Last Minute Travel Deals

Long gone are the days when taking a last minute trip required a few thousands dollars and lots of luck. Now, with the help of the Internet, last minute airfare and travel deals are just as easy to find as those for trips planned months in advance! All it takes is a little computer savvy, and you can find last minute vacation bargains in no time.

There are many websites online that specialize in last minute vacations. One that I frequently use prompts visitors for nothing more than a destination preference. Once the destination is entered, visitors are directed to a list of last minute travel choices, each one varying in price, length of trip, and accommodations. Using this website, I recently booked a last minute, four-day-trip from Los Angeles to Orlando Florida for less than $300.

Thanks to the help of the internet, last minute travel is not only possible but easy and inexpensive! For more information about cheap travel and/or travel deals, please access the link provided. This link will direct you to an excellent online last minute travel resource, were you can browse for deals, get travel tips, and more!

Last Minute Travel

At the last minute you can grab a flight, jump into the car, and spend an unforgettable weekend.

Suddenly, next weekend looms before you -- and there are no plans yet on the calendar. Great! It could be the perfect time to getaway for a last minute trip to a place you've always wanted to travel to -- or visit a destination you know and love.

According to a travel poll by the Travel Industry Association of America, half of all U.S. adults take at least one weekend trip per year, and almost 30 percent have taken five or more weekend trips in the past year. Traveling by car (74%) is the most popular mode of transportation for weekend trips, followed by air (16%).

For couples on a budget, the proliferation of last minute travel sites and discount hotel deals has been a boon. There's even a name for quickie, last-minute weekend getaways for lovers: mini-moons. And they can be fabulous: A whirlwind romantic weekend in a new city, sleeping in a top-rated hotel, savoring delicious meals at just-discovered restaurants or from room service, seeing the sights.

Site59, a Travelocity company, offers Flight & Hotel packages with add-ons that can include a rental car, pre-paid dinner, concert tickets, or unique offerings such as a ride on a Harley, hot-air balloon flights, white water rafting, an all-Elvis weekend in Memphis, or snorkeling in Mexico. Packages can be booked from 14 days to 3 hours in advance.

Buyer Beware

Yet taking advantage of a last minute deal on the Web could disappoint an unwary couple. In many cases, last minute travel sites sell what is known in the industry as "distressed inventory" -- aka center seats on airplanes and left-over rooms no one else has booked. And since, as a couple, the point is to be together -- and you are likely to spend more time in a room than a single or business traveler -- your satisfaction with both air and hotel arrangements is important.

Also, there can be hidden costs. While the first price you see on a Weekend Getaway site is usually quite affordable, that generally reflects a stay in the least expensive hotel available in the destination you choose. Want something more romantic than a Holiday Inn? If you selected a weekend in Washington, DC, for example, it could cost you an additional $313.09 extra per room per night on Site 59 to upgrade to the superior Willard Inter-Continental Washington on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Finally, keep in mind that most last minute weekend travel deals are non-refundable. So don't buy that mini-moon trip until you're positive you can make it -- and then go and have a terrific time.

Cedar Pointe

Cedar Pointe is a seasonal park located in Sandusky, Ohio that is open May through September. If you live close by, it’s an easy drive from Toledo or Cleveland, a little further from the Detriot area, but still doable as a day trip. For 2008 a one day pass will only cost you $42.95 per person. For everyone else, I recommend making a weekend out of it and getting a two day pass for only $71.95 which will give you admission to both Cedar Pointe and Soak City. Soak City is an amazing water park with great slides and relaxing lazy river.

Rides

If you are a roller coaster enthusiast Cedar Pointe is the park for you! Personally, my favorite roller coaster is the Raptor, here’s why/:

The number one rated roller coaster at Cedar Point is the Millenium Force roller coaster. Be careful with this one on a cloudy day, they will actually shut down the ride when the clouds cover the top of the first hill which is 310 feet high! Don’t forget to check out the HUGE, Giant Ferris Wheel.

Food

Cedar Pointe is famous for salt water taffy and homestyle fries with vinegar. There are also many great restaurants to choose from.

Fun for the whole Family

Cedar Pointe features a great kiddie area with just as many rides for them as the adults, shows and carnival style games.

Tips

• Make it a long weekend and take the ferry across Lake Erie to Put-in-Bay. This island has a waterfront park, unique shops, eateries and historical attractions.
• If you are traveling with a pet they offer PetChek for $15.00 per day per pet.
• Lockers are available if you need one
• Bring lots of sunscreen, the park is right on the coast of Lake Erie and the sun can be doubly harsh.

Lollapalooza 2008

Chicago is a city of immense culture and entertainment. Two such events that any music or arts lover should enjoy are Looptopia, going on its second year and Lollapalooza now running its third set as a staple festival in the city.

