midlifejourney.com

Author: 104inc.com

While you’re unlikely to get an all-expenses-paid trip unless you win a game show, you can still get portions your trip for free if you book certain promotions or take advantage of some alternative modes of travel. Here are my picks for top limited-time and long-term “free” travel deals worth checking out.

1. Kids Fly Free to French Polynesia

Never considered French Polynesia for family vacation? Maybe Air Tahiti Nui’s kids-fly-free deal will persuade you. When you book two adult Air Tahiti Nui fares from Los Angeles to French Polynesia from January 12 to May 31, 2009, you’ll get two free fares for kids ages 11 or younger. The deal is valid for flights to Papeete, Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, Bora Bora, Rangiroa, Manihi, Tikehau, and Fakarava. Adult fares start at $1,428, including all taxes. You’ll still be responsible for paying taxes on the free children’s fares.

2. Organize a Group Tour, Travel for Free

If you organize a group of people to book a package tour together, many tour companies will allow you, the group leader, to travel for free. You can choose to accept the freebie or spread some savings out to everyone in your group. Either way, it’s a good deal. Each tour operator’s group tour policy varies a bit, but most require you to put together a group with at least 10 paying individuals before you’ll get a free spot.

For example, Grand Circle Tours, a company that runs trips geared towards mature travelers on six continents, lets a group leader travel for free with 10 paid travelers on river cruises or 16 paid travelers on land tours. Go Ahead Tours, a similar operator, gives two free spots for every group of 12 or more paying guests. Be sure to ask your tour company if they offer similar deals.

3. Pay for Three Nights, Get Seven at Club Med

Club Med’s recurring “Seven-Day Weekend” package is back, promising seven nights for the price of three at eight of its all-inclusive resorts. The deal is valid at family-friendly Club Meds in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Cancun and Ixtapa, Mexico; Sandpiper, Fla.; Caravelle, Guadeloupe; and Buccaneer’s Creek, Martinique; as well as adult-only Clubs Meds on Columbus Isle, Bahamas, and on Turks and Caicos. You must book by December 15 and travel by February 13 to take advantage of the promotion. Seven-Day Weekend prices range from $793 per person (normally $1,190) at the Sandpiper, Florida Club Med to $1,065 per person (normally $1,610) at the Buccaneer’s Creek, Martinque Club Med.

4. Free Weekend Rental Days From Hertz

Hertz knows the only the thing better than a weekend away is a three-day weekend away. The company makes it easier for renters to take longer weekend trips by offering the first day free when you rent a car for three or more weekend days, including a Saturday overnight. The deal applies to economy- through premium-class cars rented through March 31, 2009, in the U.S. and Canada, excluding Hawaii

5. Kids-Fly-and-Ski-Free Packages

For the past several winters, United and American Airlines have partnered with popular Western ski resorts to offer kids-fly-and-ski-free vacation packages. Generally, these promotions allow children 12 and under to fly and ski for free when an adult pays for an air-hotel-ski package at a participating resort. While not all fly-and-ski-free promotions have been announced yet for the 2008-2009 ski season, Steamboat Ski Resort in Colorado is already advertising its package, which requires a two-night minimum stay at a ResortQuest Steamboat vacation rental. Valid travel dates and blackout periods apply. Be sure to check the American Vacations and United Vacations websites in the days to come to see if other resorts join the promotion.

6. Swap Homes, Stay Free

Why not swap your apartment in New York for a cottage in the English countryside? Or maybe my Utah ski condo for your second home in Costa Rica?

By participating in a home exchange, you can get free use of another person’s house if you’re willing to let them stay in yours. It’s a common practice for a certain segment of travelers who prefer staying in vacation homes over hotels and are a bit flexible with where and when they travel. Essentially, two home owners in different places agree to switch places for vacation, using one another’s homes for no charge. Home exchange websites make it easy to find and make arrangements with other home owners, with the website usually charging a membership fee in order for you to make contact with potential exchange partners. HomeExchange.com is one of the largest of such sites, including more than 24,000 listings in destinations across the globe. A one-year membership costs $100.

7. Free Universal Orlando Theme Park Passes

This coming fall and winter, Universal Orlando is giving kids ages 3 to 9 free Unlimited Admission theme park passes when parents book four or more nights at a participating hotel and buy adult Unlimited Admission tickets. Unlimited Admission passes grant the holder seven days of access to both Universal parks, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Passes cost $95 each for both kids and adults, so the free child’s ticket is a big savings.

To get the free passes, you must book a stay of four or more nights at one of six local hotels, including the onsite Loews Royal Pacific Resort. Valid travel dates and blackout periods vary by hotel, but all require bookings to be made by the end of December.

