See you later blogger.com

When I signed up for English 112 this semester I never thought my class was going to do weekly blogging. I didn't have any idea about blogging but I wanted to try it, the only "blogging" experience I had was tumblr but that didn't really count because all I would do on there was re-blog pictures. When we had to come up with a topic that we had to write about for the entire semester I was confused and didn't know what to blog about, so then I started to think about traveling. Traveling has been a dream of mine since forever I want to go all over the world someday, and experience that foreign lifestyle. Also I think my major came into play as well, I'm majoring in International Relations so it only made sense to write about blogging.


I enjoyed writing this semester in English, although I did get lazy a few times I always made a post. I didn't think it was going to be easy but I didn't think it was going to be as hard as it was well. There was so much time put into this blog. I had to search many websites so that my info would match with a specific website I was writing about that week. 

I'm glad to say that in the future I am for sure going to look back at my blog and take some pointer for myself from myself. One day I would like to come back to blogger and blog about my experience from traveling. I want my first trip abroad to be the best experience I can have. I do feel I could have done a better job with these post, I would recommend myself to do a little more research. 

All in all I did enjoy this blogging experience. I love how my professor is different from other English teachers because from what I know I don't think other professors do a weekly blog assignment. I appreciate all of Professor Quinns advice this semester because in the end she wants each of her students to do better. 

For now this is a see you later blogger, until next time (when I come back form a trip). 

Cruises

For the longest time I’ve been scared to get on a boat but you haven’t really experienced the “travel” world if you haven’t been on a cruise. Even though I’m scared to get on a boat let alone a cruise boat I really want to go on a cruise . There are cruises that go all over the world for example the Caribbean,  Mexico, Alaska and the Bahamas. 

            One of the biggest cruise companies is Carnival. They go everywhere even to Europe. Depending what time of the year and the place you want to visit would vary your price. I looked up on the carnival website departing from Norfolk Virginia to be aboard the Glory Carnival Cruise (which is the cruise that has all the nice things like the pool, shopping mall center etc.) for the date July 2013 for 5 days to the Bahamas and the price came out to be $336.00 per person, I did not expect that price. I thought it was going to be more but $336.00 for that type of trip is not bad. Couple days in paradise for that amount is so worth it.

Considering the amount $336.00 you probably don’t expect to have a fancy suite room and such. That package deal is cheap because its an interior room  does not have nice ocean views or anything. An interior room is A comfortable stateroom retreat, where some rooms also feature pull-down beds – ideal for families. Stateroom amenities: Television Soft, comfortable, and cozy linens Hairdryer/Bathrobes 24-hour stateroom service fair closet and drawer space, I wouldn’t mind that because I’m not going to be in the room that much time anyways right? 

Also you get free breakfast everyday and access to the gym (included in price).  This is how the schedule of the cruise would look like. Day 1 depart from Norfolk, Day 2 would be the fun day at sea, Day 3 arrive   Nassau, the Bahamas at be there for about 12 hours Day 4 arrive at Freeport, the Bahamas and stay there for another 12 hours and Day 5 you’ll be back home. While on the island you will get to visit Atlantis (ever since I was little I have been wanting to go) and go swimming with dolphins and snorkel in the beautiful crystal blue waters and witness life under water.

I’m getting myself way too excited by learning about this cruise. I could get over my fear getting on boats but taking little river trips around the area and then by the time I know it I will be on a cruise boat. After looking at what the cruise package includes all I can say is, I need to start saving up so I can go on this cruise. 

Barcelona the perftct European city

My love for the city of Barcelona came along when I was in middle school, I was a huge F.C Barcelona fan (still am)  from then on I started learning about the city and knew that not only I wanted to visit but live there some day.

The things that attract me the most about Barcelona are the peoples style, the awesome seafood and food in general, shopping and of course the fact that F.C Barcelona is the home team. I’ve made a plan for myself so when I go visit one day the top things I want to do when I get there are go to  Barceloneta Beach and walk on the board walk,  Visit La Sagrada Familia, Park Güell , climb up Montjuic and of course go visit Camp Nou and if I get lucky enough to watch a home Barcelona game.

 

            Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia and is the second largest city of Spain. Located on the Northeast coast facing the Mediterranean of course I would want to go the beach while there. The beach that has caught my eye is Barceloneta Beach. The best month out of the year temperature wise to go is in August the climate is perfect, the only thing is that during the month of August is the season when tourists from all over the world come so you can imagine how many people will be there. Walk on the board walk enjoy the beautiful scenery of the beach and vendors with souvenirs to take back home. Also you can’t forget the amazing seafood restaurants.

 

            Visit the Sagrada familia an amazing church in the heart of Barcelona that was designed by the famous architect Antoni Gaudi, the church is still incomplete.  If you want more beautiful scenery places go to Park Güell  in the district of Barcelona once you get to the top you see down on the city of Barcelona.

