See New York through the eyes of a real New Yorker

How would you like to see New York with the aid of a New Yorker? You want to eat at “Katz’s Delicatessen” where Harry Met Sally, visit the Time Square and learn about the history and see how you can watch a musical on the cheap, check out the financial district; see the Statue of Liberty for free?

If yes and more, then the "Big Apple Greeter or BAG" (ph:- 212/669-8159; or visit the web site:- http://www.bigapplegreeter.org/) is the service for you. A non-profit organization that have over 300 volunteers, each bringing with them different skills (such as language) and knowledge of the suburbs to the traveller. Founded by Lynn Brooks, who wanted to share her city with travellers and show that New York is a friendly city. Also Lynn wants to show the traveller how she and all her other passionate volunteers see New York. As a non-profit organization travellers and residents are encouraged to support BAG's mission, to keep the doors open and available for all travellers, by making a small donation.

Contact the BAG prior to your visit and they will pair you with a knowledgeable "greeter" that suits the kind of experience you want to have in the city. In addition, these ambassadors of goodwill give you a free one-day subway pass (unsure if this is still available) and show you how to navigate the city's public transportation system but visit with BAG web site and give yourself a head start to seeing the places you've always wanted to see, through the eyes of a real New Yorker.

Booking A Cheaper Hotel

There are a lot of websites provide the service which allows people booking hotels online, almost people can get a cheaper price and it is more convenient than driving on the road and looking for the hotel. As my personal experience, I strongly recommend a website which called Agoda.

Agoda is a provider of hotel online booking companies around the world. The site founder Michael Kenny, in the age of 90 moved to Thailand from the United States and set up a small company, started the development of the site in Phuket.

Agoda in Asia is a leading online hotel reservations services company, is committed to providing the world's lowest discount hotel prices. Agoda in the Asia Pacific region has a remarkable achievement, provide passengers with more than 9,000 hotel resource. Internet booking as an internationally renowned company as part of our global network of online booking systems with more than 105,000 hotels. Agoda site offers 30 languages, over the past 10 years, more than million visitors used it and share their experience.

Cruising the Caribbean

An alternate holiday people neglect to consider is a cruise. Just like a hotel a float, a cruise has different destination and scenery every day for holiday makers to enjoy. It's a fun way of having a packaged holiday with all the inclusions. Packages consist of the accommodation, all meals on board, entertainment & the facilities of a luxurious hotel. N.B. Various cruise companies have different inclusion as part of the package and depending of the ship, different facilities. For instance, the cruise on the Royal Caribbean included soft drinks, some cruises soft drinks are additional package costs like alcoholic beverages (personal alcohol is not allowed on the cruise, alcohol will be confiscated and return at the end of the cruise). All meals are included with the exception of the specialised restaurants “Portofino Italian Restaurants” & “Johnny Rockets 50’s Style Restaurant”, all other dining rooms and cafes were open for the guests to dine as part of the cruise dinning package.

The cruise on the “Adventures of the Seas” ship included facilities such as a ice rink, theatre, rock climbing wall, golf simulator, gym, pools just to name a few. Click on link to website "Royal Caribbean - Adventures of the Seas" for more details of facilities.

Overall, cruises are a great holiday adventure with the majority of costs outlaid prior to boarding. Like other holiday, you pay for tours and purchases you make during your trip but with a cruise you get to visit a different port everyday without having the inconvenience of getting on and off a plane, check in and out of hotels. Hope this give you some insight into cruising.

Happy travelling... John

Booking a cheap flight

When to book a flight is one of the biggest challenges in getting cheap, cost effective flights. Websites such as http://www.lastminute.com.au and http://www.kayak.com list all of the flights available and ordered by their price.

Getting a great deal can involve a lot of hit and miss. A week before you wish to travel, the flight might be listed at around $150 for a local flight across australia. However, 3 days before your due departure date, the same flight and time might be listed for $110 as the airline attempts to clear their vacant seats. A note of warning - in the example used above on flights to Brisbane, the day before I departed the flight was listed at $184, proving that waiting till the last minute is not always the best strategy.

Another option is to keep an eye on budget airlines such as JetStar and Virgin Blue and their associated sales. This can often see savings of up to 50% on domestic flights on regularly travelled routes, such as to Melbourne or Adelaide. The last sale at the beginning of September featured Melbourne flights for $55 one way.

The ISYS100 Traveller

The ISYS 100 Traveller is a blog about ISYS 100 students and their experiences with travel. This blog will look like. Here is a current screenshot of the ISYS 100 Traveller Blog as seen through an iPhone.

As you can see, there will be a main banner area highlighting the blog's name, with content streamed down the left hand 2/3 panel of the page.

This blog will be updated a few times each week to ensure that there is a steady flow of content. Hopefully you will enjoy the articles.

So visit us regularly!