I hope you are traveling somewhere in the world now. This term from Christmas to New Year's Day is the good time to travel and figure out yourself on 2014. There are a lot of purpose to live. Therefore, some people work for their vacations, some people have breaks for their works. Usually, everyone is busy and doesn't have any chances to think about "lives."
If you have a little time at a cafe, try this:
Preparations:
Your Diary for 2014
A pen, or your computer(if you use an online scheduler)
Do This:
Imagine your life of 2025.
Write the purpose of your life.
Think what you need to do for it.
What you can do for 2014.
Put the small notes where always you can check.
This is a good way to figure out our lives. If your purpose is for travel, you may not need a good carrier, but need a lot of money... How to earn it? If your purpose is becoming CEO, what's your plan for 2014? Can you do anything special for it?
Well, this is a greeting. Some years ago, when I took some media classes in my college, I had a homework assignment of the motion graphic.
Motion Graphic Assignment (2010)
by Blogmaster
Please enjoy this, and have a little break. Make sure what you should do in 2014, and have a great 2014!
Some months ago, media informed about the wrong directions of Apple
Maps. It had some fatal mistakes, and some drivers who believe the
direction mistakenly got into the desert in Australia.
Without these kind of disturbing behaviors, people naturally can enjoy the
maps. For example, if you have Apple Maps, you can check "Horse Guard
Parade" in London, UK. I believe the photo is just before the Olympic
Games in 2012. It's under-construction. You can see the view from the
top of Everest on the map apps, and you can see the scenes of Manhattan
on them. You can enjoy seeing your old destinations and talk with people too.
Many people want to be out for
holidays, but they cannot always do. If they have families, they may
spend with them. However, if the person is alone without a partner?
It's
a news feed from "Time Magazine." It has a link to "Pornhub." It's a
blog page. It has a big map. It indicate how people spend time
with/without porn on special days. It's a little interesting.
If you are in the urban jungle, museums may be solutions for your holiday
plan. If you are in New York, there are a lot of museums near the
Central Park. If you are in London, you have some choices of parks such
as Hyde Park and St. James Park. You can stay with Themes river, and the
National Museum too.
For avoiding the dull travel, please figure out a few purposes for your small trips. Also I
recommend you to take some pictures, audio and video clips, and keep
them for your journals.
If you are busy outside everyday, you may use the "maps" such as Google Maps, Bing Maps, Apple Maps, and Nokia Maps(Here Maps) on your phone. Especially, urban explorers such as in New York, losing your ways means losing half a day of your work. However, you phones help you and find a way to get rid of because automatically they can track your locations, and precisely display on your phone.
What kind of information is used by the apps are:
Global Positioning System(GPS Data)
GPS is with the geosynchronous satellites. Originally, these were for military purposes on the coldwar era. They correctly tracked the location of ballistic missiles. After the coldwar ended in the end of 1990s, countries spread the use of the satellites to the commercial uses. Therefore, the information is very precise. This was mainly installed to the automotive navigation system for cars before. Now mostly every smartphone has it. WiFi ID/IP Addresses
If you use the Internet, you never fail to use with IP addresses. IP addresses indicate some important information: who the administrators/users, and where the locations are. When you establish the Internet connection, the information is provided for the network. WiFi ID is also the usable information that indicates your locations. When Google created the street maps, they collected these information with the photos, and this became a huge problem in countries. Now many apps collect these IDs when you use. Users mostly automatically provide these information.
Phone ID
Your phone ID is one of the blind points for detecting your locations. Your phones have some specific ID numbers. One of them is your phone number. When you call, your phone connects near the base station and establish the phone call between your phone and the system. Each base station has each location ID. It can calculate the distance between your location and the base station. Especially, if you are with 3G phones or newer, your phones can track multiple base stations. Therefore, your phone precisely indicate your locations with GPS.
For the reasons, if you are with your smartphones, you have not lost your ways in most of Ecumene where people can live. According to NORAD ( http://www.noradsanta.com/ ), they can track Santa Claus because of these systems.
"Trepak(Russian Dance)"
(From Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite)
Sochi Olympics comes soon. According to media, they had a lot of troubles for the torches, and also media indicates the bribery of high officials. The construction progresses also delayed, but finally, the games open on February 7, 2014. I checked about Sochi on the Internet, but it's difficult to find the information in English. However, using these map apps, we can travel around the resort town Sochi before the Olympic Games come.
Thanksgiving and Hanukkah came together. November 4 was the Islamic New Year. This November is special for many people on the earth. Now I'm trying to "change" this blog. I'll update for this blog for a while, but in the future, I'll shift to next one. When the time comes, I'll inform you.
The Halloween Day is a little happy and funny for everyone because people dress costumes and walk across the streets. They can try and figure out their new worlds of their own on the progresses. Some men, who try to dress like ladies, sometimes wake up as gay people. Seemly, in gay towns, this is a kind of story.
"Halloween Everywhere" (2010)
by Blogmaster
Here is a small exhibition. This was my homework assignment for my motion graphic class in 2010.
If you don't live in the Halloween culture, from harvest to the winter solstice, in many cultures, there are festivals with myths. Please try with your own. It may be the way to live with the maximum happiness for the next year.
Do you plan to enjoy "Halloween?" Halloween is fun. Many people make "Jack O' Lantern" with pumpkins, and wear costumes to go out for "Trick, or Treat!"
Seemly, the resource of Halloween is not related to religion things, but the harvest. However, when and where did people get the haunted Halloween? This Video has some of the resource of Halloween!
"History of the Holidays: Halloween"
(by the History Channel)
Seemly, Halloween is originally from Celtic culture in Ireland. According to some books, there are some similar dolls with sugar beets like Jack O' Lantern. Now the customs spread, and this "Trick, or Treat" becomes the famous phrase all over the world.
Well, How many days do we have for Halloween?