8. Free Airfare for Crystal Cruises Panama Canal Sailings

When you book one of three Crystal Cruises’ Panama Canal sailings, you’ll receive free airfare between Los Angeles and Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, or Palm Beach, Fla. The cruises, which range from 14 to 16 days, sail between Miami and Los Angeles, so Crystal is essentially promising a free flight home from the final port. Departures include January 6, February 16, and May 7, 2009. Cruise fares start at $3,595 per person, not including taxes and fees.

9. Skip the Hostel, Couch Surf for Free

For young budget travelers, sometimes hostels just aren’t cheap enough. In that case, why not crash for free with one of the nearly 800,000 members of the Couch Surfing Project, a worldwide network that helps travelers link up with hosts offering free accommodations. The mission of the network is to promote cultural exchange through free hosted overnight stays. Travelers can find and request stays with potential hosts on the CouchSurfing website. Hosts offer a free place to sleep and oftentimes show guests around or share advice on places to visit nearby. As a member, you can request places to stay and host guests as you please. The site has some checks in place to help ensure the safety and trustworthiness of hosts and surfers.

10. Free Meals and Attractions for Kids in Hawaii

Families staying at ResortQuest Hawaii hotels can take advantage of free meals and free attractions admissions for kids year round. There are 26 participating hotels and condo resorts located on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island.

Upon checking into a ResortQuest property, children ages 12 and under receive a special ID card good for the length of your stay. With the ID, kids get free meals and admissions at dozens of island restaurants and attractions when accompanied by a paying adult. For example, on Oahu, kids get in free to the Polynesian Cultural Center and Honolulu Zoo with an adult admission. On Maui, children eat free with the purchase of an adult entree at the Kobe Japanese Steakhouse and the Beach Club Restaurant.

About the Author:

Our story at 104Inc is simple: We like to help others. Imagine a team that consists of family and friends who all have the same passion in life. Imagine a group of individuals who sacrifice so much everyday in-order to attain their goal and one day live their dream. Now, imagine the amount of effort, motivation and discipline it takes for ordinary people like us having a burning desire to accomplish something extraordinary. Here at http://www.104Inc.com, we have the opportunity to do all of that. We have, the aspiration, the zeal and the motivation to help others in areas where they are less fortunate, including our own family and friends.

It’s Simple. It’s 104Inc Approved.

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Author: Sarah Avery

Have you recently decided that you would like to take a trip to Kauai? If you have, you can rest assure knowing that you will have a great vacation. Kauai is a Hawaiian Island that is not only known for its beauty and its great vacation activities, but Kauai is also known for its beautiful vacation rentals.

If you are interested in booking a stay at a Kauai vacation rental, but if you are also concerned with price, you may take comfort in knowing that many Kauai vacation rentals are affordable. Yes, you will likely find a number of vacation rentals that are out of your price range, but the good news is that it is relatively easy to go about finding and booking a stay at an affordable vacation rental. To help you do so, five helpful tips are outlined below.

1 – Know What You Can Afford

Knowing what you can afford is a great way to find an affordable Kauai vacation rental. What you can afford or what you would like to spend on a vacation rental is important. This is because not everyone has the same views concerning affordability. What you may consider to be an affordable Kauai vacation home may be too expensive for other vacationers. That is why your first step should involve creating a budget for yourself.

When creating a budget for your next Kauai vacation, it is important to examine your other travel arrangements, including your airline reservations and car rental reservations. How much you would like to spend on entertainment should also be a factor, as it will have an impact on the overall cost of your next trip to Kauai.

2 – Use the Internet to Research Kauai Vacation Rentals

When it comes to making your Kauai travel arrangements, you have a number of different options. Many vacationers use the assistance of travel agents, others book their vacation rentals directly through the property owners, and others use the assistance of online travel websites. If you are looking for a quality, yet affordable Kauai vacation rental, you will want to examine online travel websites, namely those that deal specifically with Hawaii vacations and Hawaii vacation rentals.

3 – When Using Online Travel Websites, Search By Price

As previously stated, you can benefit from examining and booking Kauai vacation rentals through online travel websites. Not only are most easy to use, but they are convenient and time saving. When using an online travel website, you should be able to perform a vacation rental search based on a number of factors. Two factors that you will want to focus on include location, which would be Kauai, and your price range, which was touched on above.

When performing a customized search on an online travel website, your Kauai vacation rental results should only include rentals that are located on the great island of Kauai, as well as those that are within your budget. This approach can save you time, as you are able to automatically eliminate vacation rentals that you are unable to afford.

