foXnoMad

I recently submitted some traveling smarter tips for Darren of Travel Rants, including “eat at the shabbiest looking restaurant you run across, they tend to have the best food.”

I received some responses in the comments from readers who disagreed.

Erica from Blissful Travel responded,

I probably wouldn’t eat at the shabbiest looking restaurant, but I’d much rather go to a place where there are more locals than tourists.

and Diane from In2Town added,

…you would never go to the cheapest eating places. You would speak to the locals and find out the best places to eat and my moto is, try everything while on holiday.

and both Mark H and Jack noted that it won’t be a long walk to find a unique places off the regular tourist path.

All valid and insightful points, but my question to you readers is - do you visit the shabbiest looking restaurants for the best food when you travel? I’d like to hear from you all in the comments - I know that many of you are visiting to vote for the sexiest story contest and this is a perfect time to add your first comment!

[photo by: dbz885]

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The mega-store Unclaimed Baggage Center, where all of your forever lost bags end up, has some clever insider tips to help you reclaim your luggage before it’s too late.

Ensure that the airlines are able to find you by labeling the outside and inside of your luggage.

Put additional identification inside your bag including a copy of your itinerary. This can help the airlines know whether to send your bags to your travel destination or your home.

Also, no matter what kind of rush you are in never leave the airport without reporting lost luggage.

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ABC News is reporting that swiping a credit card at the pump may instantly increase your per gallon cost of fuel by a few cents.

Right now I’m running an expierament at several gas stations and I’ll report my findings next week. I’d first like to ask if you’ve noticed any hidden gasoline charges at the pump?

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Take a quick picture of your suitcase and bags to decrease the amount of time that it will take to recover your bags, in case they are lost.

Face it: your luggage probably looks just like 90% of the luggage out there. Let me guess: it’s black with a few zippered pockets? Snap a few pictures of the bags your toting around before you leave. If they wind up in Tahiti when you’re headed to Taiwan, it’ll be much easier to show the airline clerk a photo rather than trying to explain how it’s big and black with zippers.

Travel blog Vagabondish also has 12 other clever uses for your digital camera including photographing subway maps, using it as a backup light, and to avoid rental car scams. A digital camera is one of the few small travel essentials that will help you consolidate information and lighten your luggage.

[photo by: iheartlinen via: Family Travel]

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The term “staycation” refers to someone who decides to take off time from work to enjoy life at home. Although the concept is an old one, it’s getting more popular due to a poor economy and travel hassles.

My recent travel plans to several countries in Europe never panned out but I decided to use the time I had already taken off and spend it at home. Over the last two weeks I’ve learned what to do - and more importantly what not to do on a staycation.

• Don’t Plan Anything - Make a rudimentary daily plan and outline what it is you want to accomplish each day. For me it was usually, go run, go to the pool, etc. and it took about 5-10 minutes to schedule out. It shouldn’t take longer than that, remember you are on vacation.
• Watch TV - Sitting in front of the television for hours might be relaxation for some, but it turns your staycation into a regular night off from work. This is where planning comes in, poor (or no) planning will just have you sitting in front of the TV for a week or two which won’t be very fulfilling when you go back to work.
• Missing Things Right Under Your Nose - A week before you plan to take a staycation, keep your eyes open for events, parks, and other attractions right around your own town. Jot them down somewhere are get a chance to visit close places and events you can go to during the day and miss the crowds.

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For the past 2 weeks you’ve had a chance to read over the Sexiest Summer Travel Story contest entries. Now is your chance to decide who had the sexiest story for a chance to win $250 towards their next trip.

You can review the entries - Brazilian Cabaret, Casual Parisian Encounter, Bellagio Italy, Making Out Chilean Style, and Luggage Vibrations - then vote for what you think is the sexiest one.

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The poll will be open through August 1, 2008 and I’ll announce the winner on September 1, 2008. I’m already planning a photo contest to run during the fall/winter season. To get details you can sign up to my RSS feed, or receive daily email updates.

Since this website may be new to you, I’d like to introduce you to foXnoMad. Visit my about page, see the places I’ve been, or read my most popular post on the best places to travel on a weak dollar.

Thank you for following the contest and participating, I hope you’ve enjoyed it. I’ll return to regular posting next Monday with advice on my recent staycation.

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Baggage lost in the United States that goes unclaimed for 90 days ends up at the Unclaimed Baggage Center. The huge warehouse located in Scottboro, Alabama sells items from unclaimed carry-ons, suitcases, and other travel accessories the airlines were unable to return.

Most of the items on sale are clothes, although anything that can be lost is sold there at largely discounted rates. Unfortunately, you can’t search their inventory or buy anything from them online but it might be a nice road trip stop.

The UBC makes no effort to contact owners once they receive the goods even if they have name tags and addresses or inventory them for you to find later. They’re not all evil though, 35% of all the goods they get are donated to charity, and there is a 14 day return policy on most items.

The site recommends reporting all lost luggage at the airport as soon as you realize it’s missing. The UBC also suggests asking for amenities like toothbrushes and razors from the airline, which most of them will provide. Lost luggage is returned in an average of 1-3 days so prepare an emergency hygiene kit to keep your pits smelling fresh until then.

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Stay in touch with your friends and family without jeopardizing the information in your email account by setting up a temporary travel account.

There are several free and quick ways to do this without having to create a huge number of additional accounts.

Create A Travel Email Account - Open a new email account with your current provider.? The new account should be your regular email address with “trav” at the end of it (i.e. “cindy@yahoo.com” becomes “cindytrav@yahoo.com”).

• Hotmail and Yahoo - These two email providers don’t have forwarding capabilities, but the free download GetMail can do it for you. Have all of your emails forwarded to the new account to protect your privacy abroad.

Set up a vacation response (Gmail can do this too) telling your friends and family that you’re out traveling and to contact your ‘trav’ address.

• Gmail - Forwarding capabilities are built it as well strong filtering capabilities (Settings > Filters).

In your primary account setup a filter for any words, people, or businesses you don’t want to be bothered by while on vacation. Have only the email you want delivered to your “trav” account forwarded.

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Purchase round trip airline tickets for you and those traveling with you one at a time to take advantage of reduced fares. Most airlines only offer the cheapest coach fares on a limited number of seats which round trip book systems may ignore.

When you shop for multiple tickets, and there aren??t enough seats available at the lowest ticket price, the reservation system automatically kicks bookings up to the next price level.

On a recent search for flights from Dallas to Frankfurt for a July trip, Mr. Seaney turned up a round-trip ticket at www.americanairlines.com for $1,431. When he searched for multiple tickets, the lowest ticket price jumped to $1,536.

To make sure that you are in fact getting the best deal follow this search routine based from the least to most amount of planning time available. Start by opening 3 Internet browser windows.

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The TSA is testing out brighter uniforms, updated terrorist lists, and 30-millimeter wave machines that can see through clothing to ease the security line experience for passengers.

Airlines, which check passenger names against the list, will now be allowed to accept dates of birth from passengers to more thoroughly check information against the watch lists, Chertoff said. Once passengers have proven that they are not suspected terrorists, they will be able to print boarding passes at kiosks or at home, rather than going through a check-in line, Chertoff said.

Which makes me wonder how someone “proves” they are not a terrorist. None of these new features, being tested at BWI, make me feel more at ease or secure. What is “the security of the future” that makes you the least comfortable?

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[photo by: vidrio]

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