Introducing AirBnB

During 2014 I spent two weeks in Paris, where for the first time I booked the bulk of my accommodations (10 nights) through Airbnb. For readers not familiar with Airbnb, let the company explain in their own words:

“Airbnb began in 2008 when two designers who had space to share hosted three travellers looking for a place to stay. Now, millions of hosts and travellers choose to create a free Airbnb account so they can list their space and book unique accommodation anywhere in the world.”

Today, Airbnb hosts are sharing spare rooms or the whole homes and apartments in 190 countries and more than 34,000 cities. Incredibly, since 2008, this company has grown from nothing to one valued at more than two billion dollars! Unlike free accommodation sharing services like Couchsurfing, Hospitality Club, Stay4Free, and others, Airbnb hosts charge a nightly fee for the use of their rooms or homes. Here’s an introductory video from the company:

Airbnb Intro video  

So how did the actual experience of researching, booking, communicating with my host, and the all important stay measure up against the glowing promo material? That dear reader is the focus of this entry.

Researching

This is the easy part: decide which city you want to visit, entry your check In and check Out dates (any dates will do, if you don’t know your exact dates), start searching. The screen that appears next should give you the option to rent the Entire Place, a Private Room, or a Shared Room. You will also see a Price Range slider from which you can select your maximum price per night. As you fine tune your selections, links to the available rooms automatically display as does a map showing each location.

At this point it is easy to check out each location, examine the uploaded images, read the fine print, and especially read through the reviews left by previous visitors.

Booking

To make a booking you will first need to sign in and register the usual information that all websites can’t seem to do without—even those sites that don’t require billing information. Airbnb, of course, does need billing information so go ahead, register and make your booking. You do have the option to send your host a message and ask questions of them, so if you have any concerns or questions the obligation is on you to ask them before you commit to making your booking.

Watch out for the extras as you are booking your accommodations. These are generally included under the Prices category on the site, but some hosts charge more for extra guests, towels and such like, and these are not always noted under Prices. They are generally mentioned under House Rules or the Description of the property. 

Communicating

All hosts must provide an email address so that you can communicate with them before and after you make a booking. As far as I am aware, all hosts must supply a contact phone number, although I am not sure if they are obliged to make it available to you before you make a booking.

The best hosts know that open, quick communications with potential or actual guests is always the best way to foster confidence and trust in both them, their accommodations and Airbnb itself. Again, reviews from previous guests are generally a good way to gauge the reliability and trust of potential hosts, so make sure you read all the reviews for a property you are planning to book.

Another Airbnb Video worth watching  

Be Quick Or Be Sorry

I did not start researching my Paris stay until well into July. Since I was trying to make my booking during the height of summer, I found that many of my first choices were booked solid right through July, August and into September. Further, I wanted a minimum of ten nights. By leaving my booking late, those places that did have bookable nights often had no more than two or three consecutive nights available. I began to worry that I had left it too late to find a suitable rental via Airbnb, but thankfully I was eventually lucky enough to find the right place, at the right price, for the right number of nights. However, the lesson I learned was that it pays to book well ahead if you are planning to hit Paris, London, New York City, or any other major metropolis during the height of the travel season.

Safety

I have mentioned several times the importance of reading reviews for rental properties. However, there is one potential ‘spanner in the works’ to this and that occurs when a new listing has been added to Airbnb, and the property owner has only one or two reviews, or even worse—none at all. Obviously, someone has to be the first person to book a property and there is no reason why it should not be you, but as always, the obligation is on you to make sure you are completely satisfied that the host and the property are what they claim to be.

If you are travelling alone, your best option may be to simply ignore properties with no reviews. On the other hand, on the basis that there are supposed to be safety in numbers, you might go ahead and rent a property if you are planning to share the accommodation with a friend or partner. Of course, it is entirely possible that a property listing has had guests stay there, but visitors have not bothered to write a review for the host.

TIP: When checking a listing, find the About The Host heading. This includes information about how long the host has been a member. The newer their membership, the less likely are they to have a lot of reviews, or any at all. However, if the property has been listed for three months or more, one could reasonable expect there to be at least one or two reviews, if not more, especially if the property is in a popular destination.

* * * 

UPDATE: I have written about my first Airbnb experience here...

Travel With Children

Image courtesy of Children At Risk Foundation (CARF Brazil)
CARF Blog... and CARF Website...

Julia Odgers and Laura Morris have put together a couple of excellent eBooks packed full of advice outlining ways to keep children entertained and occupied while travelling. As they say in their introduction to the first eBook: “Traveling with kids can be fun, exciting, rewarding and at times challenging,” which is why they put together this collection of their own “tried and tested” travel tips and activities.

Whether you are planning to drive, fly, or journey by train or other means, both these eBooks will give you dozens of ideas for keeping the kids happy. Best of all the books are free and can be read online or printed off before you hit the road.

The first 21 page book contains travel games, word search puzzles, coloring activities, and tips and advice for parents about road food, travel sickness, and even advice about camping with children.