To shop or not to shop, that is the very important question. In fact, shops keeps a lot of Halloween stocks like costumes and candies for customers, but after Halloween day has passed, they can't sell the stocks. If they can't sell, they will be waste. Therefore, usually, they stop receiving these products a week before Halloween. Therefore, if some popular costumes are sold out next week, you may not have a chance to get them. That's why, this weekend, and next 7 days are the war for everyone. Also, for many students, they need costumes for their costume parties in spite of their midterms
"This is Halloween" (1993)
By Marilyn Manson
Recently, I started using "Spotify." It has a lot of Playlist. One of them is for Halloween. The first song of the list is this song. It's a good chance to learn music!
For October 31, people consider about their party schedules. It's sorry, this year Halloween is on Thursday. Thursday night is not the weekend night. What do people do? The answers are quite simple. Some people try one weekend before, and others try the extended Halloween weekend.
In the United States, Starbucks Coffee Stores serve "Pumpkin Spice Latte" now. If you are busy, and not join the party. You may enjoy the feeling with these small daily stuff with Halloween.
Recently, I took a ride of Greyhound line, and got a large city. Then naturally, I used the Internet via our smartphone. Also, recently, people travel with their tablet computers such as iPad, Kindle Fire, and Nexus 7. These tablets are naturally useful. We can check the information about the destinations, and private emails too.
Now many people use these with the Internet Security software that keeps their devices safe. However, what do we do when we can't use our devices?
There are some Internet equipments at the airports, public libraries, and other locations such as the Internet cafes. Also we can use some office service locations such as Fedex Kinko's. Are they safe to use?
Usually, the answer is "no." For example, when I went to my college library and started up the computers a few
years ago, they always recognized some viruses. Naturally, the computers are for public people. Especially, on the Internet cafes, many people use the computers for entertainments, and also these people tend to open unsafe files.
Now what to do for these:
When you sit for the computer at a public place, please try these.
Reboot the computer(if possible) If you use the computer, it may have already had some viruses. Usually, in the public internet places, they have a recovering software for computers. When the computers start up, it becomes always the same setting and the storage becomes empty. (This depends on the locations, please ask before you use.)
Check the status of the Internet Suite For the recent viruses and malware, usually, these computers in public places have the Internet Security suite, and automatically run when it starts. Check the status, and if it indicates malware or virus, avoid to input any private information such as ID, password, email address, phone number and names.
Check the Firewall Setting Before you use the computer, check the firewall status. If it doesn't have any firewall protection, you should avoid to input your private information. Usually, Firewall protects your information. It prevents leaking your information, and protects from viruses and malware.
Run the Virus Scan If the computer has the Virus Scan program, temporarily, it may not work when you use. You have to check it, and make sure it runs, and start browsing.
"But wait... how can we use the Internet computer such the bad condition?" Yes, we can use the Internet on the bad security computer. If you just want to search about your travel destinations and don't put any private information, it's mostly no problem to use. You can check the timetable of public transportation and the location on the maps.
However, if you need an appointment or reservation with your private information including name, address, phone and credit card numbers, you absolutely should avoid using public computers.
If you want to post comments to your Facebook and Twitter, write emails and store files and photos on your cloud drives, you have to bring your laptop, or use your smartphone with security software.
Avoid unhappy troubles, and try the happy travels..!
"Blurred Lines" (2013)
by Robin Thicke
Like this Robin Thickle's song, people have a kind of happy troubles on their travel, they may be good. However, don't open the Pandora's box with your private information on the Internet! It may cause the real troubles for your lives.
[UPDATE: 10/09/2013]
Here are two more additions for your security of the Internet use. These are not only for the public Internet computers, but for your computers too.
Update the Computer I wrote when the computer reboot, the setting becomes back as the same as the first time use. It's not always good. If someone has applied to the security update, they are all gone when you reboot. If you have plenty of time to update the computer, update it before you use it.
Update the Browser If you update the computer, it's still not always the good condition. As the same as the reason above 1, the browsers you use is probably old ones. Check the version, and update it.
In many cases, update is the most fundamental thing people should do. If your computer has enough capacity to install updates, you should do it. Also, for the public computers, please take care of them. If you can wait to check your email, transfer files, and comment on SNS, do it after you reach the safe place.
I didn't update much recent days. In fact, I'm in trouble on my real life. I don't have time much to do a lot of things such as this blog. However, I'll update little by little.
When you are traveling, you may have troubles. These troubles are sometimes small like battery of your camera, and sometimes big such as involving in a car accident. If you have a friend for your destination, your friend can help a lot. If you don't have, what should you do?
Ask the Receptionist of Your Hotel This is very important because your hotel provide safe and comfortable private space for you. Therefore, they also know what travelers need. They also can indicate the locations of supermarkets, drug stores, emergency services such as hospitals.
Visit "Visitor Center" "Visitor centers" of your destinations are also good places to solve your trouble. If you need a specific treatment, they can tell you the locations such as the hospitals, police stations, and banks.
Call Your Credit Card CompanyIf you are a credit card holder, please try your credit card company. They may have the branches near your destinations. Some companies provide coupons for shopping, and also emergency information. If your travel insurance are with your credit cards, they may prepare some alternative services and payment options for you.
Insurance Companies Your travel insurances are naturally for your troubles on your travel. If you purchase for your travel, you may get an insurance for it. You can talk with the branches of your destination and check the coverage.
Embassy of Your Country(If you travel abroad)The worst case is with the embassy of your country. If you have your passport, you can talk with the embassy of your country. They provide and suggest some solutions for your cases.
There are a lot of other ways. You can talk to bus drivers: how and where to transfer, how long it takes, and so on. If you get the post office, they know about the town and the local services. Naturally, the police station provides some information related to crimes and the deals.
"I knew you were trouble" (2012)
by Taylor Swift
I think trouble is everywhere. The worst thing of trouble is that it brings every single enjoyment out. For example, if a cute girl passes, she is not the matter of you. Also, you need to talk with someone else and change your travel plan for it. You may need to get back to your home as soon.
