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Honeymoons

Experience how the other half live

Isn’t it amazing how some expressions come to end up meaning exactly the opposite of what they were first meant to express? Take the title of this week’s blog for example. ‘How the other half lives’ was the title of a book written in 1890 by a recent immigrant to the United States, a Jacob Riis who had arrived there from Denmark in 1870. After having worked a wide variety of menial jobs, Riis worked

There is no sincerer love than the love of food!

At least that’s what George Bernard Shaw claimed and I’m inclined to agree with him. It would also appear that I’m not alone as the people at Oceania Cruises also take their food very seriously indeed. They reputedly spend more on food than any other cruise line and having recently spent a couple of indulgent days aboard Oceania Insignia as it made its way up from Bordeaux to Dublin, I can attest to that claim!

Don’t miss the boat!

One of the things that we try to do both on our website and through the medium of this blog is to occasionally alert readers to emerging trends so that they can be ahead of the curve when it comes to sampling new travel products or discovering new destinations around the world. This week’s blog is somewhat surprising in that it covers a subject that people assume is extremely popular! You would think that cruising

Planning a honeymoon abroad?

There are several signs that the Irish economy is up on its feet again. One is the increase in new car sales. The other is the dramatic increase in people getting married and planning weddings. How do I know this? It’s because every year, Travelbug hosts a conference and workshop for both our affiliated travel agents and suppliers so we are always looking for suitable venues and since last year, we’ve been finding it increasingly

Where’s the nicest place you’ve ever been?

It's a question I get asked all the time, when people find out what I do for a living and genuinely, my stock response up to relatively recently was always: 'The last place I visited'. Whilst this may sound like me trying to avoid the question it wasn't! It was because of a combination of me being unable to single out any one destination for honourable mention and the fact that I love everyplace I

There’s ‘free’ … and then there’s ‘FREE’!

The word 'free' is one of the most powerful trigger words in the English language. It grabs our attention and forces us to read on further. It is a marketing guru's tool that many of them use to good effect. We, as consumers, are suckers though and when a lot of the claims of free this and that fail to live up to the hyperbole, we're left feeling foolish for having been duped — yet

Perception is reality

The news — e.g. the commentary that you see on the TV or read in newspapers and magazines is a commodity and just like any other kind of commodity it is perishable and thus must be sold by its sell-by date. By 'sold' I mean distributed or broadcast. Describing the 'news' as a commodity that is bought and sold may sound counter-intuitive but it's true and because of its perishability, there is a constant pressure

The thrill that is History!

I'm Irish and very proud to be so. I think that for such a small country, we've made a disproportionate impact on the global stage. Both our history and our mythology are extremely rich — as is our almost unique culture — some of which we share with our Celtic cousins. There are times though when I travel, that I'm reminded of how all such things are relative and that by comparison with some other

Heaven does exist — and it’s located in Tuscany!

I'm Irish and I've lived in Ireland all my life and I can't think of anywhere else in the world I'd rather spend the rest of my days — despite the weather, the politicians, the cute hoorism, the naked nepotism at every turn and a hundred or more other things that irritate me and cause my blood pressure to go stratospheric! We've got a great little country and our food  is second to none. We
safeness

Where should I go on my next holiday?

There are all sorts of reasons why people choose the destinations that they do. For some it’s simply price, for other’s weather is their primary concern. Some choose destinations based on their proximity whilst other travellers choose places based on their ‘safeness’. It is therefore interesting to note the results of the latest biannual report from the World Economic Forum which rates countries around the world based on a wide ranging set of metrics that

Why familiarity sometimes breeds contempt!

If you look up any dictionary meaning of cliché, it reads something along the lines of '... a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought ...' I think that that is a rather harsh interpretation myself. Clichés become clichés simply because they're true and represent the most succinct and accurate way of describing a particular concept. The above title is a particular case in point. I recently had a

Istanbul — The city with multiple personalities!

People often assume that just because you work in the travel business, you must have been everywhere. I wish! Don't get me wrong. I have travelled extensively for sure over the course of my 40 years in the industry but what tends to happen is that you end up visiting the same destinations quite a lot — particularly if they feature heavily in the markets that you trade in — and much less so for

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