Archive for November, 2009
How am I traveling?
I been working long time on this post and I really hope you can take advantage on it for your following travels. It is going to explain some tips to save money while you are traveling, and how you can easily become part of a new place.
Travel is like a book, if you stay in one place you only read one page…
First save on your air flights:
If you use the big online search engines (like orbitz, expedia or cheapflights) to book your flights, there is a good chance that you are overpaying. Don’t avoid them but surely don’t use them to buy your tickets. If you find a good deal go to the website of the company and buy it from there.
When you have an estimate date and location to travel I recommend you to start looking with low-budget airline companies (there is a list below). You also can search the airport of the region that you want to travel and see which airlines arrive to your destiny. There is a demonstration below how the big online search engines make you to overpay. Take your time to browse and to buy your tickets because you can save up to 40% on your flights (sometimes even much more).
Tips:
- The more flights you take, the more money you’ll spend.
- Flying mid-week is usually the cheapest time.
- Be prepared to fly from other terminals or airports entirely. If you are booking connecting flights, ensure that you are arriving at and departing from the same airport, or that there is enough time for you to hustle to your new departure point.
- If you don’t buy your ticket much in advance, don’t exasperate you’ll find good deals, but be flexible with the departing days.
- Watch the luggage rules. Many budget airlines cut their costs by charging for checked-baggage by weight. If you don’t pre-pay for your checked bags, or if you exceed the limit you paid for, you could face some hefty fines.
- Don’t expect to be dined in budget airlines.
- If you think 10 dollars deserve to sit on the window is up to you.
- In every airport there is a cheap way to get to the city, just ask after you arrive.
Low cost airlines: click here
For the demonstration I arbitrarily decided to fly from London to Barcelona on December 12th, 2009.
Orbitz offered me his best deal for US$ 190 in total however Ryan Air did it for 25 British pounds….. what is almost US$ 42.
Get free accommodations or work for them and some food tips:
One of the biggest expenses for a traveler is accommodation. The difference using hospitality exchanges (like coushsefing, rotary, etc) is that you are a guest in somebody’s home free of charge. The arrangement generally lets you to stay only a few days as opposed to the weeks and even months that a work-trade will give you,
Hospitality exchange websites:
About couchsurfing there is a lot to do with the platform they have, not only to be hosted or hoster. You can invite people to have coffee or drink, to make short trips and they usually organize weekly meetings. I’ve participated in the meetings of Melbourne and Auckland and both were really good. It is a great way to meet locals and travelers when you are in your city or while you are traveling.
Food tips:
There is a lot of money that can save by virtue of paying attention to how you eat while traveling.
- Buy some basic ingredients from the grocery store.
- Be open to try new tastes, flavors and foods.
- Food is a great way to socialize. If you are alone, and you see someone alone having lunch or dinner at your same place, asked her/him if you can join her/him for the moment, you both already have something in command what is a good beginning for a conversation.
- Want a special meal out? Consider going out for lunch instead of dinner. You often get similar if not identical portions, but for a fraction of the dinner prices.
- Does the restaurant have a beautiful view? If so, chances are you are paying for it with your meal. Instead, go to the restaurant around the corner or take a picnic to where the view is (Stanley Tasmania, hardly touch us about this tip)
Become part of the community:
Keep your eyes open, and get involved! You will discover new doors opening for jobs, places to stay, and places to eat. You will get to know the local culture better, and you will make some amazing friends along the way.
First I’d like to recommend you to go to the public library (usually there is free internet and different great scooping resources), read each whiteboard or news paper that you may find, join the couchsuring or facebook group of the city, became member of a sport team, join a religious group or ask in the universities if you can presence some of the classes.
The photo below shows how Jx and me ¨organized¨ our life groups in Auckland. It was during our first days, finally we didn’t do all what is in the picture but it helped us to become part of our new place and it kept us busy.
Secondly below you are going to find some of the volunteer organizations where you can find positions to volunteer. I believe is better keep your eyes open and if you see a place that probably needs your help just stop by them and ask what you can do for them and how they can help you.
If you are interested in boot your resume and you prefer an internship, the first step is to start looking for the companies where you see your self working for and then sending them your resume with a nice cover letter (I have some .pdf with models if someone is interested in them). Two important things to have in mind about internships are: visa requirements, which may vary from your country, and that companies are prone to do it but not for less than 3 months, when the volunteer could be do it just for a week.
Don’t buy souvenirs
Couple years ago I was traveling in the north of Argentina with a group of students and one of the girls asked me a questions when I was buying a souvenir… Before you buy any souvenir ask your self: Will you remember this trip by virtue of owning this souvenir or will the person who received it remember me or this trip, by this souvenir? If the answer is yes, buy it, if not continue walking for sure you’ll find it in the next store ☺.
Below are some recommendations:
- Use skype or voipstunt to be close of your people.
