Are You Travelling? Here are SomeTravel Tips ~ Planning Your Trip

Hello fellow travellers! 

We are creating tips that will be very helpful when you travel. This will serve as reference before, during, and after your journey. We are categorizing each one to make it easier for you. 

The same is true with the deals that we are posting on a daily basis. Deals and offers that will help you plan your trips, now and in the near future.....

If you want to share quality tips and deals with your fellow travellers, feel free to send an email to: fromatravellersdesk(at)gmail(dot)com.

This will be the first of a series of our Useful Travel Tips. Stay tuned!

Planning Your Trip

• Do your research. Don't buy a guidebook and assume you are prepared
• Don't follow the map: sometimes getting lost is a great way to find amazing places that are not mentioned in tourism guides 
• Read travel tips and reviews online and post questions to travel forums
• Ask your friends and family for recommendations of safe places/areas to visit, as well as areas to avoid

Save 45% during the Niagara's Icewine Festival

To the wine enthusiasts and to those who really want to taste the real wines of Niagara, this is your chance to savour the wines that can only be found in Canada. Have a look and avail of this exclusive tour offer from BuzTour.

People - Cheers - Wine : Photo Credit: BuzTour

The regular price of the wine tour is $149 which is reduced to $78 per person, a more than 45% discounted price. The offer includes a full day wine tasting tour with BuzTour, round trip bus transportation from Toronto, Mississauga and King City to Niagara. You will also enjoy the wine tastings and food pairings at five wineries, namely: 

• Jackson-Triggs Niagara Estate Winery
• Inniskillin Winery
• Chateau des Charmes
• Flat Rock Cellars 
• Vineland Estates

This offer is valid January 18 or 19 only and be aware of the following important information:

Ios – It’s More Than Simply Partying

Written by Kate Power

Although Ios has long been a favourite amongst party animals, the Cycladic Island has a lot going on besides. There are long lazy days on the beach, swigging coffee at one of the all day beach clubs. Try breakfast of Ios honey (the most delicious I’ve ever tasted!) dabble in some water skiing at one of the island’s many waterways, go in search of Homer’s Tomb or eat, drink and be merry! Here are some of my favourite things to do in Ios.

Mills of Ios GREECE : Photo Credit Titanas

Chora – the picturesque town is the beating heart of Ios. Filled with white washed little homes, steps up and down and winding paths, it’s easy to see why the hippies of 70s fell in love with the island. Today, Chora is a relaxed small town by day, with souvenir and jewellery shops dotting each twisting turn and locals filling up cafes playing backgammon. While by night, it kicks up a gear as the doors open to the many bars, clubs and discos (more on that shortly!)

Beaches – You can take your pick of jaw-dropping sandy beaches in Ios. Mylopotas beach is perhaps the most well known; a never strip of sparkling golden sand and home to the legendary Far Out Club, so you can hit the town without even leaving the sand. Manganari meanwhile is a little bit further afield. Made of three little coves, it is quite well protected from the wind and offers some respite from the crowds. Gyalos is close to the Port, easy to get to and is popular with locals too. There you’ll find plenty of hotels, tavernas and well-organized facilities.

Book Now Before Seats Fly! - Toronto to Manila & Manila to Local Destinations

Updated : July 9, 2014

Domestic Flights

This post is a follow up on your trip to the Philippines. If you are headed to this beautiful country, you should have booked your domestic flights to the best local destinations.

I am giving you the summary of the discounted flight tickets. I will also provide you with the website where you can book your tickets as soon as you can and within the selling period:

Selling Period: July 7 - 11, 2014
Travel Period: December 25, 2014 and January 1-10, 2015
Destinations:   From Manila to Luzon
                     From Manila to Visayas
                     From Manila to Mindanao
                     From Zamboanga to Jolo

Selling Period: July 7 - 11, 2014
Travel Period: December 10 - 25, 2014 
Destinations:   From  Luzon to Manila
                     From Visayas to Manila
                     From Mindanao to Manila
                     From Jolo to Zamboanga

To book your tickets, please visit: 
https://onlinebooking.philippineairlines.com/flypal/AirFlightSearchForward.do

Good luck and have a safe trip to the Philippines. Please do not forget to claim your points for Mabuhay Miles. Book now before seats fly!

