Category: Travel

Travel Gulmarg-the Legendary Beauty

K H Travel asked:

Gulmarg is known for its unparallel beauty and is rated as one of the matchless tourist spots of the world. It is famous for Golf hikes and boasts of a beautiful highland golf course. It is premier resort for winter sports in the country. The meadow of Flowers is a world famous tourist spot in the Baramulla Distt of Kashmir. The altitude of Gulmarg is 2730 meters.

Adventure Sports in Gulmarg

Trekking

Gulmarg makes an excellent base for trekking in the northern Pir Panjal Range. Nanga Parbat can be seen to the north from several view points, including Khilanmarg, west and over 1,500 feet up the forested hillside from Gulmarg. From a distance, the Pir Panjal appears somewhat rounded, but when you are actually walking up its slopes, you will find that its smoother peaks rise above evergreen clad slopes that seem quite equal in steepness to those of the main Himalayas.

Golf Courses in Gulmarg

Situated at an altitude of 2,650 m, Gulmarg has got the highest green golf course in the world. The layout of the course is quiet striking and the layout is similar to a normal golf course with land slopes and inclines along the complete area of the course, which has a par of 72. The golf club was started by the British who used Gulmarg as a holiday resort, and opened it for golf lovers in the year 1904.

Skiing Adventure in Gulmarg

Gulmarg is also counted among the best skiing resorts in India, but you require a pretty good experience as well as training to ski down the slopes over here. Gulmarg also make a good ski spot for starters, those who are new to skiing. Ski enthusiasts can easily find out all required gear and equipments as well as professional ski instructors in Gulmarg, to try out a hand on skiing. The longest ski run in Gulmarg is providing by the Gondola Cable Car, where skiers can swoosh down the slopes from the height of 2, 213m.

Places to Visit

Khilanmarg

A 40-minute journey through valleys of wild flowers from Gulmarg to Khilanmarg offers a breathtaking view of the majestic peaks with their reflections in Wular and other lakes.

Alpather Lake

Streaks of floating ice in this triangular lake, nestled in a hollow under the shadow of Apharwat Mountain are a visual delight. A well-graded pony track joins Apharwat Ridge with Gulmarg.

Travel Guru Guide to Lanzarote Holidays

Travel Guru asked:

Guide to Lanzarote Holidays

Location Of Island

Travel west from the coast of Africa (the Iberian Penninsula to be exact) – about 125 kilometers west – and if you started in the right spot, you might just find yourself on the Island of Lanzarote. This island is the northeastern most of the Canary Islands, and is the fourth largest of the islands of the chain, which is owned by Spain.

How To Get There

You can get to the Island of Lanzarote through the Arrecife International Airport, which saw over five and a half million passengers in a single year (2006) alone. Aside from agriculture, the tourism industry is almost the only industry on the island, and is a booming one, having been primary in the island for about 40 years.

Lanzarote Weather

If you are planning a holiday to Lanzarote Island, no need to worry overmuch about a jacket. Night time in the winter can drop as low as 14 degrees centigrade, but it rarely dips so low, and almost never below that, making it a nice, warm climate, especially in the summertime when temperatures can rise as high as 32 degrees centigrade (though rarely higher than that). The cooling trade winds of the North Atlantic create this temperate climate, keeping it from rising as high as the nearby Sahara, and keeping the climate pleasant and beautiful.

Island Landscape

Relatively recent eruptions (in the 18th and 19th Centuries), have left parts of the Lanzarote landscape looking alien or lunar, and the lack of erosion because of the low precipitation rate means that these incredible landscapes look much like they did just after the eruptions. The area is beautiful and unique, and movie fans will love the fact that parts of Planet of the Apes was shot on the island.

Attractions & Surroundings

Except for the Grand Hotel in Arrecife, local regulations on development mean that there are no high rise buildings on the island, and there are no billboards, either. The island is beautiful and unspoiled, though it is undoubtedly settled. Pay a visit to the island to see attractions like Jameos del Agua, a cave complex with a natural concert hall, a restaurant and museum, and an underground lagoon. There are man-made attractions as well, both historical and modern. You can pay a visit to the Wine Museum of Lanzarote, or check out the Castillo de San Gabriel in Arrecife, which is a 16th Century fortress overlooking the Arricife Harbor. No matter what your tastes, you are sure to find something pleasing in Lanzarote.

