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Best Traveling Songs

When we travel we come back with so many stories about the places that we visited. We put up all our photos on Facebook. We talk about the delicious or not so delicious local delights that we sampled. But what about what the music that we heard or what were listening to?

While on the road we spend a lot of our time waiting at airports or on actual transport whether we are sitting in a plane, train, bus, or boat. Most of us either read a book or listen to music on our iPod.

Travel+Leisure Magazine has come up with the top 10 traveling songs

1. Motel Blues: Loudon Wainwright III

2. Refuge of the Road: Joni Mitchell

3. Wide Open Road: The Triffids

4. Leaving on a Jet Plane: Peter, Paul and Mary

5. Station Approach: Elbow

6. Traveller's Tune: Ocean Colour Scene

7. Transit Lounge: Crowded House

8. Every F---ing City: Paul Kelly

9. Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan

10. Roam, the B52s

What do you listen to when you are traveling?

 

Me in Central Park notice the earphones!

When I travel to a particular destination I like creating a customized soundtrack that I can listen to while I am walking the streets of the city exploring for example:

For my first trip to New York City in December 2006 I had the Home Alone – Lost in New York playing on my iPod the whole time. It made such a more memorial and magic experience. I really did get lost in New York City.

While Eurailing in Europe in the summer of 2006 each country that I visited has its own special song. In Italy I would love listening to Dean Martin – That’s Amore! As my travel buddy and I devoured the best pizza the we've ever had in my our lives (which we found in Venice, after getting lost in all the marvelous alleys!) we both broke out into song When the moon hits you eye like a big pizza pie, That's amore! Much to the amusement of the locals!

“Let’s take the train to anywhere

I wanna feel the wind in my hair with you”

Me and my travel buddy actually started a new tradition to christen our rail adventures. We would always listen to Missy Higgins – Don’t Ever each time our train would slowly depart. I now feel obliged to do this every time I travel on the train at the beginning of each journey, some silly superstition that I now have. In December 2007 on my Eurostar trip from London to Paris, I shared this tradition with another traveling buddy who thought it was a bit strange but joined in on the fun anyway!

Though traveling is not only about what you play on your iPod is also about what you hear in the places that you visit.

Granada, Spain view from the Gypsy Caves

One of my most cherished traveling moments comes from when I was traveling in Granada, Spain. One night we were sitting at one of the most beautiful lookouts that I have ever been to which over looked the majestic Alhambra. A group of gypsies came over to have a chat and then started playing their guitars and we all broke out into song and dance!

So now instead of only creating photo albums on Facebook I have created a travel playlist on my iPod so I can re-live all those amazing traveling moments.

Some Places I’ve visited and their songs

• Salzburg, Austria: The Sound of Music Soundtrack
• Paris: I love Paris from the musical Can-Can
• London: Oasis – Wonderwall, Michael Bublé – Foggy Day (in London Town)
• New York City: Frank Sinatra New York, New York
• Miami: Will Smith – Miami
• Jamaica: Bob Marley, Sean Paul – Temperature

Flights Deals to Eastern Europe

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Medieval Krakow

Learn more about charming Krakow, Poland in this video from travel gurus LonelyPlanet.tv.

Did You Know? Eastern European Travel

Ten facts about Eastern Europe-

1. The United Nations considers Eastern Europe to consist of the following ten countries- Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.

2. Hitchhiking is still a very common form of travel.

3. Voronet Monastery, located in northeastern Romania, is also known as the Sistine Chapel of the East.

4. In Moldova it is common for the people to speak Romanian, but the road signs to be in Russian. Moldova is an uncommon mixture of both heritages.

5. Slovakia’s tourism industry has grown remarkably since independence. By the late 1990s the country was receiving more than 500,000 visitors each year. However, the country is still comparatively un-Westernized.

6. The Bulgarian Belogradchik Rocks took the lead in D category – caves, rocks and valleys, in the race to determine the new seven world wonders.

