May 2011 - Page 3 of 5

Top Travel Packing Tips – Bring What you Need But Travel Lighttop Travel Packing Tips – Bring What you Need But Travel Light

Use a great travel packing list as a key to a low-stress and happy vacation or business travel trip.

With the web there’s no excuse to not use a great travel packing checklist to speed your travel packing and ensure enjoyment. Packing correctly – bringing just what you need, but not one iota extra – can lighten your physical and mental load. By carrying less you’ll move around easier, yet the trick, of course, is being sure you haven’t forgotten anything essential.

Tip #1: Leave home and office in good order. Make sure your home is all buttoned up before you leave and that pets and plants will be taken care off. Leave keys with a neighbor so they can access in case of emergency, empty your refrigerator and stop routine deliveries. In the office, nothing supports a successful trip than a clean desk and empty email in box – schedule a few hours of blocked out time the day before your trip to catch up on all urgent office matters.

Tip #2: Make packing easy by using a great travel packing checklist. There’s no excuse for not using a travel packing list to make sure you don’t forget anything essential. You can use a web search engine to search for ‘travel packing list’, ‘travel packing tips’, or ‘travel packing checklist’ or see the end of this article for a link to my favorite printable travel packing list. Find one you like and print it out. Use it religiously.

Tip #3: Bring the bare minimum. Nothing adds to stress and tiredness on travel like having too much and too heavy of a luggage burden, especially on airline travel. I always recommend that, once you’re all packed, try carrying all your luggage for 5 or 10 minutes – say around a city block. This begins to simulate the short hauls you’ll have on your trip. After your test haul, you’ll be motivated to lighten up. Find items you can do with out.

Tip #4: Learn and improve. As you use your packing list have a system for marking it up. You might cross out any items that you didn’t bring, and check marks next to the ones you did. No, here comes the critical step – bring the marked up printout with you on your trip. During your trip, if you find you need something that you didn’t bring, note it down on the list. And, just as importantly, at the end of your trip take a moment and find those items you brought, but that you can live without next time – and cross them out. As your packing list gets dog eared and marked up, consider typing it into your computer so you have your own custom list (you don’t have to type it in from scratch, just select and copy the original web list you started from and paste it into your word processor – you can then start editing this complete list).

That’s it – travel light but without out missing any essential items. Use your travel packing list religiously and hone it constantly.

Agra India, Tajmahal Agra India, Agra Fort

History of Agra

Agra ( Urdu: ????) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna River in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It finds mention in the epic Mahabharata when it was called Agrabana, or Paradise. Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and Fatehpur Sikri, all three of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Ptolemy, the famous 2nd century geographer, marked it on his map of the world as Agra . Tradition and legend ascribe the present city of Raja Badal Singh (around 1475) whose fort, Badalgarh, stood on or near the site of the present Fort. However, the 12th century Persian poet Salman writes of a desperate assault on the fortress of Agra, then held by one King Jaipal, by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni.[1] It was ruled by Sultan Sikandar Lodi in the year 1506. It achieved fame as the capital of the Mughal emperors from 1526 to 1658 and remains a major tourist destination because of its many splendid Mughal-era buildings, most notably the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri, all three of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. .

Geography of Agra

Agra is situated on the banks of Yamuna river. It has an average elevation of 171 metres (561 ft). On the north it is bound by Mathura, on the south by Dhaulpur, on the east by Firozabad, on the south-east by Fatehabad and on the west by Bharatpur. Agra is the third biggest city in Uttar Pradesh. The Agra district is divided into Six Tehsils and 15 Blocks. Total number of Nayay Panchayats in the district are 114 while Gram Sabhas stands at 636. The total populated villages are 904. The total number of police stations in the district are 41 out of which 16 are in Urban area and 25 are in Rural area. The total number of Railway Stations (including Halts) are 29 and Bus Stands/Bus Stops are 144. Total number of Broad Gauge lines is 196 K.M. and Meter Gauge is 35 K.M

Climate of Agra

Taj Mahotsav

Taj Mahotsav is an annual 10 day event at Shilpgram in Agra, India. Every year in February tourists flock to Agra for this mega event, just a stone throw from the majestic Taj Mahal. This festival invokes the memories of old Mughal era and nawabi style prevalent in Uttar Pradesh in 18th and 19th centuries. The festival starts with a grand road procession with decorated elephants and camels like victory processions of Mughal Emperors and warlords. Drum beaters, trumpet players, folk dancers, skilled crafts men and artisans also join the procession to make it a grander affair. Artists from all over India come here to display their art and craftmanship. The Uttar Pradesh State AIDS Control Society has understood the importance of the event and use different folk dances to campaign about AIDS awareness. Taj Mahotsav serves exotic cuisine’s and delicacies from all over Uttar Pradesh and also other parts of India.

