Travel Goal Getter Travel Blog

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AMAZING RACE SEASON 22 EPISODE 5 LOCATION RECAP - VIETNAM

3/21/2013

National Museum of Vietnam History, Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo used under creative commons by DerFussi.

Amazing racers traveled from Bali to Hanoi, Vietnam in Episode 5 of The Amazing Race, Season 22. Vietnam, with a population of over 87 million, is described by Lonely Planet as a country "Blessed with a ravishing coastline, emerald-green mountains, breathtaking national parks, dynamic cities, outstanding cultural interest and one of the world’s best cuisines, Vietnam has it all." I return to Nomadic Matt as a first-hand reference who has a handful of posts on Vietnam and the area including an article about why he will never return to Vietnam. Take a look at "Echoes of War in a Land of Peace" from gonomad.com that contains some travel tips on visiting Vietnam. For further articles just search Vietnam on our custom Google search, Top Travel Blogs Search Engine that searches only the top 150 travel blogs in the world which typically results in very relevant search results.

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Do you have amazing travel goals? Check out a simple tool to help track of states visited, countries visited, and continents visited - see our Travel Goal iPad App to learn more about tracking your unique travel goals and your travel experiences and bucket-lists on your own travel goal iPad app. See Achieving Travel Goals for some quick advice and a comprehensive guide to help you achieve travel goals. Looking for great articles to plan your next amazing adventure? See our Top Travel Blog Search Engine that searches only the top 150 most widely read and popular travel blogs in the world. Have you traveled to all 50 states, at least 6 continents, or at least 15 countries? Become a free member of our All Fifty Club, Continent Club, and/or Traveler's Country Club and join our Travel Community for FREE today or give a membership as a gift! Happy Travels!

64 TOP TRAVEL DESTINATIONS BRACKET TOURNAMENT

3/21/2013

The first round/four winners of our inaugural 64 Top Travel Destinations Bracket Tournament have been determined! Latvia ousted Romania and will play China in round 2, Andorra beat Azerbaijan and will face neighbor France, Panama toppled Slovakia and will face the US, and Iceland sailed past Malta in an epic island battle and will face Spain in the next round. It's not too late to fill out your own bracket...grab the PDF below.

2013_top_travel_destinations_tournament_bracket1.pdf
File Size:	200 kb
File Type:	pdf

Travel Goal Getter iPad App
Track States, Countries & Continents Visited & Bucket-Lists

ARNDT INSPIRED TRAVEL

3/20/2013

Many in the travel community know of world traveler Gary Arndt and later you'll learn about Gary's doppelganger (with only the positive definitions of the word intended!) of sorts, Garry Arndt. For those who don't know Gary...he explains on his website, "In 2007 I sold my house and have been traveling around the world ever since." In fact, Gary's travels are amazing and quite unbelievable. He has visited all seven continents, over 116 countries and territories, all 50 US states, nine of the Canadian provinces, every Australian state and territory, over 125 US National Park Service sites, and over 180 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Wow! Gary is in the uber-traveler category with few fellow passengers. As of this publication date, Gary is currently on an extended visit to Germany where he is visiting 27 UNESCO sites.

Gary has been here - Jellyfish Lake, Palau. Photo used under creative commons by lakshmioct01.

Gary's gift to the rest of us (who dream of traveling to just a fraction of the places he has visited) is his travel blog and website, appropriately titled everything-everywhere.com. Through his stories, beautiful pictures, travel tips, and insights, Gary lets us accompany him on his journey. From crossing the Arctic Circle to swimming with jellyfish in Palau, his travel experiences are captivating. I'd be remiss not to admit that a bit of travel envy flows through my veins when reading about Gary's adventures. But that's the point; Gary inspires travel. Gary inspires exploring and learning about the world around us. In his own way, Gary has single handedly been our remote tour guide and we thank him for sharing his journey with us. You can also catch Gary on "This Week in Travel" podcast with regular co-hosts Chris Christensen (amateurtraveler.com) and Jen Leo (Los Angeles Times).

