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Jul27

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Exploring the Best Beaches of Costa Rica

Posted in: Beach Getaways, Guest Posts

Today’s guest post comes to us from Spencer Spellman, freelance travel writer and author of The Traveling Philosopher blog.

Spencer has recently returned from a long stay in Costa Rica and has written a blog post that focuses on his favorite beaches of Costa Rica.

See below for his Costa Rica beach highlights:

As I’ve traveled, I’ve found in my journeys that there is something universally satisfying about a beautiful beach. While I’m not too sure there’s a “perfect beach,” I’ve set out over the last few weeks to explore Costa Rica in search of the next best thing. In recent years, Costa Rica has established itself as a top destination because of its pristine beaches. Since the winter months are the best time to visit, many travelers around the world head south to experience Costa Rica’s beautiful beaches for themselves. To help you plan for your next trip, I’ve highlighted some of the best beaches in Costa Rica.

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Jun17

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Uncover the Beauty of Life in Cambodia

Posted in: Culture, Eastern Hemisphere

Image to the left taken from Sacred-Destinations.com.

With so many great Asian destinations surrounding it, such as Vietnam and Thailand, Cambodia often gets overshadowed. However, this is reason enough to visit. Cambodia is an unspoiled Asian destination with many beautiful uncovered parts that make for a trip full of adventure. If you talk to frequent travelers, they’ll often tell you that Southeast Asia holds a certain beauty, one in which every corner you turn offers a new sight, sound, or smell. This couldn’t be any more true of Cambodia, which features many attractions that you don’t find in all Asian destinations. Today we highlight some of the best attractions that uncover the beauty of Cambodia.

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Mar7

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Baby Boomer Travel Tips from Donna Hull, Author of My Itchy Travel Feet

Posted in: Adventurous Activities, Guest Posts, Tips and Ideas

Donna Hull in Siberia

When Donna Hull of My Itchy Travel Feet agreed to write a guest post for Well Designed Journeys, we were thrilled! Donna is an exceptional travel blogger who offers baby boomers valuable tips and advice for planning their next adventure vacation.

We asked Donna to share with us a few tips for baby boomer travelers. See below for this exclusive interview (note: all images below are courtesy of Donna Hull):

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Jun22

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Italy – The Basics

Posted in: Eastern Hemisphere

The country of Italy …some journey basics

Italy, what an amazing country that covers 116,303 square miles and has a population of over 56 million people which translates to a density of approximately 487 persons per square mile. The capital is Roma which has a population of 2, 775,000 inhabitants.

Map of Italy - by Freebase

Italy is situated in Mediterranean Europe and has land frontiers with France in the Northwest, Switzerland and Austria in the north and Slovenia in the northeast. The peninsula is surrounded by the Ligurian Sea, the Sardinian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea in the west, the Sicilian Sea and the Ionian Sea in the south, and the Adriatic Sea in the east. Italian is the language of the majority of the population but there are minorities speaking German, French, Slovene and Ladino. Sixty seven percent of the population lives in cities.

There is a great deal of variety in the landscape in Italy, with two mountain chains: the Alps and the Apennines. The Alpine foothills are characterized by large lakes: Lake Maggiore and the lakes of Como, Iseo and Garda. A visa is not required for a US or Canadian citizen holding a valid passport unless one is lucky enough to plan on staying for ninety (90) days or to study or seek employment. No vaccinations are required and for medical emergencies in Italy dial 118 and for 113 for police service.

Electrical Converter

Electrical current in Italy is AC – the cycle is 50Hz 220V which means you need to carry a converter to have your appliances work in Italy. Note: flat irons do not work well with converters and they may overheat or not heat at all. Italian fire regulations do not allow hotels to provide irons for guests’ use.

Italy is part of the European Union so the Euro is the currency that is used. ATM’s are abundant throughout the country and are known as Bancomat’s. Travel to Italy, northern-southern-eastern or western is always fun, enjoyable, and filled with history, great food and wonderful people.

Your Travel Expert can assist you in creating your journey of a lifetime.
Jun15

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The 3-Letter Airport Codes make sense to Me!

Posted in: Tips and Ideas

Journey conversations…….

Okay, well maybe not complete sense, but in the government’s wisdom, they are actually logical. In a few weeks I will leave on a Journey to experience the wonderful country of China. Since several of us on the trip live in Tennessee, we will leave from BNA which is the three-letter airport code (identifier) for Nashville. The airport was named in honor of Colonel Harry S. Berry who helped to build the field, so BNA stands for Berry Field Nashville.

Our next stop is Chicago and we will land at O’Hare International Airport (ORD.) The airport was originally named Chicago’s Orchard Depot Airport but was later changed to honor Butch O’Hare a WWII aviation hero who was killed in action.

After a thirteen and a half hour flight we land in Beijing at the PEK airport which was based on the city’s former name, Peking. A dozen days later and lots of miles andwonderful experiences we will leave China from the city of Shanghai. The airport identifier is PVG which is named for the area of the city that the airport is located in – the Pudong district.

Photo by Tim Beach

All airports that have an air carrier presence have their own unique 3 letter identifier or their ~ International Air Transport Association IATA (eye-ah-ta) code. Never will a civilian airport start with an N, as those are reserved for naval bases, but many airport ID’s are easy to figure out: SAN for San Diego, AUS for Austin, DEN for Denver, or DAL for Dallas.

But there is a restriction, that no two airports within 200 miles of each other can have the same first two or last two letters. Think Dallas, Texas. When a new airport opened between Dallas and Fort Worth the airport identifier could not start with the letters DA or AL, so DFW was the new code.

Some identifiers are more difficult to figure out unless you are familiar with the area. Cincinnati’s airport is located in Covington, so that code is CVG, and of course our own Tennessee airport in Knoxville was built on land donated by Bettie Tyson TYS.

So, when your ticket says, MCI (Kansas City) don’t mistake that with going to MCO (Orlando) for the weekend. Also, if you are going from BNA to HOU with a two hour connection, do not pick IAH as your connection airport even though these are both airports in Houston. They are not close to each other and you will never make your connection. Better yet, use a travel expert to book your flights and they will make sure you end up in the correct state and airport! Next time you are traveling, stop and see if you can figure out why the airport has that particular three letter airport code. Enjoy the identifier journey.

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