In light of the new terrorist news about the discovery of a terrorist plot in Brittain, the airports have a new ban list. Most notably, no liquids of any form are allowed on planes since the plot included terrorists bringing on bombs disguised as drinks.

In addition to liquids, Britain has banned many other items on fliights from their airport. Yahoo has a list of banned items.

Items that stick out (more…)

Cnet’s Google blog has an entry on google’s plan to enter into the market of traveling. According to the story, Google is hiring for a travel position in Chicago. The writer speculates that Google will be teaming up with Orbitz (who is located in Chicago) to tackle the tourism industry.

What does this mean for budget travelers? Probably not much. Google will probably just integrate Orbitz travel deals into search and google videos. So unfortunately, they will probably not create a powerful search through unbooked hotels or airfare.
So do not expect Google to revolutionalize the online travel booking experience anytime soon.

Australasia’s popular hostel chains Base Backpacker and Beyond Backpackers have merged to join the largest private hostel chain. The new, combined hostel group will take on the name Base. This private hostel chain now has 3000 beds, 10 bars, and 34 travel outlets throughout Australia and New Zealand. These hostels are very popular in the backpacking community.
For a full story, visit the article at stuff.co.nz

So what does this mean for backpackers going to these hostels in New Zealand or Australia? I think it is a good thing. Base plans to renovate and improve some of their hostels which will benefit the travelers. The only potential negative in merger situations will be the lack of competition between hostels. The competition can result in lower rates according to economics 101, so the bed rates could potentially rise. But I do not see it as too big of a problem.

[tags] hostel, australasia, backpacker, travel, budget travel. [/tags]

I just recently started following NY Times’ Frugal Traveler. Matt Gross, aka the Frugal Traveler is attempting to travel around the world in 90 days, “on the cheap.” So what is the budget at? $40 a day? $65 a day?

No, His budget is no more than $100 a day for rooms, and $40 a day for food. That does not sound too frugal to me. So potentially, he would have to budget (well actually the NY Times) $12,600. Even though he probably will spend less than $140 a day, it would be more interesting if he cut his budget down a bit.

Another problem I have with his budget is that it does not include ANY transportation costs. So with his European flights, bus rides, and taxis, the cost of the trip can really blow out of portion.

Ironically, many of the readers of his blog feel the same way I do. There are a lot of people commenting on his un-frugal-ness with his vast budget. That makes me feel better.

But even though I do not really support the cause, I will continue to follow his blog. I think that I will be able to pick up a few helpful travel tips, while being mildly entertained at the least.

[tags] frugal traveler[/tags]

Travelocity has a new promotion going on for booking vacations online. If you book a flight and hotel, for six nights in Europe, Mexico, Hawaii, or the Carribbean, you get $200 off. To claim your discount, all you need to do is enter the promotional code “Great200″ at the checkout

This offer ends on July 27, 2006, and the vacation must take place by January 1, 2007.

It seems like a fair enough deal for those travelers looking to book vacations during the holiday and Christmas season in December. It is refreshing to see a travel deal that really does not have an excessive ammount of strings attached.

[tags] travelocity, travel, vacations, Christmas season [/tags]

The Taipei Times has an article on a Tawain hostel officially becoming part of the International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF). The new hostel association is named Chinese Taipei Youth Hostel Association of Taiwan. Along with Taiwan, 5 other country organizations joined the group.
At a conference in Switzerland, the hostel was unanimously accepted. The IYHF manages 4,000 hostels in 85 countries, including eight hostels in Taiwan. Cool.

[tags] hostel, travel, taiwan, IYHF, taipei[/tags]