Medieval Days and Knights in Portugal

During August Bank Holiday weekend, the castle at Castro Marim on the Algarve, Portugal, returns to the medieval ages, recreating all the pomp and circumstance of that era in a spectacular four-day festival.

Although it’s only 40 miles from Faro airport, Castro Marim is considered off the beaten tourist track. Overlooked by the impressive historic Castle, the town of Castro Marim was originally founded by the Romans as a seaport. However, it is now some three miles from the coast and the land in between now largely features a salt marsh nature reserve. The historic castle, where most of the festival takes place, stands above the tranquil, whitewashed town and is a memorable place to visit – either to watch the festival or as part of a longer break in Portugal.

The Feira Medieval de Castro Marim starts with a fanciful parade through the streets led by the king and queen, who are accompanied by their colourful Court consisting of noblemen, ladies, musicians, stilt-walkers, jesters and a handful of knights in shining armour. Once the noisy procession is complete the fun starts, featuring jousting tournaments and street theatre performances based loosely on the medieval ages. You have to hand it to the locals: dressing up in full armour at the height of summer takes some resilience and pluck! The show that they put on is truly memorable and they like to include visitors in the proceedings; so if you attend watch out, you may well become part of the show!

As with most of the Algarve, there are plenty of quality fish restaurants in Castro Marim and many friendly bars, making it a great place to visit if you wish to chill out. The residents are very friendly and welcoming and you will revel in their hospitality. But, if you fancy combining your festival experience with a few days lazing on the beach, you’d be better off travelling to one of the Algarve’s better-known resorts, such as Albufeira or Villanova further west. You may even wish to drive farther afield and take in the historic capital of Lisbon, further up the northern coast of Portugal.

Thankfully, cheap car hire in Portugal is plentiful and easy to organise; many car rental companies will let you pick up your car at Faro airport when you arrive, from where the Algarve is your oyster. Indeed, car rental in Portugal is even more essential if you are organising your own holiday break, as you won’t want to rely on public transport. It can be hit or miss on the Algarve and the freedom to travel wherever you want if very important in a country that has so much to offer.

Group Tour Travel Options

Are tour groups for you? You’re moving ahead with your trip planning. You’ve decided where you want to go. Now you need to come to grips with how you’re going to get your hotels, get around, see the sights. So I guess the next decision in your trip planning is… do you want to join a tour group or be an independent traveler.

Both options have pros and cons. If you choose to take a group tour, your hotels will be taken care of, as will your transportation during the tour. Depending on the package, most meals will probably be taken care of too, so you won’t be looking for a restaurant. Air fare to and from your destination may or may not be included.

All of this can make it easy on you for trip planning; you don’t need to worry about making reservations or finding hotels and restaurants on the road. You don’t need to worry about that foreign language, though that is truthfully not usually a problem.

You will be traveling with a group of people. If group size is important to you, be sure to check on that. Again depending on the operator and package it can range from 10 or 12 people all the way up to a bus full of about 45 to 50 people. That can make it fun, or it can slow things down as you’re waiting for everyone to get up in the morning and get on the bus. You’ll probably see all the highlights, but you won’t be able to get into small venues that can’t accommodate big groups.

You won’t be lonely… you’ll have your group to interact with. That can insulate you some from interacting with locals, but some group tours introduce you to locals or even get you into ceremonies or places that independent travelers don’t have access to. And hopefully you’ll have knowledgeable tour guides who can teach you about the area… something that independent travelers might miss.

Tours can be an economical way to travel. Tour operators get good prices on hotels and transportation. But if you want to sleep in and the tour is moving on… you’ll just have to get up and get going. You might learn things you wouldn’t have learned otherwise…. and if you’re a first time traveler, one of the things you might learn is that you don’t need a group tour.

Sometimes that first tour group experience is more than worth it… it can give you the confidence to travel independently. And if you learn that you like the company you’re traveling with, and you like group travel… you’ve come up with a great shortcut for your trip planning in the future…. just find more of their tours that you like and you’ll soon be traveling the world.