Aren't two Arndts better than one? Read on to learn about Gary Arndt's doppelganger of sorts, Garry Arndt!

An uber-traveler in his own right, I'd like to introduce you to Travel Goal Getter Member Garry Arndt. Garry, an Air Force Vietnam Veteran, has visited all 50 US States, over 30 countries, and five continents. Thanks in part to his military service, Garry has been to some very difficult, if not impossible, to reach places including Wake Island, Midway Island, and Ascension Island. Additional notable visits include Iran, Pakistan, Cuba, Greenland, Bahrain, Libya, Malta, Senegal, and Ethiopia.

Garry has been here - Wake Island. Photo used under creative commons by Official US Navy Imagery.

Garry currently focuses his travels in the US and likes to visit unique places such as the "largest things," museums of interest, factory tours, Vietnam Memorials, and historic and natural parks. He has been gracious to share many photos and stories of his journeys with Travel Goal Getter and we are thankful to have him as one of the most active members of our community. We also thank Garry for his sacrifice and service to our country.

Whether you travel like Gary or Garry, there are endless places to explore and opportunities to learn about the world around you (it doesn't always take a plane ride to get there either!). Sometimes all it takes is an Arndt to inspire you to achieve your travel goals! Are you full of excuses that are holding you back from traveling or traveling more? In four simple steps you'll be on your way to turning your perception about travel in lies!

We'll leave you with a quote...

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain
See more travel and goal quotes...

Author: Eric

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Do you have amazing travel goals? Check out a simple tool to help track of states visited, countries visited, and continents visited - see our Travel Goal iPad App to learn more about tracking your unique travel goals and your travel experiences and bucket-lists on your own travel goal iPad app. See Achieving Travel Goals for some quick advice and a comprehensive guide to help you achieve travel goals. Looking for great articles to plan your next amazing adventure? See our Top Travel Blog Search Engine that searches only the top 150 most widely read and popular travel blogs in the world. Have you traveled to all 50 states, at least 6 continents, or at least 15 countries? Become a free member of our All Fifty Club, Continent Club, and/or Traveler's Country Club and join our Travel Community for FREE today or give a membership as a gift! Happy Travels!

2013 TOURNAMENT BRACKET - TOP TRAVEL DESTINATIONS COUNTRIES EDITION

3/19/2013

Which country will prevail as the 2013 Top Travel Destination Tournament Winner? Do you like to fill out a March Madness Basketball bracket for the men's and women's NCAA tournament? Do you not like to follow college basketball and the tournament? Here's another idea: how about a bracket for top travel destinations, including first round "play-in" countries! Have fun and play along as we determine winners, losers, and I'm sure some upsets too! We'll announce winners soon after each round of the real games are over. Download the PDF below. Let us know how you did! Check back for updates! Some "bubble" countries/territories that nearly made the tournament this year were: Bahamas, Guatemala, Montenegro, El Salvador, Guam, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Mauritius, Maldives, Honduras. Better luck next year! The final two destinations and winner will be based on your votes so check back to cast your winning destination!

The countries/territories and seedings are based on UNWTO International Tourist Arrival Statistics. Winners of the rounds are based on our picks and the final game and winner are based upon reader/user votes.

2013_top_travel_destinations_tournament_bracket.pdf
File Size:	200 kb
File Type:	pdf

Top Travel Destinations Tournament Bracket

Travel Goal Getter iPad App

Travel Goal Getter iPad App

Travel Goal Getter iPad App
Track States, Countries & Continents Visited & Bucket-Lists

SNEAK PEEK OF UPCOMING TRAVEL GOAL GETTER IPAD APP ENHANCEMENTS

3/18/2013

We've been busy! Thank you for all the feedback about the Travel Goal Getter iPad App. We are working hard to make it even better! We have some exciting improvements coming soon and we'd like to give you a sneak peek. Look for these app updates to roll out in the next month or so.

