International Travel Tips

Seeing the United States can be fairly easy, but when traveling out of the country having some international travel tips can be the difference between soaking up the sun and sitting in interrogation rooms. Although there are certain things to be aware of in any country you visit, airline travel tips are also very important in our post 9/11 world.

Traveling within your own country is usually pretty simply, but when going abroad, a few international travel tips can help make your vacation much smoother. Even though every place you visit has its own unique quirks, a few travel tips, especially airline travel tips, ensure you aren't hassled unnecessarily.

While traveling can be a very rewarding experience, traveling can also become very tedious and stressful if you are not well prepared. However, these international travel tips and airline travel tips should help make your next international vacation go off without a hitch.

The best place to find airline travel tips is on the airline's website. The website will inform you of the airline's policies on beverages and other items that may be prohibited from taking aboard planes. Another airline travel tip that everyone should know about is that baggage handlers are not gentle with anyone's luggage, regardless if it is packed full of precious, fragile souvenirs or not. If you have anything you want to remain intact, it needs to be included in your carry-on luggage. Also, to speed the process getting through security checks, you will have to empty your pockets and make sure you don't have any metal on you, so pay attention to your wardrobe before you set off to the airport.

While there may still be an exception, most countries require you to have a passport before entering. You should have some photocopies of your passport with you, and also leave copies with friends and family members at home in case you get separated from your belongings. This is one international travel tip that should be part of everyone's traveling plan. If you are in a foreign country with no ID, an airline ticket won't do you much good, and neither will travelers checks. Although it is not frequent, people do occasionally get separated from their belongings while traveling. Having a backup plan will ensure that your international vacation doesn't turn into a nightmare.

One great resource for international travel tips is the Lonely Planet series. Lonely Planet has a detailed guidebook for just about every destination you can imagine. For example, if you wanted some travel tips for Italy, the Lonely Planet book on Italy would give you detailed information about each town, neighboring tourist attractions, places to stay and places to eat. Although the Lonely Planet book that offers travel tips for Italy doesn't cover each and every hole in the wall restaurant, it gives you a good idea what there is do in each town, popular destinations and day trips, as well as painting an overall picture of the atmosphere you'll encounter there. The Lonely Planet books also include city maps and are updated often enough to keep them accurate.

For international travel tips specific to your journey, check out the Lonely Planet series. Lonely Planet is a collection of guidebooks that give a detailed look at nearly every country you can think of. They even have some books that are focused on particular regions of countries. Say you were going to Rome and needed some travel tips for Italy, there would definitely be a Lonely Planet book for Italy, but there may also be a separate book for southern Italy, or even Rome, since it is such a huge attraction. The Lonely Planet books are all encompassing and provide lists of restaurants, motels, attractions, and possible day trips, which are usually organized by price range. Lonely Planet books give detailed information on transportation as well. Whether you need travel tips for Italy or anywhere else, Lonely Planet books are an excellent resource.

If you know where you want to go, one of the best sources for international travel tips is the Lonely Planet books. These books give an objective viewpoint of attractions in various countries and regions around the world. These books tell you about fun activities and gorgeous scenery, but they do not hype up locations. They simply let you know what to expect, and in some cases, will even include hotel and restaurant owners' names. For example, if you needed some travel tips for Italy, you could look in the Lonely Planet book for Italy and get an overview of each town. It would tell you what the attractions are, a brief history, as well as places to stay and eat. In addition to travel tips for Italy, this book could help you set a very accurate budget for your vacation.

No matter what destination has peaked your interest, gathering some general international travel tips, as well as information about your destination, will make your vacation much more enjoyable.

Regardless of where your next vacation takes you, finding out as much about your destination and gathering as many international travel tips as possible will keep you from getting stressed out.

Wherever you're going on your next vacation, these international travel tips should help immensely. However, learning as much as possible about your destination will help you enjoy your vacation instead of being faced with surprises.

David Odell is the owner of:
Travel - Know How Pages

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Unique Wedding Venues - Wet, Wild & Wacky

Want to get married in a unique wedding location that is as unique as the two of you? Forget the same-ol'-same-'ol venue and go for something wet, wild or wacky.

