The Sweet Life.

New experiences and new places are fascinating to any human being. Some people like to travel alone and soak up these new experiences in hopes of deepening “who they are.”

Having said that, there is also something to be said for traveling with a companion. This companion does not have to be a girlfriend, or a boyfriend, or even someone close to you. But find someone that you can trust and tolerate enough to share a possibly life-changing experience with. If you don’t know them very well, you definitely will once your trip is over.

My best trips and vacations have been journeys that I have taken with people that I love. To have someone along that I know will be interested and hungry to learn and know more about where we are is so exciting. Just think - when you have more than one person along, but not too many, you have the addition of view points and opinions and desires that you may have not thought of.

If you’ve only ever traveled with others, then consider taking a trip by yourself. It is enlightening to one’s soul to be completely alone with your thoughts and feelings about a new place. However, as a double-edged sword, if you’ve only ever traveled alone, then find someone that you would like to share your experience with. Show them what you like to do and be flexible and receptive to their new ideas and suggestions about what to see and where to go.

With new personalities on your trip, you will find yourself in places, eating things, listening to music, and doing things that you would have never imagined -or chosen for yourself- before!

The perfect example came up today and I felt it necessary to share with traveling patrons everywhere.

This morning I dropped Brad off at Will Rogers International in the city. He got to Denver without a hitch, but he called me from Denver to tell me that there were problems with his plane and that he might not make it to San Francisco from Denver to make his flight to Boise later on this evening. (phew!)

He’s still in the works of figuring it out, but this is a perfect example in the need for flexibility. Everyone loves to reach their destinations, but it takes very patient people to be able to travel with problems and not get bent out of shape.

Here’s some tips just in case you know yourself well enough to know that getting bent out of shape IS a possibility if things don’t go exactly how you were planning.

A movie about getting lost in life, and then finding yourself in the perfect place.

Ridley Scott’s newest film, “A Good Year,” is about a stock broker whose uncle unexpectedly dies. They have lost touch, but as a child he had spent much time with this uncle in Province. If for NO other reason, this movie should be seen for the beautiful cinematography that displays a jewel of the world.

Based on the book by Peter Mayle, “A Good Year” is a beautiful story about finding what life is really about in the midst of life you have been living. The culture of the certain European people is, and has been for centuries, a relaxed and gorgeous approach to the things that truly matter. They take time to eat, drink and be with one another. They are passionate people about every aspect of life.

“A Good Year” starring Russel Crowe, is currently in theaters. Unfortunately, not in Stillwater, Ok.

Many individuals in this day and age find difficulty in the inevitable set backs of traveling. No matter how much one plans, or how many intineraries are printed, plans will change. The best thing anyone can pack in order to deal with these situations is their FLEXIBILTY.

Major occurrences are more common in destinations where a different language is spoken, unless you are fluent and familiar in that native tongue. However, it is just as easy to get yourself into a jam in a country where you are a native speaker.

In an article by James Martin, “EUROPE TRAVEL 101,” he gives tips and to-do’s starting 6 months before a trip departure. For some these tips will be life-saving, but some of us are just “fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants” kind of people.

Martin suggests…

3 Months Before You Travel to Europe

• Finding the Best Airfare
• Apply for a Passport if you haven’t already
• Start thinking about walking shoes!

At this point you’ll still be doing some things from three months ago. That’s ok, but we’re going to add some things, like finding airfares, and getting a passport if you don’t already have one. And you’ll be walking a lot in Europe, so it’s time to think about good, solid walking shoes that you can wear to a good restaurant. There’s nothing worse than to have to lug around many shoes, believe me.

2 Months Before You Travel to Europe

A couple months or so before you go you’ll need to figure out where to stay and how to get around:

• Hotel Reservations
• Train or Car - Time to choose your main transportation
• Car? Rent or Lease?
• Train? Rail Pass or Point to Point tickets?

1 Month Before You Travel to Europe

Think STUFF! One month before you to, it’s time to get your stuff together:

• Luggage
• Camera(s)
• Money
• Budgeting
• Travel Insurance

Yes, by now you’ve got a route, reservations, a way to get around Europe–so it’s time to think off all the stuff you’re going to bring, including the all-important money.

Right Before You Travel to Europe - Final Checklist!

Time for those last minute checks before boarding the plane for that European vacation!

• Call Your Credit Card Companies
• Got Meds? Write Down the Details
• Pack Light. Pack Right.
• Final Check - Packing List and Department of State Travel Warnings

Here’s where you start getting excited. But hold off, you’ve still got work to do in the last few days before you fly away on your European vacation.

(To view the article in it’s entirety and from it’s original source, click on this link.)

One of the most well-known names in travel and traveling on a budget is that of Arthur Frommer. His line of Frommer’s Travel Guides are one of the best-selling lines of travel books today. The research that has been done into the do’s and do NOT’s of the world’s greatest destinations has saved many, and been more than helpful to some.

Budget Travel Online is a site from the people at Frommer’s that is an extension to Budget Travel magazine. It lists suggestions for travel deals, destinations, strategies for purchasing, and spotlights different aspects of travel from consumer feedback.

The best feature is The REAL DEALS. It is a feature of Editor’s Choice Picks thats offers up some amazing deals to all corners of the world. There is also a link to the Travel Marketplace, which features the best travel deals and vacation packages.

Check it out, here.

For all you really ballsy cats that dig hitch-hiking, back-packing, rail-riding and budget road travel as your favored means of travel across the wonder that is our world, DIGIHITCH is for you!

