Naturally, the traditional dishes of Japan developed based on its own unique history as well as the geographic and climatic situations of the country. Rice has been the most important staple crop for over 2,000 years. In fact the importance of rice cannot be overstated. It is not only the base of most meals but for several products including: cakes, crackers and miso. Vegetables, seafood and tea round out the daily diet. The most commonly recognized Japanese dishes include sushi, tempura, tofu and flavorful noodles. Interestingly, tea was introduced to Japan from China along with chopsticks and soy sauce; the deep-frying of foods such as tofu and tempura was introduced by the Dutch and the Portuguese in the 16th Century.

The most practiced religion on the island, Buddhism, has influenced cooking and dining styles. Buddhism places great influence on the seasons and the harmony within a meal. Seasonality of foods is key in Japanese dining. Buddhism also introduced the idea that meals should feature five flavors and colors: sweet, spicy, salty, bitter and sour; and yellow, black, white, green, and red. Emphasis is also placed on the presentation and appearance of dishes. The better a dish appears, and the more suited it is to the environment the better it is said to taste.

A few notes on politeness. A hot towel is often provided before a meal but is used to clean hands only. The bowl is held in the left-hand and the chopsticks in the right to avoid collisions at the table. It is impolite to pour soy sauce directly on to rice or soup. Instead a bowl is provided on the table and foods should be dipped into it. Picky eating and special requests at restaurants are generally frowned upon the more socially acceptable thing is to eat what is provided. As a traveler, just be sure to ask nicely if you have special needs.

My sister, Clare, and her husband, Greg, and their two children (who I will call Jill and Jack to protect the anonymity of the innocent) were visiting me in Barcelona where I was living at the time. On their second night in the country Greg suffered appendicitis. At first he thought he was just terribly hung over. Due to this confusion, his appendix ended up bursting before he would let us take him to the hospital (where he would spend the rest of their vacation). On their first night in the country Greg, Clare and I got quite inebriated while the children were in bed. In some late night gut spilling we got to talking about the most difficult things we had ever been through. I claimed that spending several months alone on a boat while sailing around the horn of Africa was the most difficult thing. But Greg countered me betting that one day alone with their kids in Salou, a nearby resort town, would make me wish I were back on the boat. Regretfully, in my drunken state, I took the bet and then some. So, I booked a nice hotel in the town of Salou. It was really great. It had everything we needed from tv to aircon to a pool, which made dealing with the children a lot easier.

Here are the do’s and don’ts for babysitters in Salou, Catalonia, Spain.

Do: Take them to PortAventura, basically the Bush Gardens/Disneyworld of Spain.

Do: Let them eat whatever they want—after all, they’re on vacation.

Don’t: Don’t take them on the teacups in the Old West section of PortAventura after allowing them to eat whatever they want.

Do: Buy them new souvenir t-shirts after they’ve been sick on the teacups.

Don’t: Take them to nearby Tarragona to look at the amazing art museums and historical sites. They will not appreciate.

Do: Take them to the beach.

Don’t: Take them to the beach without sand toys, water, towels and snacks.

Do: Take them to hotel pool.

Don’t: Let them pee OR throw the cake you bought them into hotel pool. Staff/other swimmers will not think it is funny.

Don’t: Take them to Can Blas, the most posh restaurant in town. They/other diners will not enjoy the experience.

Do: Get them chicken wings and ice cream for every meal.

Don’t: Take them to the jazz club. Saxophonist will not think they are cute.

Do: Take them back to PortAventura again and again. Avoid teacups this time.

I used to hate so-called resort towns, theme parks and fast food. Instead I favored historical sites, traditional slow cooked cuisine and towns untouched by run-of-the- mill tourists. That was all before kids. One week of babysitting will have you grateful to the PortAventuras, Salous and parents the world over.