- Send postcards, letters or print and send some pictures while you are traveling.
- I sent pictures of: a Louis Vuitton wallet to my sister, a picture with some Ferrero Rocher to my mother’s birthday, an automatic machine of Pringles to a very good friend who loves them and a concert ticket that was really good to my father’s birthday.
- I met a German guy who was collecting shells to make a necklace for his girlfriend,
Travel Slow:
Start being explorer on your own place, enjoy each moment that you will experience and think of your trip as a lifestyle and not just an exit way of vacations or party, even if you are only traveling for a short time, are my last recommendations. Don’t worry about seeing absolutely everything there is to see, just focus.
For all the people who I said: I’m going to post something about how I like to travel this is the mentioned post, sorry for the time that took me to write it. I wish all of you and who is reading this post happy soon travels!!!
Add comment November 22, 2009
Checking emails
Since last week I´m living with Marion and Clovis. Two cool persons from France, they came to Auckland to work one month ago.
The internet in our house stooped working couple days ago so yesterday night we went to check in front of a cafe not far from our place.
A person who was passing asked: Are you checking your emails? yes the internet from our house stopped working we replayed, he said back: really checking your emails?
I don’t know yet what three guys with them laptops at 11PM, could be doing on the street…
2 comments November 19, 2009
What did I learn?
There are some things that I have learned and understood the past three months:
I understood why there are too many bells in buses… to make you don’t need to stand up until you want to get off from the bus.
I learned that stepfather or padrastro in french is beau-père, what means papa bonito.
I learned that you can cross in diagonal in New Zealand.
I learned that I can be punctual and I don´t need to be enforced by someone other than myself.
I learned more about meeting strangers in coffee, corners, buses and other situations.
I learned to carry around personal business cards with just my name, email and phone number.
I learned that small things matter,
I learned that sleeping in a van or in the floor is not too bad.
I learned the responsibility of writing a blog,
I learned more trusting in my intuition.
I learned that a fridge is something that I can live with out it…. for a while…
I learned how to use a Mac, Couchsurfing.org and trademe.co.nz.
I learned more English, some French and how to count up to three in Chinese.
I learned that sometimes is better let people be than try to convince them what they could do or be, however I´m not going to give up with the people who I feel they deserve it.
I learned that I can build my own furniture with just a Swiss knife
I learned that the NZ feather was really a leaf of plant.
I learned how important is a woman ¨touch¨ in each house,
I learned how to cook mussels,
I learned that walk as a kiwi means go barefoot.
I´m still learning how to apply to jobs, but I think is better walk, stop by any office or store that I like, ask for a manager, give them my hand, introduce my self, and then give him/her my resume.
I learned how to smoke shisha and that people from Saudi Arabia have something similar to mate,
I learned to drive on the left, with the steering wheel on the other side… and with Colombian talking!
I learned I can feel close to people being so far,
I learned about me
I learned that I´m not different from what I´m in my country except for what I´m learning.
3 comments November 13, 2009
Caminos son…
I left Buenos Aires 1st August but only today I felt I was ready to post about my despedida,
My last weeks in Buenos Aires, were quite busy. I moved to my parents house, I went to Misiones, I was finishing my work and I finished an online community for IAE, that was launched today. All of this, in addition to the last-minute things that came up with the trip and some personal wonderful events.
I remember started saying good-bye to people 3 or 4 weeks before I left Buenos Aires because they were traveling before me: Carmen (cousin), Katie (Friend and Partner), Francisco (Co worker)…
During my last weeks in Buenos Aires, I had dinners with my closest friends. Some of them gave me very small and original presents. Two compasses, one hand-made, to remember how to return to Buenos Aires, a little torch to enlighten decisions, a little matraca to have fun, a travel chess, un rosario, some media hora candies, some photos, couple books and some letters. Thanks for all the creativity used to made the presents!
Friday 31st July was my farewell party, most of the people who I quiero was there, and it was a beautiful night with pizza, drinks and very nice conversations. On Saturday morning I had breakfast with a friend and her husband, then I went to say good-bye to my grandparents. My brothers, my sister and Nadia (friend from Bariloche) came to see me and my parents off at the airport.
Couple weeks later I said good-bye to my parents and I still remember the last words of my mother: “Bendiciones y si queres volver antes, te esperamos”
After that I met Juan Cruz Petracchi in Sydney, he was a very good friend from Buenos Aires and I believe he is much better friend now. After 9 weeks, sharing most of time together, having fun, meeting new people, laughing until cry several times and learning a lot I´m saying good-bye to him. He is probably the last person who I know that I´m going to see until I return. Tomorrow he is going to the south Island and I´m going to stay in Auckland.
JX, be sure that one sonrisa is not going to cause the same than two, but we will continue causing sensation while we are traveling. Just remember that we are ambassadors of Argentina.