In addition to performance enhancements (smoother pinching in and out of the map and quicker response), we've added over 25 additional map areas so you can customize your map even more to track the places you've been and the places you want to go.

For example, the United Kingdom will be able to be marked separately as England, Scotland, and Wales. Additionally, Northern Ireland will be able to be marked as well.

Users will be able to mark the 13 territories and provinces of Canada separately in addition to Price Edward Island and the islands of Pierre & Miquelon. Previously, if you marked anywhere on Canada, the entire country was marked.

Turkey and Russia technically straddle 2 continents, Asia and Europe. We've reflected this on the updated map and users can mark each area separately to indicate which part of the country they visited to more accurately track continents visited.

We also added some additional areas that can be marked separately such as Hong Kong and Tibet, and a few more that are either removed from the parent country, or geographically, politically or ethnologically different. Well, that's it for now! But we aren't done quite yet - we'll keep listening your feedback to make the app even better so keep the comments coming.

Happy Travels and Thank You for Your Support!

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Do you have amazing travel goals? Check out a simple tool to help track of states visited, countries visited, and continents visited - see our Travel Goal iPad App to learn more about tracking your unique travel goals and your travel experiences and bucket-lists on your own travel goal iPad app. See Achieving Travel Goals for some quick advice and a comprehensive guide to help you achieve travel goals. Looking for great articles to plan your next amazing adventure? See our Top Travel Blog Search Engine that searches only the top 150 most widely read and popular travel blogs in the world. Have you traveled to all 50 states, at least 6 continents, or at least 15 countries? Become a free member of our All Fifty Club, Continent Club, and/or Traveler's Country Club and join our Travel Community for FREE today or give a membership as a gift! Happy Travels!

Bit of the IRISH IN AMERICA

3/17/2013

Wouldn’t I love to go to see the picturesque Irish countryside, the castles, kiss the Blarney stone? Oh, the ultimate place to celebrate the Irish…in the motherland…. Ireland.   Someday, but for now, this Travel Goal Getter will just reflect on the Irish places a little closer to home.

Boston, Massachusetts is most often recognized as the most Irish city in America. Many Irish immigrants came to Boston in the 1800’s. According to historian Guild Nichols, 37,000 Irish fled to America between 1846 and 1855 to escape the potato famine. Thus the Irish made their mark. The Irish Heritage Trail in Boston documents this history and famous Irish immigrants.

Irish immigrants went to other major cities. New York City is known for its St. Patrick’s parade and of course St. Patrick’s Cathedral.   In the Battery Park area of Manhattan there is the Irish Hunger Memorial
dedicated to raising awareness of the famine in Ireland.   Chicago remembers the Irish every year by dying the river green and also holds a St. Patrick’s Day parade.   Many Irish immigrants went to Philadelphia. In the Penn Landing area there is a memorial that commemorates the Irish history and the Irish contribution to the building of America.   Also in Pennsylvania, is an interesting site of Irish heritage – the Old Jail House Museum in a town called Jim Thorpe. Some Irish coal miners were held there before they were hung for crimes that they claimed they did not commit.

In other parts of the country you might be surprised by ties to the Irish. Between Amarillo and Oklahoma City on I-40 lies the town of Shamrock, Texas. It has a handful of hotels such as Irish Inn and the Blarney Inn. In a city park, you can even kiss the Blarney Stone – a supposed a piece from the original Blarney
stone. Emmetsburg, Iowa also has a blarney stone to kiss. This town rich in Irish heritage was given the “Blarney Stone” as a gift from the city of Dublin, Ireland.

In South Dakota, some citizens in Sioux Falls came together to erect a Potato Man Statue in memory of the Irish who perished during the potato famine. In Charleston, South Carolina there is a memorial dedicated to the contribution the Irish made to the state through many building projects in the 1800’s. Another memorial in Columbia, South Carolina is in recognition of the Irish who built the canal there.

