Beitel travel advice

Lodging is one of the most important aspects of a holiday or business trip.  While your company may select your hotel for you if you’re on business, if you’re going on holiday, you may have many different choices.  However, you want to be sure you select a hotel that best fits your needs.

What amenities do you need in your lodging?  Some hotels offer luxuries like fridges, microwaves, and even small kitchenettes, but you’ll find these rooms are sometimes more expensive.  You also have a choice in beds—do you need one large bed or two smaller ones?  Will you need a roll-in bed?  If you’re getting two rooms, can you get them with an adjoining door?  Take all of these considerations into account when you’re booking your lodging.

You also need to consider location.  Finding a hotel near places you want to visit is a good idea since it will cut down on transportation time.  You may even be able to walk from your hotel, saving you money on taxi rides.  Also check to see if your hotel offers shuttles to the airport or not.  Some hotels do have free transportation back and forth to the airport, but some do not.

If you’re travelling with children, inquire about discounted rates.  Some hotels charge less for children under 12, and some allow babies to stay for free.  Likewise, be sure to check how many adults are allowed in each room.  Some charge one price for two adults and a different price for three or four adults.

Many people like to purchase souvenirs when they’re on holiday or even on a business trip.  However, there are many different things to keep in mind when you’re purchasing souvenirs.  If you aren’t careful, you may end up spending either too much money or not having enough bag space for all of the souvenirs you purchased. One way to keep your souvenir buying under control is to make a list of everyone you wish to purchase souvenirs for.  By doing this, you won’t make any impulse buys.  You should also decide how much money you want to spend on each person on your list.  For some, like co-workers or acquaintances, you may not want to spend much money.  For your close friends, though, you might want to spend a little more.  Don’t forget to put yourself on that list—you’ll want a souvenir or two from your trip. Bag space is another consideration.  You don’t want to buy too many souvenirs or purchase too many large items.  If you do, you may find yourself without enough space in your luggage.  Think of small gifts for those people whom you don’t wish to spend a lot of money on.  Fridge magnets, small snow globes, pens, and pencils are good small gifts.  T-shirts can also be folded up fairly small.  Try to avoid purchasing fragile souvenirs unless you have room to put them in your carry-on bag.  Be sure you have something to use as padding for these breakables (such as t-shirts or heavy sweaters). If you don’t have much space in your luggage or that much extra money in your budget, think about sending postcards in place of a souvenir.  Often, you can find very interesting postcards or cards with great images on them.  If you don’t have addresses, you can even wait until you get home to distribute your postcards.

Many have heard of the famous novel The Bridges of Madison County, but travellers to Amsterdam will want to check out the bridges of the country.  They’re some of the most beautiful and architecturally interesting bridges in the world.  While you may not go to Amsterdam just to see them, if you can include visiting even one of these bridges in your trip, you should do so. You could even stay in one of the Vienna hotels along the river like The Bridge Hotel.

The first is the Magere Brug, the most famous drawbridge in the country.  It runs over the Amstel River and is located in the centre of the city.  This white bridge is made of wood, and while the current Magere Brug Bridge was built recently (1934), there has been a bridge at the same location since 1691.  One of the most interesting aspects of the Magere Brug is that, until 1994, the drawbridge was still opened by hand.  Since then, however, a mechanism has been used.  Today, only pedestrians and cyclists are allowed to use the bridge.  If you’re in town on V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day, May 7/8), you can attend a concert held near the bridge and may catch a glimpse of Dutch Queen Beatrix.

The Blauwbrug, or blue bridge, is another historic bridge in the city.  Like the Magere Brug, the Blauwbrug in use today is not the original bridge.  The original was built around 1600, while the current bridge was built in 1883.  This new Blauwbrug is a copy of the Alexandre the 3rd Bridge located in Paris.  However, even though it is not painted blue, the name stayed the same.  This bridge is open to vehicles and features a tramway.

While these two are the most famous bridges in Amsterdam, there are a number of smaller bridges.  The Python Bridge connects Sporenburg to Borneo Island.  This bridge was the winner of the 2002 International Footbridge Award.  Another often visited bridge the Jan Schaeferbrug, a 2001 bridge that was designed by architect T. Venhoeven.