Click here to read the Children's Travel Activities and Travel Tips eBook now…

Open publication - Free publishing - More car games

The second (25 page) eBook from Julia and Laura continues the theme with more great ideas, including some from other contributors. With headings like 3 Simple Steps for Surviving Long Journey With Children; Handy Tips for Flying With Kids; Inspiring Kids to Get Walking, and Top 10 Tips for Feeding Kids on The Move, there really should be no excuse for you family holiday to turn into a test of wills and tantrums.

The second Children's Travel Activities and Travel Tips is embedded below:

Open publication - Free publishing - More car games

Money, Money, Money

~ I’ve had one of those days where all I did was pay out my hard earned cash, and got very little in ‘return’ to show for it. Well, that’s how it feels, anyway.

You see, today I bought travel insurance for my upcoming trip ($757.00), and paid for a couple of nights accommodation in a Super 8 Hotel near Los Angeles international airport (US$132.56). In return for my $889.56 I got a couple of electronic receipts, and documents spelling out the numerous terms and conditions governing my purchases.

Quite frankly, it didn’t seem like a fair return to me.

That’s one of the problems with travel. You seem to spend weeks, if not months, paying out large sums of money before you see any actual return on your investment. So far I have paid out $5,427.00 towards my trip and I haven’t even left the house yet!

I’m trying valiantly to stem a rising tide of panic which in my worst case scenario sees me flying out of Australia without any money left in my account to enjoy my travels. Of course, I will have enough, but when you are constantly forking out for tickets, insurance, accommodation, and pre-booked tours and such, departure time can seem like a long way off, and your wallet begins to look very thin.

Add to this the constant worry of watching the world’s financial markets rise and fall like a kite caught in a hurricane, and endless calculations on just how much more (or less) the Australian dollar will buy each day, and I know exactly why I don’t feel anywhere near excited enough about my approaching departure.

I console myself with the thought that with a month still to go before I fly out, I have pretty much made all my major travel expenditures except for any day to day living expenses I will have to deal with.

Roll on June 29!

Click here to see The (Real) Cost of Travel...

Travelling Lighter

~ Yesterday, I bought a new piece of luggage in preparation for my travels next year (see image).

It is a 54cm ‘Jet Stream’ bag from Tosca. That’s right, folks, 54cm. That is less than two feet high for those of you still using Imperial weights and measures. Anything smaller, and I would be restricting myself to carry-on luggage only!

I have written before on this blog about the concept of travelling light, and next year I hope to put my own advice into practise. As I said in an early post on House Sitting, I will be looking after a house for six weeks in Melbourne early in the new year, and I am using it as a practise run for my packing skills before I fly out to Europe in April or May.

I figure if can pack light enough to survive six weeks in Melbourne, I won’t need to pack anything extra for my European trip.

I should point out that I will also have a small carry-on backpack which will hold all my non-wearable gear such as camera, laptop computer, battery chargers, and other associated paraphernalia. I will also have a small ‘man bag’ – actually an old laptop computer bag for those extra items one always needs on long haul flights (water, ear plugs, reading material, etc).

Last year I used the 71cm version of the bag you see illustrating this post – as well as the backpack, and let me tell you, folks, a full 71cm bag is a pain in the back (not to mention the @ss) to drag around London, New York, Athens and the Greek islands!

I vowed that never again would I take such a large bag with me on my travels, and so the baby of the set, the 54cm piece will hopefully do the job for me. I say, ‘hopefully’, because I honestly don’t know if it will be enough, but then, one of the benefits of my six week house sitting gig is that it gives me the opportunity to fine tune my packing before I depart for Greece and beyond.

When I do eventually head off to Melbourne, I will post a complete packing list on this blog just so you can see what I have selected. Once the house sit is over, I will again post an entry letting you know what worked and what didn’t.

Welcome to the World of CouchSurfing

Recently, my housemate and I hosted our first couch surfer. Mark, 23, was from Houston, Texas, and was in the process of hitch-hiking from Melbourne to Darwin. He contacted me via my CouchSurfing profile, seeking to stay with us in Adelaide for a few days. My housemate and I said, Yes, and in due course, Mark arrived and spent several days with us.

As this was our first couch surfing experience, we were a little apprehensive about how things would pan out. However, our ‘apprehensions’ were entirely unnecessary. I spent three days playing host to Mark, showing him around the local area where we visited Fisherman’s Wharf, a Maritime Museum, and embarked on a dolphin cruise, as well as a quick tour of the city centre.

For his part, Mark was a quiet, respectful, and pleasant young man, who found time to cook us dinner and share some of his travel experiences with us.

For those readers who are yet to discover the concept of CouchSurfing (to use its official ‘brand’ name), let me quote extensively from the CouchSurfing website.

CouchSurfing is an international non-profit network that connects travellers with locals in over 230 countries and territories around the world. Since 2004, members have been using our system to come together for cultural exchange, friendship, and learning experiences. Today, over a million people who might otherwise never meet are able to share hospitality and cultural understanding.

Our mission as an organization is to create inspiring experiences: cross-cultural encounters that are fun, engaging, and illuminating. These experiences take many forms. CouchSurfing's initial focus was on hosting and 'surfing' (staying with a local as a guest in their home). Alongside these core experiences, we now also facilitate a growing array of activities and events.