Travel Jobs & How to Make Money While You Travel

Money For Traveling asked:

Ever had the desire to quit your lame 9 to 5 job, tell your boss to shove it, pack up and start traveling the world?

All of us have had that desire at one point! The thing that stopped you was probably the same thing that stops most people: money.

“How will I pay for my flights, food, lodging, transportation, yada, yada, yada,” you asked yourself.

Don’t let these concerns bother you too much, because there is an underground, growing group of travelers who are utilizing some simple but hidden techniques to make significant incomes while traveling.

Here’s an overview of how we make money traveling and by landing travel jobs:

Underground Travel Income Method #1 – Traditional Travel Job – Hold a job that either a) pays for us to travel or b) is located in the place we wish to travel to. This is the lowest paying and most complicated method of all, but is the most commonplace.

Common jobs that pay for travels are for professional speakers, salespeople, package couriers, flight attendants, travel nurses/doctors, conservationists, cruise ship workers, etc.

Travel jobs located in the places we wish to go to can be any of the above, but also are specific to the location we travel to. There are some FUN jobs overseas that are looking for foreign workers!

Underground Travel Income Method #2 – Travel Writing – Travel writing jobs for magazines are more common than you may imagine. However, there are LOADS of other ways to write as you travel and make money, including blogging, picking up projects from sites like Elance and Guru, and writing travel guides, both online and offline.

Underground Travel Income Method #3 – Selling Affiliate Products – Using a simple website, you can drive online traffic to a product that will be of interest to your online followers. Don’t be intimidated by this! It can be as easy as using your very own Facebook or Myspace profile. Affiliate products typically pay 50% to 75%, so you can make a very healthy income for selling just a few objects.

Underground Travel Income Method #4 – Filming Your Adventures – If you’ve got the camera out and you’re taking pictures, why not switch it to ‘film’ mode and make money from it? You simply make a video of your destinations using iMovie or Windows Movie Maker, then use your videos to create a customer base!

Underground Travel Income Method #5 – Podcasting – If filming scares you off or intimidates you, you can make an iTunes podcast. It is easier than ever to get listed in iTunes and there’s a HUGE audience of podcast listeners. Simply talk about the places you visit two or three times a week and watch how your following grows… and how your bank account grows!

Underground Travel Income Method # 6 – Ebay – The common misconception about Ebay is that you have to sell a physical product to make money. Here’s the trick: You can set up a fulfillment house to ship your product (or hire your little sister or the neighborhood kid). All you have to do is create your Ebay post from an internet café and collect the money!

Take any one of these six ‘travel job’ methods, and there are hundreds of travelers all over the world making more money than they would at a regular ‘job…’ and they’re living it up at exotic, world-class destinations. Take your pick, and take action on the ideas here!

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How to Get Paid for Your Travel Videos

Money For Traveling asked:

Have you ever wondered how to get paid for traveling? What if I could tell you that by documenting your travels on film, you could get paid for it? It’s not as hard as you may imagine… so let’s get started.

Most people would imagine selling their videos to The Travel Channel or to The Discovery Channel, that is not the method you’re going to take. Those are sometimes well-paid jobs, but they don’t meet our criteria of getting paid quickly and allowing us to travel wherever we desire.

So how do you use travel videos to get paid? The answer is simple: By using your videos to drive traffic to third party websites who give you money for doing so.

Here is how it’s done:

Unless you’ve lived in a cave, you have probably heard of YouTube (actually, even people in caves have heard of it). It is not uncommon for basic, elementary videos to get 10’s and 100’s of thousands of views. Even videos with millions of views are becoming more common by the day. So how do you drive traffic to a third party site with these videos?

When you post a video to YouTube, you are allowed to make a description of your video. To drive traffic, put a hyperlink in the description to your affiliate link of your third party site. Simply format the address you want to send people to with ‘http://YourAffiliateLink.com’ and it will become a live link within YouTube’s description.

So where do you send people to? There are thousands of affiliate programs out there, but the easiest way to get started is to search Clickbank for products that are related to your video. For example, if you recently went to an Italian Vineyard, you could direct people to a product that teaches “wine tasting” or “how to create your own wine.”

You will make a commission on each sale that is made. So, if 10,000 people watch your video over the next year, and 10% of them click your link, you send 1,000 visitors to the site. If 10% of those visitors buy, you make 100 sales. Oftentimes that’s at $20-$50 dollars per sale, so based on this model, you can make $2000 to $5000 dollars for that video!