Wet

You have many choices when it comes to water weddings. You can have a submarine wedding in Hawaii, a snorkeling wedding in the Caribbean, or a wedding on a tall ship in Chicago. Or, you can push the envelope just a little bit further and go for something truly unique - a wedding in the world’s only underwater hotel.

The Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida is truly underwater, with guests having to scuba dive 21 feet beneath the surface of the sea and enter through an opening in the bottom of the lodge. Wedding ceremonies are held inside the lodge, which consists of a wet room entrance area, two bedrooms and a common room, which is a combination kitchen, dining and living room area. Imagine having your honeymoon underwater, snuggled in your bed while watching the fish pass by your window.

Your wedding ceremony is conducted by a notary public, who dives down for the service, followed by a toast and the cutting of the cake, which, yes, has remained dry. For dinner you are offered a caviar appetizer and choice of two entrees, either lobster or steak and a hearts of palm salad and dessert. Your meal is prepared by a chef who scuba dives to the lodge. The chef will also scuba dive to the lodge the following morning and prepare breakfast. The Jules’ Undersea Lodge wedding is perfect for those who wish to elope to an unusual location.

The cost for the Jules’ Undersea Lodge is $1,495 plus tax. If you have any extra guests attending the wedding you will be charged an additional $60 per guest. Call (305) 451-2353 for more information.

Wild

What could be more wild than a shotgun wedding or a wedding at a haunted hotel?

With a wedding and honeymoon in Oatman, Arizona, you get both. Where's Oatman, you ask? It's an historic ghost town 20 miles southeast of Laughlin, Nevada, formerly a thriving mining town during the gold rush. Oatman today is a tourist town with daily wild west shootouts and shotgun weddings. Oatman is also where you'll find the Oatman Hotel, where, in 1939, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their wedding night.

It's said the Oatman Hotel is haunted by numerous spirits, including, some say, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, a former chambermaid and an Irish miner who once lived there. It's said staff and guests of the hotel have heard the spirits of Gable and Lombard laughing from their honeymoon room. There are also reports of the sound of bagpipes coming from the room of the Irish miner, whose spirit is referred to as "Oatie"

For information regarding shotgun weddings, you can call 928-768-8063 or 928-768-3839. For reservations to The Oatman Hotel you can call 928-768-4408.

Another wedding venue which many consider haunted is Thayer's Historic Bed and Breakfast in Annandale, Minnesota, which is owned by a psychic, Sharon Gammell. Thayer's specializes in interactive mystery dinners, ghost huntings, psychic readings and small weddings, which, if you choose, can be officiated by Gammell. Built in 1895, Thayer's Historic Bed and Breakfast is said to be the home of several ghosts, including the original owners, Caroline and Gus Thayer and some of their friends. And, for you cat lovers, Thayer's is also the home of three resident ghost cats (as well as some living cats).

Annandale is just a little over an hour's drive from the Twin Cities International Airport. For more information call 800-944-6595.


Wacky

For one of the wackiest wedding experiences, try Star Trek the Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton, where you can have your ceremony on the Bridge of the USS Enterprise 1701-D. You minister will perform your wedding ceremony dressed in Starfleet outfits while intergalactic wedding music plays in the background. Depending on the Wedding package you choose, you can have your choice of one to three Star Trek characters present at your wedding: Klingon, Ferengi or BORG.

You can also choose to have your wedding reception inside Quark's Bar or the Captain's Lounge, depending on the size of your wedding party. You can have your choice of different reception menus, but I'd definitely go for the Romulan Warbird, which is a marinated chicken breast served with wild rice pilaf and seasonal vegetables. Wedding cakes come with the Star Trek logo on them.

Hopefully some of the above wedding ideas will either appeal to you, or get you thinking about other creative and unique ways to celebrate your wedding. Maybe wet, wild and wacky weddings aren't your thing. Maybe eloping to Hawaii or Las Vegas is what you want. Whatever you decide to do, make it special.

Visit planning a wedding website to learn about such things as wedding favor keepsakes.

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