my next point. With the most basic hotel room, the most you could hope to get from your room is a wide variety of channels and room service. Perhaps you will be lucky enough to get a Hotel video on demand system, maybe even with video games. Vacation rental apartments, on the other hand, include tons of amenities. Whether it’s a full kitchen to cook your own food or big screen TVs, you will get all the luxury at affordable prices. Check out some of our New York rentals to see more examples of the additions you will get with your rooms.

Finally, vacation rentals give you the chance to live like a local. When you stay in a hotel, you can’t help but feel like a tourist. By staying in your very own apartment, condo, or home, you will get the feeling that you are living with the actual population instead of being isolated in a cramped hotel room. And that, frankly, is something that cannot be replaced.

So there are my arguments against hotels. I hope I’ve convinced some of you that were on the fence. If not, I hope you’ll take the opportunity to at least check out MetroFlats.com further. I certainly haven’t listed all the advantages of vacation homes, and by browsing our site, you will even more of them.