Did I Just Get Offloaded???

Yes…. you did. So, now what? A real bummer and you don’t understand what just hit you. There are many things that could go wrong while we travel. And while there are some that are beyond our control, there are some that we can try to avoid or fix or at least have some knowledge about it so that we can deal with it / handle the situation. When the airline overbooks the flight anticipating no shows, and everyone shows up, that’s when its likely that someone is going to get offloaded. This is not very common but a nuisance when it happens. It can happen due to a couple of reasons. 

Good and Safe Holiday

 

There are some common issues we must look into while travelling. If we know about these, it will take you a long way in making your trip happy and stress free. The list of things we can take care of or matters to be looked into can be endless. But this is an endless process. Isn’t it important to have the best possible time on our holiday? These are mainly for occasional or first time travellers, but happens to seasoned travellers too all the time.

 

Passport and Visa

Before you decide you want to travel, check the validity on you passport. You will not get a visa, if your passport is not valid for a minimum of 6 months. Secondly, when you do get your visa, always check the dates that the visa is valid for.

A Must Called Insurance

 

Travel Insurance

Travel Insurance isn’t a luxury – its a must. A lot of us enjoy a vacation after a long time, for which we have saved money. So it makes sense to protect your investment. The travel plan you choose is critical to the success of your trip. This is an insurance that is intended to cover medical and non medical losses while travelling, if any. At one time, people would be afraid of bringing up this topic because it was considered negative. But not anymore. It is one of the most essential items to pack today. It is your health, holiday, luggage and documents. There are several Travel Insurance companies offering varied plans for various kinds of travel. Students, businessmen, holidaymakers, adventurers etc.

The Doctor Who Travels With You

 

The Essential Medical Kit

The biggest advise that can be given about falling ill on your holiday is : DON’T. When we go on a holiday, it would be such a shame to fall ill and not be treated correctly, and have all your plans ruined. Travelling will no longer be fun if you aren’t in a state of good health. A small effort on our part will save us a lot of trouble later. Everyday illnesses are found wherever you go. Be prepared. When you travel, you are unlikely to get medication without a prescription, specially if you are a foreigner in the country. Keep the list of must haves handy with you. Have a look at what we must carry with us on our holiday. The requirement of course differs if you are travelling to a remote village or to a big city.

Don’t Let the Bugs Bite You

Vaccinations are very important

 

When most people are busy getting their passport and visa ready when they have decided to travel abroad, they have to understand that vaccinations are equally important. Taking the necessary shots is required for your safety. Unfortunately, many disease are still prevalent in other parts of the world even if they may have been eliminated in your country. Most vaccinations take time to become effective in the body and some have to be given in a series over a period of days or weeks.

MoneyWise

Whether you go on a budgeted or fancy holiday, it should remain an enjoyable one. Impromptu ones or planned ones, all kinds of holidays are fun and exciting. Its just that the planned ones give you a heads up. These are some money tips you can use. Money is the greatest of our worries. We are vacationing to relax but worrying about money would defeat the entire purpose of your trip. Vacationers are the biggest targets becoming victims of theft. Its easy for criminals to target them because they know you are sure to be carrying a lot of cash. Be alert. That's the most important thing for you to do.

The Luggage Twilight Zone

We are constantly rushing. Always in a hurry. Waiting for bags at the arrival terminal, watching the bags go by on the carousel, takes a lot of patience, wondering when yours will come. For some reason waiting for luggage seems like forever even if it may just a few minutes. Finally!! Nothing shows up. What do you do? Remember the first rule: Do not panic. The second rule is inform the airline attendants immediately.
Wherever you go, whatever happens, you can always have a good time if you have the right attitude. Right attitude comes with knowledge, awareness and patience. If you are aware of what is to be done in this sort of a situation, won’t it make life easier? Rather than fretting and fuming when it happens and running from pillar to post. Here are the kind of problems you could face with regards to luggage, and how you can deal with them.

Baggage Blues

For some of us, going to the airport, travelling, packing etc can be really stressful. Worrying about the size, the weight, excess baggage, prohibited items are some of the things we stress about. There are some basic common security issues and some basic baggage rules, get to know these and going to the airport will be much easier. Most airlines and countries have similar rules but its best to check with the airline concerned before travelling. The rules regarding weight and size differ from airline to airline too, so these too need to be checked after you have decided on the carrier you wish to fly with.
There are 3 main issues to deal with. Cabin baggage, Items not allowed as Cabin Baggage but can be carried as Checked In Baggage, and lastly Prohibited Items. Everything you carry will be screened at the airport and must conform with airport and airline rules. We will cover all three.