An all night party called Looptopia will be coming to Chicago in May of 2008. Chicago has become one of the prettiest cities in America with all it’s new planting and flowers but now its time to party. This is going to be one of the best block parties in a city!

The Loop will be bustling with activity from 6 PM Friday till 6 AM Saturday as the city stages its second year for Looptopia multidisciplinary arts festival. Modeled on dusk-to-dawn cultural extravaganzas staged annually in Paris, Rome, and Madrid, the completely free event comprises roughly 75 offerings, including live music, theater and dance performances, film screenings, art exhibits, workshops, and more.

There will be showings by many different artists all through the night. For the inaugural offering, Redmoon staged many sites all over the Loop and MFChicago held a huge dance party with dueling DGs and video projections. Turning the streets into Club Looptopia.

The whole thing culminates in a sunrise celebration in Millennium Park, with music, yoga, and free breakfast.

If this event does not get you to the city I would suggest Lollapalooza 2008. This will take place in Chicago’s Grant Park the first weekend of August. Lollapalooza 2007: 3 days, 8 stages, and 130 bands.

In its third year as a destination festival, Lollapalooza bestowed a musical experience unlike any other to the city of Chicago. For three days, Grant Park will be transformed into a celebration of music, food, arts, technology, and community, where fans gathered from around the world to catch one of the summer’s most powerful line-ups.

After all that is done, enjoy the wonderful shopping and attractions this New York of the Midwest has to offer.

How Important Is Blogging For Your Career As A Travel-Writer?

To blog or not to blog, that is the question (sorry for the awful rendition of a cliche). The upsurge and success of blogs in the online travel-publishing industry, has posed a hot question in the minds of accomplished and aspiring writers alike: what importance do we need to give to blogging (be it general blogging or travel-blogging) in building our writing careers, and why. So I thought I’d throw the question out to the experts for their opinion.

It was interesting to see the variation in responses, all of which can be broadly put into three categories: 1) Blogging is critical for building your career as a writer 2) Blogging can play an important role, but you can’t do it at the expense of traditional writing 3) It is unclear exactly how a blog can help your career, it would depend on what you blog about and how relevant it is to what you are aiming for in your career.

[*NB: This article is long. I was going to edit down the responses to give you a short, informative piece; but then I thought that everything these people are saying is varied, making it hard to generalize their opinions without losing snippets of their wisdom, so I’m going to put all of it out there*]

How can blogging be critical for your career as a travel-writer? According to Chris Mohney, former editor of urban travel guide Gridskipper, and currently at a position with Black Book Magazine, says:”The blogging format naturally suits travel writing — casual, descriptive, narrative, and easily updated and posted from anywhere. In addition to teaching you how to write about travel by letting you do so at your own pace and in your own voice, blogging provides a readily accessible “clip file” of sorts for the aspiring novice. And it also teaches one of the most important lessons for anyone seriously attempting this kind of career: write constantly, about everything.”

Michael Yessis, co-founder and editor at World Hum gives us his take from the perspective of an editor who assigns/buys stories: “If you’re blogging about travel, I’d emphasize that you’re writing about travel. That’s just the form your writing has taken. So if your blogging is your writing, it’s therefore a big part of your travel-writing career. You shouldn’t be sloppy because it’s just blogging. Editors you pitch can see everything you write online, and many will look to your blog as a representation of what kind of work they’ll get from you.

Last Minute Travel

Liverpool for Beatles Fans

Looking for a unique travel destination with a musically historical significance? Head to Liverpool, England, otherwise known as the birthplace of The Beatles.

Legendary Beatles hotspots are located throughout the city. An informed traveler, perhaps with the aid of a decent Liverpool map, should have no problem locating the famous Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane for which the songs are named, as well as the homes, schools, and birthplaces of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Tourists can also explore the Cavern Quarter, home to the Cavern Club at which the Beatles performed 292 times. For a more educational experience, travelers can pay a visit to “The Beatles Story,” (a museum chronicling The Beatles’ rise to fame) or they could seek out a Beatles tour, which takes visitors past various Liverpool landmarks, and often includes admission to the museum.

RealTraveler, Fretless visited last summer, and managed to get a picture taken with John and Paul:

“I have visited the Cavern district, and had my photo taken with Paul McCartney’s statue there. This visit, I got my photo taken with John Lennon’s statue which stands prominently in the airport named after him.”

Of course, if the opportunity to explore the roots of a legendary rock and roll group is not incentive enough to board that plane, keep in mind that Liverpool was founded in 1207, and therefore has plenty to offer in the way of history. Realtraveler Ever Onward for instance, references visits to the Albert Dock, The Maritime Museum, the Liverpool branch of the Tate Museum, and the Anglican Cathedral, which he describes as, “a splendid work of spiritual art.” See more Liverpool attractions to help plan your trip this summer!