 

Last but not least the place where I have been dying to go for years, Camp Nou. Camp Nou is the home stadium of the world popular team Futbol Club Barcelona  I have dreams of going and watch a classical game of Barcelona Vs. Real Madrid one day. Even if you’re there in the season of “break” (when the soccer league takes a break) you can still go and tour around the stadium. The tour guides take you in onto the pitch and see what the players see when its game day. You get a tour of the players dressing rooms, the pitch and even where journalist/commenter’s sit when its game day. Walk onto that soccer pitch and see the large logo “Mes Que Un Club” imprinted on the seats of the stadium. Once you’re done touring inside the stadium they have a gift shop where you can go and buy yourself some soccer gear, the day I go I’m buying myself an original jersey so I can wear it with pride.

 

            Even though I have never been to Barcelona I have already fell in love with the  European life style people have there. Just by looking at pictures and hearing other peoples story of when they went makes me more eager to go . When I go I know I will have amazing stories to tell about the wonderful city. Barcelona is the perfect European city to go and fall in love with. Safe to say I have been saving up my money to go soon and buy myself many FCB gear.

 

Works Cited

Chandler Ryan, Sorensen Annelise. Top 10 Barcelona Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guide.New York. 2012. Print.  

High speed railway (Train) from London to Paris

I've heard a couple of times from different people  that when you're in Europe you can take a train to any other city in Europe  for an affordable price. I did some looking and it is true. 

I started looking into some train companies (Eurostar) and a trip from London to Paris is 69 British pounds (110 US dollars). If I lived in London I would travel to Paris as many times as I could. $110 is such a good price. Imagine  if you go visit London one day buy a plane ticket stay there for a couple of days and then in the same travel deal package you go to Paris as well thats about another $300 instead of $110 taking the train to Paris in the middle of your vacations time. 

Personal "testimony" 

My aunt 2 years ago traveled to London she bought her ticket for two and a half weeks (it cost her $880 9 months in advance, that alone is already a good deal because some tickets cost more than $1,000). At first she looked up travel packages that take you from city to city and Europe she wanted to visit Paris and Barcelona  but once she started looking at the deals they totaled out to about $2,500 or more.After she saw how much it would cost her she didn't have the intentions of visiting any other places other than London. Once she was there with her friend they found Eurostar and saw that a one day trip to Paris cost her 95 US dollars, her friend and her couldn't let the deal go so they went. They were there for the entire day, the ride only lasted 2 hours and 50 almost 3 hours so about  6 hours in total in traveling to and from. She said that her being in Paris just for one day was enough she got to go to the Eiffel Tour, the Louvre and of course some French restaurants and cafes. She got two trips instead of one. 

Looking at some alternatives is worth the money and time. You can get two trips instead of one just like my aunt did. Don't get me wrong not all other cities are going to be as cheap as the price my aunt got but looking at some train companies is worth it.  If one day I'm in London for a week you bet I'm buying myself a train ticket and heading to Paris. 

Australia the land down under

Australia the land down under seems like one of the most fascinating places to visit there  because there is so much nature life and beaches. I've seen travel shows and whenever they go to Australia it looks like they're having the time of their life. There is so much nature to see you can go swimming the ocean with marine  animals and also just walk around on the Sydney Park boardwalk in the very popular city of  Sydney where you have a perfect view of the ocean.

Australia  is a country/island and  the capital is Canberra. Australia neighboring countries include Indonesia Papua New Guinea up north and New Zealand  south-east. The currency they use is the Australian dollar, approximately 1 US dollar equals  0.9640 (not even a dollar). 

The day I go to Australia the number one thing I want to do is go swimming in the "World Heritage-listed" Great Barrier Reef. I have always been interested in marine life. Australia to has such  beautiful places to go snorkeling. It  is amazing.  Mainlands include  towns of Port Douglas and Bundaberg.  There you can explore the rainbow-coloured coral islands and marine life below. There they offer boats where you can aboard  those boats have glass-bottom, when while you're on the boat you can see the ocean below your feet. The boat stops in the middle of  Airlie Beach, from there you put on your snorkeling gear and you can jump in the crystal clear water. While in the water you'll  see sea stars, crabs corals, molluscs, Capricorn and Bunker Reefs. The biggest reason why I want to do diving is because when in the water you pass  past marine turtles swimming next to you, how great and a wonderful experience is that? 

From what I wrote you can get a general idea that you'll have to take summer clothes because the climate is so nice and sunny during the months of October-January . Australia is not a cheap place to go but trust me the money is going to be worth it when you're there , even though I have never been there I know its going to be worth it.

Works Cited

Westcott, Simon., The Travel Book: A Journey Through every Country in the World. 2004. Print.