If you’re travelling out of town for an extended period of time (or even for just a week or so in some cases) you may want to hire a house sitter.  However, there are some cases in which this really isn’t necessary.  How do you know if you need a house sitter?  Review these items and if you find that you answer yes to them, you should hire someone to stay in your home while you are out of town. Do you have pets?  If you do, you will need someone to come feed and water them each day.  With dogs, you’ll also need someone to let them out if you don’t have a doggie door.  You might be able to get a neighbour to do this, or you may have a friend or relative who live close enough to drop by your home each day.  If these aren’t options, you will either have to board your pets or hire a house sitter. Have neighbours been robbed?  If others in your neighbourhood have been robbed or if crime seems to be an issue, you should certainly think about getting someone to watch your home while you’re away.  While lights on timers and an alarm system may help deter thieves, it’s not the same as having someone visibly staying in your house. Will you be gone for longer than a week?  If so, you may want someone there to water your plants and do other small household chores.  You may also want to offer a long-term (more than a week) house sitter meals as well as a small payment for staying so long.  Items like milk, eggs, and fruit may go bad while you’re away, so someone might as well eat them.  You can even use this as a form of payment, allowing you to cut your budget a bit. If you answered yes to any of these three questions, consider hiring a house sitter.  You’ll feel better knowing someone is watching your home while you’re away, and you may even avoid coming back to a fridge full of rotten food!

With the many different baggage restrictions on flights, buses, trains, and ships, many people who travel, especially abroad, have had to learn to pack lightly.  While some may find this impossible, there are some ways to pack lightly that are quite simple.

First, examine the outfits you plan on wearing.  If you won’t be doing anything that requires formal dress, excellent.  That means you can pack much lighter.  If you are, you have a few obstacles.  For women, travelling with a formal dress may be difficult, and you should simply resign yourself to ironing it when you arrive or, if necessary, even dry cleaning it.  For men and women wearing dressy jackets, you may consider wearing them while travelling.  While it does mean you run the risk of getting them dirty, keeping them out of your bags both saves you space and keeps the garment somewhat wrinkle-free.  You can also wear your heavy coat instead of packing it.

Jeans are a great way of saving space simply because you can often wear the same pair for several days.  Likewise, you may be able to wear an over-shirt twice before washing it if you don’t get it dirty.  T-shirts and underwear, however, should be changed daily, especially if you’re in a warm environment and may be sweating.  However, if you don’t mind spending a little extra money, you can always go to a shop and buy new socks and underwear when you arrive and throw them away when you leave.  This can be expensive, but it does save space in your luggage.

If you’re travelling with someone, think about combining your luggage.  By going with a slightly larger bag, you may be able to eliminate a piece of luggage.  This can save you money since you won’t have to pay for shipping it plus make it easier to haul your luggage around.

Carry-on bags are another good way of saving space.  If you’re only going to take a book or a few snacks in your carry-on, think about adding your toiletries and other small items to the bag.  You may even be able to fit an extra pair of shoes in your carry-on.  Just be sure it still meets the size requirements for a carry-on bag.

Finally, don’t over-pack.  Think about what you’ll be doing, and don’t take too many changes of clothing.  If you know you’ll be buying a souvenir t-shirt, you may even take that into consideration and wear it after buying it.

Orlando, Florida, has many different things to see and do.  Sure, there are the standard museums, malls, concert halls, and other standard holiday fares, but Orlando has a few things that set it apart from other cities.  Those things are amusement parks.

The most famous is Walt Disney World.  While it’s not the original Disney park (that would be Disney Land in California), it’s the largest one. Disney World is made up of several different parks.  There’s the Magic Kingdom, the traditional Disney park that features Cinderella’s castle, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and, of course, Mickey Mouse and his friends.  Then there’s Epcot, a world tour that features international themed rides and teaches kids and adults alike about various countries around the world. There is also a possible alternative to finding a hotel in Orlando to stay in – the Walt Disney Resorts – although you will pay a premium for this priviledge.

Two new theme parks have been added to Disney World since it first opened.  One is Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  It features various rides and activities related to movies and filming movies.  These include the Jedi Training Academy, Jim Henson’s Muppet Vision 3D movie, and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.  The second addition is Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  It features many different animal shows and activities related to animals and animal conservation.

The other large amusement park in Orlando is Universal Studios.  It’s made up of three parks: Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Wet ‘n Wild.  Universal Studios mainly features rides and activities based on various movies, as does Islands of Adventure.  The islands current feature five locations: the Marvel Super Hero Island, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic Park, the Lost Continent, and Seuss Landing.  In 2010, a new island will open: the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  You can bet millions of kids will be flocking to this new section of the theme park!