Of Wine and Walking Tours
Budapest is a great city for meandering walks and never ending picnic lunches. For an organized walk try- Free Budapest Walking Tours for guided tours of the city; the trained guides work only on tips. They offer a thorough general walking tour all year round; communist and Jewish Quarter walking tours are offered from April through October.

After the tour get out your picnic blanket and take a rest in the historic City Park, be sure to pass by the Vajdahunyad Castle, a model castle built to demonstrate the different phases of Hungarian building design.

After an afternoon in the Hungarian sunshine, you can quench your thirst at the House of Hungarian Wines (Magyar Borok Háza) in the Castle District. Enjoy the ambiance of a neo-gothic wine cellar and sample from nearly 700 wines representing the 22 wine producing regions of Hungary. If wine is your passion- consider making the trip for one of the annual Budapest wine festivals. The Spring Wine Festival takes place in mid-April in downtown Budapest. The Wine Village is next and takes place in mid-August; this festival is a more economical and less touristy than the International Wine & Champagne Festival in the Castle District, which takes place in September. However, at this popular festival both Hungarian and visiting wine makers introduce their best.

Dinner and Dancing
Next in the romance category should be a fabulous dinner with spectacular views of the city. Consider Spoon Café and Lounge or Café Pierrot. Spoon is located on a boat in the Danube River while Café Pierrot is warm and cozy. Both restaurants have extensive menus with vegetarian options. As the evening continues make a stop at Fat Mo’s Music Club, styled as a 20s style American speak-easy, it features live music on all weekend nights. For the serious club dancers, be sure to check out B-7. If traditional dance is more your style consider the Aranytiz Cultural Center. Here you can learn the czardas, the ‘tango of the east’, or simply enjoy the music. Since the 1970s the ‘dancehouse movement,’ as one part of a larger folk revival movement, has been popularizing Hungarian dance tradition. After the dancing, if you haven’t already had too much wine, be sure to sample pálinka, a Hungarian fruit brandy that is a common stable in most local bars.

Budapest is a great place to visit. While you there, make sure you stay in one of there many beautiful hotels. These hotels keep the historic grandeur that they used to have and look very old and European. I loved my time there. Plus, the city is so cheap, you can get a lot of bang for your buck. Usually, I stay in hostels when I travel, but here, I splashed out and got a great hotel in Budapest.

In grandiose Texas style, Austin, the capital city, does not just have good live music- it is “The live music capital of the world.” Austin earned the name because it has more music venues per capita than any other city in the United States- more than 200 to date. The people of Austin include a mix of artists, politicians, techies who work in Silicon Hills, students and professors from the University of Texas-Austin and, of course, musicians. “Keep Austin Weird” is a slogan popular among residents. You can find a live show any day of the year in Austin but to get the most music for your money you might want to attend one of the four annual music festivals: South by Southwest, Austin City Limits (ACL), Pachanga or Urban.

South by Southwest
The oldest and most famous festival is the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music and Media conference. Held every spring the festival has grown to include film and interactive media in addition to music. Musicians from all over the world gather in Austin to perform at 80 venues throughout the city. During the day there are conferences and trade talks about the future of the industry. In 2009 the festival attracted groups ranging from Kanye West to Metallica to Silversun Pickups. There are also enough up and upcoming new bands to satisfy the choosiest music snob.

Austin City Limits
The Austin City Limits (ACL) music festival is a three-day festival held every October. Last year more than 65,000 people came to see more than 130 acts on eight stages. The ACL is not limited to one genre of music and brings together rock, country, folk, indie, hip-hop, and bluegrass groups.

Pachanga
Pachanga Latino Music Festival is the newest of the festivals. It is held every May in historic East Austin on Lady Bird Lake. It is billed as a celebration of Latino music, food and cultural arts. Pachanga means “lively party” in Spanish. In 2009 twenty bands performed in Spanish and English at the one-day festival.