We have a vision of a world where everyone can explore and create meaningful connections with the people and places they encounter. Each CouchSurfing experience shared by our members brings us closer to that vision.

So how does CouchSurfing work? Like many social networking sites, you sign in and create a profile for yourself. This profile includes your interests, philosophy, a personal description of yourself, and most importantly, space to describe your ‘couch’ information, that is, the type of accommodations you are able to offer a visitor – or couch surfer. Some hosts have a spare bedroom available, while others literally offer no more than a couch or mattress on the floor.

The length of stay is always negotiated in advance via direct contact with the person requesting the couch. Generally, anywhere from one to three nights seems to be the average length of stay, but this is entirely up to the host.

Also the number of visitors you choose to host is up to you and detailed on your profile page. Again, generally, most hosts can accommodate one or two visitors at any one time, but others may have facilities to offer space for more.

No money changes hands during the couch surfing visit. You host, or you are hosted without cost. Since visitors are guests in your home, it is not part of the CouchSurfing philosophy to see money exchanged for accommodations.

By the way, you can use your CouchSurfing profile page to spell out your own hosting conditions to potential visitors. For example, if you are vegetarian, a smoker/non-smoker, have pets, party hard or like to go to bed early, etc. All these can be made clear to surfers before they ask to stay with you, thereby eliminating the potential for a less than ideal hosting experience.

Part of my own profile reads: There are currently two people in the house - a 61 year old male (that's me) and my niece who is in her late 30s. We are both non-smokers, try to eat sensibly, drink moderately, and like to get a good night's sleep… I should point out that none of the residents are 'party animals' anymore, so if you want to rage late into the night, you might consider other couches elsewhere with more energetic hosts. We tend to be in bed by midnight - most nights.

I figure that anyone reading that, who still wants to stay with my niece and myself is probably looking for a reasonably quiet host to stay with, rather than a host who wants to stay up drinking, and partying late into the night.

Members can also add comments/references to the profiles of their visitors, and visitors can inturn add comments/references to the profiles of their hosts, thus providing feedback for other potential travellers/hosts.

When I myself travel next year, I hope to use the CouchSurfing website to put me in touch with fellow members around the world, which will enhance the whole travel experience I am engaged on. Given that the CouchSurfing community now numbers over 1.4 million members in over 65,000 cities, and speaks 1,270 unique languages, I think it is fair to say that travelling need never be same again.

We will be hosting a German traveller during November, so I expect to return to the topic of CouchSurfing more than once on this blog. In the meantime, why not head on over to the CouchSurfing website to learn more. If you like what you see, become a member yourself, and join this amazing world-wide community of travellers, hosts, and supporters.

I’ll leave the last word to a CouchSurfing member going under the name I Wanna Go To Tahiti who writes:

"CouchSurfing is just amazing. I joined this community a couple of years ago. Since then, I've had incredible experiences with all the people I've hosted, met at the gatherings, and whose couch I've surfed, from France to Vietnam. In everyday life, it can be hard to find deeply motivated, nonconformist, cultured people with high goals in life: really interesting people. But CouchSurfing is just full of these individuals. It's a conglomerate of well-intentioned people, of good karma, and you just have to jump in to enjoy it. The CouchSurfing project definitely changed my life. And it has changed many people's lives. Through this process, connecting people from elsewhere, bringing them together, I believe the world is also going to change. Perhaps we don't see it now. But in the future, we will." ~ IWANNAGOTOTAHITI (Spain)

Carrying On About Carry-Ons

~ Eight years after the events of September 11, 2001 and the attendant security measures that have been established around the world to guard against possible terrorist attacks (especially those attempting to use airliners), you might think that air travellers in particular would be more careful about the items they pack into their carry-on luggage.

But no, Stephanie Chen, a writer for CNN reported recently (From carry-on to eBay: The journey of airport security booty) that air travellers continue packing a vast array of prohibited goods that defy belief. Items ranging from a 20-inch machete and a set of kitchen knives to electric saws, baseball bats and two gallons of gasoline. One passenger even had a kitchen sink stowed in his carry-on bag!

At the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport - the busiest airport in the world – they collect around 1,000 pounds of items from passengers each month!

Everything from knives, corkscrews, meat cleavers, wrenches and shampoo are among common items surrendered by travellers. Then there was that kitchen sink, machetes and chain saws, brass knuckles and nunchuks; baseball bats, golf clubs, a samurai sword, and a set of 10-pound exercise weights. Seriously!

Between 2005 and 2006, the Transport Security Administration (TSA) confiscated 13 million prohibited items, which shouldn’t be surprising given that more than 2 million passengers are screened by TSA on any given day.

Needless to say, children’s toys are just as likely to end up in the rubbish bins if parents are not careful about what their kids are planning to pack for the flight from, for example, Disneyland. Fake pirate swords, and replica guns or other plastic toys that look like weapons are confiscated before flights, so parents should ensure that these are placed in luggage that is destined for the cargo hold – and not placed in carry-on bags – to avoid having to deal with upset children on the long flight home.

Transport Security Administration

Since we are talking about security, why not pay a visit to the Transport Security Administration website. Yes, I know it is US-centric, but America has some of the toughest laws governing what can and can't pass through customs, so it is a good place to start your research about this topic. Of course, you should also find out what your own national government's regulations are in relation to airport and border security.