Luggage Travails

We go on a holiday to enjoy. The whole idea is to be rid of stress, not add some stress in the holiday too. Before we start off on this post for you, we would like to give you 2 scenarios. Please just imagine them.
 
Scenario 1
You are travelling from India to USA. Everything ready, sitting on the jet plane and ready to party.
You land in New York and grab your bags for the next flight to XYZ and guess what? You are rudely informed (yeah, very rudely most of the time ) that you cannot take your luggage with you just like that, but you have to PAY for your luggage. Now, how can anyone travel without any luggage and why should they have to pay for luggage???
But that’s the bitter truth. If you are travelling to the US, be prepared. Either the airlines will make you pay for all or some of your bags, depending on which carrier you’re using. So, you may be allowed to carry 2 bags out of India but that really may not help you for US internal travel at all. Maybe you should re think the 2 bags.

Essentials we must Not Leave home without

Things we HAVE to carry
These are some basic items you just cannot leave home without. If you did, it might mean spending money over items unnecessarily. Packing sensibly will make your trip more comfortable. Also, saving the time and hassle of going looking for it while traveling. We are always in a hurry at the last minute, a lot of these things can be kept ready for your travel a few days before you leave.

Common Mistakes While Booking Tickets

There are some common mistakes we could make when we book our tickets while travelling. Just listing a few, to get you started. Its always easy, to make a mistake and then find people to blame, or maybe even blame ourselves. But that isn't the point, finally its about losing good, hard earned money. There is no need for anyone to make money out of you, especially the airlines, after seeing the rising fares. These are just basics, really useful if you don't travel much or are a first time traveller.


Your name on reservation
Nowadays, wherever you are, whatever you do, you are treated as a security risk. Things aren’t what they used to be. You are looked upon as a terrorist, ( yeah, even if you aren't one, but they don’t know that, and apparently everyone these days looks like one, or so they think!! ) until your handbag or the trunk of your car has been checked. This is funny most of the times, when you go to a hotel or for a movie but isn't so funny when you are at the airport all ready for your meeting / holiday and the airport or airline authorities are not convinced of you being the traveller because your name on the passport and ticket don't match. The end result: apart from the tremendous mental torture you will go through, you will be paying a hefty fee or maybe even buying a whole new ticket.
So, always make sure the name on your ticket and passport match. Someone out there, is waiting …. for the mistake to be made and money too.. 

Your Dream Destination

10  Family Holiday Destinations

The holiday is meant for all of us to enjoy. Not just cater to one or two individuals, but for all. If even one member is not in complete agreement as to the destination, it would spoil the holiday for all. It is better to discuss and decide with everyone involved rather than taking a decision alone. It will save you a great deal of headache and unhappiness. The ages of kids involved is also important, the things they would enjoy, the duration, etc. Keeping these things in mind, plan your destination, always. Make it a dream vacation.

These are some of the destination types you may want to consider.

Oh??? No one Home????

Making our home secure before we leave is a priority if we want to be truly relaxed on our vacation. We have so many things on our mind regarding our holiday, planning for it, that it is often easy to overlook this important issue. If we go on a holiday and start worrying about issues regarding our home, it would really defeat the purpose of having the holiday, won’t it? Wouldn’t it be just perfect for a burglar to know you are on vacation and break an entry? While there are no guarantees, it’s best that we do as much as we can. Go the extra mile now, instead of regretting later. Keep this as a handy check list for your benefit.


Doors and Windows
Secure all doors and windows. Dig out the keys, lock everything, if you can’t find them, look for them. But don’t leave anything unlocked. Don’t leave any keys hanging around either.

Plan Your Holiday

A holiday is a celebration. Its precious time for you and your family  with each other. It would be great to plan wisely keeping various issues in mind. It doesn’t matter whether you go for 3 days or 30 days, whatever you decide to go for, decide this “ I want a great holiday for me and my family”

So, these are just some tips.

Vacations Are Important

We live a stressful daily life. Unbalanced diet, pollution, worry, grief or sadness, responsibilities, job and work related stress and tensions etc. will finally lead us all to burnout. How can we improve the quality of our life? Combating burnout is a very vast issue dealing with various ways to reduce stress, but one of the things that helps is taking time off.

Many people don’t take vacations often enough and some do not take them at all. Taking a holiday is good for us for many reasons.