This site is equipped with an interactive map that by clicking on it, can take you to the exact location of where you may want to go. For example, by clicking on a map of the USA, you will then be able to click on a region, then the state in that region and you will be shown the major highways that run through the state.

Interactive maps are available for the entire globe: Latin America, Canada, Europe and more! So definitely - check this site out! General information about the destination/location will be provided and from there, your imagination is the limit to where you can go!!

If you have ever been to Europe NOT on a family vacation you will know what I mean when I say “hostel.”

Hostels can vary greatly in their class and ammenities, but for the most part, you will find more horror stories than best-kept-little-secrets of diamonds in the rough.

Wherever you go, Hostelworld.com is one of the better known sites in searching for hostels and availability and booking online.

In the golden days of Oklahoma’s youth, trains were common type of travel. However, today there is a great way to experience the antique ambiance of railing your way through Oklahoma. Oklahoma’s Heartland Flyer is an Amtrak train that travels from Oklahoma City southward to Forth Worth, TX while stopping through various Oklahoma treasure-towns.

One highlights of the trip is that riders can get off in Fort Worth to enjoy the Grapevine Mills shopping mall. Not to mention that riders will be able to enjoy a view of nostalgic Oklahoma at it’s finest while stopping at train stations in each of the location shown on the map.

Here is a copy of the Heartland Flyer train schedulde to and from Oklahoma City and Forth Worth.

A larger view of the schedule, as well as more information about stops and tickets can be found by clicking on the Heartland Flyer graphic below.

The Ultimate Road Trip Planner!!

*A guide written by the husband-wife team of Carol & David White that illustrates how you CAN make your dream of traveling the country come true. It’s not as expensive as one might think actually. In their comprehensive guide, the Whites show you how to see the country for the same amount that it would cost you to stay home!!*

“Thinking of planning a GREAT Adventure? The Whites’ road trip planner serves as a checklist for everything you need. In no time you’ll start to get organized for your adventure, and excited about the once-in-a-lifetime trip you’ll experience. No matter what destinations and activities you include in your dream, Phil and Carol White help you turn it into reality. It’s the only road trip planner you’ll ever need or want.”
You’ll learn…

• How to cut your expenses with out making sacrifices
• How to ensure a smooth and happy road trip
• How to have bills paid on time while away
• How to get over the guilt and leave your commitments and enjoy your adventure
• What you can do with your house while away
• Secrets to maintaining a peaceful and happy trip with another in close quaters
• What to do with pets while you’re away
• How to locate and take advantage of all the discounts available to you
• Why you should make it happen, and not just wait for “the best time”

The ideas are endless — it is just up to you to fulfill your dreams.

“But how will I leave my life behind for such a trip?”

Doesn’t that sound fabulous? But then that little nagging voice of “reality” sets in. And it asks all sorts of annoying questions, like…

1. How can you afford to put enough aside for my adventure-and where will the money come in from while you’re traveling?
2. How will you stay in touch with family and friends?
3. What happens to your house while you’re off having fun for a year?
4. Who will take on all your responsibilities? From mowing the grass to taking care of an elderly relative, somebody’s got to do it!
5. Maybe the most important question-how will you stand being around your spouse or traveling companion 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for an extended period?
   

But that “reality” is not YOUR reality! Every one of those issues is actually easy to handle—if you know where to turn.

There’s one easy way to get answers to all these questions and more-from people who’ve done it: Live Your Road Trip Dream, by Phil and Carol White is a comprehensive, but friendly, and easy-to-read road trip planner that helps you think through all the little details-before you load up and turn the key.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS GUIDE AND ABOUT CAROL & DAVID WHITE, VISIT www.roadtripdream.com

It all started when my boyfriend said, “We should go somewhere really great!” This is not a rare thing for him to say, yet when he mentioned to me that the cost for his destination in mind was rather cheap, my ears stood to attention.

As I was on the phone with him I searched travelocity and found the cheapest price listed for a ticket to COSTA RICA was around $400-$500. ‘To Costa Rica?’ I thought. For as much as it costs to get to Europe, this seemed to me to be a fairly good deal. My mind has been spinning, so therefore, here is my post about COSTA RICA.

It is gaining popularity as a traveling destination and I am bound to find out why…

Some fun things to know that you may be wondering…

- What is the difference between the rain forest and the cloud forest?

The main difference is that in the cloud forest doesn’t rain as much as in the rain forest. The species of flora and fauna that you might find differ from one to the other. (Hmph…that’s what I thought.)

Some average prices…(according to lonelyplanet.com)

• litre of petrol, ¢0.65
• small bottle of beer, ¢0.75
• souvenir t-shirt, ¢8.00
• loaf of bread, ¢0.50
• cold coconut water, ¢0.50
• litre of bottled water, ¢0.75
• two hours surfing lessons in Tamarindo, ¢30.00

Average Room Prices can be as low as $5! all the the way to $70 and above. Doesn’t sound too bad to me for a remote destination with lots of greenery and water.

Accommodation: Low US $5-15, Mid US $15-40, High US $40-70, Deluxe US $70+

Average Meal Prices: Low US $3-10, Mid US $10-20, High US $20-25

All I know is that if I can get one of these exotic mud mask/bath-thing brushed on by some little old costa rican lady with wise eyes and beautiful skin while I sip on some sort of toxic local fare, well then sign me up. The more exotic the location the better!

Costa Rica, here I come!

(passports ARE required!)