4 – Take All Extra Fees into Consideration

When examining Kauai vacation rentals online, you will find a wealth of information. Most reputable online travel websites will provide you with location, rental fees, features, and much more, including any additional fees. These additional fees are important, as they will have an impact on the overall cost of your Kauai vacation rental and its affordability. Most commonly, you will find a cleaning fee. This fee will likely vary depending on the size of the vacation rental in question.

In addition to additional fees, it is also important to examine security deposits. Most vacation rental property owners do charge security deposits. Although your security deposit will likely be returned to you in full, you should still include this security deposit in with the overall cost of your Kauai vacation.

5 – Be Sure to Examine All of Your Options

Examining all of your options, in terms of Kauai vacation rental types, is another great way to go about finding an affordable Kauai vacation rental for your next trip. What you need to remember is that vacation rentals come in a number of different formats, including Kauai vacation homes, vacation condos, vacation cottages, vacation apartment rentals, and vacation villas. Some of these rental properties are more expensive than others.

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About the Author: Hawaiian Beach Rentals can help you when you are ready to make your Kauai travel plans. They have a large selection of affordable Kauai vacation rentals for you to choose from.

The Developing World’s Top 10 Ethical Destinations
Author: Car Guru

Ethical travel is a bit of a buzzword these days with websites, blogs, books and numerous other communication forms giving advice on how to travel ethically, as well as specialised companies dedicated to selling ethical holidays. It’s no surprise then that website www.ethicaltraveler.org have created a list of the developing world’s 10 best ethical destinations. They describe ethical travel as “mindful travel: an awareness of our impact as we explore the world”. The list is based on countries with good environmental protection, social welfare and human rights. Ethical Traveller hopes that this list will help travellers choose destinations where their holiday dollars will be used to support human rights and the environment.

Top 10 Best Ethical Destinations

• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Bulgaria
• Chile
• Costa Rica
• Croatia
• Estonia
• Namibia
• Nicaragua
• South Africa

This list, and a general shift in opinion regarding ethics and travel, reflects the rising number of savvy travellers out there who are aware and concerned about where their holiday money is going. I personally have never really considered ethics when travelling. I certainly don’t plan to travel unethically , but at the same time, haven’t made any conscious decision to spend my money where it might be used to improve the local environment or help local people. It’s just not something I have considered before. Am I the only one? Are we really concerned with ethics when choosing holiday destinations? Is it something you consider when planning a holiday? Are we willing to spend more to be more ethical?

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About the Author:
Car Guru writes for DriveAway Holidays , DriveAway Holidays New Zealand and DriveAway Holidays Blog

We all need time off.

Time on, actually—when you can pause and reflect on life, what really matters, read those books that have been piling up next to your bed… practice that golf game one more round, write letters to friends… See something new.

Our lives are too crushed and crowded as it is… perhaps the best Time Off is the time unscheduled. Without agenda.

Interesting… being a Bostonian at heart, I carry the burden of puritan guilt passed on to me by those first intrepid settlers in Plymouth, Mass. Relaxation is the playground of the devil, and taking time off—away from the chores and responsibilities of life is asking for trouble. So I compromise. I take the time off… but schedule a variety of worthwhile tasks to accomplish. Whether it is places to visit, or books to read, I make a list and promise myself that I will check each event off as it is achieved. Even my time off is tightly wound.

I think I need a vacation from my time off... either that or move to Los Angeles where the days are long and sunny, and things just get done in their own time. Sounds quite lovely, actually….

Seventeen years ago I bought a one week time-share in a small hotel on Cape Cod for $3,000, which was a lot of money for me at the time. Some have told me it was a bad idea. And for some people—especially if you are a teacher or have kids—it is a bad idea. You are always competing for vacation weeks that everyone else wants. For those people, a time share only works if you use it yourself.

I bought my time-share to use only as a trade-in. I never stay at it myself, but I bank my one week a year with RCI, a time-share exchange company. Yes, I have to pay RCI a membership fee each year, and an exchange fee when I actually confirm a trade, and there is the yearly maintenance fee on the one week time-share itself… But even with all that, I have done very well. All those yearly fees adding up together are still under $500. — a lot less than I would pay out of pocket for a week’s vacation at some of the fabulous locations I have visited, i.e., Sedona, AZ, Hawaii, Orlando, FL, Glacier National Park, MN, and the Berkshires of Massachusetts.

It takes long term planning for some locations and the competition for the most popular weeks is fierce. I have the lowest level of time-share: blue time/floating, which means I have very little leverage, unless I do plan far ahead. For me, this is not a problem, in fact, it gives me something to look forward to.

Bottom line: If you have flexibility as to when you can take a vacation, and you don’t mind planning far ahead, a time-share can bring heaven to your door. Otherwise, it can be a nightmare.