For years, buying travel insurance has been looked upon with question and caution. It was a great unmentionable in making travel transactions, as travel agents were afraid that the subject would compromise their deals in totality. It was considered as negative and something unnecessary. However, today travel insurance provides protection for you and family during times that are supposed to be relaxing, not stressful. Whether it’s your trip, your luggage, health, or possessions, the right kind of travel insurance has come to play a prominent role for smart travelers.

According to a recent study conducted by the US travel Insurance Association, about 30% of Americans purchase travel insurance, which represents a 10% increase before 9/11. Some reasons for this increase may be peace of mind, protection against the unexpected, and concern over losing financial investment in a trip. For cruise travelers, this number increases to 70%. Many people are still relatively unaware of travel health insurance, baggage coverage, and even medical evacuation insurance. There is yet another kind of insurance that’s available to air travelers that airlines have been more hush-hush about excess valuation insurance. Trip cancellation and interruption insurance is a policy you should consider, but the key here is price point. If you’re flying on a budget $60 flight then it wouldn’t make much sense to buy, but if you look on the other hand, a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the other side of the world, this kind of travel insurance will surely come in handy and give you peace of mind. If by chance you get sick, miss your trip, or your travel provider goes out of business, you’re not left high and dry. You’re covered. However, another caution you should know about is, do not buy this type of insurance from the individual travel provider, meaning if you’re going on a cruise, try not to buy this insurance from the cruise ship company, because should their company goes out of business, chances are, their insurance will too, leaving you uncovered.

Baggage travel insurance is also a very useful policy, since it provides coverage for lost, damages, delayed, or stolen bags. This is especially important for those flying overseas and checking in bags. However, if you’re just flying between US cities and think about things like items that are not covered like jewelry, furs, financial documents, etc. Then consider depreciation. Airlines have a 3,000 dollar liability limit, but that limit is per incident, not per bag and all based on depreciated value, and hardly anyone has ever received the full $3000. (more…)

Sometimes it’s the little things like insect spray or a rain poncho in your travel gear that saves the day. Packing the right travel gear can be essential, especially if you’ll be on the road for sometime. Let’s look at some must have travel accessories that you may wish to consider.

Adapter and Inverters

If you need to travel with a laptop then you should check into adapters. Their very handy while traveling on airplanes. Adapters are standard plugs for running laptops or charging instead of using up all your battery power. For those traveling overseas you’ll want an inverter to switch you over from the AC current used in America to DC which is found in Europe.

Noise Reduction

How many of you try and sleep on airplanes, especially those long flights? Noise canceling headphones are the way to go. Look for the neat folding headphones that are really compact and deliver high quality sound or noise canceling sound.

Comfort

Whether you’re flying on a plane or staying at a hotel, you can’t beat your own pillow. These little support pillows are great for sleeping on planes. They support your neck and are made with lightweight foam and best of all their machine washable. It’s easy to store travel gear in a carry-on.

Luggage

A rolling duffel maybe everything you require in luggage. Lightweight, padded handles and lots of compartments. Handy for a quick trip or even camping.

Securing Valuables

Thieves and con artists are just waiting for you to show up with your wallet in the back pocket, easy for the pickings. Take a close look at an all terrain money belt and surf safe and see what you think. There are several styles that look just like a belt, but have a secret compartment securing your money.

Surf safe is a must have if you’re on the beach and swimming in the ocean. Crowded beaches delight thieves ready to rifle through your stuff while you’re in the water. Use surf safe to take your valuables in the water with you.

Alarm Clock

If you’re traveling abroad a world time alarm clock is so handy to check anyone of 16 different time zones and of course waking you up. (more…)

Eyewitness guides are characterised by their colour, which differentiates them from most other travel guides. Maps, photos and diagrams light up the pages and bring to life what can be experienced when travelling. Information in other guides may be more precise, detailed and comprehensive, but readers who enjoy Eye Witness Guides do so because visually they are stimulated and excited by what they see on the pages.

Great Britain – An Eye Witness Travel Guide begins with an introduction containing maps, information about society, politics, culture and the arts, and history. To whet the appetite further, the history of gardens, stately homes, heraldry and the aristocracy, rural architecture, the countryside, walkers’ Britain, the traditional British Pub and British Food, are all colourfully explained and illustrated so that the reader is provided with an idea of what is essentially British.

The remainder of the book is divided into a sections related firstly to London and then to Southeast England, The West Country, The Midlands, the North Country, Wales and Scotland. Each section is comprehensively covered, and significant cities for example Bath, Oxford, Glasgow and many, many others, are given special attention. Every so often the reader will come across a snippet of information such as Beatrix Potter and the Lake District, punting on the Cam in Cambridge, the stained Glass of York Minster, building with Cotswold Stone, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Edinburgh Festival and the Bronte Sisters which serves to put these things into their geographical context.

Information about major streets, usually shown as a conventional map, frequently appears in Eye Witness Guides as an overhead drawing often in 3D. Noteworthy buildings such as Blenheim Palace are presented in the same way. It is much easier to visualise than a conventional map or plan. And while this may reduce the accuracy of the information provided, it is more useful for the tourist who is probably after impressions rather than detail. And if detail is required other avenues to obtain it can readily be sourced. (more…)