Yanomad Travel Blog

Well chalk it up to the economy. According to the Chicago Tribune, Hawaii travel is down significantly. While this is probably to be expected, the article mentions that hotel occupancy is at the lowest levels since the gulf war.

Besides the general pessimistic attitude about excessive spending, Hawaii has a few different factors teaming up against it. The flights to Hawaii have never been cheap. Typical west coast fairs are at least $350 and the hotels have never been a steal Compare this with some special sub $200 fairs to Florida and it really makes Hawaii look extravagant.

Compounding the leasure travel downturn is the downturn in corporate travel. Fewer and fewer companies are willing to risk their reputations on an expensive trip to a luxury destination. Already almost 200 business trips have been cancelled, this represents almost 90,000 hotel night stays.

I guess Hawaii, like the rest of the country can only hope for the best.

another pic or two…

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Olympic inspired beer fest.

I really like sports. I’m also a little bit of a beer aficionado. So this weekend i decided to combine these two passions and toast different beers from around the world while watching multinational athletic competitions. I rounded up a few friends and and went to Cost Plus World Market, Trader Joe’s, and to Costco. While the selections from these stores we not amazing, we did manage to get about 20 different types of ales, pilsners, wheat beers, and everything else. I’ve included a few of my favorite varieties below. Not all are imported but they all trace their roots back to another country.

Check out the next page for some pics of our favorites from this weekend.

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This may seem like a weird idea, but I want you to get laid off. I do not want you to be fired, I want you to be downsized, let go, deemed unneeded. This might seem like the antithesis of saving money to travel but I have a little plan, I think could help you.

So hopefully you work in a field that is experiencing contraction, maybe mortgage, overpriced consultancy, or for a faltering investment bank. If any of those ring a bell this post could be for you. The end goal is to get you current employer to give you a large settlement when they let you go. Herein lies the importance of getting downsized, not fired. If you’re fired for incompetence or something worse (embezzlement, sex with the secretary) odds are you will not get a settlement.
So without further ado, your step by step guide to getting a free vacation:

1.Plan and network. Try to anticipate when you might get downsized. Use you network to try to find companies that might be hiring. Odds are you have a college buddy who might be able to help you. Start planning where you want to travel. I would recommend go somewhere were your dollar goes further; Asia and South America really come to mind.

2.Document. It is important to document your work. You want to make sure that they do not have any reasons to fire you for incompetence. So here be ready to save email, performance reviews and the like in order to have a strong case if they try to fire you.

3.Start doing a minimal amount of work. Pass on projects, and definitely over work your intern, junior co-worker, secretary, ect. Pass as much work on as possible. This will help to show that you are really not needed. Again it is important to keep the goal in mind; you want to get laid off not fired. Also it might be helpful to feign ignorance, ask mindless questions at meetings, and overburden your superiors with e-mails asking for clarification. Generally show that you are not the MVP of the team. (more…)

Bangkok was Travel and Leisure’s top city of 2008.  I don’t know too much about the city so I went to wikipedia for a little more info:

“Bangkok, known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (pronounced [krūŋtʰêːp máhǎːnákʰɔn], กรุงเทพมหานคร (help·info)) or Krung Thep (กรุงเทพฯ (help·info)) for short, is the capital, largest urban area and primate cityThailand. It was a small trading post at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom of to the forefront of Thailand when it was given the status as the capital city in 1768 after the burning of Ayuthaya. However, the current Rattanakosin Kingdom didn’t begin until 1782 when the capital was moved across the river after being sacked by the Burmese. The Rattanakosin capital is now more formally called “Phra Nakorn”, pertaining to the ancient boundaries in the metropolis’ core and the name Bangkok now incorporates the urban build-up since the 18th century which has its own public administration and governor.

In the span of over two hundred years, Bangkok has been the political, social and economic center of not only Thailand but for much of South East Asia and Indochina as well. Its influence in the arts, politics, fashion, education, entertainment as well as being the business, financial and cultural center of Asia has given Bangkok the status of a global city. The city’s mix of Thai, Chinese, Indian, Buddhist, Muslim and Western cultures combined with the driving force of the Thai economy makes it increasingly attractive to foreigners both for business and pleasure and has made the city one of the the world’s top tourist destinations.

Bangkok is the world’s 22nd largest city by population with approximately 6,704,000 residents, but due to large unregistered influxes of migrants from the North East of Thailand and of many nations across Asia, the population of greater Bangkok is estimated at nearly 15 million people. This has in turn shifted the country from being a rather homogeneous Thai population to increasingly a more vibrant mix of Western, Indian and Chinese people. The Bangkok Province borders six other provinces: Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Chachoengsao, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon and Nakhon Pathom and all six provinces are joined in the conurbation of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area.” - wikipedia

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Follow the link to play Conde Nast Traveler’s, where are you game. They give you a picture and a short description and you guess where in the world they are.

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Twelve Centennial Park, fortune named this one of the best business hotels. It is a all suite hotel that starts at just $189 a night. It just opened in September 2007. Check out the links after the jump for  a extended photo gallery.

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One of my good friends fathers attends this giant party every year. Held in the Nevada desert, it draws more then 30,000 people for a giant one week party. Its a little hippy and a little counter culture but it looks like quite the experience. I’ve found one tacky video to show you what its like.

IF i wasn’t working and traveling this summer i would rent (or barter for) a ethanol powered conversion van and head down there.

burning man

more pics after the jump

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I used to have a Casio camera, one of the little baby sized exlims. It was a great camera and took good pictures and had that extra ‘cool’ gadget factor. I traded that one in (at Costco) and got a waterproof Olympus camera. My new camera is bulkier and takes pictures of lesser quality but, it does have some redeeming features.

The Olympus is water resistant to 10 feet. It can also withstand a shock from 5 feet. I have tested both of these features and find the camera has performed pretty darn good.

I would get a camera like this if you are worried about breaking a camera or if you want to take those sexy underwater shots.

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So, your traveling abroad this summer and looking for ways to effeciently extend your dollar. Well the New York Times ran a article that highlighted the relative value of public transportation in various cities.

The cities covered are :

Rome
Berlin
Barcelona
Paris
London

Check out the article here. It includes information about getting the most value from public transportation, where to go, and some hints about navigating the trains.

[caption id=”" align=”aligncenter” width=”500″ caption=”Train “][/caption]

Every august people from all over the world head towards Spain to have a giant food fight. The food is strictly tomatoes, but the actions is fierce. There are many thousands of participants, between 20-40 thousand people invade the small town of Buñol, easily outnumber the population of 9000.

The festival begins when one person gets the ham from atop a 2 story high greased pole. The start is also marked by the firing of water cannons. People are encouraged to wear protective eye gear. Check out hte pictures below. Or click here for more information. 

The ham pole.
For more wild parties check out Matador nights. (more…)