7. The Royal Castle of Poland in Warsaw was built originally in 1589-1619. Throughout the centuries and different wars it changed hands many times. In 1939, during WWI, it was bombed repeatedly. And then in 1944, it was dynamited by German occupiers. The Castle was rebuilt from 1971-1988 as a national monument of Polish history and culture. Interiors were meticulously restored using the preserved ruin fragments and the old documents as examples of the original state.

8. Odessa, Ukraine is referred to as the "Pearl of the Black Sea." The beach-side town is the 3rd largest city in Ukraine, and the largest city on the Black Sea. Odessa's mild climate, warm waters and sunlit beaches attract hundreds of thousands of people year around.

9. The capital city of Minsk, Belarus is a testament to Soviet ideology, with hints of the outside world creeping in. Its chic boutiques, cafés and nightclubs keep you entertained and get you connected with the lovable locals, who are shy at first but intrigued and flattered by foreign visitors. But with the KGB still listening in on phone calls, it is not hard to understand their shyness.

10. While most of Eastern Europe offers all modern day amenities, Western travelers may want to bring their own toilet paper. Many Eastern European countries still charge a small fee to Westerners who wish to use a small square of this necessity.

Cheap flights to Europe, including Moscow and Prague, are now on-sale at CheapOair.com

Foodie Friday- Vegetarian Travels

To wrap up our Green Week, we thought we'd celebrate Foodie Friday with tips for finding good vegetarian meals while traveling. Because man cannot live on house salad alone!

1. Do a quick internet search with "vegetarian, restaurants, CITY NAME."

2. Check out the Vegetarian Travel Guide.

3. When booking your cheap flight ask the airline for a vegetarian meal.

4. Consider a full-blown vegetarian vacation!

5. When in doubt about vegetarian options at your destination, stop at the local grocers and pick up a few items for yourself.

Kudos to you for your vegetarian endeavors! Good luck! If you have more suggestions on ways to travel with a vegetarian lifestyle, share them with us!

Adventure Thursday

I have been extremely fortunate to do some traveling around the world. I am also obsessed with airport and airplanes, and like a true travel nerd I spend my time searching the internet for the latest news on airport and airplanes. Generally speaking I have had relatively good flying experiences. My main complaint has always been the strange the people that I have sat next to (or should that be sat next to me?).
Sometimes, I wish it was like in the movies where you meet the perfect stranger or like in that episode of Seinfeld where Jerry sits next to the Calvin Klein model (though if I was a model I would definitely not go for Jerry Seinfeld…)
The only ‘scary’ flight that I have ever really been on was a really turbulent flight from San Salvador to Los Angeles back in 2002. Well that was until last week… It was your normal early Tuesday morning. I had left my hotel in South Beach, with great sadness that my vacation had ended and I was going back to the concrete jungle that is New York City. Being an early morning flight to New York City it was a full flight. I was actually impressed with the airline about how quickly they boarded everyone on the plane without to much trouble. I felt sorry for the flight attendants though because there were a few ‘demanding’ passengers who had bought on too much carry on luggage and expected that it be placed in the overhead compartment above their seat. The flight attendant smiled and very politely and tactfully explained to the passenger that this was a very full flight and unfortunately they were unable to fulfill her request. But that she was going to place her luggage near the flight attendants area so she could keep a special eye on her bags for her.
So, I usually turn off when the flight attendants go through the safety demonstrations. I’ve heard it over and over again. (In hindsight, probably not the wisest move) I shut my eyes as we started to pull away from the aerobridge. Everything seemed to be going fine, though all of a sudden I felt as if the plane was losing some power, we were slowing down and we stopped! The plane was quiet, I open my eyes and it was pitch black. The captain announces that we have just lost power and that he needs to restart the engines and that he was sorry for the inconvenience. I was oddly calm about this loss of power and inconvenience…
1. Airplanes have back up systems in place to handle losses of power
2. We were still on the ground; I would have definitely been panicking if we were taking off or in the air!
So let’s try this again. The pilot restarted the engines and we were off again. This time we're speeding down the runway. But what happened next was unexpected. All of a sudden there was a loud thump. I looked to my left hand side and could see that a panel from the ceiling of the aircraft had fallen down and was hanging by a wire. The passenger who was sitting below it was now holding it up along with the wire. I and some other passengers were trying to get the attention of the flight attendants. I am pretty sure I had heard some passengers yelling “Get me off this plane! It is falling apart…”