You are probably getting excited now. That’s for only ONE video! If you have 10 videos out there, you’re now making $20,000 to $50,000 dollars per year just for having some silly videos on the web.

To be entirely realistic, it can be difficult to get that many views for that many videos… but it’s NOT impossible. Many people are doing it, so there’s no reason you can’t do it as well. You just need to know what you’re doing!

Here are some last minute keys: First, make videos people are going to share with their friends. They should be instructional, funny, or amazing. Second, consider putting your link ON the video itself. That way, people type the address into their browser if they like your video, and if people embed your video, you’ll still drive traffic. Third, find GOOD affiliate programs that ‘convert’ well… meaning they sell a lot of their stuff.

Using this model, and with a little more training, you’ll be off to the races, traveling the world while you make money for filming your adventures!

Tips and Advice to Setup Your Own Travel Business at no very low cost

Personal Travel asked:

Since last year, I have heard of several people making good money working in the travel industry as a home based online travel agent. The good news is that you can, too. In fact it’s easy! These people have done it honestly, legally and ethically with the proper guidance of knowing all the details in this new online career. Once you know the basic steps then you can start making real money.

There are two options to start with and those are; either to be a part timer in the first 3 months, giving you time to become more acquainted with the business flow of being an online travel agent from actual transactions and later dedicating yourself full time to your new career.

Then, there are those that start straight away as full timers and are now successfully supporting themselves and their loved ones. The fun part is that they started seeing the world together with their family, something that may have been just a dream when they were still in those clerical jobs. Their often find that their entire lifestyle has dramatically changed in just a short period of time.

In definition, a home-based online travel agent markets travel products offered by travel companies and suppliers that has a vast inventory of vacation package deals. The position is often referred to as “independent sales representatives.” “Independent” due to the fact that you are not working inside an office space of a travel company whose products you represent.

As an independent travel agent, you may deal directly with a travel supplier or through a middleman (host agency). Because you are not an employee from any of them, you are not on their payroll list or have employee benefits.

The bottom line here is that you make your own money and get paid through commissions on whatever travel products that you can sell and there is no limit to the income you want to generate from your own time table (weekly or monthly sales). These is achieved by negotiating your own commission level or get the best offered commission package from either the host agency or the travel supplier of your choice. Earning capacity is generally unlimited from commissions and it will steadily increase as you grow your network.

To gauge your success as an online travel agent is easy! When you sell more, you earn more, sell less and you earn less.

Important advice here is that when you are independent and on your own, remember that you should never be completely alone and do all of the work with no support. There are travel suppliers who offer great packages for independent travel agents that are all automated and can mean easier work for you, giving you more time to focus on expanding your client listings. Remember that you must constantly work with others who have all the resources that will help provide the best service to your clients. To have a good understanding of what I am saying here, check out this travel supplier, http://www.personaltravelgroup.com. and you will see the difference!

Personal Travel Group offer full professional support to all of their agents and their motto is “We do the work – you make the money!” You don’t need qualifications and they pay out 70% of the available commission! It’s the best one I’ve seen – check it out for yourself…

[url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOHt3_qBmuo”]Watch this video on how to be a Travel Consultant. [/url]

What Kind of Travel Experience Do You Want?

Stuart S. Travel asked:

So you’re going on a trip. Fantastic! Exciting! But what sort of trip are you planning to take? Is it for business or pleasure? Where are you headed? Who are you going with? Just what kind of travel experience do you want?

 

Traveling on a budget can give you all sorts of experiences, depending on a) your budget, b) where you want to go, and c) what you want to do. Everyone’s budget will be different, and traveling on a budget means knowing how much money you can afford to spend and sticking to that amount. So if you have a budget of two thousand dollars, your travel experience will be different from someone who has a budget of ten thousand dollars. It’s all relative to the dollar amount, but knowing some tricks to help you save money while traveling will make your dollars stretch further therefore increasing your travel experience.

 

Do you want to travel overseas? Do you want to travel around your home country? Do you want to stay in luxury accommodation or are you going to back- pack? Are you traveling with children or are you honeymooning? Are you traveling with a bunch of friends or are you keen to experience a group tour with strangers? Do you want to go to popular tourist sites or do you want to experience a destination’s way of living in remote areas? 

