Tanuu Blog

There are two ways to save money traveling. The first way is to get the best deals on the specific things you want. There is a limitation to this type of approach though. If , for example, you find the lowest price on the best hotel in Honolulu at the height of the season, you will save money, but still have a very expensive vacation. Trying to get exactly what you want, or what you think you want, will generally be an expensive proposition, in travel and in life.

Be A Travel Opportunist

The other approach is to be a true opportunist. This will be difficult for some of you, and entirely unacceptable to others. Nonetheless, the travelers who get to travel the most, go to the widest variety of places, learn the most and do the most, are the opportunists. This will be true until you are so wealthy that you have no monetary limits.

The first time I went to Ecuador, I went there because it was cheap. If it wasn’t, I would have had a great time - somewhere else. The trip lasted a month, and cost $1045, which included airfare and even the $130 fee for a guide to take me to the top of glacier-covered Mount Chimborazo.

I cut the cost by taking a bus from my home in Michigan to Miami, and back again when I returned from Ecuador. The round-trip ticket cost $158. The round-trip flight to Quito from Miami was only $256, because it was a courier flight, which meant I signed for some luggage (car parts), and could only take carry-on luggage.

Never did I feel deprived, or bored. I had a great time, eating wherever it was cheap and clean, doing all sorts of inexpensive, but interesting things, and traveling across the country to climb Chimborazo. I also met and fell in love with my wife Ana.

How To Become An Opportunistic Traveler

Can you drink rum at a dollar per bottle, instead of your favorite beer? Can you eat chicken instead of steak? How about visiting the free sights first, and dancing in the street festival instead of the disco?

Being an opportunist means you’ll have just as much variety, and probably almost everything you want - eventually. You just have to stop trying to get exactly what you want exactly when you want it. If the guide that took me up Chimborazo hadn’t dropped his price from $200 to $130, I would have spent $2 for a bus and gone hiking on El Altar, another great Andean mountain. That would have left me with enough money for several other minor adventures.

More Secrets Of Cheap Travel

Plane Tickets: My wife and I were planning a trip to visit family in Ecuador. The cheapest airfare from Traverse City, Michigan to Quito, was $1720. Out of curiosity, I checked Miami to Quito, and it was only $404. Airfare from Traverse City to Miami was $300. Book two separate flights and save more than $2000! The discount sites aren’t set up

Whenever you book a vacation, choosing a hotel is key to your level of enjoyment. Hotels are usually rated with a star system, and this generally correlates with the hotels’ price. When choosing a place to stay, ask yourself the following questions: How much time will I spend in the hotel? What amenities are most important to me? Am I looking for a home away from home or just a place to lay my head for the night? Knowing your own expectations can make choosing among hotels a lot easier.

Five-star hotels generally are the most expensive. You are paying for luxury. These hotels usually offer butler service, large bathrooms with soaking tubs, spa-inspired bath products, and high-end bed linens. Lobbies in five-star hotels are laden with marble and fresh flowers. Service is impeccable.

Still quite elegant are four-star hotels. Usually the difference is slight. Maybe the rooms are a bit smaller, the linens a slightly lower thread count, and the shampoos less expensive. The biggest difference seems to be in the price.

Three-star hotels offer clean and comfortable accommodations but may not offer the same amenities as their pricier cousins. Guest rooms are less elegant, but comfortable nevertheless. Bathrooms are generally pretty standard. (If you’re looking for a rain shower, you probably won’t find it here.) Service is fine, though the staff doesn’t bow at your feet quite the same way. Many guests find this level of service more comfortable; others miss being treated like royalty.

Down in the two-star range you will find hotels that serve as a bed for the night but offer little else in the way of comfort. These hotels are good for driving trips where you only plan to spend a limited amount of time and then hit the road again. Count on “plain.” No fancy sheets or down comforters, probably a stall shower instead of a big bathtub, and definitely no champagne and strawberries. Room service? Maybe, but it’s probably more likely that you’ll ask the lobby for the local pizza joint’s menu.

One-star hotels are best for budget travelers who aren’t too picky about where they sleep as long as it’s cheap. Not usually the cleanest or most updated places, these are meant for those guests who don’t plan to spend a whole lot of time in their hotel room. If you’re far more interested in the sightseeing than the size of your pillow, these hotels might suit you just fine.

If you’ve chosen to stay in hotels during your travels, choose wisely based on your own personal needs. As long as you’re willing to pay a price equal to your expectations, you won’t be disappointed.

Jeff Lakie is the founder of Hotel Information a website providing information on Hotels.

Some believe that the introduction of expandable inflatable wings on fighter aircraft would not be a worthy modification of current fighter aircraft because it would not enhance performance. Additionally critics of such modifications believe it is an unworthy viable alternative to current designs. Yet we see recent Mig Aircraft designs with sweeping wings and current US fighter aircraft with swing wings and an inflatable wing does all this without large motors and complex system to move those wings.

We believe that for most fighter aircraft, which do not store over 25% of their fuel in their wings and/or have thrust vectoring systems currently available or are in the works to have such kits available for modification would be good candidates. We believe that in super cruise the efficiency and fuel, which would be saved to be at the 25% of the fuel, which will no longer be stored in their wings. Furthermore the shape changing tactics used will create the stability needed in the absence of the wings.

We do believe that such strategies of expandable inflatable wings using the new materials, which are now available should be looked at by aircraft designers in order to stay efficient.

Some may contend that this is not a worth or even viable alternative to current designs, we completely disagree, as we see new designs come out of Phantom Works and UCAVs they will need the ability for longer range, faster speeds to the battlespace and greater ability to loiter in the net-centric grid to support all components of our arsenal. Indeed anyone who comes to any other conclusion is simply unaware of the advances in materials, the future of robotic warfare or the cross category hybrids of vehicles, which must be used to WIN in this new paradigm of warfare. Of course too we should include those who cling to old theories of military strategy and 1970’s aerospace design in the intellectually challenged and bureaucratic world of academia. Screw em’, this is about winning. Think on that critics.

“Lance Winslow” - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs