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KIVA is an amazing organization that provides micro-lending to people in need.  Last year alone, KIVA loaned over $50 million through the generosity of its members.

If you’re not familiar with it, the concept of micro-lending is simple.  It’s the extension of very small loans to unemployed or poor entrepreneurs who are not considered to be bankable.  The entrepreneurs can ask for any amount of money, on average it’s about $600, and it’s funded in $25 increments by lenders in 50 countries.

Lend money to fix a taxi in Honduras, stock a pharmacy in Tanzania, or to help purchase a delivery motorcycle for a food market in Cambodia.  To lenders, Kiva is a great way to help those in need; to borrowers, it can be life changing.

To date, KIVA has over 370,000 lenders providing loans to people in 185 countries with a 98% repayment rate.  Kiva has raised over $77,000,000 since its conception only 44 months ago.  KIVA - Loans that change Lives.

flydubai, Dubai’s first economy airline, took its first flight on Monday, June 2, 2009, to the Lebanese capital of Beirut bringing a fresh new approach to air travel in the region.

The concept behind flydubai is simple as customers only pay for the services they desire.  The flydubai ticket prices includes all taxes and one carry-on per passenger weighing up to 10kg.  There are no paper tickets, only boarding passes.  There is no extra charge to book your own airline ticket online.

CEO of flydubai, Ghaith Al Ghaith, stated that “flydubai will fly to airport that are currently underserved by the traditional carriers…we are looking forward to providing the reality of accessible, low cost, uncomplicated travel.”

For more information, visit: flydubai

Princess Cruises is offering an amazing 107-day world cruise that will take you to the north, south, east, and west with the experience and knowledge that only Princess can offer with over 40 years of sailing the ocean blue.

Sailing from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, to Rome, this 107-day luxurious cruise will stop at an amazing 40 ports including overnight stays in Sydney, Australia, and Xingang, China. 

If you don’t want to wait until 2010 for this cruise, a 104-day cruise is still available on the Dawn Princess sailing roundtrip from Sydney on July 5, 2009.  Ports include Cork, Ireland; Paris, France; Goa, India, plus an overnight stay in Bermuda.

Remember, cruising is the best vacation value for your money.  For more information, visit: Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises, offering “voyages as memorable as the places they visit,” is pleased to announce their 2010 & 2011 Exotic cruise line up visiting Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Tahiti & the South Pacific, and South America.

New ports of call include Toulon, France; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Manila, Philippines; Xiamen, China and Maputo, Mozambique.

Join Princess on an Exotic cruise with vacations ranging from 2-day experience to a 23-day West Africa, India, & Southeast Asia Grand Adventure voyage.  Among the Princess ships sailing to exotic destinations in 2010 and 2011 are all three of their small ships – the Ocean Princess, Pacific Princess and the Royal Princess .

Among the new itineraries is an amazing 107-day world cruise – see Part Two, May 23.

Today is Earth Day, April 22, 2009.  What better way to celebrate than to take action?

Earth Day events are happening around the world and it’s still not too late to participate!  Attend an educational workshop, a parade, wine tasting, or a concert – find a complete list of events here!

If you can’t attend an event, you can donate, join, or volunteer through the Earth Day Network (EDN).  Even easier - plant a tree or simply switch out an incandescent light bulb!  Everyone can do their part.

Today is also the official kick off for the Green Generation campaign started by EDN whose mission is to provide a healthy, sustainable environment for all people of the world today and for our future.

Happy Earth Day!

Couchsurfing is a simple travel concept – it’s a network of people from around the world that have one thing in common besides the desire to travel.  That’s the desire to travel for free.

Located in Berkeley, CA, this non-profit organization has been helping people connect worldwide through the CouchSurfing website.  It’s free to use – simply join by creating a user profile, decide when and where you’d like to travel, do a search for other members in that area, and “request to CouchSurf” with those members of interest. 