 

All these questions are things you need to ask yourself before you begin to plan your trip. You can either plan your trip with your budget in mind, or plan your trip, work out how much money you’ll need and save until you can get there. The first is probably a little easier to do because when the travel bug hits, you generally want to take off as soon as possible. Knowing your budget can guide you in making your decision of how and where you will be traveling. But if you have your heart set on a trip of a lifetime to an exotic island in the Pacific then you will need to save accordingly. It’s your choice.

 

Once you know what type of experience you are after, it’s time to work out the best way to get it on your available funds. Traveling on a budget is easier than you think these days. No longer does it mean living on stale food and sleeping in questionable accommodation. If you are wise and spend some time investigating deals to your chosen destination you could be able to enhance your traveling experience more than you thought possible. A bit of research will get you a long way when traveling on a budget.

 

This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru

www.stuartstravel.com

Summer Job Ideas for Budget Travelers

Stuart S. Travel asked:

Can you get a job over the summer while traveling? There are plenty around and many aimed at travelers specifically. Organize your work permit and check out the local paper for jobs for travelers. You’ll be amazed at what kind of work you can find to do.

 

1. You could become an au pair or nanny. There are many opportunities to look after people’s other kids while traveling. Try England, South Africa or Australia for starters.

2. You could teach English. In a number of countries there are opportunities for English teachers. If you are bilingual you’ll have a much better chance of scoring one of these jobs in places like Japan.

3. How about working in a pub? In England there are opportunities for free board in pubs where you are prepared to pull a beer. Hospitality jobs are relatively easy to come by in Australia.

4. Have you ever considered working at children’s holiday camps in the USA or Russia as a camp counselor?

5. You could become a fruit picker! Get to work in the fields all over the world.

6. What about a winter holiday job? Can you ski? You can get jobs as ski or snowboard instructors in many ski resorts all over the globe.

7. How about becoming a Jack or Jillaroo on an outback station in Australia? Immerse yourself in the culture of the outback.

8. Is there work available at the hostel you are staying at? It won’t hurt to ask. Sometimes you can exchange work for free food and board or at least a reduction in the price.

 

Apart from paid positions, you can also get volunteer work in many places. Volunteering your services can get you free food and board. How about volunteering on a farm? Or being a hike trail or tourist guide volunteer? You’ll get to see the sights for free.

 

For those of you who may be looking for a more serious work/travel experience there are other opportunities. For example, can you get a transfer with your current job to an overseas position? Or do you want to do something worthwhile in your gap year? Programs are available for students to travel in their gap year and get involved in some amazing projects all over the world. You could work in the publishing industry in India or teach children with special needs. There are many organizations set up to help place people who want to broaden their horizons by volunteering their services in foreign countries.

 

If you think working or volunteering while you are traveling would be a possibility for you, make sure you find out if you need work permits to do so. Using your skills while traveling is a great way to save money and meet people. You’ll be rewarded in many ways.

 

This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru

www.stuartstravel.com

Why Traveling Without Insurance May Cost You More

Stuart S. Travel asked:

You are going traveling. You have lots of expenses to cover. You need to pay for your air fare, your accommodation, your food, your travel while away, cultural experiences and the list goes on. You want to save money so you decide not to bother with travel insurance. You are going on the trip of a lifetime so nothing will go wrong. It’s an unnecessary expense so you don’t need it. Wrong. Very wrong. Traveling with out insurance can be the biggest mistake you make when organizing your trip and a very costly one.

 

What is travel insurance? Well there are two kinds of insurance to look at when traveling.

1. Travel insurance, (sometimes called trip insurance) which covers cancellations, delays, lost baggage and emergencies.

2. Travel medical insurance protects you against any medical expense while traveling.

 

Ideally, you need a combination of the two when traveling. 

 

Imagine these scenarios:

You are in Darwin, Australia when a cyclone hits the area. The city is devastated by the cyclone and all services shut down. You have to be evacuated and sent home. Your travel insurance will cover you for this. You do have travel insurance don’t you?

 

Your luggage goes missing in India. You need to buy new clothes and fast. Can you afford it in your budget? Of course you can, you took out traveler’s insurance – didn’t you?

 

Or what if you go surfing in Hawaii and take a big wipeout? You are so severely injured you need surgery and major medical assistance, and then are airlifted home. But that’s okay – your travel medical insurance covers all that. You have got it, haven’t you?

 

Travel insurance is there to protect you in case bad things happen on your trip. It is a necessary expense. Overseas medical costs can be astronomical if you are not insured. And if you are injured in a developing country, medical attention may not be as good as at home. If you are insured you can get flown home and attended to at no cost.

