Legroom — worth every penny!

If like me, you are over six feet tall, then long haul flights are a right pain — in the legs! In their efforts to squeeze ever more revenue out of flights, airlines have been literally squeezing ever more rows of seats onto their aircraft with the result that the seat pitch (the distance in inches from one seat to the one in front of it) has been shortening in recent years. The usual solution

Don’t forget your pills!

I, unfortunately, am of an age and with a genetic predisposition to hypertension so like millions of others like me, I must take prescription tablets for my high blood pressure every day. On a recent multi-centre business trip to the States, I stupidly left all my medication behind me in one of the hotels and didn't discover my error until I had arrived at my next city. With over a week still to go before

Looking for the hottest place in town? Check out your nearest friendly volcano!

Volcanoes. They are Nature at her most dramatic and terrifying and they occupy a special place in our collective psyche. The jury is still out in some quarters as to whether the demise of the dinosaurs was due to an asteroid impact or a cataclysmic eruption of a giant volcano that brought about the prehistoric equivalent of a nuclear winter some 50 million odd years ago. In any event, volcanoes are things of beauty and

How cultured are you?

When people are asked why they travel abroad on holidays  they usually cite reasons such as weather (if you're Irish!), cuisine, history, scenery, people. The list is obviously longer and more nuanced than that but I think we would all agree that one of the single most important reasons why many people travel abroad is for a taste of that other country's culture and heritage. The Google dictionary defines the word 'culture' as 'The arts

The Lingua Franca that is English

There are tourists and there are travelers. What's the difference between the two?  One blogger has described the difference thus: ' The difference between a tourist and a traveler is that the traveler goes to a place without any preconceptions, whereas the tourist has already decided on how he’s going to experience it. The traveler has an open mind and lets the place happen to him. The tourist brings with him his own environment and expectations, thereby diluting (polluting?)

Check the small print

There's an old saying in the travel business — 'You're never insured until you're insured'. It may sound like it's stating the bloody obvious but i think that the whole point! Travel insurance can sometimes be one of those things that is left on the long finger by people and often tends to be left until the last minute as if the only cover that it provides is for when you actually commence travelling. Since

Move out of your comfort zone in 2013

Carrying on from last weeks' blog in which I suggested that you combine one of the most typical new year resolutions (getting more exercise!) with that of choosing a destination ideal for walking or trekking, I would like to suggest that even if you don't want to get that energetic in 2013 that you at least take the opportunity to move a little bit outside of your comfort zone this year. This doesn't have to

Are you being played?

I have lost count of the number of times that I've been told that the days of the travel agent are gone and that — sooner or later — everyone will be making all their travel arrangements via the Net. Whilst I agree that more people are using the Internet, my experience is that they tend to use it primarily for what i would describe as 'commoditised' travel product — e.g. low cost carriers, hotel

Driving on the left is not the minority sport that you think it is!

Irish holidaymakers are used to the fact that they have to negotiate the strange phenomenon of driving on the wrong side of the road when they usually go abroad since most of the near continent are right-hand drive, as is north and most of Central and South America. Like all things in life, it's an experience that you get used to in time with the result that one easily switches mode when the need arises and you need

So you think you know your amusement parks?

Ask anyone to name a few famous amusement parks and they'll likely come up with names like Disneyland Paris, Port Aventura, Alton Towers and Universal Studios. If they've been to St. louis or Southern California, they might even list slightly less well known attractions such as Six Flags or Knotts' Berry Farm. So, what are the chances that any one of you can guess which amusement park has won this year's Golden Ticket Award? Any of

Do you actually know what a travel agent does?

Ever tried to follow the instructions on how to programme your old video recorder from the manual that came with it? Or any other electronic device for that matter? The instructions are usually as clear as mud because they are written by the guys who designed the device in the first place and who mistakenly assume that we (the users) know more about what they're talking about simply because they do! As travel agents, we are often guilty

The Travel Agent Renaissance

Has the travellers' love affair with the Internet finally peaked? Has it eventually dawned on consumers that all the best deals aren't necessarily found online? Judging by a growing number of articles that have begun to appear in various mainstream publications both in Ireland and abroad over the course of the past 12 months, the answer would appear to be a resounding yes! And we're not talking about small, regional titles here. August publications such

The art of getting a quote that is both competitive in price and relevant to your needs starts with gathering all the right information about what you want to do (or think you want to do!).