Ah, the age of information… nowadays folks are binging on information, yet starving for knowledge. Rather than wade through countless websites in search of solid advice, I’ve done the leg work for you by compiling the best free international travel guides out there today. The format of online guides differ from their tangible counterparts; where a book must include information you need before and during your trip, online travel guides provide the ability to get exactly what you need, when you need it.

Several times I have used an online guide book, and merely printed (or jotted down in my notebook) the most important info for the next few days. Here’s my list of the best free international travel guides:

Travelfish.org. There is no single source for travelers to Southeast Asia better than Travelfish. Loaded with easy to navigate information on the entire region, including Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Singapore, Travelfish covers all the travelers’ needs. The forum is really well done, and you can expect a high level experience from those who respond to your questions. Most of the information is free, and they do offer e-guides for each country at roughly $5 (a true bargain).

Lonley Planet’s Thorn Tree Forum. Very much like the forum on Travelfish, but with global coverage. I’m a firm believer that guide books are generally outdated by the time they hit the press, and it’s important to get from the road advice from someone who is there. Visa requirements change, roads are closed, violence happens…don’t get caught unprepared. Forums also provides advice you’ll never find in a guidebook, either: the need for bribes, history of violence, etc. These are important considerations in the real world that most publications (and governments) tend to gloss over.

Lonley Planet. Though they haven’t implemented it, LP has come up with the brilliant notion of offering a “pay as you go” program where you can choose portions of a guide book and pay for that part only. Keep an eye out on their website for the release date.

Bootsnall.com There are many international travel guides available on this site, and one could spend a lifetime searching through their network. A really good network for travelers, with independent travel blogs for a more personal approach.

These three are far and away the best online source for free international travel guides, and I suggest you research your destination with these both prior to and during your trip.

As Online Travel has caught the fancy of the internet savvy travelers the online travel market is booming. No wonder that the online Travel is one of the fastest growing markets worldwide. India is also not left behind in this race as according to industry Pundits, Online Travel Market in India would be worth around US $ 6 Billion.

As a logical extension to such buoyancy, Travel Guides have shown a steady rising to move online and in the process fulfilling the needs of the niche readers. Both traditional print brands as well as purely cyber entities are slogging it out to grab the attention of this niche segment. The publishers of print brands after their initial reluctance have also started embracing the web and publish all their content online.
Travel Guides

Let’s take a look at what the Travel Guides offer. Travel guides have become a necessary tool for anyone who is thinking of vacation. A Travel Guide is full of helpful advice, precise information, good ideas etc besides being well-written, well laid out as well as well indexed.

These City centric guides provide information on all aspects of travel. You can get good information on How to Reach, Attractions, Excursions, festivals, History along with the various kinds of accommodations available like lodges, hotels, resorts and the bed-and-breakfasts. Convenient maps make it easy for the newcomers to exactly pinpoint any destination.

An ideal Travel guide should also briefly outline the recreational activities coupled with more mundane activities of life that can be done in a particular city. Another important aspect that is generally missed out is the public transport of the cities where a traveler lands up. A genuine Travel Guide is also supposed to give precise information of the state of public transport highlighting bus routes, Cabs and Auto fares.

Another important aspect of a City Guide is to have a semblance of balanced information. This is important because travel can be both for as well as business.

Pros and cons of Online Travel Guides

More and more people are into researching the internet as a result the Online Travel Guides have become quite popular as compared to their print counterparts. However both the two brands have their own set of advantages and limitations.

Online Destination Guides are successful in tapping user-generated reviews and provide the added advantage of E- Commerce options. So surf the web pages of the guide and book flights, hotels and other arrangements at one go directly through the site. Another great feature of the Online Guides is that there is ample scope for value addition. For example Indian railway has planned a new train to connect Amritsar to Kasargod. This information can be easily updated in the Guide for the travelers to see.

As Hotels and rental agencies change their rates according to season and local competition, online travel guides also offer a dynamic lot of packages based on such variances. However coming to the flip side of it is very difficult to find Online Travel guides bereft of commercial influences. It is not uncommon to see many sites that are setup to merely attract the potential customers to a particular establishment, or sites giving reviews by travelers may not be wholly independent.