One of the flight attendants came over to investigate what the entire ruckus was about. She did her job and called the pilot to let him know. We eventually started slowing down and came to another stop. We were then informed by the pilot that we had to return back to the gate so that maintenance could have a look at the fallen panel. It turned out what had fallen from the ceiling was the oxygen tank that would supply you with oxygen in case of an emergency….
Maintenance eventually came and had a look. They literally had a look. They were just staring at the fallen panel for four minutes pondering… The solution; let’s use tape to hold it in place. A few of the other passengers started to laugh out loud when they saw that they were using tape to hold a panel in place.
So two hours later we were given the all clear and we were set to go off yet again. We were all just staring at the panel. Hoping that the tape would hold everything in place. I felt sorry for the poor passenger that the panel fell on top of. I would definitely not want to be in her seat. We took off without a hitch and made it into the air this time.
The actual flight was pretty bumpy. The flight attendants lost their balance a few times as did the passengers that were told to stay in their seats but did not listen. We landed safely in New York City and there were cheers and sighs of relief that we made it alive…
Lesson learned. Pay attention to the safety demonstration because the unexpected can always happen.

CheapOair 30 Seconds of Fame Commercial Contest

Are you ready for your 30 Seconds of Fame?

To enter the contest-

Create your own original commercial starring CheapOair.com

Upload your video to YouTube, tag it with “cheapoair” and "travel"

Join the CheapOair YouTube Group, and add your video to the group (videos will be moderated before showing in the group)

Next, go to the CheapOair submission page and register your name and video officially.

Once you hit 'submit,' you are on your way to fame and Europe!

Videos must be no longer than 30 seconds in length, and must not violate any copyright laws. Videos not officially registered on the CheapOair submission page will not be considered.

Contest is open to all U.S. and Canadian legal residents, April 15, 2009- May 13, 2009. The top 5 semi-finalists will be selected by CheapOair's panel of judges. The top 5 commercials will be voted on by the public May 18-May 24, 2009. The commercial that receives the most votes will win 2 free round-trip plane tickets to Europe!

And don't forget to read the contest rules and regulations.

Green Travel Can Be Cheap Travel!

By Guest Blogger Chef Cody the Antarctic Cowboy

Over the last two years I’ve been living on a tight budget, but have still managed to explore some of the wildest places on Earth. It all began when I completed my junior year at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. I was looking to put my geographical lessons to use and get a taste of America’s last northern frontier… Alaska. My lifelong goals have been to decrease my ecological footprint and protect wilderness resources, so I decided to join in the Alaska State Parks Volunteer Program. My only expenditure for the 4-month off-grid, sustainable living experience at Shuyak Island, Kodiak was my airfare.

Alaska State Parks provided its volunteers with backcountry skills training, an amazing rustic cabin, and plenty of food, although most of the time we opted to catch our own. I was able to utilize my skills learned in the classroom and live happily on a protected remote island at no cost to my savings or the environment. 

After spending the summer of 2007 in grizzly bear country I returned to Canada and worked towards finishing up my degree. It was a bloody cold winter for my final year at uni and I was yearning for some sunshine. I remember sitting on the couch on a late January night digging through craigslist’s ‘jobs offered’ ads. I mined through all the tropical country postings and came across a Chef opportunity at La Colina Lodge in Monteverde, Costa Rica. I crossed my fingers and applied. Shortly thereafter, I accepted the eco-lodge Chef offer, graduated from university, and flew down to Costa Rica. Our agreement was that I would be given free room and board, and I would in turn operate the kitchen just so the lodge guests could have a scrumptious bite to eat.