Anyway, when you are on your travel, you are a stranger. Don't forget for the emergency treatments when you prepare for your travel.
(Recently, some travel agencies, insurance companies and embassies provide a lot of information on their websites. Some companies also have been released travel apps for your smartphones. Before you travel, I recommend to download them and deal with.)
Have you ever tried a small travel near you? If you live with your jobs, you have the same routines everyday. People tend to miss the new discoveries for these. If you like jogging, walking or cycling, you can choose different routes.
Preparations:
Your smartphone with the Internet
Pens and Notebooks, or an online notebook such as OneNote or Evernote
Digital Camera
How to:
On your smartphone, use maps around your location and research.
Find some interests near you such as shops you have ever tried.
Note your expectations on your notebook.
Go to the locations.
Take photos, shoot videos, and record audios for your reminders.
Note your thoughts on your notebook and compare with your expectations.
Brian Williams, the anchor of NBC Nightly News, decided to have a surgery for his knee which was broken in his high school era. Like him, many people such as military uniforms also became disabilities for their activities. If you are training for your obstacles, this is a good way to find a new world. You can try with your abilities.
"Traveling Man" (1971)
By Stevie Wonder
Discovering the local areas is very interesting. Everyday, we pass some places by car. However, you may have a place that you wonder on the route. Why don't you try the place? You can decide it good or bad, and then you have a topic to talk with your friends.
We need cellphones when we travel. Now people use "smartphones." If we travel in our countries, we can call, text, check emails, and play with a lot of fun services. Also you can take photos, check the maps, write some journals with your facebook, and tweet your impressions to the world. However, for the international uses of your phones, you may have some troubles.
The Way of Communication
If you have some international friends, you may find the same phone of yours with your friends. However, your phone works in your country, but your friends' phones doesn't. In fact, there are some communication ways for phones in the world. One important difference is the frequencies that are used in your countries. There are some big divisions for this in Euro, Northern America, Latin American countries, Africa, Asia and Pacific. Also, their communication systems are different from countries and companies. Still a lot of people in the world use GSM phones, but some countries such as Japan and South Korea, CDMA is the major system for their cellphones. If you live in the United States, both frequencies and system uses don't match with them.
What are the Substitute?
There are two major substitutes with WiFi if you can't use your phones in your destinations.
Skype When you want to call, "Skype" is one of your substitutes of your phone. You can call and chat through WiFi with your specific phone number named "Skype Number." Using this, you can call with the same number in the world.
Google Voice If "Google Voice" is available in your countries, it's also an alternative of your phone with WiFi. You can call with your specific number that you choose.
Naturally, you can buy a calling card, use a public phone, and rent a cellphone at the airports. You have a lot of alternatives to communicate with your daily life.
(Note: Some countries such as China and North Korea limit using the Internet for the domestic reasons. If you create these accounts before you travel, you may not access your accounts with their blocks. I strongly recommend you to check the communications and the conditions of your destinations before you leave your countries.)
When we travel, normally shopping is expensive. Especially, people want to travel long, money is very important. If you think your money very much, here are some ways to save.
Credit Card Once you get your credit card, you can take advantage of a lot of the benefits. In some stores, only you show it, you can get the free gifts and discounts. Also, if the card companies have the offices in your destinations, you may get some coupon books.
Coupons in the Newspapers You may get some coupons with newspapers. Especially, in the weekend editions, there are some glossary coupons with flyers. You may not use these coupons at small glossary marts, but you can use them at big supermarkets at least.
Visitor Center Local Visitor Centers also have some coupons. They are normally for local destinations such as museums, restaurants, and shopping malls, and transportation.
The days of the coupons in newspapers are different from countries and areas. Also, usually, before holidays, many stores have some discounts without coupons. Then you can buy some local and cultural food and stuff too.
"Coupons? It's a local way." Maybe, you think so. However, if you stay long, please check and get some destinations' atmospheres with them. It's time to get the influence!
Update: July 15, 2013
Here are some additional information:
Credit card companies have a lot of international services. For example, some cards are originally with travel insurance. They support when you start traveling to be back home(you may need to buy the ticket with the card.) You may not buy an expensive insurance. Also, with something reasons, you are not able to have credit cards, you may use the international debit cards. Some international debit cards are also issued by major international issuers. They have similar services for your travel.
Here are some major companies for credit/debit cards:
These international companies tie with the domestic issuers, and may provide the international functions. There are some more international issuers such as Discover Card and JCB. For the services, please check your issuers' websites.
Update: July 17, 2013
Coupon Apps & Sites
Is Saving Money not easy? "No!" It's easy with your smartphone too.
Recently, some online coupon companies comes up. They are normally for
the local people, but you can use them also with registrations.
You
can download their apps on your smartphone and tablets, and also use on
your computers. They normally have some special discounts. Many of them
are similar with travelers interests.
These are also for the international cities. If they have the information in your destinations, it's worth checking.
After you spend a massage with 50% discount, you may use the rest of money for delicious dinner:-)
The Independence Day is tomorrow. I'm wondering how people spend time. Personally, today, I bought Budweiser with the Stars and Stripes. I've also got some food made in USA.
By the way, recently, many wildfires have occurred in the West Coast and Mountain areas of the United States. Naturally, people believe these wildfires spontaneously happens. However, some of them might be with cigarettes, fireworks, and campfires. When you'll get fun places, please treat fire carefully.
Also, this weekend, people go out and enjoy with the attractions such as parades, music lives, and fireworks. When you go out for these attractions, you feel thirsty in the Sun. Don't be patient, and drink water for your body conditions.
If you travel in the United States, here are some ideas for American foods.