To conclude Online Travel Guides have become a very good way to gather information about smaller cities of India that has an immense tourism potential but often neglected. For example the whole of North east, Northern Kerala neglected as a tourist spot over the years have seen good tourist influx thanks to the ubiquitous travel guides.

Few things in life are as satisfying as a trip abroad, and most of us can hardly wait until we leave on our great adventure. Anticipation of things to come merely heightens our delight. Planning our trips is part of the enjoyment. Running around, buying our tickets, luggage, clothes and other items that we plan to take with us don’t even seem like chores. It’s not even painful to pay for these things because we know that soon we’ll be exploring places we’ve never been before. However, there is one “fly in this ointment”, one more expense that we’d rather not have because even though it costs us money, we receive no tangible benefit. What am I talking about? Why, travel insurance, of course!!!

Is Buying Travel Insurance at the Last Moment Okay?

I don’t know about you, but as far as I’m concerned, paying for travel insurance is not exactly my favorite way of spending money. Could it be because travel health insurance is not exactly sexy? Or is it because it just adds to the cost of an already expensive trip? Whatever the reason, I’d rather not spend the bucks on travel medical insurance. However, because I know that it really is a necessity, I buy it. Nevertheless, I tend to put off the purchase as long as possible because it still feels like an “extra”. Am doing myself a favor or not?

Are You A Gambler?

Is keeping my money in my pocket for as long as possible helping me or hurting me? By delaying my travel insurance purchase until the day I leave, I’m actually hurting myself. This is because I’m actually gambling that nothing will happen to me before I buy my insurance. I’m betting that I or someone in my family won’t fall ill or get injured prior to departure. Also, if I haven’t bought it and something bad does happen, I won’t have any insurance coverage and I’ll be out of luck. Wouldn’t I be smarter to get my travel insurance ASAP in order to minimize my risk and maximize my potential benefits?

Don’t Lose Your Pre-Existing Condition Coverage

There is another reason to buy travel insurance without delay. Sometimes we make our travel arrangements in stages and don’t book our flights at the same time. We travelers are eligible for pre-existing medical condition exclusion waivers provided we buy our travel insurance from 7 to 21 days (depending on the policy) of making our arrangements. If we wait longer, we may not be eligible for those benefits, especially if a previously unknown health condition should materialize.

Don’t Wait To Finalize Everything Before Buying

Whenever I have traveled, I have known in advance what my plane tickets were going to cost, but what about you? Maybe you’ve made travel plans but have not yet bought your plane tickets. I suggest that it’s a good idea to buy your travel insurance even if you haven’t bought your tickets because doing so will ensure that you will qualify for the pre-existing condition exclusion waiver. If you don’t know what your flight will cost, estimate the cost and include this figure in the total cost of your trip. Later, when you have purchased your flight tickets, you can advise the insurance company. That way you will not risk being ineligible for coverage for a medical conditions that crops up prior to departure.

What If You’ve Already Left on Your Trip?

I happen to be one of the world’s greatest procrastinators. My motto is, “Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow because you might get lucky and not have to do it at all!” Maybe you, too, are a Great Procrastinator and you avoid buying travel insurance before you leave on your trip. What happens if you have delayed buying your travel insurance or expatriate insurance until AFTER your departure? Are you out of luck? Are you ineligible for insurance because you didn’t buy it before you left home?

Fortunately, the good news is that, even if you decide to buy after departure, you are still eligible for insurance. If you can get access to the internet, both travel insurance and expatriate insurance can be found and purchased online, even after you’ve left on your trip or taken up residence abroad. As the old saying goes, “Better late than never,” especially in this case!

Can You Get Insurance for Someone Else Who Has Already Left?

Here’s another scenario. What if there is an emergency and a family member (including minors) or a friend or employee has not bought travel insurance but has already left on their trip? Do they have to travel uninsured? The answer is no, they don’t have to go without travel insurance. You, or someone else they designate, can go online and purchase travel insurance on their behalf. It’s good to know that when friends, family or employees are too busy to get their own travel insurance, they don’t have to go without it.

In this case, all you need to do is fill out an online application and make the required online payment. You’ll get instant confirmation and can even print out a copy of the policy. There is one cautionary note though. If you’re purchasing travel insurance on behalf of a minor, you’ll first have to register as an adult in order to get the insurance. It is also important to note that they will not be eligible for coverage for pre-existing medical conditions that occur during the trip after departure and prior to purchasing their insurance. This is merely another reason why purchasing travel insurance should not be delayed.

