My Travel Optimizer

Here is a good article from a travel blog called everything-everywhere.com. You can find the article here. I agree that the guidebook is being supplanted by online information. There may be room for both but I turn more to the internet these days than I do the guidebooks. I have a cousin in Spain who tells me that Lonely Planet essentially takes bribes in order to give good reviews. I believe him since he has no agenda for or against travel books. He’s in the catering business so he deals with with people in the hotel industry, etc and he tells me what he hears.

This is a good blog with lots of great pics. Check it out.

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Tags: Travel blogs

We bought our tickets for Costa Rica a few days ago. We depart Monday, December 22nd and return Sunday, January 4th. We got both tickets for $958 total. I had originally planned to travel with Spirit but they raised their prices on me by over two hundred dollars. On top of that, the Spirit flight would have returned the 31st of December. I’ll take a significant savings over spending New Years in CR. Happily we no longer have to choose between the two.

I know that 479 dollars is a great price for a flight to Costa Rica during the holidays. I knew that even if there was a price drop it probably wouldn’t be more than fifty bucks. You can travel to Costa Rica in the off season for less than $300 if you are flexible on dates but you’ll never get this fare around Christmastime.

I was checking the US airways website out of sheer curiosity and found the prices had jumped considerably. The price for the same flight and dates is now $1794! I’m glad I trusted my instincts and did not wait till later in hopes of scoring a cheaper flight. If we booked now we’d be spending $836 dollars more.

Sometimes you just have to go with your gut. In this case it worked out for the best.

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Tags: cheap tickets, Costa Rica, US airways

The first thing I’d like to say is that Dengue and Malaria are rare in Costa Rica. I hear of infection in places like the Caribbean coast and near the Panama border. These diseases are virtually unheard of in the interior. If you go to Costa Rica you should take bug spray. DEET insect repellent is an old standby but Icaridin may be a better option. DEET is greasy, stains clothes and has a very strong smell. Icaridin seems to be as effective but more user friendly.

Anytime you are in the tropics you have to take some precautions. Dengue and Malaria are carried by mosquitoes and there is no vaccine. I took quinine pills in Africa as a preventative and I still got freakin’ Malaria. African Malaria is pretty horrible. I’ve never had the American type but I hope its not as potent. Dengue hits people differently. Some people get really sick and can’t travel. Others feel lousy but are still able to carry on with their trip.

The highest risk for these diseases is remote, tropical areas. That being said, you should apply bug spray whenever you are in areas that have mosquitoes.

Also remember that the vast, vast majority of tourists who go to Costa Rica do not contract anything worse than the common cold or an upset tummy.

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Tags: Costa Rica, disease

I’ve seen people make posts in forums about how they should go about changing or withdrawing money in Costa Rica. The best and easiest way is with an ATM and a VISA debit card. If you do not have a VISA debit card I would suggest going to a bank that offers them and opening a small checking account with the funds you think you will need for your trip. The advantages of this are twofold: 1. Visa cards are accepted anywhere credit/debit cards are accepted and 2. Should your card be stolen the thieves will only have access to a limited amount of funds instead of your primary checking and savings.

Most credit cards have automatic theft protection and you will not be liable for fraudulent charges. I also advise that you inspect any ATM that you use. Here in Florida, criminals have been installing small cameras and readers that record debit card numbers and PINs. Simply check the card reader for anything unusual. You don’t have to be James Bond to spot them.

That being said, the ATM is still your best currency converter/provider. There is still a black market for currency exchange but I advise against it. There was a time when you would get much a better deal from the black marketeers than the banks. This is no longer the case. If someone is offering you a much better rate its because they are selling counterfeit bills. Stick to ATM’s and using VISA at grocery stores and whatnot. Bear in mind most banks charge a small service fee for overseas withdrawals.

There is really no need to have large amounts of cash on you unless you are considering making some expensive, cash only purchases. You can use plastic at many restaurants, hotels, tour services, etc.
If you are in a remote area that is cash only then the prices should be low enough that you won’t need large amounts of cash.

The dollar is accepted in many businesses in Costa Rica. This is particularly true in tourist areas. If you wish to go this route then it is better to have small bills since your change will almost always be in Colones. This is also another way to change money. Some stores may charge you a small service fee. It will probably be lower than the one charged by your bank.

You should inform your bank(s) before you leave that you will be out of the country. Tell them what countries you will be in and on what dates. This way your account won’t be flagged. If the bank is unaware of your trip they might think your card has been stolen is being used fraudulently. I have an article on some other precautions you should take before leaving.

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Tags: changing money, Costa Rica

You can find a detailed article about RSS here. I’ll put is as simply as I can. RSS feeds deliver the content of your website, in a streamlined, abbreviated form, to a “reader”. The reader is just a web page that receives and displays RSS feeds. You can see the feeds from various different websites in your reader. There are many different readers. If you have a google account you automatically have the google reader as part of your account. The purpose of all this is simple: By going to one web page (your reader) you can see what is new or going on with multiple web sites (if they are RSS enabled) via the RSS feeds sent to the reader. Keep in mind you have to suscribe to the RSS feed in order to receive the feed. This is a simple process. Usually you just click on the RSS icon and then you click on the button of the reader you like to use.
This allows you to keep track of all your favorite web sites without having to actually visit them all. RSS will let you know if there is new content and what that content is. If there is nothing new then you don’t waste time visiting the site. If there is something new but it doesn’t interest you, again, it saves you the time and trouble of visiting the site. If you have a lot of websites that you visit on a regular basis this is very efficient way of managing your time.

Feedburner is a service that was recently purchased by Google. Feedburner takes RSS feeds and makes them look nicer and allows you to customize your feed. Feedburner is free and well worth your time.

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