Dublin, Ohio celebrates St. Patrick’s Day in a big way since it was named after THE Dublin, Ireland.
The city is known for its golf courses – another tribute the Irish with the fairway greens? Oh we can’t forget The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. Tours of the football stadium are offered throughout the year on Fridays.

If you have been to these sites or know of some others Irish sites, let us know. Any members have some tips for visiting THE Ireland?

May the luck of the Irish be with you on your travels!

Author: Alicia

TRAVELING FOR FREE - REAL WORLD CREDIT CARD PERK EXAMPLE

3/14/2013

Photo used under creative commons by Images_of_Money.

Can you really travel for free? This real world credit card perk example may help answer that question.

Open mail box. Briefly skim though all the junk mail without opening. Shred and recycle. Repeat day after day. For some of us, or at least those of us not smart enough to "Opt Out Pre-Screen" credit offers (you can remove your name from credit card offer mailing lists by going to optoutprescreen.com), this is our daily habitual routine. For at least a decade now I have followed this routine of ignoring credit card offers and classifying them as valueless junk. It's taken me quite a while, but I'm starting to now recognize that these offers may have some value after all.

I am fairly knowledgeable about credit cards that offer frequent flyer miles, bonus offers, points etc. Until yesterday, I never actually purposely acted on a credit card offer to take advantage of the bonus miles/points. My decision to take action was partly influenced by reading Nomadic Matt's How to Travel the World on $50 a Day (read book review here) and learning about how he racked up credit card miles to travel around the world. The American Express Blue Sky credit card offer that I received was just too good to pass up; there is no annual fee and all that you have to charge is $500 within the first three months. If you meet the $500 spending requirement (on things that you would be purchasing anyway) you earn 30,000 bonus points. Every 7,500 points equals $100 statement credit. Thus, this credit card effectively is worth $400 towards flights, hotel stays, car rentals, cruises, or travel packages. Since it is a statement credit, there are no blackout dates or other restrictions such as domestic travel vs. international or online travel booking vs. using a brick and mortar travel agency. The credit card is in the mail; I'll let you know if I encounter any turbulence. Is it time for you take a closer look at those credit card offers? They may not be junk after all.

I'm not a credit card expert and there are hundreds of credit cards that provide travel perks. For more information, please visit www.thepointsguy.com for a plethora of specific credit card travel perk information to help you make an informed decision.

If you use your new credit card to purchase things you would NOT have purchased in the first place, getting a new credit card will not help you and will put you in a worse financial position. Only get a new card if you are disciplined enough to only use the card for everyday purchases that you would have paid in cash or paid with your checking debit card. Lastly, (and this is a big deal!) please keep in mind that in order to reap the financial benefits of credit card perks, you must payoff your credit card balance every month. Otherwise, the value of the perks and rewards get washed away with the high interest rates (17.24% on the AMEX Blue Sky Card!) that are paid on rolling credit card balances.

Author: Eric

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AMAZING RACE SEASON 22 EPISODE 4 LOCATION RECAP - BALI

3/12/2013

Mt. Batur and Lake Batur, Bali. Photo used under creative commons by williamcho.

Amazing Racers traveled from beautiful New Zealand to equally picturesque Bali in Episode 4 on The Amazing Race. Teams visited the Ubud Monkey Forest, which is a main tourist attraction in Ubud where visitors can watch over 600 long-tailed macaques in a lush forest. TravelDudes.org provides some details of things to do in the area and specific to the monkeys warns visitors, "don't bring any food or risk bites and rabies injections.". Nomadic Matt advises (to avoid a potential unprovoked monkey attack) to skip the Monkey Forest and instead visit the Jatiluwih Rice Terraces, some of the most photographed landscapes in the area.

