The world around us

In my last post I wrote about how US travelers are continuing to travel overseas despite the weakening of the dollar, passport restrictions and increased airport security. The fact is that when there are places such as Italy to go to, one just goes and doesn’t bother about anything else. If one plans in advance and plans well, then it is still possible to get a great vacation without having to pay too much extra. It still is possible to get hotels in Italy for a reasonable price, and that too a nice charming hotel, maybe even with a view of the Colosseum or the Sistine Chapel.

No trip to Italy is complete without a visit to the Trevi Fountain and even though the area is thronged with tourists, one must go there and drop a few coins. While most hotels in Rome offer a lot of historical and cultural environment, if you book in advance you might just be able to get a fantastic deal. Venice is another great destination and Venice hotels are known to be super expensive, but I have known people who have managed to get a great hotel on one of the canals and with a view of the famed Fenice, for quite a steal. Venice is a city for couples, so make sure you have your loved one with you when you visit, and you must go for a cruise on a gondola, of course.

Americans are keen travelers, but only a small percentage of Americans travel overseas, much less than other nationalities, even lower than their northern neighbor Canada. Lately, the weaker dollar has been severely affecting overseas travel plans for Americans along with intense travel security restrictions and airport security. According to a study done by the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI), an estimated 63.7 million US residents travel to overseas locations in 2006.

The most popular destinations for US residents are France and Italy, two countries that are favorites of US travelers, but also countries such as Korea, Ireland and the Bahamas. The East as a region seems to be finding higher favor with US travelers as well, with China entering the top 10 destinations and Netherlands, India and Kong Kong tied at 12th position with a million visitors each year.

The UK is also one of the preferred spots for US travelers as they feel at home there, according to Harry D. J. Barclay, president of The Barclay International Group. The average US traveler is also getting more adventurous and is exploring newer parts of the UK, besides just the major cities and historical spots.

When we lived in Providence, one of our favorite weekend trips used to be to Boston, where we could head to taking the T if we didn’t want to drive. At just an hour away, Boston was just so accessible to us that we used to visit quite often and came to know all the places worth seeing in the city. If one is to visit Boston for even just a day, one can manage to get a feel of the city and if one has a weekend to spare then it’s even better as one can really find some nice quiet spots to explore by oneself.

The Freedom Trail is by far the biggest attraction for the city and what I like about it is that you can cover it at your own pace, starting and stopping as you like, but still managing to cover all the important aspects of the city’s history. I personally liked wandering around the Faneuil Hall marketplace area and exploring some of the old stores in the area. The city also has some pretty amazing art galleries and museums, thanks to generous patrons of the arts through the ages, and my favorite one is the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Art, which is one of the most unusual and charming places ever.

I very rarely surf blindly, in the sense that I usually only surf for blogs and sites that are in my niche topics, such as retail or travel or trends etc. This morning I clicked on a link from the Blogger Home page to a blog called Being Five and found it to be an amazingly cute and funny comic strip. The comic is written or rather spoken by Georgie a five year old who blogs via voice recognition technology. It’s the perfect example of finding treasure in the blogworld, hidden just beneath the surface and just waiting to be found and propelled to the big league. This comic strip is definitely worthy of being in the newspapers and magazines, and I hope to see it there someday. I know I will definitely be visiting it on a daily basis from now on.