Monthly Archives: December 2013
New Years Photography Around the World
Yeah, you know it. You are sitting on your butt at home this New Year’s Eve. It is what you did last year and it is what you’re going to do this year. That is completely fine. I’m sitting at my home this year as well. Except I’m sick. But, that is only for my excuse for this year. There was no other excuses for the other years. So, here are some inspirational pictures of places where you wish you were this New Years Eve night. Maybe it will inspire me for once as well.
London
London New Year’s Eve by Richard Barnes London, on Flickr
New Year Eve London 2008 (Fireworks) by T@H!R - طاھر, on Flickr
London New Year Celebrations 2009 by ed.tang, on Flickr
Dubai
Cartagena
Sydney
San Francisco
Of course my home town is here
San Francisco New Year’s Fireworks 2007 by canbalci, on Flickr
So now you have some seen some great photos of places to be on News Eve night, why not get off your butt and check out what is going on near you. Unlike me you are not stuck in bed. Enjoy your New Years Eve night no matter how you spend it. Have a Happy New year.
Have some amazing New Years Eve Photos? Leave a comment below, send me a tweet on twitter using #PTNYE, or post on my facebook. Heck even send us a message. Let me know, we want to share those amazing photos you have with others. Happy travels 
I Can’t Afford to Travel - Tips to Getting Your Flight Cheaper
“You must be rich” That is what everyone tells me. “I could never afford to travel like you do.” This, something I hear all the time from people. Everyone tells me they can’t afford to travel. You know you have said it many times yourself. In reality, anyone can afford to travel. I did it when I was making $200 a week, it just takes the right information. The next series of articles will help you understand the easiest way to travel. First let’s tackle that problem of not affording to travel. First we will tackle the best times to travel, the best times to buy and resources to help you get your flight that you want.
When To Travel?
So, when do you like to travel? Let me guess, you want to go during Easter/Spring Break vacation, or perhaps as summer starting, or maybe just before the school year starts. Let me tell you everyone else is thinking the same thing. And the airlines know this too. These are the peak times of travel. But, what is it mean to be a peak time. It means it’s the time of the year where everyone wants to travel. And what that means is there some more demand. More demand for something causes prices to go up. And that means airlines make these high demand times expensive to fly.
So, when are the best times to travel? Oddly the best times when you don’t want to travel. Let me give you an example, right when school starts. Like late January and early February. I don’t know many people who travel during this time. Picking up a round-trip from San Francisco to Bogotá for $350 wasn’t just a steal but was easy. The difference was that it left and returned Late January and early February.
Let’s talk the opposite option. Let me tell you about a trip to India. In the summer around July a flight to New Delhi from San Francisco was $1600 round-trip. But same flight from the same airline in September, when school was in session, was a mere $960 round-trip. It makes sense to go during non peak times. As a break down that would be Mid January to early March (before Spring Break); September to early November.
Days To Leave?
What days do you want to actually leave on? Doesn’t make sense to leave on a Friday? I know that seems convenient. But so does everyone else. Looking for flights that leave on a Friday will make your ticket price much more expensive. Same with tickets leaving on a Sunday or Monday. The reason for this is those of the days that ever has to get back to work. And Fridays are the days that Everyone wants to get away for the weekend. So some of the best days to buy your flights are Tuesday’s Wednesdays and Saturdays. Having your flights leave on these days can help you save your money.
When To Buy?
Choosing the best dates to leave isn’t the only thing that matters. Knowing when to actually buy your tickets is also something to be aware. Flights general meet their most optimal price for purchase about 6 weeks before you date. That is usually the best time to make your purchase. If wait for the last minute, like a business person would need to do, then they charge more thinking your flying off on a business’ budget. similarly buying your flight too early can be expensive. Looking for a flight 6 months ahead of time would be set at a flat fee that would be really high, usually the airlines do not start adjusting prices until about 3 months or so before dates.
Also knowing which day to actually make your purchase is also some great knowledge to have. For example if you were to buy on a on a Friday, then the prices will be higher. Same with weekends (unless you are purchasing from a South American Airline, from experience has told me). The best time to purchase is Tuesdays at around 3 PM Eastern time. The reason for this is that this is the real time that all the other airlines have already priced matched everyone else. On weekends is when they start lowering the prices as everyone starts doing a bargain-hunting. But by Tuesday everyone has already price matched each other.
