Happy Holidays from AffordableTours.com! Our Gift To You: Week of Holiday Savings is still going on until December 22nd. Get your last-minute shopping done right here with us for the perfect stocking stuffer deals! Shop now
HAWAII: The perfect spot to tie the knot, Honeymoon, Anniversary or Stay and Play
By: Sandra B. Wilkins
Senior Agent, Affordabletours.com
Legend has it that each of the islands of Hawaii is a child of the gods. Formed by volcanic eruptions eons ago, the oldest island, geologically speaking is Kauai, also my personal favorite.Continue reading
THE EDUCATED TRAVELER: Foreign Travel Advice From An Expert
By: Sandra B. Wilkins, M.A
Senior Agent, Affordabletours.com
[email protected]
“I don’t know where the shame of being a tourist comes from. I’ve heard many friends in full touristic swing say that they don’t want to mix with tourists, not realizing that even though they don’t mix with them, they are just as much tourists as the others. When I visit a place and haven’t enough time to get to know it more than superficially, I unashamedly assume my role as tourist. I like to join those lightning tours in which the guides explain everything you see out of the window—‘On your right and left, ladies and gentlemen…’ one of the reasons being that then I know once and for all everything I needn’t bother to see when I go out later to explore the place on my own.”
—Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I confess my pet peeve when traveling out of the United States is hearing many times over “well, they don’t do it like this at home!” Certainly not, my dear sir from Des Moines, if you want life the same as it is at home, by all means stay there, and stop wearing those dumb Bermuda shorts with tacky black knee socks and brown sandals. In fact, go home, you’re spoiling my enjoyment of the delicious differentness of it all.
Foreign travel, while often taxing and frequently difficult, has brought me the most wonderful pleasures. It has expanded my sensibility, made me humble, reduced my self-centeredness, and taught me I always have a lot to learn. What can be more civilized than cooking like the French, savoring theatre like the English, emulating the manners of the Spanish, admiring art and architecture like the Italians, taking great joy in small things like the Mexicans, meditating like Tibetans, and generally acquiring beautiful new layers of sensibility with each new culture we experience? To my thinking, nothing is more rewarding.
Get Ready for Floriade 2012!
There are events that occur annually that you might really enjoy every now and then and there are events that occur every couple of years that you may make a point to attend. Then, there are certain events that happen every, say, 10 years that are just simply amazing. The Floriade is exactly that. This international celebration of horticulture and nature is an amazing experience that happens once every decade. I guarantee you will want to be in Venlo from April 5th to October 7th.
Now Open! 2012 Globus Vacations Are On Sale!
For all of the Globus Tours aficionados out there, Globus 2012 Vacations are here! And not only that, we have access to great deals just for you. Visit our Globus 2012 sale page and you can save on 2012 trips to Europe with Italy & Spain, USA & Canada, Asia, Africa and the Exotics!