Thanks to Rick Seaney for the heads-up on this story

The Week That Was #11

Welcome to my weekly collection of The Odd, The Useful, and The Downright Bizarre.

The Odd: First up, I’m posting a video for you to watch, but only if you promise never to do what you are about to see on your next international flight.

Promise? Ok, then. Now you can watch it:



The Useful: 5 secrets for avoiding sky-high cell phone bills. Christopher Elliott, over at Consumer Traveller writes about ways to avoid exorbitant cell phone bills while you are travelling, and recounts one example of Verizon greed when a traveller returned home from vacation to a staggering $8,000 cell phone debt. Among the strategies Elliott suggests for keeping your cell phone costs under control are these: Buy another phone in the country you are visiting; Get a plan that specifically includes overseas calls at favourable rates; Go VOIP and use services such as Skype; Swap cards — that is, swap out the SIM cards on your phone with a local national card; and finally, if all else fails, turn your phone off or better still, leave it at home. Read more here…

The Downright Bizarre: "Putpockets" give a little extra cash. How’s this for a weird promotional idea? A British broadband provider is paying reformed pickpockets to surreptitiously slip money into the pockets of unsuspecting Londoners. Instead of ‘pickpockets’ the firm has coined the word, putpockets, because the former thieves now give people money instead of steal it from them. "It feels good to give something back for a change -- and Britons certainly need it in the current economic climate," said Chris Fitch, a former pickpocket who now heads TalkTalk's putpocketing initiative. Fagan would be rolling over in his grave! Read more here…

The Best-Laid Plans…

~ According to the American Heritage Dictionary, it was Robert Burns who wrote: “The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley.” Or as we might say today: The best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray.

I am ruminating on this after having spent nearly seven hours yesterday transferring footage from a series of video tapes onto my computer. The tapes, shot on my Panasonic video camera, are of my trip to Sydney during March and April earlier this year.

In addition to the four tapes I had from that trip, I have spent several more hours transferring footage from a number of other family events that have taken place this year. Add a box full of other cassettes to all this, and you begin to get a picture of a man who needs to find a workable system of archiving his numerous home movies.

As the self-appointed family documentarian, I am never far from my camera, and while I enjoy capturing the family at important family events, and turning the footage into short films, I often leave the work of transferring the original footage until long after the events have taken place.

When I returned from my trip overseas last year, I had dozens of tapes documenting my travels. In addition to the tapes, I had thousands of photographs in folders organised by month, week, and week day. I have yet to go through these folders and cull out the bad photographs: that is, the blurry, the poorly framed, the repetitions, and the just plain boring ones.

I guess all travellers have similar problems. Once the excitement of the trip is over, and we settle back into the daily grind of work and life, it is easy to forget we even spent that wonderful week in Hawaii, or New York City, or wandering the streets of London or Athens. Photos get transferred to hard drives, video tapes get put away in boxes or bottom drawers, and life goes on.

And so to my ‘best-laid plans’ to create exciting holiday films with which to wow my family and friends.

Even as I research my next travel adventure, my family and others are still waiting to see my videos, and the best of my travel photographs. They may be waiting for a long time, yet, unfortunately. However, as my forthcoming trip looms ever closer, I feel a need to get my ‘house’ in order, otherwise I will return from my next trip with even more tapes and photographs, and never find time to show off any of my handiwork.

So what has worked for you? Any suggestions or tips you can offer, dear reader, will be gratefully received.

Meanwhile, I’ve got work to do. There’s a box of tapes waiting to be processed and edited.

Image: Statue of Robert Burns in Central Park, New York

Photo courtesy of Wahaj Zaidi at Panoramio...

The Week That Was #9

Click image to view full size

Welcome to my weekly collection of The Odd, The Useful, and The Downright Bizarre.

The Odd: Rhyolite, Nevada Bottle Building - In 1906, in the old ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada a saloon owner named Tom Kelly, built a house out of bottles because lumber was scarce at the time. Reportedly he used some 50,000 beer, whiskey, soda and medicine bottles to build the structure which still stands today. Mr. Kelley was 76 years old when he built the house and it took him almost six months to complete. Read more here…

The Useful: The Rule of Thirds. Ned Levi is a professional photographer who points out the rationale behind the “Rule of Thirds”, the concept that the most eye-pleasing photographic compositions split the field of view into roughly equal thirds, and that the scene’s important compositional elements are placed along these lines or their intersections. It doesn’t matter whether you are using a typical consumer-level, point-and-shoot camera, or the most expensive professional digital SLR, the ‘rule’ has been in use for hundreds of years by generations of artists and photographers, and for a very good reason. It works. Read more here…

The Downright Bizarre: The Illegal Border Crossing Tour in Mexico. Yes, you read it right. This tour apparently lets you the experience the drama and the adrenalin rush of being an illegal immigrant trying to cross the Mexican border in the United States. According to a New York Times reporter who tried it, the locals want tourists to understand the experiences and traumas that illegal immigrants face. During the night-time guided hike you’ll be chased in the dark, shot at by (fake) police, and you may or may not make it under the fence. But you’ll definitely have an interesting story to tell the folks back home. Read more here…

Solo Travellers eBook

~ In a previous entry on this blog (Flying Solo) I wrote about some of the pros and cons of solo travel. And since I am someone who likes to travel solo as much as I can, I was immediately interested when I saw a reference to GLAD YOU’RE NOT HERE: A Solo Traveler’s Manifesto on one of the forums on Trip Advisor.