Racers also visited a temple which are commonplace in Bali. World traveler Nomadic Matt explains on his website that, "There are at least three (temples) to every city and they are considered to be the best-known attractions. The most prominent temples are the nine directional temples and The Mother Temple.". Spend some time exploring the stunning website BaliTempleExplorer.com that has an interactive video of several Bali temples to become immersed in the experience of visiting a temple.

For more information about visiting Bali visit Lonely Planet's Bali page and start planning!

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Do you have amazing travel goals? Check out a simple tool to help track of states visited, countries visited, and continents visited - see our Travel Goal iPad App to learn more about tracking your unique travel goals and your travel experiences and bucket-lists on your own travel goal iPad app. See Achieving Travel Goals for some quick advice and a comprehensive guide to help you achieve travel goals. Looking for great articles to plan your next amazing adventure? See our Top Travel Blog Search Engine that searches only the top 150 most widely read and popular travel blogs in the world. Have you traveled to all 50 states, at least 6 continents, or at least 15 countries? Become a free member of our All Fifty Club, Continent Club, and/or Traveler's Country Club and join our Travel Community for FREE today or give a membership as a gift! Happy Travels!

AMAZING RACE SEASON 22 EPISODE 3 LOCATION RECAP - NEW ZEALAND

3/7/2013

Christchurch, New Zealand. Photo used under creative commons by PhillipC.

Amazing racers departed Bora-Bora for New Zealand. First impressions of New Zealand? Pure beauty! It is evident that outdoor activities are plentiful in New Zealand and teams were first treated to a jet-boat adventure. There are numerous jet-boat options available and this New Zealand jet-boat resource is a good start for connecting with some outfits in Queenstown, Canterbury, Buller & Makarora regions in the South Island and the Rangitaiki, Whanganui and Waikato Rivers in the North Island.

Teams also participated in some Shemozzle obstacle course activities. If you are wondering what in the world Shemozzle is, the Shepherd's Shemozzle is part of the annual Hunterville Huntaway Festival which in years past has seen competitors swallowing raw eggs, munching on dry weetbix washed down with a can of warm beer, huhu bugs with cold cooking oil or a sheep's eye and cream. This is definitely a spectator sport for me! Teams checked into the pit stop at the picturesque luxury resort Terrace Downs located in Canterbury.

Nomadic Matt has additional resources for New Zealand on his website, some of which are budgeting tips.

Next stop for the Amazing Race: Bali!

Author: Eric

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Do you have amazing travel goals? Check out a simple tool to help track of states visited, countries visited, and continents visited - see our Travel Goal iPad App to learn more about tracking your unique travel goals and your travel experiences and bucket-lists on your own travel goal iPad app. See Achieving Travel Goals for some quick advice and a comprehensive guide to help you achieve travel goals. Looking for great articles to plan your next amazing adventure? See our Top Travel Blog Search Engine that searches only the top 150 most widely read and popular travel blogs in the world. Have you traveled to all 50 states, at least 6 continents, or at least 15 countries? Become a free member of our All Fifty Club, Continent Club, and/or Traveler's Country Club and join our Travel Community for FREE today or give a membership as a gift! Happy Travels!

TRAVEL GOAL 2013 - VISIT NATIONAL PARKS

3/3/2013

Make it a travel goal to visit some National Parks in 2013! With 398 National Parks around the country, find a National Park near you to explore the beauty and history of the United States. Use the Travel Goal Getter iPad App to keep track of your National Park visits using the "My Experiences" feature where you set your goals and check them off when completed.

Take advantage of free days this year where entrance and other fees are waived:
► April 22-26 - five days during National Park Week
► August 25 - National Park Service Birthday
► September 28 - National Public Lands Day
► November 9-11 - Veterans Day weekend

For more information about free entrance days and planning your trip, visit National Parks Free Entrance Days. Also, if you miss the free entrance days, there are discounts available to seniors and military members and their families. Additionally, keep in mind that 265 of the 398 National Parks do not charge an entrance fee!

Please note:
Some National Parks may be impacted by the sequester cuts.

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