LonelyPlanet asked:

Lonely Planet author George Dunford sums up Edinburgh. More Europe than Britain probably because of the month-long Edinburgh Arts Festival every August, the city is sophisticated Scotland. Pub culture is the backbone of society, making it easy to meet the locals. Try scotch or hand-made Real Ale but steer clear of football in conversation until you find out which team they go for! Produced by Lonely Planet TV

Lucy C asked:


Today’s travel has become very hectic, and there are a lot of complaints about service. What are the things that a travel assistant service would do in an ideal world? What kinds of services would they provide and how could they make the experience of planning travel as easy and enjoyable as possible?

Karen Williams asked:




The profession of the travel nurse has taken on an even more important aspect: it is a certifiable fact that the average nurse, whose age is just over 40, will be retiring within a few years, thus creating even more nursing jobs that can barely be filled with the recruits of today.

This potential crisis is slightly alarming. Ad to the fact that states like California now require a 5-1 Nurse to patient ratio, thanks to state-mandate, making it very difficult for hospitals and medical facilities to staff properly as well as meet the needs of their patients, which always comes first. The agencies who provide travel nurses are growing in exponential proportion, however, in order to be able to both fill this niche and make a good profit while doing so.

These agencies normally offer much high pay rates than anyone else can, because of the demand for nurses. Hospitals and medical facilities alike are more than willing to pay for high-quality nurses, should they require them. With nurses now more in-demand than doctors, this also opens up the nursing field to kids right out of high school, who can work on obtaining career in nursing as soon as possible, should they find that it is a good fit for them.

The other items that can be offered by the agencies include providing the travel nurse with a variety of nursing job types, so as not to achieve job burn-out. This is very important, since the high numbers in nursing position turn-around, largely account for the fact that positions become highly routine and therefore not challenging for some nurses.

Additionally, the length of assignments can be attractive to the travel nurse candidate. He or she might prefer short or long term assignments, or a combination of both. No matter what if offered, nurses are always given the choice to accept an assignment, or it is merely passed on to the next available travel nurse. Either way, everyone seems to win, in that scenario. At least, it certainly seems that way.

But there is another issue that travel nurse agencies must deal with: the job of weeding out really good candidates from unknown candidates. Unknown, meaning a person is just out of nursing school, basically. It is highly unlikely that he or she would make a good candidate without any nursing experience, other than having to work in a clinical environment in order to be certified. Still, some agencies promote the new nurses, if anything to clients who have open nursing positions. The flexibility in that, is due to the fact that some nurses may flourish in a specific environment, and therefore the medical center or hospital might be more then glad to pay a fee in order to keep the nurse as one of their own.

Nursing is not an easy industry to work in, but with more candidates becoming available, perhaps the travel nurse agencies will be able to relax a bit more, especially if all states follow California with regard to state-mandated nurse-to-patient regulations.

capturetheglow asked:


Thinking of taking an online course through Penn & Foster for the travel industry to become a travel agent. Thinking of stopping by a local travel agency to ask them questions. But thought I would ask here first. Any travel agents out there? How much do you make?

DeltaAirLines asked:

blog.delta.com

Kevin Regier asked:




About The Country

Spain is famous world wide for its flamenco dancers and bullfights. The architecture reflects the Moroccan style. Cave paintings, renaissance cathedrals, Moorish palaces prove the diversity of the country. Spring, fall and early summer are very pleasant here, though summers are hot.

Culture

Spanish is the regional language of Spain. English is also widely spoken here. Over the period of time, Spanish people have become modern in order to gel with the changing times and are no longer conservative. But that hasn’t changed the values, traditions, manners and customs of the locals. People here have two surnames; the first surname can be used to refer to the person. To greet someone, a handshake will do the job. Take a small gift along when visiting someone’s house. Save the flowers for special occasions. Dinner is generally taken very late in the night. People wear casuals most of the time. Men are expected to wear jackets at some restaurants. Swimsuits should be confined to the pools and beaches. Recently a ban has been applied on smoking in public places.