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Milk and Apples(Breakfast)
Hotdogs, or Hamburgers with French Fries + Coke(Lunch)
BBQ with spareribs, and garden salads + Budweiser(Dinner)
You also can try some American food near your traveling areas. Some restaurants serve their favorite dishes and beers with special discounts. Also if you are not in the United States, you can try these this summer. You can check how to cook online!
"Listen To The Music" (1972)
by The Doobie Brothers
Originally, Fourth of July is the independent day. It's not only a fun day, but also the day of thank for the nation and veterans. Don't forget the meaning, and enjoy the holiday!
If you want to know more about Fourth of July, you can check on History Channel.
When people travel around the world, they meet a lot of travelers and local people. In many cases, they have big culture gaps among them. When they become familiar, it's time to talk about their culture.
Culture things are very difficult to explain. 10 years ago, people worried, "What do I indicate these complicated thing?" Now you have your smartphone on your hand with public WiFi called "Hotspot". Only you search and show the images, you can be familiar with your next guys.
However, you may not talk all the your interests.
Religions Recently, this is especially important if you walk around the conflict areas such as middle east, South Asia, and Africa. One of the famous conflict in the world is between Jewish and Islam in Israel. Without this, there are a lot of similar condition in the world. In China, for the governmental reasons, the government and Tibet people(Buddhism) have strong conflicts.
Races All people belong to races. Frankly to say, people call them "White," "Black," and "Yellow." For a long years in the history, white people have been superior than others. Now their rights becomes little by little equalized. However, the feuds and the memories are still on their mind. They are closely related to their lives.
Political Thoughts If you live in a peaceful country, you may not care about this. However, in some countries, political groups are with religions such as Christian and Islam. These groups are strongly against each other. When travelers tell about their thoughts, these affect to the treatments of the travelers.
These three are on the common senses of travelers. In common of these things are: 1) they are with thoughts, 2) closely related to their lives, and 3) permanent situations. Especially, if you plan to encounter with local people, please mind these and be a beautiful stranger:-)
"Beautiful Stranger"(1999)
By Madonna
A few years ago, especially, airline companies prohibited to use digital equipments such as smartphone, music players, digital cameras on board. However, now many of them turn to permit them. Also you can use in some buses and trains. You've got a chance to talk with people. Make friends, and enjoy your summer vacation!
RSS Reader is useful for everything. If you use your smartphone, I think you have one. I'm also using a RSS Reader for my life. It's called "Google Reader." However, Google announced they will shut down it, and we can't use it anymore after July 1, 2013. What do we do for this?
Here are some alternatives:
Feedly ( http://www.feedly.com/ ) Feedly is very popular. We can use it with smartphones and with Firefox(You need to install the add-on). This is also with Google ID.
NetNewsWire ( http://netnewswireapp.com/) This is desktop application for Mac. After you download the subscriptions via Google Takeout, you can import the file to NetNewsWire. When you adjust the setting, you can use like Google Reader.
Feed Demon ( http://www.feeddemon.com/ ) This is also the desktop application for PC. As the same as NetNewsWire, after you download the subscriptions via Google Takeout, you can import the file to Feed Demon.
Flipboard ( http://flipboard.com/ ) Flipboard is similar with Feedly. It's for the smartphones and tablets. When you register for your account, you can store your information and the subscriptions. Also you can make your magazines on it.
In fact, you can subscribe this blog on these apps. I have the subscription address on the right column. When you click the subscription, you can get the address of this blog.
Reading "lifehacker," Newsblur and Netvibes are also good and stylish alternatives.
When you register your favorite information, these will be your magazine. Using these tools are a good way to rearrange your daily needs and the information. Also you can register for your next travel and the destinations.
Last year, London Olympics was open in July. The games were impressive, and many Olympians showed their artistic body moving in front of the audiences.
Well, what is the next? Some people like the Olympic Games. They can't wait for next, and prepare for the next destinations.
Here is a summery of 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi (Russia). Sochi is a leisure city on the shore of the Black Sea. This game happens from February 7 to 23 in 2014. The motto is "Hot. Cool. Yours." The tickets are already on sale on their website ( http://www.sochi2014.com/ ).
When Soviet Union was alive, Moscow Olympics was occurred in 1980. Then many Western countries such as the United States, Canada, Sweden, West Germany and Japan boycotted the games. Ironically, this was the symbolic games of the Cold War. After 34 years later, the Olympic Games comes back to Russia. In Sochi, athletes plays for 15 sports. There is no physical border on the map like the western and eastern countries, and only the athletes have the mental and financial borders for the games now.
Personally, I checked the Internet to find about Sochi, Russia, but there are only some websites related to travel and sightseeing. I think Lonely Planet is the best one to check about Sochi.
In Sochi, the games happen near the leisure city. However, the scale of the city is not big like London. If you want to visit there, carefully you need to decide the accommodations and transportation you use.
Languages are very important when people travel. If you can speak English language, you are lucky. English language is the world language, and mostly in every country, many people are learning it and can speak. However, thinking about the situations in the world, other language is useful in some area.
Here is 3 popular languages people speak in the world:
English
English is the most popular language in the world. In many countries, this is the public language, and used for signs and guides. If people can use English, they take advantage of them. In addition, some International broadcasting are always provided in English language. When travelers faces problems, they will be one of the solutions
Spanish
Spanish is one of the biggest language in the world. If you travel Spain, Mexico, and South American countries, it's very effective. Spanish language belongs to Latin language. If people can use Spanish, they can also read and understand some parts of Portuguese.
Chinese
Some decades ago, Chinese language was not important in the world. However, this country is developing, and now it becomes one of the most important languages in the world. In fact, the area of the Chinese language is not always large, but it's including the mainland China, South-East Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore. Also Chinese are spoken at Chinatown in the world.
Recent days, in Canada, people tend to dislike Chinese immigrants using Chinese language. The reason of the dislike is that they don't respect of Canadian culture, and always depend on own culture they imported. In Sweden, some riots happened in May 20, 2013. The country has around 15% of
immigrants from Middle East, Africa and other countries. They have fully
treatments from the government for a term, but they are difficult to find jobs and solve the culture gaps. In fact, in many countries, they face the similar problems.
