Should you buy an RTW Ticket?

A Round The World ticket is one ticket that you purchase either through an airline alliance or through a specialized RTW trip advisor that allows multiple stops and is priced based on mileage or continents visited. You can buy this style of airline ticket as an alternative to purchasing one way tickets as you travel.

Like anything, there are pros and cons to purchasing a RTW ticket. RTW tickets are great for people that have a set schedule. If you know all the places you are going, roughly how long you’d like to stay in each place, and don’t plan on changing your trip too much, then an RTW ticket could be a good idea for you because it will end up saving you a lot of money and hassle.

RTW tickets can cost a lot of money, but if you travel with budget airlines, travel economy, and pick the popular travel routes you can get cheap airline tickets. The more destinations you visit and the more off the main routes you travel, the more money you will spend.

A large con with RTW tickets is the lack of flexibility. Since you already have your ticket, you don’t have the option of changing your trip along the way. If you want to stay longer at one place, or don’t like a certain place and want to leave quicker, you won’t be able to change your trip accordingly without massive penalties.

On the upside, however, if you are a frequent traveler and collect rewards miles, you will earn a ton with your RTW ticket. Even though you may end up paying more for your ticket, you will end up with a free flight afterwards from all your rewards miles.

So, if you like having a set schedule and everything organized for your peace of mind, an RTW ticket may be right for you; however, if you like having the flexibility to change your trip as you see fit, then you may be better off doing the work of finding tickets yourself.

Are Contiki Tours Worth the Money?

If you are planning to take a large trip and see more than one place or country, you may be looking into some tour companies. Group tours can be fun as you are never alone, you can meet some great people, and tours cover a lot of your expenses in their price, like admissions to certain attractions. But when comparing different tour companies, you may ask yourself: Are Contiki Tours worth the Money? Below we will try to help answer that question.

When looking at the Contiki group tour information, it can seem like the prices for their tours are steep. You will also notice that depending on what time of the year you plan to travel (winter vs. summer) prices will climb accordingly. However, if you look deeper into what your money buys you, Contiki may be worth the money.

Your Contiki trip will not include your flights, so you must budget for this large extra expense. It is possible to get some great deals on flights, especially if you are not flying direct. The price that is listed for your trip includes, your lodging from the night before your tour starts until the last night of your tour, breakfasts every morning and many dinners, admissions to the main sites on the tour, and your transportation during the tour.

Contiki tours have optional sites to see which cost extra, so if you want to see some of them, bring extra money. You also will be in charge of paying for your lunches and about half of your dinners. The main parts of the trip are covered, however, and they can add up quickly when trying to plan a trip yourself.

When traveling with Contiki, you also have the option of traveling budget or traveling superior. Budget traveling is of course cheaper and you arguably get a better backpacker experience. The places you stay at are still nice, but are a lot cheaper. Overall, if you would rather travel “solo” but with a group, Contiki is a great choice.

Create the Ultimate Surf Exploration Vehicle with Van Conversions

There is a northwest swell running fifteen feet at fourteen seconds. The entire west coast will be absolutely going off, and there is a little spot down in Baja that will be going off with overhead screaming barrels, and no one is out.  All that’s necessary is a vehicle, a campsite, and the right board.  Don’t get left behind, van conversions make it possible to build the ultimate surf-mobile.

The serious surf explorer knows that the proper surf exploration vehicle needs to offer much more than transportation and a place to hold boards. The thing needs to be home base, it needs to be the campground, and it needs to be the fortress. Modern conversion vans can accomplish this.

To get to some spots, the better spots, the more secret and less crowded spots, the intrepid surfer needs an off-road vehicle. Typical off road vehicles are trucks or SUV’s, which are great for getting there, but less than perfect mobile homes. A four wheel drive off road ready conversion van is the ultimate surf vehicle because it can get to any wave, and allow the driver to stay there as long as possible.

These vans can be fitted with a bathroom, a kitchen, and a place to sleep, which is really more than any road-warrior surfer really needs. Simply put, the proper van conversions can turn a weekend escape into a life-long quest.

An added benefit is the fact that conversion vans are roomy, which is really the main selling point. They offer room for your boards, your buds and your fishing poles. They also beat a tent because, depending on the geographical direction of the quest, will be more comfortably warm or cool than sleeping outside. Also, sleeping in a van makes a person much less vulnerable to the wildlife that can be found roaming around at night.

Ecotourism

Eco tourism encompasses responsible travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that strives to be low impact and small scale. Eco tours help to educate the traveler, provide funds for conservation, directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of the local communities, and foster respect for different cultures. If you are looking to take an eco tour that focuses on sustainable travel, there are many tours whose focus is just that.

Some companies focus on ecotourism, and design tours with sustainability in mind. A growing number of travel companies are beginning to realize the importance of ecotourism and what negative effects regular tourism can have on the local communities. Eco tours focus on respect for the places and people visited, leaving the smallest footprint possible behind.

By supporting local businesses in the places you visit, you are helping to support the local economy. Also stay in locally owned hotels, eat at local restaurants, and shop from local artisans. Traveling this way will also give you a more authentic and rewarding experience.

When traveling to natural sites or attractions, make sure to take out only what you take in and to not leave anything behind. Be careful to not support any attractions or sites that take advantage of, or promote cruelty to endangered species.

To travel in a sustainable way, it is easiest to travel individually. That way you can control where you stay, what you do, and the size of the footprint you leave behind. However, there are many eco tours available that promote sustainability and respect of the places that they visit.

Make sure to research the companies before you travel with them to see if they have eco tours available. One complaint found in certain tour reviews, like Contiki tour reviews for example, is the lack of sustainable tours available. However, Contiki does have some eco lodging and certain tours are eco friendly, especially when traveling through endangered areas.