The Manifesto, which was written by Janice Waugh, can be downloaded as a .PDF document, and at only 15 pages is a quick, but useful read. It looks at why you might like to consider solo travel – and while not dismissing the value of travelling with a companion, it does a good job of arguing the case for travelling solo.

Janice says the Manifesto is for anyone who is not only unsure about travelling solo, but for those not sure about what they will get out of the experience. It is also for those whose family and friends don’t understand why you may want to travel on your own. Helpfully, she outlines some reasons for embarking on a journey by yourself.

Like the independence that comes with solo travel.

• As a solo traveller, you can do what interests you, when you want and at a pace that suits you. You don’t need to compromise your choices or explain your decisions.
  
• By travelling on your own you are more likely to mix with other travellers and get out to meet the locals.
  
• Travelling by yourself often forces you to stretch yourself, to move out of your comfort zone, to develop new skills, and in the process allows you to discover things about yourself you may never have known.
  
• Solo travel builds your self-confidence: in your ability to plan, and organise each detail of your journey; your ability to move around in unfamiliar cultures; and even your ability to learn a second or third language – no matter how rudimentary.

As I approach my 61st birthday, and plan my next solo trip for 2010, I am delighted to have read the Solo Traveler’s Manifesto. It has helped reinforce my confidence in my abilities to continue travelling on my own, when sometimes my body and mind try to undermine that confidence.

Although I have travelled solo in the past, without incident or accident, it never hurts to have other people reaffirm your decisions, and offer encouragement and support for future endeavours, and this is exactly what GLAD YOU’RE NOT HERE: A Solo Traveler’s Manifesto does.

Visit the Solo Traveler Blog…

Spanish is The Loving Tongue

~ Hola! Como se llama usted?

In my entry for July 7 (Never To Old To Live And Learn) I wrote that I had signed up for a ten week Spanish for Fun and Travel course at the WEA, an adult learning institution here in Adelaide.

I’m now two weeks into the course, and desperately trying to remember and practise everything I’m learning. The hardest part is not having anyone to talk to, or practise with. So with that in mind, I went searching for language classes online to see if I could find a site to supplement my classes.

As you might imagine there are literally hundreds if not thousands of websites that offer language courses either for free or for a fee. The best of them provide some lessons free to get you started, and a ‘premium’ service for a fee.

After conducting several hours of research and trying some of the sites, I have settled on a great online resource that is proving to be a treasure trove of help for language learners like myself.

The site is the Radio Lingua Network.

On the Radio Lingua Network you can listen to, and download audio files for at least 18 languages. These include the obvious ones like French, Spanish, Italian, and German, but also less obvious languages such as Catalan, Gaelic and Irish, Luxembourgish, Polish and Russian, Danish and Norwegian, Greek and Turkish, and others.

The downloadable resources for Spanish alone run to 80 audio lessons of between 15 and 20 minutes each. And these Coffee Break Spanish lessons are free!

If you opt to pay for the Premium lessons, here’s what you get:

• 15-20 minute enhanced audio lesson which includes flashcards for iPhone/iPod Touch and other iPod models


• Printable lesson guide which outlines all the words and phrases covered in the lesson, additional vocabulary and notes


• Bonus listening material: 8-10 minutes of extra listening which helps to consolidate the language covered in the main lesson


• All materials available via a one-click download through iTunes


• Platinum content for level 1 and 2 which includes wordlists, review exercises and key

So why am I paying for a language class when I can listen online and download lessons for free?

Because there is nothing quite as good as being in a room filled with other students practising and using the language as it is intended to be used – in conversation between real people. I also have the benefit of getting help and feedback from my teacher, and the added ability to ask questions, clarify pronunciation, and gain confidence using my new language skills.

However, the benefits of using the audio lessons on the Radio Lingua Network are that I can have them playing on my computer (as I write this for instance), which helps reinforce what I have already learnt, and prepares me for the lessons to come.

By the way, if you are a member of Twitter, you can follow the Network and sign up for language specific ‘tweets’ every time a new lesson for your chosen language has been added to the RLN site.

I would like to point out that I am not associated with the Radio Lingua Network, either as an affiliate, subscriber to their services (although I should be), or in any other way. I just happen to think they are providing an incredibly valuable service (especially the free lessons), and think too that more people should know about and support them.

PS: The opening Spanish paragraph reads: Hello! What is your name?

The Week That Was #8

~ Welcome to my weekly collection of The Odd, The Useful, and The Downright Bizarre.

The Odd: Kandovan – The Stone Village. Is this the village that inspired the setting for Riven, the setting for part three of the Myst series of games? Kandovan (Candovan) is a tourist village located near the city of Tabriz, in Iran. Legend says the first inhabitants of Kandovan moved here to escape from the invading Mongols. They dug hideouts in the volcanic rock and ultimately ended up transforming them into permanent houses. It is now one of Iran’s most popular tourist destinations and the rock-houses rival the famous Cappadocia Hotel.