During the summer of 2008 I primarily cooked in the cloud forests of Monteverde, but on some weekdays when we didn’t have many reservations I closed down the restaurant and took off to the beaches of Montezuma or Playa Hermosa to do some backpacking by sandal. Priceless.

Come August the rains were really picking up and we had very few customers, so once again I felt it was time to migrate. I began mining through Craigslist’s Alaska jobs offered page and came across one for Antarctica. What? Antarctica? Is this a hoax? Sure enough NANA Services was recruiting cooks for the 2008-2009 summer season and I instantly sent in my application. A few days later I received a heartwarming email and I made a call to the Head Chef for an interview. I was given an offer, accepted it, and had to return back to the U.S. for paperwork and all sorts of testing. I used part of my profit from the restaurant business on airfare, flew back home to Ohio, then spent the rest of the profit on extreme cold weather gear and cooking knives.

Within two weeks I went from Costa Rica, to Ohio, to Denver, to Los Angeles, to Christchurch, New Zealand, and then to Ross Island, Antarctica. My pictures will speak louder than words for this trip.

My airfare, room and board was covered by NANA Services, which is a contract company that supports government agencies, and in turn I just had to cook. I have learned that the entire world, from the North Pole to the South Pole and in between, needs food. There are certain jobs that are always needed in society, like housekeeping, bartending, and cooking. Although they may not pay much they will get you by and sometimes get you to amazing locations.

I got off the ice about two months ago and since then have been a volunteer bush camp Chef for a sustainable development project in Victoria, Australia. Instead of craigslist, I found this opportunity on Help Exchange, and most of the volunteers I cook for are wwoofers. I’m given free ingredients and a roof under my head; all I have to do is cook, fish, and explore the beaches.

Once I’m done here in the Aussie bush I am planning to head northwards to the backcountry of Alaska and work as a kayak adventure guide and camp cook. My housing will be in a tent, food will hopefully primarily come from the waters along with a few necessary ingredients from the Great Alaskan Adventure Lodge, and maybe I will make a few bucks just so I can travel again when the northern summer comes to an end. In essence, just follow the summers.

Now you know my secrets, there are four ways that have allowed me to travel to Alaska, Costa Rica, Antarctica, and Australia at nearly no cost:
1.Volunteer with an ‘all inclusive’ organization
2.Barter your skills for free room and board at any establishment that offers such
3.Take part in governmental jobs that require international travel
4.Once you land something, make a few bucks, buy a cheap plane tickets, fly to another part of the world… start over and repeat as necessary.

Galapagos Island- a nature lovers dream

One of the most popular natural attractions in South America is Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. This short BBC video shows you why-

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Foodie Friday- Samoan Foods

Today, we are taking a delicious trip the island paradise that is located between New Zealand and  Hawaii.  We are of course talking about Samoa.  

 

Food in Samoa, like in many other cultures plays a central part to the way of life. The type of foods that are found around the island are taro root, yams, bananas, coconuts, breadfruit and fish.

Culture Spot:  For some Samoans eating a coconut is a sign of poverty Samoan meals are almost always accompanied by a salted coconut cream condiment called pe'epe'e. They pour it over boiled taro root and heat before serving.

The favourite beverage in Samoa is called Koko Samoa which is a refreshing and luscious drink made out of cacao beans (where cocoa comes from), water and brown sugar! Tip: Do not indulge in a Koko Samoa before bedtime because it sure to keep you awake for hours!

Mouthwatering traditional delights in Samoa are interestingly enough baked not fried. They are baked in a ground oven filled with hot stones called an umu. To cook fish the traditional Samoan way you would wrap some freshly caught fish in a banana leaf with some coconut cream and then cook in the umu for two hours. But dieters beware! Coconut cream is high in fat! But it is not like we really care when we are on vacation! Bon appetite!

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