Destinations | Hole In The Donut Cultural Travel

Travel Tidbits Worth Passing On

Published November 18, 2010 | By Barbara Weibel

Just a short break from my wanderings around Asia to let you know about a little travel news worth passing on.

The Vacation Gals recently asked my opinion for the best tropical winter vacation destination and of course I couldn’t resist blathering on about Mexico, specifically Merida in the northeast corner of the Yucatan. Also making the list were Crete, Sicily, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Peru, suggested by some of the top travel experts in the world. If you’re dreaming of warm climates as winter approaches, it’s worth a few minutes to check out this article , which was deemed worthy enough to be picked up by USA Today.

HostelBookers - my preferred hostel booking site

HostelBookers.com, my preferred booking site for hostels all over the world, is currently running an Australian Road Trip competition where someone can win an Oz Experience bus pass. As the folks at HostelBookers say, Australia is a vast country and you would be forgiven for hopping on a plane to reach your destination. But if, like me, you love a road trip, Australia won’t disappoint! This vast and exciting country has a fantastic coastline that offers unrivaled surfing and geological wonders such as the Great Barrier Reef, the 12 Apostles and the Whitsunday Islands. And along the way you’ll find no lack of reasonably priced accommodations such as Syndey backpackers and Melbourne backpackers. For your chance to win, tell HostelBookers about your favorite road trip in the comments section at the bottom of this page. Entries must be under 100 words and the deadline is 5 p.m. on Monday, December 20, 2010. Three runners-up will win a copy of Rough Guides Ultimate Adventures and the winner can choose one of the following bus passes: 1) Matey Pass, Sydney to Melbourne, worth €397 (approximately $632 USD*), 2) Surf Pass, Sydney to Brisbane or Byron Bay, worth €325 (approximately $518 USD*), or 3) Victa Pass, Melbourne to Adelaide, worth €385 (approximately $613 USD*).

*All U.S. currency conversions based on rates as of 11/18/10.

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Tagged contestss, destinations, HostelBookers.com, TheVacationGals.com, tips, Travel, tropical, vacation, winter |

5 Comments

Your Next Perfect Trip Could Be Waiting At Ruba.com

Published September 17, 2009 | By Barbara Weibel

You want to take a vacation and you’re looking for inspiration. Or maybe you know generally where you want to go, but you need guidance on the best things to see and do when you get there.

The newest travel site in town, Ruba.com, is a visual guide and tour review site that helps travelers discover their next perfect trip. Need to know the most spectacular ruins in Rome? The best beaches in Thailand? Looking for a boutique hotel in Egypt? Or the best way travel to Dublin with kids? You can find it all at Ruba. Unlike many other travel sites where you consume reviews of individual hotels, restaurants, and sights, and THEN have to put it all together into a travel itinerary, on Ruba you can explore comprehensive photo-filled guides written by Ruba experts, fellow travelers, and tour companies anxious to share their experience and knowledge about specific destinations across the globe.

On the other hand, if you’re an expert on a particular city, country, or activity, you may want to create a an expert guide to share with others. Ruba makes that process a breeze, right down to providing pictures (of course, you can use your own photos, if you prefer). To see how simple it is, watch the brief video below, then cruise over to Ruba and start planning your next vacation.

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Tagged destinations, guides, Ruba.com, tours, Travel, vacations, videos |

13 Comments

American Airlines Puts Beaches On Sale

Published June 10, 2009 | By Barbara Weibel

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American Airlines has just announced a sale on beaches! Purchase tickets by June 16, 2009 for outbound travel through October 29, 2009. Travel must be complete by October 31, 2009. The following are just a small example of the sale prices:

Miami to/from Nassau, Bahamas Starting at $49*
Miami to/from Freeport, Bahamas Starting at $59*
Dallas/Ft. Worth to/from Cancun, Mexico Starting at $67*
Boston to/from Cozumel, Mexico Starting at $74*
Miami to/from Oranjestad, Aruba Starting at $129*
Boston to/from Los Cabos, Mexico Starting at $150*
Miami to/from Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Starting at $157*
Miami to/from St. Maarten Starting at $179*
New York to/from St. Kitts Starting at $192*

This is a limited time offer, and the low prices quoted above will likely rise or disappear as available seats are snapped up, so if you’re up for an exotic beach vacation, take advantage of this American Airlines special offer as soon as possible.

* Fares are each way, based on round-trip Economy class purchase. Reservations are required. Tickets must be purchased on AA.com within 1 day of making reservations or by 11:59 p.m. Central Time on June 16, 2009, whichever comes first. Sale fares are valid Monday through Thursday; other days are subject to higher fares. A 2-night minimum stay is required, and a 30-day maximum stay is allowed.

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Southwest Begins Service To New York LaGuardia And Boston Logan #traveltuesday

Published April 21, 2009 | By Barbara Weibel

At a time when fewer people are flying and airlines are struggling, Southwest recently announced they will begin service to two new destinations. Flights to New York’s LaGuardia will begin on June 28th and Boston’s Logan International’s service will start on August 16th.

To promote the new routes, Southwest is offering excellent fares. I checked on Tampa Bay to LaGuardia (my preferred airport when flying into NYC) for the dates of August 18-25 and came up with a round-trip “Wanna Get Away” fare of $257.40, inclusive of all airport fees and taxes. Not bad, considering summer is high season for NY. From Chicago to LaGuardia for the same dates the fare is $239.20. Both examples were for early morning schedules rather than some middle-of-the-night red eye flight, and while the Tampa to LaGuardia example required a change in Baltimore, the Chicago flight was non-stop.

Flights to Boston Logan were equally affordable. From Tampa the fare for a round-trip afternoon flight was $200.40 with a stop in Baltimore, and $249.80 from Chicago.

Southwest’s expansion into these two markets is intriguing. Their successful business model has historically focused on serving alternative airports rather than the major metropolitan airports. For example, prior to this recent Continue reading →

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Posted in Travel industry news |

Tagged airfares, airports, Boston Logan International, destinations, flights, new routes, New York LaGuardia, price wars, Southwest Airlines, Travel |

2 Comments

Putting My Lifetime Travel Wish List Down On Paper

Published November 18, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

The more I travel, the more I want to travel – it’s an addiction of sorts, but a good one, I think. Over the past few years I’ve been able to “check off” a whole bunch of destinations that I was determined to see before I died, but there are still so many places I want to go. I decided that I needed to make a list of the places I’d been and the places I still want to visit (newly updated as of January, 2012):

WHERE I’VE BEEN:

Australia
Botswana
British Virgin Islands
Cambodia
Canada (British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan)
Cayman Islands
China
Costa Rica
Curacao
Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands
England
Gibraltar
Honduras
Hong Kong
India (Mumbai, Ajanta, Goa, Madhya Pradesh)
Indonesia (Bali)
Italy
Jamaica
Laos
Malaysia
Mexico
Morocco
Nepal
New Zealand
Peru (including Machu Picchu)
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Scotland
Singapore
South Africa
Spain
Switzerland
Tanzania/Zanzibar
Thailand
The Vatican
United States (all around the country, with the exception of Alaska, Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Alabama, Mississippi, and Rhode Island)
U.S. Virgin Islands
Vietnam
Zambia
Zimbabwe