Shopping

Shops open quite early in the morning and stay open late in the evening. In the afternoon, they are closed for lunch or siesta. Porcelain and leather goods are famous and they will be good gifts for friends and family members back home. Bills are to be paid along with the service charges, so tipping is a matter of gratitude.

Electricity

Voltage is 220 volts and frequency is 50 Hz

Getting There

IBERIA is the national airline of Spain. Many other low-cost airlines offer services in the country. There are nearly thirty international airports in Spain, out of which Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and Malaga are famous.

Madrid located at 13km away from the city has a good bus service every fifteen minutes. Underground service also works to transport passengers to their destinations. Other facilities offered at this airport are duty free shops, bank, restaurant, tourism information, and hotel reservations.

Barcelona is very close to the city, situated at a distance of 3 km only. Buses are available every 15 minutes and trains are available every 20 minutes. Taxis are available throughout the day. Duty free shops, restaurants, bank, car hire and tourism information are available here.

There is a good network of roads connecting Spain north to south. Toll booths are installed in some parts of the country. Carrying few Euros will help smooth sailing at the toll booths. If driving one’s private car, it would be better if the travel insurance covers medical costs too. Carrying a medical kit can prove to be of some help.

Duty Free Items

1. 200 cigarettes or 100 cigarillos 50 cigars or 250g tobacco (300 cigarettes, 150 cigarillos, 70 cigars and 400g of tobacco for EU nationals)

2. 1litre of spirits if exceeding 22 per cent volume or 2 litres of alcoholic beverage not exceeding 22 per cent volume and 2 litres of wine (1.5 litre exceeding 22 per cent and 3 litres of up to 22 per cent and 5 litres of wine for EU nationals)

3. 250ml eau de toilette and 50g of perfume

4. 500g of coffee or 200g of coffee extract (1000g of coffee and 4000g of coffee extract for EU nationals)

5. 100g of tea or 40g of tea extract

6. Gifts up to the value of approximately €37.26.

Graham S Doyle asked:




A lot of people will want to go travelling once they retire. Now that they do not have the rigidity of a job to worry about, they can go and see the world as and when they please. However, it is vitally important for senior citizens to have adequate travel insurance when they head off on their travels. It is obvious that the older you are, the higher the risks involved in getting travel cover and the higher the cost but nevertheless it is an important purchase to make when going away from home. A suitable travel insurance plan for an old aged pensioner should cover for sickness, accidents, loss of luggage, theft or even death.

Accidents can happen to anyone so it is important to always be prepared for such unfortunate occurrences. It is also a fact that older people are more susceptible to infections and viruses and are more likely to suffer complications. Another problem for older people when going abroad is the heat. If by any chance the country you are visiting happens to be hit by a heat wave, then it is more likely that an older person will experience more severe ill effects.

With all of these risks facing senior citizens it is becoming more and more important to have suitable travel insurance in place before going away. While these policies are more expensive than standard travel insurance policies, it will provide security in that should anything to happen, the costs, which could run into thousands, would be covered by the insurance company. It is better to pay that bit extra before you go than to have to try to find huge sums of money if something bad were to happen.

There are a number of insurance companies which specialise in packages for senior citizens so it would be wise to take the time to check out all the options available to you. Check out whether there are any offers available from companies and if possible use a comparison website to see which companies are offering the best packages at the best prices. Whatever you do, do not take the chance and go away without suitable cover as you may regret it further down the road.

Retirement should be a time to get out there and see the world and not have to worry. Wouldn’t it be great to just get away and do all the things you never had the time or the money to do before? Well as long as you have a quality travel insurance policy in place, you can head off into the world and leave your worries behind.

Always remember to check exactly what your policy covers with your insurer.

fabirebeque asked:

Is time travel possible? Theoretical physicist and 2057 host Michio Kaku explores the possibilities.

LonelyPlanet asked:

A surfer’s paradise and a beach lover’s bliss, Hawaii attracts millions of visitors a year and why wouldn’t it when even the name conjures up dreamy images of picture perfect tropical islands. Produced by Lonely Planet TV

travellinguist asked:

Learn 10 Russian survival words compliments of the travel linguist. For a full list of instructional language DVDs, phrasebooks, audio CDs visit www.travellinguist.com