Understanding culture and the context is more and more important in the world. You can find yourself for the problems.
By the way, pronunciations are sometimes interesting. When people in other language speak something, by chance, the pronunciation is like one of own language words or sentence.
"Get Lucky" (2013)
by Daft Punk
When I listen to the song, for me, a phrase "We're up all night to get lucky" is like "We're up all Mexican Lucky."
When you travel and face like this kind of interesting sounds, ask the native speaker, "what does it say?" Provably, you find some words and phrases having similar sounds but different meaning with your native languages.
If you are a beginner of the travel, possibly it's difficult to find your destinations. If you don't have any information of your destination, you can find some information just once you click one of them. The simplest way is to check the advertisement banners and links on the homepage.
Recent days, these ads are clever. If you open a homepage related to travel, the banners automatically show some information about travel.
However, what you need to be careful is you can believe the travel agent when you purchase from the company or not.
There are some things you need to do:
Compare If you have some specific travel agents for your travel, you can show the ads and ask about the destination to the salesperson. The Internet gives a lot of good ideas, but they are not always right for you. You can talk from the destination, transportation, hotels, and currencies with your ideas. In most cases, these kind of talks are free in the office.
Get your neighbor library... no, use the InternetLibraries have a lot of books, but their travel guide books are not always new. For your destinations, you always need the newest and right information. There are some ideas for it.
Lonely Planet ( http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ ) is one of the best websites that always update about the world travel destinations. You can find the attractions, all attractions, landmarks, accommodation, and so on. It also has some travel apps and mobile websites.
Hostels.com ( http://www.hostels.com/ ) is NOT for luxury travels, but for cheap travels. Mainly, backpackers and students use this kind of sites. Basically, many hostels don't have private rooms, but directly you can ask to the hostel. People who stay at these hostels usually have similar purposes for their travel. If you have a good friend, you may have a lot of travel information.
Hostelling International( http://www.hihostels.com/ ) This is the international association of the Youth Hostel. They have some kinds of memberships. When you get it, you can use the hostels. In some attractions in the world, they provide a kind of discount with the memberships.
Hotels: For hotels, there are a lot of the Internet sites in the world. Without some specific chains, there are no websites for the reservations. Also, the treatments are different from countries. Please check for yourself.
Local Travel Commissions: If you have a specific travel destination, you can figure out about the destination on the local travel commission websites. Normally, they provide new and very specific information. However, if your destination is small towns, or rural areas, frequently, they may not update. If you use, be careful.
Decision When you did all researches and are done for compare, you can back for the first ad that you click. Then you need a decision that you pick either ads, or travel agencies around you.
In fact, these ads on homepages and blogs shows specific things. If you want to try a volunteer in Africa, it's difficult to figure out the information on the Internet. However, these advertisement show some keys for your ideas. If you have a plan, it possibly a good point to start for your dream.
Now in my cities, students are done for th spring semester in the United States. If you are one of the lucky students, from now, you can use your precious time for your favorite things. You can work, travel, learn, love and be crazy!
"Don't Stop the Party" (2012)
By Pitbull Featuring Tjr
Now the summer party starts. Especially students who have a gap year, you have one year break for your next life. If you have a plan, it's a clue for your dream. Just a try, and be a nice man!
I'm not sure how many people are thinking about summer vacation now. In the United States, soon the spring semester is done. Then a lot of students go back home and travel their favorite places.
They meet new friends. Also they start working at companies and get some new fellows. In addition they drink and take a girl to home..? All over the friendships happen in next some months. Anyway, friendly drinking season comes soon.
However, wait... If you start your pregame earlier, you maybe get a lot of drinks at the same night. Alcohol is one of the materials killing
people.
Here are some for mad drinkers:
1. Identify Your Locations
If you travel in the world,
you can't drink in some places. In California, people can't drink
liquors in some public places. In Sydney, you should not drink in
your hotel room. In Islam countries, drinking liquors are strictly
prohibited for people(without some bars for travelers). If you don't
know the rules, you may have some troubles in your destinations.You need a research before you start traveling.
2. Take Care of Your Money
This is for the United States. If you have a lot of money to spend in bars and nightclubs, they may cost a lot. The cover charge is normally more than $20-50 for each nightclub. Even you don't drink at the place, you need to pay a lot. If you order a bottle of champagne, it may cost you more than $500. (Every destinations has different cases.)
3. Don't Drink Too Much
When you simply drink too much, you have a signal in your minds. If you drink more than it, you may puke, become crazy and don't remember anything. It's a problem for the night. Also if you drive a car then, maybe you have a serious car accident. If you didn't have a condom when you have a sex, you maybe have HIV, or face an unexpected pregnancy.
4. Sugar High
This is crazy. I don't think you face sugar high when you drink. However, if you drink a lot of bottles of beers, sweet cocktails, and soft drinks, you take a lot of carbohydrate including sugar for your drinks. This is not good for your health. If you drink everyday, you may get diabetes for these. (If you have some sicknesses like "Hypercholesterolemia," you maybe need a talk with your home doctor before you get drunk.)
5. Water, but Water
When you get drunk, you needs pure
water a lot. Alcohol lets water in our body excrete. Also when you dance
on the floor, talk a lot with fellows, and have a sex with a partner,
your feelings are always thirsty and dry. Please get water then, and
fill the pure fresh water for your bodies.
I like drinking and sometimes get a bar or nightclub. Recently, I started my fitness too. I reduced my body weight a little, and become a little slender. Now I can't drink like before, and sometimes fall in sleep when I drink too much. This is not fun, but a good sign for my health and money. If you have a habit to drink everyday, you may have some breaks. Decide how many days you can drink and you can break, please enjoy better social lives.
