I'm currently planning a trip to the Middle East with a friend of mine, trying to figure out which countries are both safe and easy to get into for US and Finnish citizens. He just sent me over a link to some wikipedia pages showing maps with countries highlighted in colors based on Visa requirements. I thought this was really cool and pretty useful, so here you go...
The National Park of Yosemite has been captivating visitors for years, it's mystique and beauty can't be properly portrayed by photos or videos. From the world famous half dome, to its amazing waterfalls, to the star filled skies, Yosemite is a must visit for any visitor to California. This is one of the best Yosemite videos I've ever seen, done in timelapse it gives you a pretty good overview of the park.
You may have already switched that calendar to 2012 but that doesn't mean your New Year's Eve planning is over. It's never too soon to start planning for next year to avoid that dreaded week. You know, the week before New Year's Eve when everyone starts asking the same question: "What are your New Year's Eve plans?!?" The answer is undoubtedly, "I have NO idea!" all the way up until December 31st. Unless your buddy is throwing an incredible house party, what in the world are you and your friends going to do? You bought the sequins and the best champagne, but you don't have a clue where you'll be at midnight. Chances are you'll head to a club last minute, pay a $75 entry fee, and fight your way through the crowds to reach the bar, where you will buy the strongest drink they offer. Make that two of the strongest drinks they offer, since you probably won't find the bar again for several hours.
As 2011 comes to an end, I thought it would be cool to talk about my top 5 travel experiences of the year. My year was split roughly 6 months in Australia, 3 months in Southern Asia, and 3 in the US. It's hard to pick just 5, but here are my favorite travel memories from 2011, in no particular order.
Somebody trained their pets to pose like this and now sits on a corner in San Francisco asking for money. Sorry for the poor quality photo, it was taken on my phone. If you can't tell, its a cat sleeping on top of a dog, and 2 rats sleeping on top of the cat.
I hate travel days, packing up your bag, dealing with whatever means of transport is necessary to get to your next destination, and especially crossing borders. Borders are some of the most stressful places on earth, they're generally crowded, everybody is nervous, excited, tired, and just wants to get through and move on. It's not much better for the people working at them either, they have to deal with these people who are tired and stressed out, which in turn wears them down. Borders are also a place of great opportunity for locals; tourists are generally out of place, uncomfortable, unable to properly communicate, and easy to take advantage of. This translates to dollar signs for the clever, tricky, and/or dishonest locals looking to make a buck off the passing tourist, and even more stress and uncertainty for that tourist.
Today we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States. Happy Thanksgiving!
A time lapse video taken by Expedition 28 & 29 from the International Space Station during the months of August to October, 2011. You can clearly see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) as the station crosses over the top of the Earth. Because of the Earths constant rotation things look a bit different than we're used to on the map, it's tough to make out what countries you're looking at (when the clouds aren't hiding the ground), but I was able to identify a few regions. The person who posted this video claims they didn't do anything to edit colors or anything similar, it's strange to see the atmosphere so clearly visible, very cool.
Most people from the OC don't even know, but every year they have hundreds of giant whales swimming past them in their annual migrations. If you find yourself looking for things to do in Orange County, head down to the Balboa Fun Zone in Newport Beach and hop on a whale watching boat. You'll find at least 2 companies running boats off the docks in the harbor, either one should be about the same, and tend to run a similar schedule. My mom lives in Orange County, and wanted to do a whale watching tour for her birthday, so we made a reservation on a boat for the family. On the day of the tour we were running late, and we went in the first whale watching company we found with our reservation, which they accepted and checked us in for the boat. It wasn't until a little while later that we realized we weren't at the same company we booked, but it was too late. Didn't matter in the end as we had a great tour anyways.
I made the mistake of assuming Australia, like most European countries, would issue a visa at the border. When checking in for my flight to Sydney out of Frankfurt, I had quite the scare when they notified me the computer didn't show me as having a visa. Luckily the woman directed me to another counter where the airline sold me an e-visa (They jacked up the price though, and they definetely didn't input my info properly). US Residents, even tourists, must get a visa (ETA - Electronic Travel Authority) before being allowed on their flight.
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About The Cheap RouteTheCheapRoute.com is the site where you find fresh new travel destinations & ideas. We don't provide guidebook style writeups, we normally don't even offer you all the specifics, you can find that elsewhere. What we do provide are high quality photos & videos, useful tips, and a fresh perspective on travelling the world for cheap.
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