Urban
The Urban Music Festival is held each spring and features R&B, neo-soul, and hip-hop music. In 2009 the festival attracted 12,000 people to Auditorium shores. The Urban Festival is a community-building event and relies on volunteers and other local participation.

Music Districts
If you can’t make it to Austin in time for the festivals you can still stroll through the music districts to find live performances. The best place to start is the Sixth Street District- with more than 50 clubs you are sure to find what you are looking for. But if you don’t you can continue on the Warehouse District for some classic blues at the world famous Antone’s. If you like to be on the cutting edge be sure to check out the alternative music in the Red River District.

Remember that many of these festivals are very popular. SXSW has become an iconic event that attracts tens of thousands of people. So does Austin City Limits. If you plan on traveling there, you will need to book your hotels early. Very early. Rooms fill up quick and many of the good deals are gone quickly. When I went to SXSW last year, I used Hotels Combined for my bookings. They had a lot of choices and were cheaper than Expedia.

What makes the Galapagos Islands special is the restrictions that the government has put in place, including protection policies that date back to the 1930s. Rules and laws dictate that you must travel with a guide when visiting the islands – but it is worth it. Around every corner you might see a giant tortoise, Galapagos sea lion, Darwin’s Finches or the incredible marine iguana – all of which are unique to the island chain.

Beneath the waters of Galapagos Islands lies a world just as astounding as above the waters. Signing up for a Galapagos diving tour will get you the closest to the fascinating underwater sea life. Seals, sea turtles, hundreds of fish species, hammerhead sharks and even penguins are native to the islands and beneath the clear waters. Snorkeling is another way to see your favorite marine animals up-close and nearly every cruise ship offers a snorkeling package. Just walking by the ocean is an occasion to see a large diversity of what divers call “big animals.” It is very common to spot whales, dolphins, and sharks while visiting the Galapagos Islands.

Being relatively undamaged by humans, the awe-inspiring landscapes and unique wildlife of Galapagos Islands is like nothing else on Earth. For information on visiting the islands, I recommend checking out Adventure Associates, an environmentally-friendly tour company which can create a custom Galapagos Islands tour for you.

Even though I certainly pride myself on having visited several foreign countries, nations, and other locales abroad I firmly believe that someone should first explore their own country before moving on to visit the rest of the world. As someone who has been to 46 of 50 states as well as several territories (I’m missing just Alaska, Hawaii, Michigan, and Louisiana) I feel that I am in the proper position to give this sort of advice. In fact, before you set out to leave this nation ask yourself, what am I looking to find?

More often than not you will find that you can find what you are looking for, and then some, right here at home. If you are thinking of a visit to the deserts of Egypt look no further than our very own Death Valley in Nevada and California; the Painted Desert of New Mexico; or any other number of deserts throughout Texas, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and even Oregon! If you are more into beaches and ocean play than states such as Florida, Rhode Island, California, and most obviously Hawaii might be more your speed and the states of Alaska and Texas, almost small countries in their own right offer more to explore than many of the international destinations so many Americans are eager to visit.

While there is certainly nothing wrong with international travel and keeping in mind that I don’t want to come off as one of those ignorant Americans who ignores the world at large, I am just saying that, while travel abroad might have its place, we should not be so quick as to overlook the amazing people and beauty that our own country can offer us right here at home. All I’m saying is that before we go abroad, we should travel at home first.

However, the area in and around the Uluru – Kate Tjuta National Park is home not only to imported animals but is also home to a host of exotic and varied native species as well. Perhaps most notorious and iconic is the kangaroo. Similar to the North American white tail deer in terms of their continental distribution, the kangaroo is found throughout central Australia (as well as the whole of the continent) and also lives within close proximity to its smaller but similarly built cousins the wallaroo and the wallaby.