"Swimming Pools" (2012)
by Kendrick Lamar
In the party places, all people became crazy. Then, normally, people divides for some groups. One becomes very open, and one becomes very reasonable. When you get a group, do you really enjoy the party? If you think so, you can switch your group. Maybe you can be an animal, and also become a human. Please think about your situation, and be happy and enjoy for the joy.
If you have traveled abroad, you may have experiences of coins. Normally, banks don't exchange any foreign coins. If we have coins a lot, how to do for them?
1. Keep the Change for the Next Travel
If you frequently travel the areas or countries, you can keep them for the next travel. They are especially useful for the public transportation.
2. Give Friends as Souvenirs
This is also a common way. Foreign coins are rare in many countries. If coins are not strange as souvenirs, you can give away.
3. Keep in Albums
You can also keep them in your albums with photos. It will be a good memory for each travel.
In the United States, quarters are a little special for everyone. Every year, the Federal Reserve System(FRS) release some special quarters that specialized for each states in the United States. Some travelers try to collect for all states. Some travelers keep for their destinations.
"Money" by Pink Floyd (1973)
"Money" is the monster in travel. You need money to get the destination. If you are in Las Vegas, you may have a chance to get a big money. In this case, if you don't bet, you don't have chance to get the money. Well, how much can you spend? The balance is the biggest concern. It makes your travel miserable and also impressive.
If I get a huge amount of money here now, I want to learn some years and want to travel all over the United States once. It's just a dream? or should I try some lotteries?
Before 2000s, listening to the international broadcasting was very difficult because world broadcasting stations only provided their programs for some specific areas with shortwaves. Now mostly they have turned into the Internet. Therefore, people can listen radio programs on time in the world.
Naturally, the mass-media is for everyone. They provide a lot of daily information for native people. Especially, popular stations in town provide useful information for travelers too. Popular stations take place some joyful events in town. They talk about them. Also, they talk about their value and culture too. They are worth listening.
In some countries, these information is not only for mother tongue speakers, but for majority of people too. Therefore, in some multi-lingual countries like the United States, many cities have multiple language stations. Some international stations like BBC World Service has also multi-lingual programs such as English, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish etc.
"How to find the stations for my destinations?"
There are some simple ways to listen to these kind of international radios.
iTunes is one of the very popular music players. We, normally, store our favorite music, and buy some apps through it. Now please launch it, and select "Music" on your PC or Mac. It has "Radio." You can find some specific stations if you know the station names.
This is my recommendation. If you don't know any radio stations in your destination, you can try "By Location." If you know some specific city names, you can try the search box. TuneIn Radio provides their app for Brackberry too.
Visit Stations' Homepage
This is the simplest way to get their information. However, directly, some stations don't provide their program streams. Some stations also don't internationally provide. If you need to figure out about the local information on their homepage, this is very good way too.
This is also the Internet radio service. They provide some specific functions such as stations for artists. Also you can try to search by the specific names of your favorite stations.
I like to listen to the international programs. Especially, some stations provide with very proper pronunciations of languages. I also like to listen to some my born town information on the Internet radio too. These ways may be good for everyone.
"Wild World" (1993)
by Mr. Big
There are a lot of reasons to travel. Some are with their businesses. Some are trying to figure out about this world. Some may try a sentimental journey. Some are trying to escape from their enemies. There is no wrong reason to travel, but there are motivations. Is your motivation right? It always depends on you and also people who surrounds you. If you have a "right" person who respects you, your travel must be one of the most important experiences on your life.
Originally, this tradition is related to Irish culture, but St. Patrick was not from Ireland.
By the way, what kind of green products do you wear? In the United States, some major league baseball teams wears green caps on their games.
Here is a list for "Green" that you can try on the streets:
Comic Heroes:
There are some comic heroes specialized for Green such as Green Lantern and Green Arrow. Maybe these are not related to St. Patrick, but it's effective as a fun.
Green Beer:
This is a tradition in the world. Especially, in the Irish bar, they provide green beer. The Irish Pubs are maybe crazy from this Saturday to Sunday.
I remember Heinz released "EZ Squirt" years ago. It had some colors. One of the colors is "Green." In fact, EZ Squirt is a tomato ketchup. (Update: EZ Squirt is discontinued in 2006.)
"American Idiot" (2004)
By Green Day
"Green Day" is not related to this St. Patrick day. However, like this song, when many Irish people come across the Atlantic Ocean centuries ago, they were a kind of pioneers. They might have a little similarity with this song.
Now Irish people have big communities in the United States. In 5th Avenue in New York, there is the big parade near the St. Patrick Cathedral. In Chicago, Chicago river becomes green every year.
In 2013, this St. Patrick's Day is on the weekend. Maybe there are lot of crazy guys on the street.
Have you ever heard about "Context?" Context is one of the most important elements when we communicate with people. This also works on the business situations.
"Context" indicates the way of communication between people. People believe American people are openly talk to everyone. However, Japanese people tend not to talk everything, but keep their thought on their mind. People in Europe tend directly to talk and make their original network, but Asian people tend to make a group to stay, act, and follow the own rules in the group.
These are very significant differences when people walk around the world. For many people, they don't stay for a long time. They only face the honeymoon phase. They accept all the happening as the culture gap, enjoy with the new culture, and come back to their daily lives. However, on business, people go to other countries for a long time, this can be a fatal problem. In the worst case, they become a kind of mental illness.
Here is an interesting homepage about "context." You can test yours, and figure out what do you tend to behave.
Here is one more for Jamaican "Jamaican in New York" by Shinehead. Both songs indicate the culture gaps between countries very much.
Personally, I don't believe this kind of knowledge is important before you travel because knowing this makes your impression of the world a little small. However, if you feel something a trouble on your way, possibly, this is one of the solution.
When we go to the world, we see a lot of people with variety of styles. If you are a European, you may have blue, brown or green eyes. If you are African, you may have black eyes. If you are are Asian, you may have black, or dark brown eyes. We felt very exotic for eyes each other because we couldn't change them.
