- By: Joseph Lawsomier

With the all the media hype about Swine Flu, it's not unreasonable to think about trying to avoid unnecessary public outings, including air travel. But the FAA and the CDC only warn against flying if you're already feeling the symptoms of an illness or if you've come in contact with someone who's seriously at risk of contracting the F1N1 flu virus.

Federal officials have just asked that everyone consider common health safety precautions when they're in public and surrounded by other travelers. Because cheap airfare, in particular, often fill up fast, making for crowded planes and airports, you'll want to follow these basic guidelines for keeping yourself healthy on your flights.

1. Keep in mind that everything you touch, including your airline tickets, the handles on your bags, and your ID, have the potential to be touched by someone else and vice versa so wash your hands more than often with soap and water, lathering for at least 30 seconds.

2. Carry hand sanitizer and anti-bacterial wipes (in a small enough container to pass carry-on regulations) with you everywhere. You can essentially wash your hands anytime any place and wipe down any plastic surface you come in contact with armrests on airplane and airport seats, ticket counters, etc - when you're armed with these two items.

3. Avoid using the pillows and blankets on airline flights. Believe it or not, whether you're flying on cheap flights or premium airlines, the planes don't have a washing machine or dryer hooked up in the back to sanitize pillows and blankets between flights. Bring your own pillow or blanket as a shield against the seats themselves.

4. You'll be hard-pressed to find cheap flights that aren't crowded with travelers; as a common hygiene practice, make sure to sneeze and cough into your own body, preferably into the bend of your arm. Always carry tissues to avoid spreading any of those germs to other passengers.

5. As helpful as flight attendants, ticket counter, and baggage claim employees can be and as much as we appreciate what they do, it wouldn't be unheard of to kindly request to handle your own belongings if possible at this time. Many of the discount airlines don't charge for checked baggage, but you might want to still consider carrying-on your luggage on these cheap flights to avoid having the ticket counter and baggage handlers germ up your bags.


6. Airlines have probably already started opening up cheap airline tickets to Mexico and areas of the country that have had Swine Flu outbreaks, but federal officials do warn against traveling to these places and they ask travelers to be particularly cautious around friends and family who may have recently visited those parts of the world.

7. Remember that you're usually contagious one week prior to exhibiting symptoms of the flu, so if you think you may have come in contact with someone who could be carrying the flu this might be one of the few reasons to postpone your airline tickets for another time.

8. You can never be too cautious, so wearing a mask in public to protect yourself from other traveler's germs and to keep yours from spreading may be a good idea.

9. Remember that just once you've stepped off the plane that doesn't mean you're out of harms way. If you're going to be staying in a hotel room and you have space in your suitcase, you might want to pack your own sheet and pillow case.

Choosing Your Best Travel Destination

If you are planning to take a vacation, be sure to know what you really like to do, this will make your trip more meaningful. Mostly, travelers go for a trip that their friends recommend, but is it what they really want? It's never too early to plan and know what your heart desires.


It's nice to ask yourself these questions before starting to plan your vacation; do I want to relax? Do I want adventure or a learning experience? Do I want to get away from my job? Once you know the answers to these questions, then you are ready to plan your trip.

Vacations are needed for our emotional, physical and mental balance. Vacations give a person a chance to relax, renew his energy, and free him from his daily routine. Vacations could be far away or close to home. Wherever the vacation may be, it does the same thing. It is the satisfaction that is more important than the destination.

Generally, there are some different types of travel according to activities involved. Here are some of them:

1. Responsible Travel. Traveling doesn't always have to be self-serving. With responsible travel, one could have enjoyment as much as respecting the local environment and the people.

2. Rediscovering nature. Rediscovering travel is all about nature and everything in it. It revitalizes the soul while smelling and feeling nature.

3. Tribal cultures. In today's world of high technology, it is wise to experience the simpler life of the tribal people who live close to nature in the same way for the past thousands of years.

4. Responsible Diving. Diving not only let travelers appreciate what is down the sea but also making the traveler more aware of the conservation effort.

The country one is planning to travel to also leaves a great mark on the traveler's diary. Here are some of the most popular destinations today:

1. Thailand.
Thailand is also known as Siam. It is an Asian country bounded by Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia. Behind the back draft of Thailand's jungles of bamboo, rubber trees and vines are the Five-star hotels of modern conveniences. In some parts of the country, elephants are still being use to lift timbers and buffalos are still being use in farming.

2. China.
China is now the second largest country and fastest growing economy in the world. Most parts of China are still unexplored by tourist; however, the eastern portion is now popular to western tourist. First class hotels now offer highest class of amenities and dozens are still being built/

3. Italy.
Italy is a boot-like shape country bounded by Switzerland, Austria, France, and Slovenia. The main attraction of Italy is St. Peter's Square where the Pope resides.

4. Caribbean.
Caribbean is an archipelago of islands, 2000 square miles across. Most of the islands are plateaus and eruptions of underlying mountain systems. It has nice beaches of crushed coral and white or pink sand and the water at the shore is a deep blue.

The success of any vacation will not depend by how much the traveler spent or its destination. It is how the traveler enjoyed it and how he was able to achieve his primary goal of "getting away from it all."

Choosing the Best Travel Accommodation

There are many things to consider when choosing your travel accommodations. The decision could make your trip fun or a disappointment. Choosing the right hotel is a must. Most travelers spend more time in airline ticket reservations and bargains but less time in choosing the right accommodations. Thus they may end up on the wrong side of the bed during their stay.

To get the most out of your hotel accommodations, remember to book as early as possible and make your dates more flexible. Hotels that specialize business people will consider weekends as off season. Family vacationers could tap into these special packages during weekends. Primarily, you should choose your hotel based on name, amenities, features, price, packages and location.

Here are some considerations in choosing your best travel accommodations:

1. Accommodations should be family-friendly. Always ask if your hotel offers children activity areas with educational and fun activities supervised by duly-trained care-givers.

2. Your hotel should provide a swimming pool for children, daycare service, crib rental and child-proof electrical outlets.

3. Stay in a hotel that has electronic room-key cards and has a security viewer installed on their doors.

4. Make it a priority to choose a room on the upper floor.

5. If you're the one who likes to spend more time in your hotel room and the balcony, you should ask for the available amenities and the conditions of the surrounding environment.

6. Depending on whether you're on a private or business trip, ask your hotel about the availability of laundry service, hair dryers, coffee makers, newspapers, free meals, fax machine, bar, cable television, parking, shuttle service, internet connection, etc.

7. The hotel property layout and its location may speak more of its surrounding environment. Noisy locations such as construction on adjacent property, car traffic and noisy waterfalls are not specified on hotel flyers. So be sure to ask about it.

8. Beautifully landscaped surroundings with trees, flowers and inner courts also enhance your travel pleasure. Moreover, gift shops and restaurants all add up to a wonderful travel experience.

9. The location of your hotel with respect to main attraction is equally important. It could save you money on taxi and bus fare.

10. Make sure that the room service is provided 24 hours a day.

11. Check out the room itself. Is it brightly colored or classical? It sets the mood of your travel.

In order to get the most out of your travel, whether for business or family vacations, be sure to know everything about the hotel you are planning to check in to. Ask friends and relatives who have been there. Don't just depend on the hotel's webpage which is undoubtedly biased. Having to stay in a hotel which you don't like could ruin your trip.