* * * * *

International Flights

Now is the best time to fly from Canada to the Philippines. The Philippine Airlines announced their promotions today for the following flights:

•  Round Trip Economy Class ticket for Cdn$977 for Vancouver-Manila-Vancouver and Cdn$1134 for Toronto-Manila-Toronto, government taxes included.
• Round Trip Business Class ticket for Cdn$2477 for Vancouver-Manila-Vancouver and Cdn$2884 for Toronto-Manila-Toronto, government taxes included.

Please note that the Selling Period is between January 8 to 15, 2014 and the Travel Period is between January 20 to March 23, 2014.

The following Fare Conditions apply:

For Economy Class, ticket is non-rebookable, non-refundable, non-reroutable and non-transferable. For roundtrip tickets, maximum validity is six (6) months from commencement of travel.

Anje Rautenbach of Knysna SOUTH AFRICA

29. Featured Traveller 

 Anje Rautenbach

ESL Teacher : Writer : Traveller

 Knysna SOUTH AFRICA

"Dream. Explore. Discover" 

Her craziness and desire to travel started from a very young age. She went from the back seat of her parents' VW kombi to leaving South Africa in 2009 to explore South Korea and the rest of Asia.

Anje picked up the travel bug quite fast - the unknown intrigued her and she got mesmerised by different smells, cultures, food, languages and adventures.

She explored beautiful places around Asia, ate delicious Asian food, got food poisoning countless of times, collected Asian beer cans, did a two month cycle trip in Indonesia, completely fell in love with bicycle touring, studied Indonesian, taught English, got addicted to goats and ducks, ticked off items on her bucket list, added items to her bucket list, filled up a passport, met locals, lived like a local, CouchSurfed, got tattoos and developed a personal mantra to "dream, explore & discover".

Anje returned home to South Africa after living abroad for more than 3 years. She took off all her travelling bracelets, got an interview, bought a car and landed a job as a copy writer.

Try Exotic Travelling Destinations For a Holiday

Written by Jesse Cadena

You recline in the golden glow of sunset, toes digging into warm soft sand and the lulling sweep of waves rising and falling, sending you off into a dream.  Sounds too good to be true when you have a fresh foot of snow to shovel off of the drive and walks in the morning?  Not if you start planning now and book a trip to one of the exotic travelling destinations where you've always imagined yourself going, someday.  Now is that day.

Kauia (Garden Isle) Hawaii USA

Bali.  Jamaica.  Kauai.  Just the sound of the names brings up the dream of long warm evenings on the beach and tranquil days spent near the water, boating or diving.  The islands all have lush forests with trails for exploring jungles and waterfalls when you are ready to venture inland from the beach.  Find food that satisfies your exotic cravings and the most tantalizing drinks of fresh fruit juices you have ever sipped.

Travellers stranded in Toronto due to Ice Storm

Toronto weather creates havoc in Toronto as ice storm leaves 400,000 in the dark across Ontario

The purpose of this post is to advise friends and relatives of travellers who are in Canada for a visit and scheduled to leave the country during the holiday season. Ice storm that hits Toronto and other cities on Saturday stranded most travellers.  Here is part of the news that was published early Monday morning. Read on....latest news at the end of the article.

A “rare and vigorous” winter storm that coated Eastern Canada in a thick layer of ice over the weekend saw major power outages in Toronto, paralyzing much of the city’s transit system and stranding holiday travellers.

The steady dose of freezing rain Saturday night turned roads and sidewalks into skating rinks Sunday, cut power to hundreds of thousands of people, and played havoc with holiday plans at one of the busiest travel times of the year.

Stranded Travellers at Pearson International Airport in Toronto
Photo Credit : James Martin/National Post

At the peak of the storm’s impact Sunday, hundreds of thousands of households were without power — approximately 300,000 in Toronto alone. By late Sunday night, Toronto Hydro was still working to restore power to 254,000 customers. Southern Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes saw as much as 30 mm of ice blanket roads and trees, sending broken branches into power lines.

“It truly is a catastrophic ice storm that we have had here, probably one of the worst we’ve ever had,” Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines said Sunday. The worst hit parts of Toronto are the neighbourhoods near the 401, stretching the city from Etobicoke to Scarbourough.

Warm Welcome to the New and Shiny Year 2014

Written by Shezaa Nehal

The New Year's Eve celebration greets warmly the coming year, which could be very beneficial, gainful, satisfying and flourishing for the entire world. Everyone is anxiously waiting with the hopes of fulfilling their desires and dreams with the gleaming beam of new sun. Here we will identify the best possible ways to welcome the New Year in the following lines.

