Travel Journal

The clear green waters and perfect white beaches of this popular vacation area, just west of the Florida-Alabama border, make it a vacation destination and a weekend getaway spot for all of southern Alabama. Only recently has the rest of the country begun to feel the tug of its attraction.

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Tags: Alabama, Gulf, Shores

Posted in: Asia, Central America, Destinations, Family Travel, Middle East, News, Plan a trip, Tips, Travel, Travel Community, Travel Deal, Travel guide, Travel stories, USA, Canada, Mexico

During the ninth month of the Muslim calender, falling between mid September to mid October, Ramadan is a time where Muslim followers around the world abstain from all food and drink (including water) each day while the sun is up, for an entire month.

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Tags: Appreciate, Deprivation, Fasting, Life, Spiritual, Temporary, Through

Posted in: Asia, Australia & Pacific, Central America, Deals, Europe, Family Travel, Middle East, News, Plan a trip, Press & Publicity, Press Releases, Tips, Travel, Travel Community, Travel Deal, Travel guide, Travel stories, USA, Canada, Mexico

Las Vegas is a city with a reputation for being unique and exciting. It is a popular vacation destination because it has something to offer everyone, no matter what age or interest.

???Las Vegas is like no other city. No matter what the size of your bank account, the City has fun for everyone,??? says Jim Lavelle, CEO of Watchit Entertainment, Inc. and www.watchitvegas.com , a Web site dedicated to bringing the excitement of Las Vegas to Internet users. ???But there are some activities that cannot be missed in order to achieve the ultimate Las Vegas experience.???

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Tags: Complete, Experience, Vegas

Posted in: Asia, Deals, Destinations, Family Travel, Hotels, Middle East, News, Plan a trip, Press & Publicity, Press Releases, Specials, Tips, Travel, Travel Community, Travel Deal, Travel guide, Travel stories, USA, Canada, Mexico

When I visited Key West, Florida, I was puzzled by their reference to themselves as The Conch Republic. So, I did a little research and thought I’d pass the amusing story behind this designation along.

In order to try to stem the flow of illegal aliens through the Keys to the mainland, the US Border Patrol set up a blockade of the Keys in 1982. This angered the free thinking populace into seceding from the Union.

After one minute of independence, the new Conch Republic surrendered to the US and demanded reparations. Keys residents consider themselves to have dual citizenship. The Republic has a flag, issues its own passports and heartily celebrates its independence each year.

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Tags: Conch, Republic

Posted in: Asia, Family Travel, Middle East, News, Plan a trip, Press & Publicity, Tips, Travel, Travel Community, Travel Deal, Travel guide, Travel stories, USA, Canada, Mexico

As humans, we have basic needs for food, shelter, medicine, and a few durable goods like clothing, tools and cooking implements.

The quality of our food, our shelter and our medicines all go to promote our health. To be healthy means to be free of disease and sickness, to be strong and energetic, and to live a long life. Beyond this, we pretty much just want to have a good time.

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Tags: Local, Overthrow, Self-Reliance, System, Will

Posted in: Asia, Central America, Cruise, Deals, Family Travel, Middle East, News, Plan a trip, Press & Publicity, Press Releases, Promotions, Specials, Tips, Travel, Travel Community, Travel Deal, Travel guide, Travel stories, USA, Canada, Mexico

Superb ‘Moment’ with Beres

There were handclaps as a countdown from 10 seconds started on the large screens above the stage on Sunday night at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) and a huge cheer as it was complete for Beres Hammond’s ‘A Moment In Time’ to begin.

There would be a wait for Hammond, though, the first cheers going up for a Whitney Houston style ‘exhalation’ from Dean Fraser and the individual performers entering through one section of the audience seated closest to the stage.

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Tags: Beres, Moment, Superb, With

Posted in: Asia, Central America, Deals, Hotels, Middle East, News, Plan a trip, Tips, Travel Deal, USA, Canada, Mexico

New US passport regulations go into effect on January 23, 2007. In order to re-enter the United States by plane from Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean, US citizens will need a passport.

Those coming back into the country by sea and land may still use a driver’s license and birth certificate to prove their citizenship. However, that is expected to change in the near future.

Currently about 73% of all US citizens do not have passports, so this may cause a shift in travel patterns over the next few years. Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands expect an influx of American vacationers, since they are the only Caribbean destinations not affected by the new rules.

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Tags: Passport, Rules

Posted in: Asia, Caribbean, Central America, Destinations, Family Travel, Middle East, News, Plan a trip, Tips, Travel, Travel Community, Travel Deal, Travel guide, Travel stories, USA, Canada, Mexico

“After spending all that time traveling half-way around the world, what have you learned?”

I lean back in my armchair and contemplate this important inquiry that I am so often confronted with since returning back home to the US after a long journey.

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Tags: Human, Taught, Traveling

Posted in: Asia, Central America, Deals, Europe, Family Travel, Middle East, News, Plan a trip, Press & Publicity, Press Releases, Specials, Tips, Travel, Travel Community, Travel Deal, Travel guide, Travel stories, USA, Canada, Mexico

I suppose it could be argued that you haven’t experienced today’s Japan unless you’ve visited at least one Joypolis, the reigning king of amusement arcades. This one, on the eighth and ninth floors of a shopping arcade complete with a Ferris wheel on top, overloads the senses with lots of flashing lights, bells and whistles, and throngs of squealing kids and teenagers. In addition to arcade games, virtual rides simulate gliding through the air or shooting the rapids of a wild river. Note: Children under the age of 16 aren’t allowed here after 7pm and that some “rides” carry height restrictions, with rules enforced by what — the joy police?

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Tags: AQUARIUM, oSAKA

Posted in: Asia, Family Travel, Middle East, News, Plan a trip, Tips, Travel, Travel Community, Travel Deal, Travel guide, Travel stories, USA, Canada, Mexico

Is there a link between monetary wealth and quality of life?

I pose this question because mainstream economic theory and the policies promoted by international ???development??? institutions such as the World Bank, IMF and WTO, government agencies such as USAID, various UN programs, and the majority of NGOs assume that monetary wealth and human well-being are tightly coupled, even synonymous.

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Tags: About, Authentic, Happiness, Little, Says

Posted in: Asia, Deals, Family Travel, Middle East, News, Plan a trip, Press & Publicity, Press Releases, Promotions, Specials, Tips, Travel, Travel Community, Travel Deal, Travel guide, Travel stories, USA, Canada, Mexico