People in the world always were impressive for them, and tried to made some products such
as color contact lens.
However, recently, a California's doctor succeeded to remove the black melanin from the eyes. Check this out!
Many people longed for this "Blue Eye" transform. Maybe, for many Hollywood stars, this is a good news.
According to news sources, recently, backpackers are rich. They tend to stay for a long time at the same place, and join their favorite activities such as surfing, English learning, and so on. One of them is "beauty treatment."According to a little old news sites(2011), the cost is $5,000 each. How many travelers try to get it? Is it expensive for them?
In my view, I don't want anyone to change without the needs. I'm a little old fashioned? or just it's right? However, this is very important, especially, in some countries such as the United States.
"Just the Way You Are" (1977)
By Billy Joel
Spring Break is near. Students can do a lot of things within this term. They can travel across the country, try to make a partner, enjoy surfing, skiing, shopping, training etc. How active these days for your purposes are very important. Plan when you have time, find as soon what you want, and be hot for the days!
When I showed this blog to my friends, they told me, "You should have your avatar." Originally, I don't like to create or upload my avatar and photo. I have ever opened my things online. Also, at first, this was for my friends who traveled last summer. Creating this blog was just for the reason.
People don't know who I am. I thought it's interesting way because I can start at zero position. I was wondering how many people come to my blog. In fact, this is not always big figure, but more than 200 for a months(When London Olympics was opened, this had more than 500 visitors for a month). I'm not sure this is a big figure or not. However, this doesn't have any links, and also this doesn't have any friend's list. I think it's good.
Well, here, a little about me. I'm not an American, and not a native speaker. I'm a male, and my age is much older than common students. I sometimes get near the city, and I use public transportation for this. I'm a college student. My eyes are dark brown, and my hairs are black. I like coffee. I'm 70 inches tall, and 130 pound. What do you imagine my figure?
Do you like fitness? People everyday fit. When they travel, they naturally do it. Last summer, I wrote about this a little. Even backpackers, they want to fit.
When people travel, they hump their backpacks on their shoulder. Their body balances are not always good. This sometimes yields knee problems and back pains. If you are an athlete, you maybe don't have any problems, but if you don't do any sports or daily training, you may suffer a serious condition.
One thing I recommend to do is stretching. You can try on your bed. If you are an early bird, you can try at the beach and park. Before you walk around, this is very important. Even you don't walk around, it works. Stretching is effective for economy class syndrome.
Water is also important for your travel. If you walk around, please bring some water bottles. If you tend not to take water much everyday, please take more care of you. People need more than half a gallon(2 litters) water for a day. More than 60% of our bodies consist of water! If you worry about this, you can use some apps for your reminders. Please check on Google Play, iTunes Store, Windows Store etc.
There are many calendars in the world. One of the most biggest ones is Chinese Calendar. Tomorrow, February 10 is the new year for it.
Chinese Calendar is based on the Lunar Calendar. According to some Internet sites, Islamic calendar, and Nepali's Calendar also based on the moon phases. Therefore, the new year days are different from calendars.
I remember the crescent moon is on some Islam countries' flags. Also the International Red Cross flags in Islam countries are too. We realize how the moon is important for the culture.
Update 2/6: I corrected the spelling of Joao Gilberto. (People can't talk about Bossa Nova without Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim.)
Rio Carnival is one of the world famous fun. However, this event is based on religion. Now this is a travel blog, I depend on the these complicated things on the Internet sites:-)
"The Girl from Ipanema" (1964)
Joao Gilberto & Antonio Carlos Jobim
Rio De Janeiro is one of the biggest cities in Brazil. It has more than 6,000,000 population. It has beautiful beaches such as "Copacabana" and "Ipanema." These beaches are important resources of the tourism. "Cristo Redentor" is the most famous landmark.
"Rio Carnival" is the biggest event of the city. Originally, this parade is from the Catholic "Carnival." However, for the bold and sexual expressions, the Catholic Churches still don't permit it as a religion event. Rio De Janeiro has some "Samba Schools." Every year, they perform and compete at the contests. According to the websites, one group of the parade is with several thousands people. People enjoy all night long for the crazy parade. Rio Carnival in 2013 starts from February 8.
Brazilian music is very fun. If the dynamic music is "samba," today's choices are "static." These music are called "Bossa Nova." Please check both of them, and enjoy your travel days. I believe you can find the both comfortable moments for your time. (If you want to try "Aquarela do Brasil" in Samba, Check this on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aeBq5H3O2I )
Well, here is the information related to Brazil. Please check this.
Like this nightclub fire happens sometimes. Seeing the news, these happens not only in Brazil, but worldwide. Especially in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Thailand, a lot of travelers became the victims. Anyway, for the laws about drinking, crimes, "coming of age" and so on, countries normally limit these nightclubs entrances with ID. Then the exits are originally limited. When you get a busy and jam place, please take care of yourself, and enjoy your travel days.
"Documenting" is interesting. Many people try to show a lot of things online. However, many people confuse about "facts" and "thoughts."
Some for facts & imaginations:
Here is a very boring photo. I think many people don't feel anything for this. However, you can find a lot of facts on this.
You can try to write a sentences like this.
There is near the beach because there are some seagulls. The tide might be low because it has a lagoon. I found the couple. They must be travelers. This is a gulf scene because behind the waterfront is a land, or maybe this is a lake photo. The water is calm, and some sailboats are on the water. I looked for the birds on the illustrated book, and I saw some of them are albatrosses.
Well, it's a scene with my imagination, but which are the facts? which are my imaginations?
There is near the beach because there are some seagulls. The tide might be low because it has a lagoon. I found the couple. They must be travelers. This is a gulf scene becausebehind the waterfront is a land, or maybe this is a lake photo.The water is calm, and some sailboats are on the water. I looked for the birds on the illustrated book, and I saw some of them are albatrosses.