How you choose to CouchSurf is up to you.  You can request accommodation or simply meet for a drink or coffee at the destination of your choice, plus you can host a similar encounter in your neck of the woods to others.  There is no pressure to accept or decline a hosting experience.

With over 1 million members in 232 countries worldwide, the majority of CouchSurfers are in Europe which provides a wealth of opportunities for those members in North America to go abroad.  According to CouchSurfing.com, the top 5 CouchSurfing cities are Paris, London, Berlin, Montreal and Vienna with 27 being the average age of travelers.

TripAdvisor has just announced its 2009 Travelers Choice Awards which lists 100 top hotel bargains, 60 most romantic hotels, 80 family favorites and more.  For now, we’re going to take a look at the Top 10 Hotel Best Bargains.

And they are:

1. Hotel Vecchio Asilo, San Gimignano, Italy
2. Arcadia Residence, Prague, Czech Republic
3. SeaCoast Inn, Hyannis, Massachusetts, USA
4. Riad Zolah, Marrakech, Morocco
5. Derwent House Boutique Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa
6. Can-Y-Bae, Llandudno, Wales
7. Garni Hotel Berc, Bled, Slovenia
8. Pension Bellas Artes, San Sebastian-Donostia, Spain
9. Old Ranch Inn, Palm Springs, California, USA
10. Hotel Al Ponte Mocenigo, Venice, Italy

Once again I am very disappointed to say that I have not had the privilege of staying in any of these hotels – yet.  I still have hope.  Have you been lucky enough to do so?  I’d love to hear from you!

Take care,

Connie

Cross-Cultural Solutions (CCS) is a non-profit company that offers travelers opportunities to volunteer abroad and participate in programs all around the world.

In its ten years of operation, CCS has placed more than 15,000 volunteers into programs.  CCS offers a flexible program where the volunteer traveler picks their own destination, when they want to travel and the duration they wish to volunteer.  Volunteers are given the chance to work in orphanages, schools, and hospitals – where the need may be. 

Program fees include placement into a volunteer program, lodging, all meals, cultural and learning activities plus travel medical insurance and range from $1,800 for one week to $6,400 for a twelve week period.

For more information, check out the CCS website here. 

Happy New Year to you all!  I appreciate you reading my blog and hope that you’ll continue to do so in the New Year to come.

Around the world, people are celebrating New Year’s Day.  But not all people celebrate and not all have the same traditions.  Let’s take a look.

In Egypt, for example, the new crescent moon has to be seen by viewers at the Muhammad Ali Mosque atop it’s hilltop in Cairo before the New Year can officially begin.  New Years Day is an official Egyptian Public Holiday and is full of festive celebrations.

The Chinese New Year takes place between January 21 to February 20 and the annual date changes according to the lunar calendar.  This is a time for friends, family and looking forward to a year of good fortune.  The tradition of giving lucky money to single relatives and children is still popular today.

In Sweden, as with much of the world, people celebrate as we do in North America with food, drink and general celebrations. 

In Ireland, the New Year’s festival known as Samhain takes place on Halloween, October 31^st.  This is when political trends are predicted by the blowing winds and traditionally where breads were banged against the outside doors and windows of a house in order to drive away any misfortunes and to attract general happiness in the home.

If you’d like to read more about New Years Day traditions around the world, check out the FatherTimes website.

Did you know that Lonely Planet now has its own YouTube channel since this past April?  It’s true and well worth a look. 

ith over 500 staff and 300 writers world-wide, Lonely Planet has developed from a book about a couple’s travel adventure to Europe & Asia to a name in travel that can be trusted to provide accurate and up-to-date travel reviews for anyone who travels.

Now they’ve branched out into YouTube with the launch of the Lonely Planet YouTube Channel.  The site features the best travel videos as submitted to the Lonely Planet website along with information on upcoming Lonely Planet television specials.

The Head of Lonely Planet Television, Ms. Laurence Billiet, stated that the new YouTube channel “is an exciting way for us to showcase these inspiring videos to the YouTube community.”

To check out the new Lonely Planet YouTube channel, click here.