The Useful: Niagara Falls Webcam. Never been to Niagara Falls – the most powerful waterfall in North America? Don’t worry dear reader, you can watch six million cubic feet of water fall over the crest line every minute in high flow from the comfort of your own home, simply by tuning into the Niagara Falls webcam attached to the Sheraton on The Falls Hotel. Of course, you will have to adjust your time zone to suit. As I type this it is 11.30pm at the Falls, and all I can see is a dark, grainy image of something which looks like water flowing in the murky blackness. However, I will be back to take another look during daylight hours. In the meantime, I am looking at a huge interactive map here… to help me get my bearings.

The Downright Bizarre: Ryanair Poll - Passengers Would Fly Standing. No, it’s not an April Fools Day joke, according to a Ryanair online poll, 66% of 120,000 respondents said they would be willing to stand in the cabin on flights one hour or shorter if the fare was free. Well, for a flight of less than an hour, I guess even I would be happy to stand if it meant getting there for free. However, the figures change as the options become less accommodating. Read more here…

40 Money Saving Travel Websites

~ You have to love the internet. I know I do. It is a very rare day when I can not find information about the obscurest topic I can think of, or feel like exploring further.

Since this blog is focussed pretty much on all things to do with travel, and since too, I am constantly researching for my own travel adventures, I am always happy to find other sites outlining ways to cut down on my own travel costs. So when I found an article by Lynn Truong listing the 40 Most Useful Travel Websites That Can Save You a Fortune, I was immediately interested.

Lynn breaks the list down into three groups; Cheap Flights and Accommodation, Destination Guides and Travel Communities, and Budget Traveler Magazines and Blogs.

Among the sites in Cheap Flights and Accommodation, Lynn lists a perennial favourite for discerning budget travellers everywhere: CouchSurfing, the worldwide community the brings together generous hosts and adventurous travellers seeing the world on the cheap. Then there is Yapta – which stands for Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant. Yapta notifies you when prices for flights drop. It can do it even after you purchase your tickets, giving you a chance to get a refund of the difference from the airline.

Under Destination Guides and Travel Communities, you will find several sites I myself am a member of (like BootsnAll Travel, and Lonely Planet), and numerous others including The Backpacker (for reviews of local bars, restaurants, accommodations, attractions, and tours) and IgoUgo (with more than 500,000 travelers on IgoUgo sharing trip stories and pictures, they've built a library of honest opinions, tips, and experiences that you won’t find in any guidebook).

Finally there is the Budget Traveler Magazines and Blogs suggestions. Here you will find some amazing blogs by some of the world’s most adventurous travellers – many on extended round the world journeys. Among my personal favourites are Matt Gross’s Frugal Traveler blog in which Matt seeks out high style on a low budget; The Professional Hobo where Nora Dunn writes about her round-the-world vagabonding life; and Working Your Way Around the World – a site that shows it is possible to pick up and move to different parts of the world on a regular basis — and work along the way.

Take a look at Lynn Truong’s full list here…

While you are there, make sure you read through the Comments for even more great money saving tips and ideas…

10 Tips for Finding Wheelchair-Accessible Lodging

~ Although it’s been well over a decade since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law, wheelchair-users and slow walkers still have problems finding accessible lodging. In fact, according to a 2005 Harris Interactive survey, 60% of disabled travellers experienced problems with their overnight lodging choices.

“Finding an accessible room would be an easy task if every accessible room had the same standard features,” explains Candy Harrington, author of 101 Accessible Vacations; Travel Ideas for Wheelers and Slow Walkers. “But that’s not the way it works in real life. In reality, two properties located right next door to one another may have vastly different accessibility standards, so travellers need to ask the right questions in order to get a room that suits their needs.”

In the end, a little advance planning mixed with a healthy dose of self advocacy goes a long way towards finding the appropriate room. Here are Harrington’s tips for accomplishing that task.

• Never just ask for an “accessible” or an “ADA compliant” room. Instead, describe the access features you need.
• In Europe, if you need a room with an accessible bathroom, ask for an adapted room. An accessible room only features a barrier-free path of travel; however an adapted room also contains an adapted shower and toilet.
• Make sure and ask about the availability of elevators, especially in small European properties. It’s not unusual for a property to have an accessible room that can only be accessed by a stairway.
• If you need a roll-in shower, ask for one. This is not a standard feature in all accessible or even adapted rooms. Specify your needs.
• Always call the property directly, rather than calling the central reservation number.
• Bed height is not regulated under the ADA, so make sure and ask for measurements. Many properties are replacing their standard mattresses with high pillow top and luxury models.
• Avoid yes or no questions. For example, ask the clerk to describe the bathroom, rather than just asking if the bathroom is accessible.
• Ask the reservation agent to fax you a floor plan of the accessible room. This will give you the dimensions of the room, but remember that access can vary depending on the placement of furniture.
• If you have difficulty determining if a room will suit your needs, ask to speak to somebody who has recently been in the room. Employees in the housekeeping or engineering departments usually have a good knowledge of access features of the individual rooms.
• Remember to ask the reservation agent if the accessible room can be blocked for you. If the answer is “no” or “sometimes”, then find another hotel. Remember, even the most accessible room in the world won’t work for you, if that room isn’t available when you arrive.