: Facts : Imaginations
In documenting, the combination of fact and imagination is very important. Before you travel, you imagine a lot of things for the destinations and attractions(Imagination), but when you reach there, you find they have only some small glossary marts, a small inn, and a dirty beach(Fact).
"Documenting" is with the same way of "Academic Writing." I took some English language classes in a community college in California. Their instruction is completely wrong because their instruction is with the Imagination parts. If their instruction is correct, people can say everything as they want. It's the wrong way for documenting.
If you take English writing, or documentary classes in your place, please take with a good teacher. It absolutely makes your sense either better or bad.
Here is a very famous "imagination" song in the world.
"Imagine" (1971)
by John Lennon
Please listen to the song carefully. This song has both facts and imaginations at once. If he sang for the purpose of informing the world situations, he told the facts. If he sang for the purpose of inspiring people, he told his imagination.
How was your winter vacation? After we travel to the world, we have a lot of memories and things from the travel. How to keep the memories are very different from each person. Some people don't like to keep these items. Therefore, they don't bring back anything for it. Some people like to have a lot of items. However, they keep too much. How much things did you bring back from your travel?
Now the time is great. Many people use their smartphone to keep everything. You may just have a memory card for the travel. However, when you open your memory card, it's totally mess, right? I tell you some solutions here.
CASE 1: IF YOU JUST WANT TO KEEP AND SHARE
Rearrange and share on the Internet
This is the simplest way to keep your memory. Some photo albums on the Internet such as Picasa, fliker, Instagram, and Tumblr are very popular to sharing these memories. With some comments, store the images for a long time. On some web storages such as SkyDrive, you can store and share images too. You can enjoy slide shows with them.
Print Photos Through Online
You also can order paper print photos through some web storages such as Snapfish, Picasa, fliker etc. You can receive your favorite photos near your supermarkets and drug stores. If you directly use some drugstores' websites, you can choose the option directly to send by mail to your home.
Through into Dropbox
If you just want to share and you don't want to do anything, you can just through into your Dropbox, and share with your friends.
CASE 2: IF YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH SENTENCES
Make your albums with your travel journals
You can write a lot of things like a travel writer online, and share. You can use blogs and homepage for this. Put your favorite photos, and some comments that you thought important for the places or objects. You can create "physical" albums if you have accounts online services such as Snapfish.
CASE 3: DVD MAKING
DVD making is complicated? No, it's very simple now. Both Windows, and Mac has tools like Windows Movie Maker, and iMovie.
Preparations:
Image files(photo, video, audio etc.), your travel journal, your travel stuff, and smartphone(or, camcorder).
Order all things: There are some simple ways to order all materials.
1. Chronological Order
"Chronological Order" is one of the simplest way to indicate your travel. Follow with your schedule, order the materials. If you find the important moments on your materials, put some notes on them.
2. Follow Your Motivations
If you don't like thinking about Chronological Order, you can think about your motivations instead of it. You can pick the most important moments(such as the best, worst, and funny scenes), and collect images and topics related to the moments.
3. Watcher's Interests
This is a little difficult. If personally you don't want to keep the images, you never fail to have some watchers. Think about your watchers, decide which topics and scenes are more important on your DVD.
If you are an advanced editor, you can mix all of them, and create your video comfortably. I don't write how to use the software here, but you can find a lot of information on Youtube.
Softwares:
There are a lot of video making software in the world.
"Documenting" is not difficult like the film and television programs. You can try anytime you want in your life. You can discuss what you think for things on the Internet. It's maybe a good chance to indicate your talents to people
Here is the professional documentary work for free on Youtube.
"Life In A Day" (2011)
This "LIFE IN A DAY"is an interesting documentary film by famous film makers, Kevin Macdonald, and Ridley Scott. This documentary is based on the video posts from the world. This is the day of the world. If you have a lot of travel friends, you may ask to send some videos. You may can do similar things with travel friends for a day in the world.
Last week, I posted about "Documenting." It's not a serious thing because you are not a broadcasting stations' directors. However, there are some points that you have to understand.
1. Take the Landmarks and Attractions
Maybe you walk around the cities. They normally have famous attractions and scenic places. Attractions are also good. For example, if you visit Seattle, Pike Place Market is one of the famous landmark. The top of the Space Needle is the wonderful place to see around the Seattle.
2. Record Your and Your Friend's Motivations
To record your motivation is one of the most important things. If you get a place, you have expectations or predictions for it. Before your trip, what you think about it? After the trip, what you think about it? Is your expectation is right, or wrong? How your impression change after you visit? Does your friend have the same thoughts?
3. Don't Hesitate to Take Images
This "images" includes not only videos, but also photographs and audios too. If you find anything special for you, and favorite things, take them. They are very nice to track your interests in the future.
(Notice: There are some places that you can't take images such as military basements, airports, some kinds of museums, and so on. In these places, when you take images, immediately, they confiscate your cameras in the worst case. Please follow their directions, and be yourself safe.)
Also, you can write your travel journals. Travel Journals sometimes compliments above the information. It's a good way to do it.
After you travel, you can use your computer to edit all the materials at once. The most interesting process is to make a video. You remember the memories in the future whenever you watch the videos.
"Travels change our values, and the world." This is the very fundamental influence from the world. If you are still on your holiday travel, did you find any good change on you? If you don't, it's not a strange thing. "If you don't feel any change, it's your change with the travel."
"Waiting On The World To Change"
by John Mayer (2006)
This "2013" has begun. Everyone thinks about something a change for own live. Well, will this year be better than before? It depends on you. What you can start and be positive are related to your achievements on this year.
If any chance to change, travel is one of them. Travel is not only to walk in the world, but also it's next on your daily lives. Today, after five, please stop a cafe or shop that you have ever been. It may have a surprise for you, and change your life forever.
