More research, America etc.

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I’m now in Paris and have just settled into my hostel. A hostel although usually the status quo of travellers wouldn’t have been my first choice normally. My funds are shockingly low at the moment so rather than a grovelling call to the bank I’ve been trying to research and organise my travels better. So far my hap-hazard preparation has cost me financially.

I’ve been looking firstly at Travel Coupons which could be a great money saver as I am constantly on the move and more than ready to accept last minute, cheaper deals. This USA Road Trip Planner is extremely useful for my plans of exploring America. America is a huge place and using a trip planner as well as a gas card could be brilliant.

All of this research has been taking place mostly on this Open Travel Info web site. A great guide in my opinion and definitely worth a visit. I think I may be using it more and more in the future.

Moving on from Dortmund

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Ahh, I’m slightly disappointed at the moment. Its 3.43pm here in Dortmund and a cheap flight I was supposed to catching over to Paris at 4.00pm local time has been cancelled. I’m going to hang on until tomorrow and get myself off then.

So what of Dortmund … Read the rest of this entry »

More on driving America …

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In my last post I talked about travelling America via car and I’ve been looking further into it as I can’t wait to get there. What did I find ? gas cards, they seem to be a great way of saving money or dollars whilst I’m travelling the land of opportunity.

After all my fund aren’t exactly a bottomless pit ! gas cards are effectively credit cards for gas. Not to be confused with English saving cards that will give points or rewards for a certain amount spent over time. Many English reward cards will only give around 1% back.

Gas credit cards can give you as much as 20% cash-back which is great. They operate in the same way as regular credit cards where you can choose to clear your balance on a weekly or monthly basis. Another benefit is the fact that they save pressure time at the pay point which is important when you want to hit the road.

I’ve still to see the legal wranglings of a traveller applying and being accepted for a card but if I can get my hands on one I will definitely be doing so.

Thinking of America

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At some point on my travels I will inevitably cross the pond and do America! I would love to stop by Hawaii and have been thinking of the best ways to travel. Despite my recent problems with rental cars I have been looking at Hawaii Car Rental and Car Rentals, Maui.

America and American states such as Hawaii are much better travelled in my opinion by car and since I don’t want to pay the charge for shipping my car over, rental is the only option. In fact I believe any travel should be aided in some way by cars. That is of course until a greener method because available that is as convenient.

I have been fortunate to visit Florida when I was younger on a family holiday and without a car I can imagine things being really difficult. Therefore researching Miami Car Rentals has also been a must before travelling over to America. After all how can I visit America without seeing Disney Land.

Learning Italian in Italy

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Why? Easy to say!…. Have you ever tried to speak Italian or any other foreign language while walking in your country or while traveling on the underground, when you know the person you are talking
with, can properly manage your language? Do you remember the feeling?

You fell ridiculous, as trying to do something not natural at all.
Nobody is probably looking at you or understanding what you are saying, but you feel like everyone is doing it.

Even if at the end you’ll very proud of yourself, because you could make it, it has been stressful and it was a choice.
Well. Come to Italy! You probably know it….. but everyone here speaks Italian! It is just normal and anyone expects you to do that; even if some Italians will definitely try to speak your language or just English to make you feel more comfortable.

Even if all this seems obvious, in fact it is not. Being partly Italian means moving, laughing, walking, watching things as Italians do, or at least, means knowing how Italians do that. There is a whole
of it that only Italy can offer and this is the best way to get the grasp or to improve the knowledge of what “Italian” means.

Once you’ve got it, you can go on learning words, rules, functions and improving your skills in listening, understanding, reading and speaking, aiming first to be understood.

Being in a friendly and authentic environment is fundamental to promote a true learning process and that’s what Istituto Linguistico Mediterraneo has always done since 1981, when the school was firstopened and they started to deal with the subject of helping people in learning Italian Language and Culture. Several Italian Courses offered.
Pisa (open all the year) and Viareggio (open in summer) offer a good picture of Italian Culture and Habits in any season.

Living in a big city can be more adventurous, but the true Italian daily life is gone with the cosmopolitan lifestyle.
Italian have a motto: “Paese che vai, Usanza che trovi” (if you go in different country, you will find different habits). It might be a good idea to pursue this goal and get to know more about Italian Lifestyle,
besides monuments and cliché.

Learning Spanish in Argentina

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Argentina is a country I would love to add to my evergrowing list of visited countries. I would love to learn Spanish as a second language. I am not overly concerned about combining the two but the possibility does exist and you can. Spanish Schools Buenos Aires and Spanish courses Buenos Aires would be perfect for anybody looking to combine learning and Spanish and travelling/moving to Argentina, Buenos Aires.

What could be better than learning such a beautiful language as Spanish in the beautiful surroundings of Buenos Aires. Studying any language is greatly rewarding and using the language when genuinely needed even more-so.

Spanish is a romance language derived from Vulgar Latin and was used by intellectual romans. Twenty One nations currently use the language and it is one of six official united nations languages. Argentina like many other Latin America nations have Spanish as their official language. According to internet usage statistics Spanish is the third most used language after Chineese and English.

Study abroad Argentina in Buenos Aires and experience all the great capital of Argentina has to offer. The ever changing skyline is breathtaking and the city isn’t short of its attractions for all types of visitors, permanent or temporary.

Learn Spanish in Argentina and become one of the estimated 500 million native and non-native speakers around the world. Spanish according to George Webber’s point system in the third most influential language in the world after English and French. With all this in mind you could consider learning Spanish a necessity rather than an option !

Airport Parking

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More posts on the Dortmund over the next few days as I’m still stuck here, getting a little bored now ! I’m also looking to get a few images up on my flickr so keep an eye out for those.

Just now I’d like to share a bit of knowledge gained during my travels. This blog would be wasted if I were not able to pass on a little bit of advice from time to time. UK airport parking has never been better you can book in advance, find great discounts and all online. Go ahead and book online safe in the knowledge that your space will be reserved and you’ll literally only have to turn up and drive into it.

Some key tips include :

Check your car when you leave it and more-so when you go to pick it up. If you notice damage before driving away you must report it. Why ? If you drive away then the company who have been holding car will not be liable. You have driven your car away and as such have agreed that you are happy with its condition.
Make sure you pre-book. If you pre-book you can receive fantastic discounts. Also check if airport parking can been thrown in with your deal at the travel agents.
Allow a little extra time for your whole arrival at the airport. This may seem obvious but parking up and walking to the terminal rather than jumping straight out of a taxi will definitely add a little time onto your arrival.

Gatwick Airport Parking and Manchester Airport Parking are two of the most popular destinations but wherever you are parking the advice above should hold you in good-stead.

Dortmund

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Happy New Year !

After my stint in Amsterdam which lasted a little longer than usual a left for the neareast city. I wasn’t sure where I would end up so I took out a map and looked for something that caught my eye. There are a few places I wouldn’t dream of missing but I’m pretty easy with the rest of my journey.

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