Finally, always trust your instincts. If a reservation agent hems and haws, gives ambiguous answers or sounds inept, call back and talk to another reservation agent or call a different property. When in doubt, always go with your gut.

101 Accessible Vacations; Travel Ideas for Wheelers and Slow Walkers is published by Demos Publishing and is available from your favourite bookstore or on-line at www.101AccessibleVacations.com. Visit Candy Harrington’s Barrier Free Travels blog at www.BarrierFreeTravels.com for more helpful access tips, news, resources and information for disabled travellers.

Image courtesy of Orlando Fun Tickets…

Top Travel Social Networks

~ One of the methods I have been using for help with research into my forthcoming trip is social networks geared around travel enthusiasts.

You will no doubt be familiar with social network sites like MySpace, Facebook and the more recent phenomenon – Twitter. These sites are very general in their nature and makeup in that they attract and appeal to a huge broad range of users. However, if you are currently researching your next vacation, these sites (and the many others like them), may not be the best way to connect with travellers who have already visited the locations you are planning to travel to.

To connect with travellers all over the world, you need to join one or more of the many travel related social networking sites available online. I myself am a member of the Trip Advisor forums, BootsnAll, and the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forums. But there are many more. Thankfully, John Van Kirk, the Travel Answer Man has put together a list of ten of the best travel social networking sites, which includes the three I am signed up with.

Along with the three already mentioned, John includes Dopplr – a site which lets users create trip itineraries and find travel tips created by other travellers; Trip Wolf – which is similar to Facebook for travel because of its “friends” and “travelers” features; and Virtual Tourist – which John claims is the web’s largest travel community and social network, although I suspect Trip Advisor might question this claim.

All these sites have many common features such as the ability to ask questions in location specific forums; the ability to post reviews of hotels, café’s and restaurants, and almost anything else; space to upload trip photographs; the capacity to plan trip itineraries, and many more features. Of course these sites work best when you contribute to the discussions, reviews, and other areas of the sites where input is encouraged by travellers just like you.

Even if you are yet to travel away from your own home town, you can make positive contributions by joining discussions related to your home town or city. After all, those who are best placed to write about a particular location, are the locals. So get involved, and join a world wide community of travellers. You’ll be glad you did.

John Van Kirk has broken his list of top travel social networks into two posts on his blog. Click here for Part One; and click here for Part Two…

The Week That Was #7

~ Welcome to my weekly collection of The Odd, The Useful, and The Downright Bizarre.

The Odd: Top 5 Naked Events And Top 5 Nude Beaches. I bet that got your attention! Those people over at Tripso.Com have a feature on the top nude events and beaches around the world. They even mention Maslins Beach (Australia’s first official nude beach), here in South Australia, which apparently hosts the Nude Beach Olympics in January. I wonder if they will let me down there with my video camera to film a clip for this blog?

The Useful: Ten Tips for Planning a Round The World Trip.

Planning a trip is always part of the adventure of travelling, and even more so if it’s a round-the-world (RTW) trip across many countries on various continents. Planning a trip around the world is a fun experience but keep in mind that there are various distinct aspects involved that are usually a non-issue for a typical ’single-destination’ holiday. These include varying costs and climates in different countries. When I prepared my RTW trip last year, I made many notes along the way, organising them by region. My notes included things I wanted to see, transportation, costs and accommodation options. I also created a checklist for other important aspects such as travel health insurance and things to pack. Read more here...

The Downright Bizarre: 35 of The World’s Most Bizarre Hotels. Hot on the heals of last weeks entry about 21 strange and unusual hotels, comes Newsday with their online feature about the very same thing. Not to be outdone, Newsday has photographs and information for 35 out of the ordinary hotels including covered wagons,

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing – enjoy the rest of the weekend.

House Swapping Checklist

~ This is the fifth in an occasional series of articles about house swapping your home with another family, thereby making the most of your travel experience in another city or country. The first article was House Swaps: The Practical Way To Go; the second article, House Swapping for Seniors, provided practical advice for that age specific group of travellers; the third House Swapping for a Better World discussed how this concept can help break down barriers between different nationalities and cultures; and the fourth article House Swapping for Families discussed how families as a whole can benefit from exchanging homes with other families. These blog entries are sourced from, and used with the permission of the Aussie House Swap website.

Here are some suggestions for making your house swapping experience as smooth and enjoyable as possible.

1. Give yourself time to organise everything

Don't expect to go online and immediately find the ideal house swap at the perfect location and the exact time to fit in with your plans. Realistically, it may take some discussion to and fro as to possible dates, and people may be willing to fit in with you but have to change some other arrangements to make things work. This all takes time.

However, it must be said, there are many experienced and first-time swappers who have organised their house swap within a few days of the exchange commencement date. This suits some but it is best to allow yourself a few months to make sure you get everything right.

2. Don't just list, then sit back and wait

You'll have a far better chance of finding a suitable swap if you take the initiative and contact some people, than you will if you just sit back and wait for responses. This may be obvious, but it bears remembering. Finding a suitable house swap does take some effort on your part.