In the World of Travel Insurance, Timing Definitely Is Everything

Timing is everything, they say. Purchasing travel or expatriate insurance was probably not on the mind of whoever coined that phrase. Nevertheless, those words apply as much to buying travel insurance as they do to anything else. Given the potential for financial ruin if you’re not insured, the time to buy yours is before you need it because buying it after you need it is impossible and much too late. Learn from the “Great Procrastinator” and get the insurance you need before you need it.

There are many elements that go into holiday planning for a New Zealand trip, or any vacation for that matter. You have to find airfares, accommodations, activities, and dining that suits your tastes so that you are prepared for your trip. Planning a holiday is a lot of work, but pays off in the end for most people. However, you do need to make sure that you have a list of things to be taken care of so that you can get all your bases covered and head off on your vacation without incident. Here are some things to keep in mind.

- Although it is not the deciding factor, your budget is going to play an important role in your final decision for holiday plans. After all, you can only book what you can afford. Make sure that you check out vacation packages or individual elements to ensure that they are within your budget so that you do not overspend.

- You will need to also consider your destination(s) when it comes to holiday planning in New Zealand. For example, if you want to visit Auckland and Queenstown, you will have to plan accordingly and find travel between the North and South Island, as well as transit around the islands. Think about where you want to go and what you want to see, but do not limit yourself.

- There are many different types of activities which you can enjoy in New Zealand. You should think about your travelling group and what types of things you are looking to do while in town. Everyone has different interests, so make sure that you plan a trip that works for you and your travelling companions.

- If you want to save money and time, consider holiday packages instead of booking individually. This can save you a lot and make your vacation planning easier than ever. New Zealand’s tourism industry is huge and has plenty to offer those who are coming to visit. There are quite a lot of packages to choose from, so take your time looking and find what works for you.

These are basic tips to help you with your holiday planning in New Zealand. With the help of the internet and New Zealand tourism companies, you should have no trouble finding and planning the perfect holiday getaway. Just remember that in the end, it is about planning what YOU want to do, and you will do just fine.

The idea is not to tell you the usual things anybody could: empty of meaning and full of philosophy. Instead, let me approach the issue of planning some holidays from a hands-on point of view. Let me discuss about the correct order in which you should do things when doing your holiday planning.

Far from being a myth, the way many people tries to organize their holidays lacks of strength in many points. First of all, they don’t even know where they want to go. Second, they don’t even know which budget they are expecting to spend. Third, they don’t know what kind of holiday they want. City break, Adventure, Relax, Luxury…?

Mate, sorry to say, but you definitely need to decide before doing any step! There’s no major way of losing time than acting and planning without objectives. You’ll do a lot of work and you’ll get nowhere. Understanding you have overcome this little but important first step, the first thing you should ask yourself is about your availability and flexibility. Availability will refer to the dates within you can travel and maximum number of days and flexibility depends on how flexible this availability is.

Depending on this you will look first for accommodation and later for flights, or viceversa. If you have great flexibility, start looking for flights. 1 day difference can make you save hundreds of dollars in each trip. Meanwhile, hotels are normally priced more accordingly to the season and variations are minimum. If no flexibility, then you should book first your accommodation and then just resign yourself and look for the best flight offer during the unavoidable dates.

Holiday Planning is not a process in which you do one step and continuously go back to change it. Once you have selected something please don’t look back. Stay with your option and plan accordingly any activities you are planning to do, organize your budget for this activities, plan the budget also for the meals, etc. If you are planning to stay in more than one place, please organize your internal transportation before you organize the accommodation in the different places. If not, you will suffer from bad timing, need to hurry to arrive to the hotel, etc.

Once you have finished your itinerary without looking back, then it comes the time to evaluate and execute any changes you assume are necessary. Changes must be done first at the top of your planning, your flights for example. If they are OK, go to the next level, internal flights or transportation. If this is OK, go to next level, accommodation. If this is OK, finally go to activities and extras. That should be an efficient review method and you will enjoy your trip more than in any other way.

If you don’t feel confident enough, just look for a Holiday Planning manager who can help you in arranging all the details and coordinating complicated vacations.