Plane Alternatives

If you want to visit a place close by like New York (when living in Virginia) you don’t have to take a plane. You have some other options for example a bus, train and even a car. My friends and I are thinking about taking a trip to New York for Spring break and we want to figure out what’s the cheapest way of getting there, I am sure this can help others and not just me. This week I’m going to talk about these alternatives rather than taking a plane (because that’s way too pricey for the three days we’re planning on spending there) and also comparing prices. 

Our first option is taking a bus to New York. How much does it cost? When I searched the dates we wanted to go and round trip is $65 (on Greyhound)  which I was very surprised because I didn't think it would be that cheap.  Another bus company I found chinabus-town.org  is another cheap one but I couldn't find the dates I wanted. From the looks of it is really inexpensive because a round trip from DC to Philadelphia is only $20 how crazy cheap?  From the looks of this I have to keep both companies in mind because who knows maybe one day all the tickets will be cheap. 

Another option Is taking a train. I haven’t been on a train for a long trip, just the usual 10 minutes when I hop on the metro in DC but this time it would be different. This is a little different from taking a bus (as far as prices) a regular trip would be $100 round trip for coach. First class or “business class” cost $230 I’m not sure if I want to pay that much, because then it would leave me with a little less money to spend on my trip. Then there was another option the “shortest trip option” what that is a shorter trip. The usual time it would take to get to NYC from DC is 3 hours and half but with the “shortest trip option” it would only take two hours and forty-five minutes. Is it really worth buy a faster trip ? I think the only way I would take that  “shortest trip option” is if someone paid for me. 

Lastly, my other option would be to take a car. For my car to fill up the tank Supreme Gas is about $43 average (11 gallons that’s how much my car takes in). On the last New York trip my family and I took it took us one fill tank of gas to get there, we didn't stop to get gas we went straight there and the gas was enough. If my friends and I were to take a car we would chip in for gas for the way there and back. Also I would have to consider if we did go in car we would spend more money on gas because we would drive around in New York a lot, and finding parking in the city is a pain so I don’t think I would like to take a car.

So what options am I considering? I’m not sure yet the bus ride seems like the cheapest but boring. The train ride seems like fun but it’s pricey and to take a car also seems like fun because what’s more fun to be in car full of your friends? But then again I don’t want to spend so much money on gas. I’m leaning towards a bus ride, why? Well because it’s the cheapest and I want some money to spend on my trip and because I’m pretty sure that through the whole trip I’ll be sleeping so it won’t matter to me.  

Airlines

What airlines to take?

The first thing you should think about when wanting to travel is “what airline should I take?” you want the cheapest and the best quality you can find. I know how hard it is to find airlines that are cheap because when my family looks for plane tickets to go to El Salvador we get pushed off by the prices because they are crazy high. Even when wanting to travel within the United Stated they can range from $300-$500 for just a week, that’s pretty ridiculous if you ask me we should be at the most $200 since you’re traveling within the country (for at least a week). So what are the best airlines to take when traveling nationally (in the United States) and internationally?

                When wanting to travel inside the United States look up different airlines compare and contrast the prices. You’ll notice that if you search for tickets at different times of the day the prices will change they can be up to $200 cheaper, I know by experience. Over the summer my aunt went to Houston for 2 months she flew out of National Regan on Spirit Airlines she paid about  $256 for a round trip. That’s crazy cheap when compared to other airlines for example American Airlines which was about $600 in total,  she saved a lot of money with booking with Spirit. When I looked online so see what were the cheapest airlines to travel within the United States American came in fourth, I though that was pretty weird because to me that was the expensive airline but then again it depends when you’re traveling and to where. Spirit Airlines is affordable and good quality, don’t think only because its cheap you’ll have crapy service no you will get the best service.

                Now lets talk about what airlines are the best choices to take internationally. Well Spirit is another good choice but the only places out of the US they travel to is Central America they tickets are cheaper than other but the downfall is that you have to layover in other airports for hours. So are you willing to layover for about 6 hours to get a good deal? How about if you want to go to Itlay, Spain or Germany? I found that Turkish Airlines provide first class service for a good price, I checked the dates for mid November and the average price was $740 for 2 weeks not bad if you think about the time of year. Turkish Airlines goes around the world so if you want to go somewhere else check with Turkish Airlines.

               

  A few pointers, check with the airlines in advance. Check for you tickets 5-8 months on advance to see what you find. Some airlines offer “mileage” which is basically the more you travel the airline counts the miles you have flew and if you have traveled enough mileage you can get a discount or a free plane ticket, so I 

would make sure to ask.

So after all of this which airlines do I prefer? Nationally Spirit, hey if I’m saving up to $200 on a trip I am up for it I can spend that money on my vacation. International wise I would pick Turkish Airlines.  People who work for airlines are lucky because they don’t have to pay much to travel, how lucky of them. From what I have seen I have to start saving my money if I want to visit another country.