3. Flexibility is important

Realise that it won't necessarily be easy to find a swap for the exact time and location you want. Therefore it's best to be a bit flexible, and stay open to what's available at your ideal time, or to alternative times when your ideal swap may become available.

Here's another option for you to think about: non-concurrent swaps. This means that a swap partner stays in your home when you're away, but you're not able to simultaneously swap with them. For example, you may go interstate or cross the Tasman for a wedding or a special birthday. By extending your stay, it may be possible for your swap partner to come at that time. Or you may even arrange to house sit for a third party, leaving your place empty.

Either way, your house is vacant at a time to suit your swap partner, but it's not possible or not convenient for you to go to their place at that time. So your partner visits and stays at your place, and then at a later time when they're away doing something else, you stay in their home.

You can even arrange for a simultaneous, three-way swap. In other words, A goes to B's place, B goes to C's place, and C goes to A's place, all on the same day and for the same period of time. This may take some arranging, but we know of an instance where it happened amongst our swappers.

4. Ask lots of questions

Gather as much information as you can from your swap partner. Put together a list of questions on things which may cause you to think twice, or even abort a swap. For example, would be prepared to swap with a smoker? Do you need an Internet connection? Are you allergic to cats? Do you find it impossible to sleep near a railway line, or an airport? What size beds do they have? Do you hate waterbeds?

Are you interested in swapping cars? Is your (or their) Mercedes off-limits? Ditto each of your desktop computers?

5. Sort out the details

Here's a good practice: put it in writing. Get agreement on each party's expectations of the other, including any specific inclusions or exclusions (e.g. they can use the Ford, but not the Mercedes). Decide how the utility bills will be split. Then write it down — in either a hard copy agreement, or an exchange of emails.

6. Check your insurance

In most cases, house swappers are each other's guests. Check with your insurer to ensure you're covered for the normal risks while they're in residence and you're away. (This is usually the case, but don't leave it to chance!)

If you're going to allow your visitors to drive your car, and you'll be driving theirs, it's basic common sense to know exactly what is covered in both cases. Does a nominated party have to drive in order to maintain cover? Does the driver have to be over a certain age? (For example, you may not be covered if your teenage son is driving your swap partner's car.) What's the excess, in case of an accident? Who has to pay it?

7. Clean up your house, yard and pool

Since the launch of Aussie House Swap in 2003 we have received less than two complaints each year regarding someone's house swap experience. Out of these few complaints they have nearly all been cleanliness issue and could have been resolved easily with good communication.

If you want things to be in a clean and tidy state when you return home, you need to have them looking that way before you leave. Don't leave a mess, or a half-done job, and expect to come home to a manicured lawn, a trimmed garden, a spotless pool and a professionally-cleaned house.

It may happen, because some people are very finicky that way. However, you can't expect it if you don't set the example before you leave. Besides, it's a matter of common courtesy to tidy up before guests arrive.

We have swappers who pay for a cleaner to come in to clean their house before they head off for that swap, and many also organise one for when they vacate their swap partners house. A very small cost if you're not into cleaning and want to spend your time on other, nicer, things!

8. Pets

Remember that your house exchange partner is on holiday and the thought of feeding, walking and/or grooming the dogs may not be their idea of relaxing. If you are pet swapping too (caring for each others pets) while on the swap then it's usually fine but if you have a pet and are thinking of leaving it at home but your swap partner isn't please be considerate. Try and arrange a friend or family member to look after it.

If you have agreed to pet care, ask your neighbours to look in on them and (if necessary) feed them after you've gone, in case your swap partners are late in arriving. They can then introduce themselves, which will mean that your guests will start out knowing at least one person or couple right from the time of their arrival.

9. A warm welcome

Why not leave your guests a bottle of wine and some nice cheese in the fridge, with a note on the door explaining where the water crackers are kept? Or if you know they're teetotallers, swap the wine and cheese for a caddy of Twinnings tea and a good brand of coffee, and perhaps some special biscuits. And don't forget to leave some fresh milk!

10. Detailed instructions

You'll probably have explained various routines and preferences over the phone and by email, well before your guests arrive. However, we highly recommend using our Handy House Swap Form found in the menu on the Aussie House Swap website.

This will help inform your guests where things are kept, list important phone numbers, explain how the TV, air conditioning and so forth work, and remind them of any peculiarities they need to know about.

You can also list recommended restaurants and attractions, and write down any other local knowledge you think they should have. (E.g. "Rusty's allowed to sleep on the lounge, but don't forget to let him out first"; or "Must book! Best steak in town.")

For more information…

Please visit our website. There is a considerable amount of information available. If you can't find what you are looking for then please contact us.

How much does it cost?

Aussie House Swap membership is only $65 per year! However, if you do not manage to house swap in your first year we will give you another 12 months membership absolutely free! This is our guarantee to you! For $65 (less than the cost of one nights motel accommodation) you can make as many house swaps as you like within your 12 months.

Article courtesy of Aussie House Swap website. Like our Partner site, Home Away, Aussie House Swap gives you the opportunity to stay in someone else’s home, while they stay in yours.