Hangout Anywhere For New Year's Eve Celebration

The New Year's Eve celebration can be ideally organized at home, in any unique restaurant or hotel located in the city or anywhere in the local station, in a farm house, in a relaxing location, or in any sea resort. The main aim is to bid goodbye to the passing year, and offer a very warm welcome to a new excellent and shiny year, with the hope that it will bring significant benefits and amazing success, together with well-rounded pleasure and joys.

Jovial Activities for New Year Eve Celebration

The New Year Eve celebration is amazingly known for its foods, which add spirit and eagerness to the vibrant festivities. Other vital components of New Year celebration are eating and drinking gatherings, having a party and dance, gorgeous light decorations, experiencing fireworks and bonfires, and joyful trip to adventurous Hatta mountain safari, a place of natural elegance and grace. There are some well known dishes that are associated with this evening like prime rib, seafood, some soups and lentils and many more.

Rafting in Rishikesh

Written by Zara Jones

The holy Ganga River is one of the strongest anchors of the Hindu religion. It holds the faiths of millions of people and is looked upon as a saviour. The journey of a Hindu life begins and ends in Ganga. The river immerses not only the sins of the people but also the bodily ashes of the departed souls.

The sacred waters of Ganga originate from the mighty glaciers of the Himalayas and after a journey of 250 kilometres, it reaches the plains of Rishikesh (in Uttarakhand).

River Rafting Tour Rishikesh  Photo Credit : Bhandariseo

Rishikesh is the base for undertaking the ‘Chota Char Dham’ pilgrimage comprising - Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri. The city is also famous for its Yoga and Ayurvedic treatments. The rejuvenating effects of the therapeutic practices get more enhanced through the spiritually enriched in the  picturesque land of Rishikesh.

There is one more facet of Rishikesh for which it has become renowned world over - the adventurous side of the revered land. Rishikesh offers various enthralling activities like river rafting, body surfing, cliff jumping, rappelling, rock climbing, waterfall trekking, kayaking and canoeing. Among all of them, river rafting, which is famously called white water rafting, is the major sparkling attraction, bringing thousands of people to Rishikesh.

Steven Moore of Lowestoft ENGLAND

28. Featured Traveller 
 Steven Moore

Writer : Novelist : Traveller

 Lowestoft ENGLAND

"It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, 
in the end." ~ Ernest Hemingway

Featuring a fellow traveller is fun and fulfilling. It's a great honour, especially to me as a blogger who tries to reach out, not only to a cool guy who blogs, but that is also a seasoned writer. 

Flag of the United Kingdom

I am talking about nomadic Steve, who, once upon a time, hailed from England.  He has since travelled to many places around the globe (and still counting). I cannot help but publish the list of countries he has explored, not just once, but a couple of times. Have a look and tell me if you notice something.

England (home),  Republic of Ireland,  Wales x 5,  France x 3,  Monaco,  Spain x about 20,  Italy x 2, Vatican City x 2,  Holland x 3,  Belgium x 2,  Czech Rep x 2,  Poland,  Austria,  Germany x 3, Greece x 2,  Turkey x 3,  Slovakia,  Hungary,  Israel x 2,  Egypt x 2,  Tunisia,  Morocco,  Nepal, India x 2, South Korea x 3,  Japan,  China (Hong Kong),  Singapore x 3,  Indonesia x 4, Philippines,  Malaysia x 5,  Thailand x 8, Cambodia x 2,  Vietnam,  Laos,  Australia x 6,  New Zealand x 4,  Fiji,  French Polynesia,  Argentina,  Chile,  Brazil,  Peru,  Mexico x 3,  U.S.A x 2, Canada.

It's no wonder Steve does not stay long in the UK. He is always on the road, and possibly at places we still haven't heard of. 

You might ask why he's visited Spain the most (20 times) and not India (x2) which is his favourite destination. Steve must have a good answer to that. Please note that he is a writer, so he can surely justify as you read on.

Steve in the Red Sea

Steve loves to travel by train but prefer to walk on his travels.

He muses, "Budget is important, as I tend to go on longer "trips" than short holidays. But sometimes, you've just got to splash out on once in a lifetime moments. Carpe Diem, right?"