Do not believe me? All this information I have found out through the statistics of the website www.farecompare.com. FareCompare is a great website that offers a lot of advice on how to travel cheaper.
Resources
Why don’t we get some resources to help you find out the best days to fly and keep track of it all. Because we all know it’s a pain in the butt to keep looking every Tuesday and figuring out when the best prices. And the worst part is trying to figure out which website and which airline and which… let me help you. Here are some amazing websites that can help you with that.
One of my favorite websites is kayak.com. The reason for this is that kayak.com actually gives you alerts for when prices drop. When you sign up for an account one of the options is to have e-mail alerts sent directly to you sent directly to you based on the criteria that you want. There is even an amazing app that you can get for your phone. This way you can get alerts directly to you right away. Just do a search of when you want to go and where it will give you the best times and you can also set an alert for it. You can also set it up for a broad search so it can find the best deal for a whole month. Kayak can also track past trends to show when a price is most likely going to drop and if the price you are buying at is statistically the best price.
Another amazing website you should check out is www.farecompare.com. Their computer lists a whole bunch of websites that you can check out getting you the cheapest fare out there. farecompare.com also gives you a way to get alerts for when the price drops occur. One of the best features is you can see your home airport and get instant alerts and tweets of deals that are coming up. Check out fair compare.com for more information.
Other great places to book is CheapOAir.com, a great place to get a range of cheap airfare.
Conclusion
Is it really expensive to travel? Well if you can land $760 round trip to Argentina in October, the answer is NO. You just to be armed with the right knowledge and tools to help you get there.
Have you ever gotten some great deals? What are you favorite websites and tools you like to you use? Leave a comment below, send me a tweet on twitter using #PTFlyCheap, or post on my facebook. Heck even send us a message. Let me know, we want to share those resources you have with others. Happy travels
Politicians Should Travel More - Perspective from Traveling
Don’t you think it is horrible how the US Government is so polarized? Every day you hear about how the Democrats and Republicans can not seem to come together to work on a budget, decide a law or even just get anything done without bickering and fighting amongst each other. Basically the politicians just don’t want to listen to the people. Instead they follow their own ideals or the ideals of their party. There tends to be no middle ground. There seems to be a very black and white kind of thinking behind things when it comes to the US Government.You know what the funny thing is? It is not just the government that thinks this way, but instead all of us think that way. You, your neighbor and even myself. To most people it seems there is THIS WAY or THAT WAY and no middle way. Another way of saying this is “If you are not with me than you are against me”. You know that saint and you know what I am talking of.
After traveling there is a realization that there are so many ways to any idea, problem or situation. There is no right or wrong; no black or white; instead a whole world of many colors with different ones that can be mixed to created a whole new outlook. Traveling can help anyone gain perspective, including yourself. With that gain of perspective by many it cause this world to stop this world from looking so colorless.
What is Perspective?
Let me ask, what is the definition of perspective? I am not talking about the the ability to draw and make it look realistic. I am asking about this definition:
a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view true understanding of the relative importance of things; a sense of proportionThe words here the really understand here is “true understanding of the RELATIVE importance of things” We can not tell what is relative without knowing all possible views right? If all your life you have lived in a small farming community town then farming is all you know. If are lived your life in North Korea the whole time then you probably think Ill Kim is a god. Perespectiveonly comes when you are experience more things in life. If you are a farmer who also also lived in silicon valley, then you might be exposed to how technology can better help farming.Now imagine if you travelled more and learned more customs from all over the world. How different people think and how you fit into the whole grand scheme of things.
A Little Story
Let me tell you story. This is a story to help understand perspective. This occurred during my visit to Philippines. I visited a friend who invited me out to Leyte to a small village that not many know of called MacArthur. My friend lived on the beach. I know that sounds exotic now, let me tell you that when you hear about the living conditions it will not seem so exotic. You see my friend was poor and lived in a hut that was basically made of sticks and metal sheets. there was no running water, no plumbing, the bathroom was an whole in the group just outside of the house. The stove was made up of sticks that ignited the flames. and there was no electricity. By an American’s standard, it was subpar to live here. The place was a happy place for my friend and her family, it was home to them and it made them happy (and currently is not there after the typhoon.)
My friend also took me to visit her cousin when we were in Manila. She live on Wagas, an area of Manila where a lot of the population lived shacks similar to my friend’s in Leyte, the only exception was that they had electricity. Most of the people in this area slept on the streets rather than a comfortable bed, and if they did sleep in a bed it was in their small shack, where they shared the bed with all of their family members. Again this is a situation where most Americans would not want to find themselves in. To these people it was home to them and it made them feel happy.
