While you have to admit the recession sucks, there are some positive results. One is that travel, if you can afford it, can be relatively cheap, depending where you go. Either airfares are down, or the local currency is sagging so everything once you arrive is discounted. Here are a few locations you should think about taking advantage of before the recession ends:
Check out WatchMojo’s travel profile on the #1 cheap recession destination, Hungary:
According to CNN.com:
Winter travelers trek thousands of miles to the frozen north each year seeking the sky’s “dancing lights,” which provoke awe, excitement and, some say, sex.
Scientists call the natural phenomenon aurora borealis: cascading beams of greens, yellows, blues, purples or reds — which paint a breathtaking backdrop across the wilderness and attract thousands of tourists annually.
“Usually it starts slowly as kind of a hazy greenish color — like a mist — building up in frequency dancing across the sky … and to me that’s religion,” said photographer Dave Brosha of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, who’s seen more than 100 Canadian auroras. “It’s just one of the most incredible feelings a person can have — sitting there watching that.”
To the west in Canada’s Yukon province, tour operator Torsten Eder likes to tell a story about a marriage that was forged under the glowing curtains of light.
“I had one guy from Mexico, and he wanted to surprise his girlfriend by proposing marriage with a ring under the northern lights,” said Eder from his office in Whitehorse.
“We got lucky and the lights were visible … so our guest went down on his knee and proposed to his girlfriend and she was totally blown away. The funny thing was — she wouldn’t wear gloves for the first three days — so she could show the ring off.”
Check out WatchMojo’s profile on the Northern Lights:
Check out this list of locations where you’ll get the best bang for your buck.
Stockholm, Sweden
Now: $1 buys 7.9 Sweden kronor (SEK)
June 2008:$1 bought 6 SEK
Increase in value of the dollar: 32%Reykjavik, Iceland
Now: $1 buys 120 Icelandic kronur (ISK)
June 2008: $1 bought 74 ISK
Increase in value of the dollar: 52%Bruges, Belgium
Now: $1 buys 0.79 euro (EUR)
June 2008: $1 bought 0.64 EUR
Increase in value of the dollar: 23%Madrid, Spain
Now: $1 buys 0.79 EUR
June 2008: $1 bought 0.64 EUR
Increase in value of the dollar: 23%Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Now: $1 buys 1.6 Australia dollars (AUD)
June 2008: $1 bought 1.05 AUD
Increase in value of the dollar: 52%Rotorua, New Zealand
Now: $1 buys 1.8 New Zealand dollars (NZD)
June 2008: $1 bought 1.28 NZD
Increase in value of the dollar: 41%Istanbul, Turkey
Now: $1 buys 1.7 new Turkish lira (TRY)
June 2008: $1 bought 1.2 TRY
Increase in value of the dollar: 42%Montreal, Canada
Now:$1 buys 1.28 Canadian dollars (CAD)
June 2008: $1 bought 0.99 CAD
Increase in value of the dollar: 29%Enniskerry, Ireland
Now: $1 buys 0.79 EUR
June 2008: $1 bought .64 EUR
Increase in value of the dollar: 23%
No one is saying global warming is good, but there are a few places in the world that will benefit - at least in a tourism capacity - from slightly warmer climes. Here is a list of global warming’s “winners:”
“In October 1999 National Geographic Traveler showcased 50 of the world’s top destinations, places that every curious traveler should visit in a lifetime. Now we’re expanding our Places of a Lifetime franchise online, with personal essays on top destinations and the addition of a wealth of timely service information, from insiders’ tips on the best places to stay and eat, to great books and music, to recommended walking tours. In our online Places of a Lifetime you’ll find both inspiration and practical travel tips, and we plan to add more great cities on a regular basis.” - National Geographic
Read more:
Iceland’s government has asked the U.S. ambassador to explain the treatment of an Icelandic tourist who says she was held in shackles before being deported from the USA.
The woman, Erla Osk Arnardottir Lillendahl, 33, was arrested Sunday when she arrived at JFK airport in New York because she had overstayed a U.S. visa more than 10 years earlier.
Lillendahl, 33, had planned to shop and sightsee with friends, but endured instead what she has claimed was the most humiliating experience of her life.
She contended she was interrogated at JFK airport for two days, during which she was not allowed to call relatives. She said she was denied food and drink for part of the time, and was photographed and fingerprinted.
On Monday, Lillendahl claimed, her hands and feet were chained and she was moved to a prison in New Jersey, where she was kept in a cell, interrogated further and denied access to a phone.
Wow, just like Baghdad airport!
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