For my parents, brothers, loli, friends, grandparents, Tina, JuanX, Benja, Agu, Road and for all the people who is part of my life thanks for let me fly, be sure that I´m going to return stronger and with a bigger smile to share with all of you.
Caminos son…. los que caminamos,
1 comment November 6, 2009
Kia ora – Maori People
Last Saturday was our first encounter with Maori people. After we went to the Auckland Art Gallery we stopped by a church that was crowd of people and cars, it was the Anglican Maori Church and a seminar, that happens every two years, was delivering by Maori people from all over NZ, Australia, Canada, Polynesia an indigenous group from Hawaii.
First of all we talked with an old woman who was smoking a cigarette, in the main door of the church. She invited us to join them, so we passed and we started talking with a second person, called Helen. She was a beautiful Maori woman who explained us, with lot of patience, about their culture, history and language, then she invited us to have dinner and to be part of the last celebration of the day.
The celebration finished with a real haka led by the bishops, then we walked to the car (Helen was giving us a ride to the city) and we crossed with the first woman who invited us to join the celebration. She gave us a kiss as it is showed by the picture.
Something that surprised both of us was the happiness that they all had, by the end, Juan asked Helen about it: she said; this is Church.
Today I received an email from Helen, with the meaning of Kia Ora that I want to share with all of you:
Thank you for being with us, it was a joy to have you both share food and fellowship with us. You made our evening special. You have my contact details now, please feel free to txt or email me if there is anything you need whilst you are in our country. Kia ora (it means lots of things e.g., thank you, I understand, greetings, have a nice day, be well. It actually means, life be with you) and life be with you both, enjoyAmazing Saturday afternoon, thanks!
if you are interest to read more about Maori culture, Maori marks, and the official site of the Maori community.
Add comment November 3, 2009
How is going to be internet in the next 5 years?
Nice question asked to Eric Schimnd (CEO of Google) at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando (2009).
To summarize:
- Five years from now the internet will be dominated by Chinese-language content (he lived in China for 3 years).
- Today’s teenagers are the model of how the web will work in five years – they jump from app to app seamlessly.
- Within five years distinctions between TV, radio and the web will go away.
It is also important to analyze the patrons of how internet works and Bernardo Huberman, Senior HP Fellow and Director of the Social Computing Lab at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, studied about them and he wrote: The laws of Internet (edited by MIT, 2001). His research concentrated on the world wide web, with particular emphasis the dynamics of its growth and use. I found an interesting review by IBM with his six principals laws:
- Power Law of Distribution. This law posits that, despite the seemingly arbitrary way in which the Web grows, there are clear patterns that reflect hidden regularities. You can determine the anticipated growth rate for a given site, for example, by creating a skewed distribution of current size, its growth (in terms of pages, visitors, etc.) to date, and the number of links per page, and then applying a fixed mathematical formula (1/nß).
- Small World Law. This law is analogous to the “Six Degrees of Separation” theory: It says that members of a large population are connected by short chains of acquaintances. In relation to the Web, this is based on the derivative of the shortest link path to various “small worlds” and communities. The mathematical model Huberman proposes for this law is useful for studying Web navigation; in particular, it has potential for improving search engine and e-commerce site designs.
- Law of Surfing. The perceived value that a user gets with each click is randomly related to the previous one; therefore, the value of subsequent clicks is based on a probability factor. According to this law, one can then determine the number of pages that a user is likely to visit within a site by looking at the probability that any visitor will surf a given number of pages within any site.
- Law of Congestion. This law relates to the way people weigh global good vs. cost/benefit to themselves as individuals. When people dine with a group, for example, and there is an unspoken agreement to divide the check evenly at the end of the evening, some people deliberately order an expensive meal, while some deliberately choose a cheaper one, thereby lowering the per person cost. When it comes to the Internet, users are not charged proportionally to their use, so some “greedy” individuals thoughtlessly consume as much bandwidth as they can. According to the law of congestion, this can create high-consumption patterns called Internet “storms”. Often, when they encounter a storm, large numbers of users defer surfing until a later time; they relinquish bandwidth almost synchronously, thereby relieving the congestion. Although they don’t do this deliberately to help others, these people are analogous to those who order the less expensive meals. This law of congestion is helpful in designing algorithms for speeding up traffic on the Internet.
- The Free Ride Law. This is closely related to the law of congestion. When using network applications such as Napster and FreeNet, some people will download a lot of material and hog a lot of bandwidth without contributing anything in return. The author proposes several solutions, from market-based, fee-per-use architectures to alternate cost structures that require in-kind contributions.
- The Law of Downloading. This law relates to the typical travel time between any two computers and its effect on site usability/performance. When a user clicks on a link and nothing happens, he or she will typically halt that download and click again to reload. This manual restart process needs to be factored into sites handling e-commerce, for example. Some sites use an automated reload mechanism that anticipates this user behavior and makes the download appear to be progressing more quickly. (more…)
Add comment November 2, 2009