Start With An Overview Of The Area

Rather than honing in immediately on specific attractions in a region, try to take a broader approach right off the bat. Use travel guides to get a general feel for the area that you will be visiting; take your time and read a few travelogues about the region. If possible, look for well written, engaging pieces about the place you’ll be traveling too. Usually, travel guides do offer general overviews that describe the basic features of an area, including its climate, currency, culture and general statistics. Use this information to form a picture in your mind about what the place will probably be like; that way, you’ll have a better idea about what you’d like to focus on while there.

Narrow Your Focus

After getting a basic idea about your destination, start honing in on a couple of key places or attractions. Use a couple of different travel guides in order to get a feel for which attractions are considered the most significant or “must see” in the area, then read more detailed information about each. If you already have a certain kind of place you prefer – i.e., a beach or somewhere to go hiking – look for information about such attractions in the travel guide that you’re using.

Keep An Open Mind

Part of the joy of traveling is seeing and being exposed to different cultures and things that you otherwise never would be. Therefore, you should be willing to keep an open mind and seek out places that you might not normally be interested in. When reading travel guides, don’t skip over entire sections just because you think you’d certainly never be interested in the topic; instead, look at it as an opportunity to find out about something different. You might be surprised and come across an idea or suggestion that sounds really appealing, after all.

Seek A Second Opinion

Like many things, it’s never wise to base the things you’ll see during your trip on a single travel guide’s opinion. Try to use at least two or three different travel guides to get a better idea about what to see on your trip. Where one guide may downplay the fun of a particular attraction, another might give it rave reviews. The best way to get a well-rounded idea about what to see on your vacation is by consulting more than one travel guide.

Compile The Best Tips And Advice

While you certainly don’t want to print out every single article you read in a travel guide, it is smart to print out and save – or jot down – exceptionally good tidbits and pieces of advice. For instance, some guides might warn you to wear certain clothing when visiting an attraction; be sure to note this advice so you can refer to it down the road. Another travel guide might warn you against taking a certain route; make a note so that you don’t forget while you are on your trip. Keep all of this information in a small binder or another well organized place so it can easily be referred to when needed.

Watch Out For Outdated Information

The only major caveat to bear in mind when using a travel guide is that – even in today’s digital age – information can become outdated. Guides that feature pricing and specific times, for example, might not be accurate anymore. If you’re visiting a foreign country, its currency – or even its ruling government – could be completely different compared with what you read in a travel guide. Use travel guides as basic outlines for your trip, but never rely completely on them; remember that situations can change in the blink of an eye.

A well-planned vacation can be so much fun. Traveling can be wonderful especially when doing so with family and/or friends. Quite a number of families usually plan for vacations every year. Many of them prefer to go to unknown destination. This makes them curious and excited at the same time. The vacations are usually planned so that family and/or friends can have time to relax and bond together.

One important thing that is needed when going to an unknown destination is a travel guide. The term ‘travel guide’ can be interpreted as a document that helps people find their way in a certain area or a person who helps tourists find their way in a new country. In this writing, we will look at the documented travel guide i.e. the one that comes in forms of pamphlets and brochures.

The benefits of using documented travel guides are outlined below:

Knowledge of weather patterns – When people are going for vacation, they have to carry the right kind of clothes. This means they have to know the weather that is being experienced at their destination. This will make them pack appropriately. Travel guides usually provide information to travellers regarding the climatic conditions of their destination. They show the various seasons experienced and the periods the seasons last.

Cultural Events – One of the things people desire to see in their destination country is the culture of that country. Thus, the guides usually explain some of the cultural events that take place in that country.

Modes of transport – The guide also suggests some of the modes of transport that can be used by tourists. The guide will recommend the best type of transport when moving from one area to another. If the distance is long, the travellers can use either an airplane or a bus. However, the decision lies with the tourists.

Security and Safety – This is one important thing that is provided in travel guides. People who are going for vacation are advised on safety measures that they can take. Each and every country has its own social evils. Thus, these guides can provide safety measures for travellers.

Recreational Facilities – Travellers usually look forward to enjoy some of the recreational facilities of the country they are going to visit. The guides provide information on hotels and restaurants. They also provide information about other activities that the travellers can enjoy while touring the new destination.

From the above, it can be concluded that having a travel guide is very beneficial for travellers.