 

Every year the government deals with thousands of cases of travelers being injured, falling ill or dying overseas. This is a distressing situation for all involved, but made even worse when the travelers are not insured, often leaving them with huge bills to pay. Hospitalization in other countries can cost over one thousand dollars a day. Medical evacuations can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and if you die in Europe, it can cost over ten thousand dollars to bring your body back home. If you do not have travel insurance you have to cover these costs yourself (or your family will have to find the money).

 

Travel insurance is a cost you need to budget for. If you don’t take it out, your medical expenses could cost a whole lot more. Insure yourself and travel safe.

 

This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru

www.stuartstravel.com

Cruises to Italy-travel.mapsofworld.com

Travel.mapsofworld asked:

Your Cruises to Italy will prove to be quite exciting during which you can experience optimum luxury. In your cruise to Italy you can either sail on a yacht or tour in a major cruise line. You can also take a cruise ride while spending your long awaited vacation in the mainland Italy.

The cruise ride will take you through the Western Mediterranean. The tour will be quite enchanting and you will be mesmerized by the gushing sound of the waves as the propellers make way through the sea. At night the temperature cools down and you can enjoy the breeze standing on the deck. This is indeed one of the most relaxing way to travel and explore the coastline of Italy.

You can go for a short sailing or go for long voyages as a part of your cruise rides in Italy. These rides are going to pamper the travelers with their friendly environment and warm hospitality. You can book your favorite cruise and visit your desired location.

For the sailing enthusiasts, they can go for big cruise lines in Italy. In fact there are quite a number of ways by which you can see various locations in Italy by ship. You can take Cruises to Italy and enhance your touring experience in Italy. Moreover traveling by sea is also pocket friendly. It is also not compulsory to exchange currency while on board although this depends on your tour operator.

No matter which cruise line you select you would definitely enjoy every bit of you ride. These cruise ships stops at all the major ports along the Mediterranean Sea. If you are traveling on a relatively smaller cruise line then you can also visit various other ports which include Portofino, Capri and Sardinia. Apart from stopping at the major ports the large ships will spend a major half of the tour in the sea. These ships provide plenty of entertainment and excellent dinning options. The restaurants serve various mouth watering delicacies which are prepared from fresh ingredients. On board you will be provided with optimum comfort to make your tour memorable.

You can also opt for other cruising options which include private yachts which is equipped with all the modern amenities. There are other typical Italian style cruises which will acclimatize you with the history and culture of the region.

You can explore Italy in a number of ways; Cruises to Italy would be one of the most cherished trips which you would treasure long after the tour is over.

If you want to get detailed information on Cruises to Italy keep browsing Travel.mapsofworld.com

Travel by Ukraine

Travel Girl asked:

Ukraine

Travel by Ukraine

The Ukraine

Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe, after Russia. The country is rather flat and includes the autonomous region of Crimea in the south.

Most of the Crimean Tatars were forcibly moved to Central Asia in 1944 to suppress their nationalist intentions.

Ukrainian

The official language of Ukraine is Ukrainian; one of the three East Slavic languages, closely related to Russian and Belorussian.

Early Ukrainian History

Tatar Mongols invaded the area in the 13th century but the western Ukrainian principality of Galicia, founded in the 12th century, suffered less from the Mongol invasion.

Annexed by Poland in the 14th century, although the Ukrainian Cossacks allied themselves with Russia.

The partitions of Poland saw much of the land handed over to Russia in 1667, while Galicia became a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1772 to 1919.

The Cave monastery, Perchersky, was founded in the early 11th century and is one of the most sacred buildings of the Russian Orthodox church.

The ruins of the Golden Gate also date from the same period and was once the main entrance to the city.

Kiev was the centre of the Rus principality in the 11th and 12th centuries AD, and it is still known as the Mother of Russian Cities.

From London travel to Ukraine by train…

Kiev, Ukraine. Easy to get there by train!

It’s easy to travel by train from London to Ukraine. It’s also safe, comfortable, affordable and (unlike yet another flight) an adventure. Eurostar and German Railways link London with Berlin, then there are daily sleeper trains from Berlin and Warsaw to Kiev. There’s even direct sleeping-cars several times each week from Berlin to Odessa and Simferopol in the Crimea. This page will tell you train times, approximate fares, and how to book.

Travel by Ukraine