Jamie Ditaranto travel tips

Yoga retreats are a perfect way to rejuvenate yourself while simultaneously satisfying your travel itch and desire to go somewhere new and beautiful. But if you’ve ever Googled “yoga retreat,” you probably realize there are thousands upon thousands of options, some of which might not even be legitimate.

I’ve never been to London, but I’ve experienced it many times. From sitting in on royal meetings in Buckingham Palace to passing through the walls of King’s Cross Station at Platform 9 ¾, London has come alive in my imagination through some of my favorite books and movies.

To the modern traveler, “living like a local” has become the name of the game. There is little patience for tourist traps, and convenient hotel restaurants fail to sate the appetites of the culture-hungry traveler. As the world becomes more connected, travelers are looking for authentic experiences and are turning to social media to find them.

February in Rio de Janeiro is usually filled with anticipation of sequins and samba with the arrival of Carnaval, but this year the streets of Rio will be a little less flamboyant. The city has decided to cancel the planned celebrations for this year’s Carnaval, and they’re not the only ones. Cancellations have occurred across Brazil in 48 cities for a variety of reasons. Some cities have voted to spend resources fighting dengue fever and the Zika virus that have been spreading throughout the country. Some cities were forced to cancel due to the economic consequences of what has been one of the worst recessions in Brazil’s history. For Rio, we can assume it’s a combination of the two with the added pressure of hosting the looming Summer Olympics.

Plenty of travelers prefer to just pay the listed price of the item and be done with it, but bargaining a price down is expected in many cultures—especially at flea markets and bazaars, where vendors often inflate prices and expect potential buyers to argue them down.

This coming August, all eyes will turn to the beaches and stadiums of Rio de Janeiro, where the 2016 Summer Olympics will be in full swing. The Games are expected to bring athletes and tourists from across the globe to Brazil, and now for Americans, a huge hurdle has been removed. In a move to stimulate the Brazilian economy, the Brazilian government announced that it will waive visa requirements for citizens of the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan.

Airport horror stories are as much a staple of Thanksgiving dinner as turkey and stuffing. With the whole country rushing home for the holidays, airports—especially the major airports—are at their busiest. Is your home airport on the list of worst airports for Thanksgiving flights? It’s not too late to consider an alternative.

When it comes to traveling abroad, there’s a lot more to it than just buying a plane ticket. You need to do your research. This means finding out if you need a visa, what the weather will be like, what kind of currency they use, etc. For more popular abroad destinations, this might mean a series of quick Google searches, but when you’re traveling somewhere off the beaten path, the information you need is not always readily available.

If you’ve ever traveled abroad without a data plan or a portable hotspot, you know how difficult it is to find free Wi-Fi. Many travelers plan their entire trips on their phones and computers, so it’s only natural that most people still rely on the Internet while traveling. Going online for directions and restaurant recommendations is second nature, but finding free Wi-Fi can take valuable time out of a vacation, and using unsecured connections can put your information in danger. For this reason, it’s important to keep an arsenal of travel apps on your phone that don’t need Wi-Fi.

Recently, airlines are announcing longer and longer flights—each trying to claim the title of world’s longest flight, but typically hovering just below the 18-hour mark. Today, Singapore Airlines has topped them all with the announcement of the world’s newest, non-stop flight. However, it isn’t so new …

With less than two weeks until the final season of Game of Thrones premieres, excitement has been ramping up, and so has HBO’s marketing campaign. So far, HBO has hidden Iron Thrones in real-world locations, partnered with brands to sell limited-edition snacks, and now Westeros has invaded the Las Vegas Strip.