The Return Home
On my arrival back home to USA, I was made aware of the 99% movement and the Occupy Wall Street movement. These were people who were mad at the 1% of Americans were wealthy and wanted more from them. It made no sense to me at all. I had just visited people who lived in shacks and these people were complaining about the wealth of others, with out having perspective of how wealthy they seem to other people in the world. Most of these protestors had access to running water, electricity and most of the time a place to sleep. It is hard to cry that you are of the poor when you are walking around with hi-tech smartphones and tablets while protesting. If only I could have taken these people to where I had just come back from. What would they have thought after experiencing the kind of experience of Wagas or Leyte?
Conclusion
So now I ask the question of you. Do you feel you have all the facts of making the best decisions? Do you feel your government does? Maybe our officials need to gain a bit more perspective. Perhaps they should travel more. Maybe we all should travel more. What do you think? Leave a comment below, send me a tweet on twitter using #pathlesstravels, or post on my facebook. Heck even send us a message. Let me know, we want to share your outrageous stories with others. Happy travels
Help Aid Leyte, Philippines - Food for Friends in MacArthur
Where I have been
“Where have you been?” If you have not noticed I have not really been around lately. I have been around, but not really here. Was I wandering around in a lost hole? Did I travel to a remote jungle in South America? Perhaps I was secluded on an Island with Adriana Lima? None of those actually occurred. On November 7th I had lost contact with my good friends. My friends who treated me really well. It was all because of Yolanda, a whirling power of speed that ripped apart anything in her path.
About Leyte
A year and a half ago I went to visit a friend I got to know online. She had invited me to visit her in the small village of MacArthur, which lies on the island of Leyte, Philippines. When I asked people what there was to do there. People said there is nothing to do on Leyte; that is what I wanted to do, nothing. I headed off to Leyte to visit my friend. On arriving my friend greeted me and took me in to enjoy the splendor that was the Island of Leyte. We spent time getting to know Tacloban City and relaxing on the paradise like beaches of MacArthur. It was full of amazement and wonder.
Today, the place is ruins. What used to be rows and rows of houses now look like piles of match sticks from the air. That saddens me. As a matter of fact it saddened me since the incident happened. I had no clue what do. I felt helpless.
My Friends In Need
My friend Jessa, the friend I meet in Leyte, is the inspiration of this website you are visiting now. If was not for her the website would not exist. The website was created to help her break into photography and learn travel journalism. I too was learning at the same time. Jessa, a young 20 year old girl, helped me explore my kid side while explored Leyte; as did most of the extremely friendly people I meet on Leyte. Everyone had such a laid back attitude on the island and always found a way to laugh. Although Jessa’s backyard was a beach, she lived in a simple hut without electricity, plumbing or running water. Today, it is nothing but a pile of sticks. No electricity, no water, and no food.
The aid relief is there to help, but food is still scarce. And for my friends who are in a village an hour and a half away from Tacloban, it is hard get this aid. One of my friends told me that all they do all day is wait, because there is nothing else to do, and hope that aid comes that day. So they go and get food for themselves instead of waiting. The biggest problem is that food has more than doubled in cost on the neighboring islands and the western cities of Leyte.
Give, Aid, Help
So what do I do. I do not know. I thought and thought about what could be done. I came up with the idea to up and leave and join the aid efforts in Tacloban and then making my way to MacArthur, offering my skills as a photographer. But I had obligations at home made that not possible. Here is the solution. Why not aid my friends in helping rebuild their family. Since mainly they need food, why not start them a fund to buy food, for themselves and their neighbors. So that is what I am doing.
I started a fund to help feed my friends and the people of MacArthur Leyte. The fund all goes to the people of MacArthur buy food and supplies to live. It is all setup through GoFundMe.com. The fund will go straight to help my friends Jessa, Cha Cha, and “Funny Paniki” to help them get food to eat. Do not trust me or the fund? That is fine, you do not have to. Check out these following links of some other reputable aid foundations. Just know that donations through my fund will go straight to the people:
Leave a comment below, send me a tweet on twitter using #pathlesstravels, or post on my facebook. Heck even send us a message. Let me know, what you think about the disaster. Do you know any friends who were caught up in the mess? Thank you and please share