In addition, to the animal life, this part of Australia is known for its isolation and remoteness and, as I said, I was struck as to just how alone we really were out there. The native aboriginal peoples often spoke of the “walkabout” a solitary journey into the bush of the outback in order to find one’s self. Today, modern travelers from the west often attempt to emulate this ancient ritual in an attempt to connect with nature and to leave the rat race fully behind them. Whether you make the journey alone, like the natives once did, or whether you choose to bring along your friends or loved ones, you are sure to find an excursion into the outback rewarding and therapeutic. I know that for me, my trip to Australia – and to the Outback in particular – was a memorable time and destination and one that I long to return to.

In addition, I was able to travel the country and participate in “charter mark” award ceremonies. Basically, in yet another display of the UK’s propensity to waste tax payer’s money, we traveled the country congratulating various court districts for a job well done and put on shows featuring motivational speakers as well as hosting luncheons. While the award ceremonies themselves were, bluntly, something of a joke the opportunity to travel England and Scotland by train was pretty darn cool and allowed me enjoy the country in a way many of my fellow travel abroad students could not. I saw green hills and the picturesque British country side, small farms and villages, and even enjoyed my first taste of haggis on a train speeding toward Edinburgh. Even more cool than the things I saw were the people I met. Traveling by train brings with it a certain level of intimacy not offered in other forms of travel and I was quick to converse with those on the train and was able to make a few friends along the way – of course, the fact that the train sold wine in abundance helped this cause immensely. Finally, the last really neat thing about traveling the country was that I was put up in fancy hotels as I traveled. Considering I was only 21 at the time, working for the Court Service might just have been one of the more interesting experiences of my young life thus far.

Guidebooks are inherently behind the times. By the time they are published restaurants they recommend may have gone out of business, as has happened to me in South America over the last 9 months. A site like Wikitravel.org is updated by the users with new information whenever it comes available, meaning it is always up to date since it has no publication cycle to worry about. Forums like Lonely Planet’s Thorntree have thousands of users that live in the countries you want to visit, and are more than willing to give personal and tailored advice to you about your trip. When you can find all the information you need at your keyboard, why buy a clunky guidebook that pegs you as a tourist wherever you go?

Almost all sites now include user-generated reviews, especially on lodging sites like Hostel Bookers or Hostel World. Combine Wikitravel.org and Lonely Planet’s Thorntree travel forum with these user-generated reviews, and you can find the best places to visit, the best places to eat, the best places to party, and the best places to rest your head. I have not bought a guidebook for myself in over two years, just because I find printing only the information I need to be more economical and more effective besides. If I have a couple of pages of paper instead of a large, bound guidebook, I do not stand out as a tourist and potential mark for thieves.

First, you should get a card with huge sign bonus. Most travel credit cards offer joining bonuses of 20,000 or more miles! Don’t join one that doesn’t offer you anything or it will take a long time to exchange rewards for hotels, cash, or airfare. You want rewards now right?

Also, don’t forget to read the fine print. Are there are reward blackout dates, a fee structure, taxes, or other things the credit card company might try to sneak in there. Businesses don’t give away anything for free so for most cards they will try to sneak in some service charge. Compare the cards to make sure you pick one that doesn’t do anything sneaky.

I like cards with fees. I travel a lot and I don’t want to spend a long time earning points before my next trip. Fee cards have a much better rewards system than non-few cards. If you are a frequent traveler, it’s better to get a fee based card. Normally the first year’s fee is waived anyways. But more importantly, you’ll be able to rack up points to travel quicker. If you don’t travel a lot, it is probably not worth it to get a fee based card.

So which card should you get? A hotel card? A general travel card? An airline specific card? In order to decide, you need to consider how you will use the card. Are you loyal to one airline or airline network like the Star Alliance? Then you should get an airline card. If you are on the road for business a lot, then getting a hotel card would be perfect for you. For those who only care about price and not brand loyalty, a general card would be best. However, by getting a general travel rewards card you would have access to a wider range of brands and companies than if you had a brand specific card.

If you think about all of this before you get a travel credit card, you’ll be able to get the card that gives you the most value and rewards.