Keeping in touch with family and friends can be tough when you are away.  You can always send postcards, but that can really suck up your vacation time and we all have better things to do on vacation than to write numerous cards saying the same thing over and over..  well now there is a high-tech solution called Jurnl.  You can get your free travel blog Jurnl at Jurnl.com, and send live updates to your family and friends from yoru iPhone!

iPhone capabilities include blog posts and photo’s. Inspired in a monument or beautiful landscape? Simply take a picture, write your blurb and post it instantly to your Jurnl. Going on a holiday? Why not create a Travel blog Jurnl today to share your vacation adventure with your friends and family! All you need to do is to simply download the free iPhone blogging application which you can find on the site in the App Store.

Creating an account is easy and you can be up and running in minutes.  The site offers you many themes to choose from so that you can personalize the look of your blog to suit yourself.  Of course you can blog about your every day life as well, Jurnls are not just limited to your holiday writings.  You can Jurnl about an upcoming wedding, new house, new pet, or just about anything you can think of.  And being part of a blog community is great too (one of the things I find hard about writing this blog is that I feel like I’m in a vaccuum sometimes!)

So.. check it out.  As I said, Jurnls are free..

If you’re a geologist, a naturalist, or just someone that’s interested in a place a bit off the beaten track, then The Badlands, South Dakota is the place for you.

A mixture of spires, valleys, buttes and sharply eroded sandstone, this mixed prairie grass preserve is a great place to go whether you’re a fossil hunter, or just interested in natural beauty.

Badlands National park is a gorgeous place – with unique and unusual sandstone rock that layers in ways that has to be seen to be believed.  The spires, and erosions formed over several thousand millenia make for a unique skyline.  Vegetation and fauna sprinkle crevices and valleys, making for interesting walks, and of course, the badlands are home to all kinds of wild animals, from Bison that graze by the side of the road as you’re driving through, to Prairie dogs, Elk, Coyotes, and wild Horses.

Many interesting fossils have been found there, since the interest in paleontology kicked up in 1840 or so.  Several species of fossils have since been discovered in the White River area of the Badlands – more than 3/4s of the total found by 1854 had come from that one area. Read more »

Converted from a military installation to a federal prison in 1934, Alcatraz is one of America’s foremost notorious prisons.  Despite the fact it was only used as a prison for 29 years, it’s probably the most famous.  There are two main reasons for its being so well known; firstly the notability of prisoner which were housed there, and secondly, its image recorded by Hollywood’s moviemakers.

By current standards, the prison wasn’t large, housing only 250 inmates, but because of its island location, there were never any escapes recorded from it – thus adding fuel for entertainment industry to create movies such as “Escape from Alcatraz” where real life escape attempts were transposed into movies for the big screen.  TV’s “Mythbusters” have since proved that escape was in fact a possibility, despite Alcatraz’s reputation to the contrary.

Today Alcatraz, known also as the Rock, is overseen by the National Parks Service who have representatives on the island.  Visitors will be able to ask NPS staff any questions they have, but there are no formal tours around the prison.  There are self-guided tours – including the cellhouse audio tour - however, which together with videos and exhibits make for an interesting trip around this famous building.  Read more »

Traveling abroad is a great learning experience for kids and parents, although it can be expensive.  Many carriers will charge an adult fare for children over the age of 12, so make sure you hunt about to find the best cheap flights if your voyage involves air travel.  Here are 10 tips to help keep your family safe, and ensure everyone has a great time.

1. Fill out all emergency information on your passports. Make sure family members wear their passport on their body at all times. Children should carry the phone number and address of at least one trusted adult back home.

2. Read, understand, and follow all travel warnings issued for the area you are visiting. Do not travel to unsafe areas.

3 .Make two copies of everyone’s passport id page and airline tickets. Carry one copy with you in a separate place from your passport, and leave the second with a trusted friend or family member back home. Parents should carry additional copies of children’s passports.

4. Always carry current photos of your children with you.

Read more »

Yukon, formerly The Yukon Territory, is Canada’s most northwestern province, bordered on the north by the Beaufort Sea and the west by the state of Alaska.

Visitors to the region will need to be hardy and prepared for the sub-arctic climate.  The temperature in the province goes over 50° F (10° C) less than four months of the year.  The average winter temperature is between -4° F and -26° F (-20° to -32° C) but, since it is drier than many parts of southern Canada, the cold is considered more bearable than the same temperatures would be further south.

The Yukon is so sparsely populated that it is the only Canadian province not subdivided for the Census.  The entire province, all 186, 661 square miles of it (483,450 sq km), is a single Census division with an estimated total population of 31,500.

The Yukon is best known for the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896.  The rush to hunt to for gold ended 3 years after it began and by 1902 most of the hopeful miners had left.  Gold production peaked in 1911 and the last dredge shut down in 1966. Read more »

Travel in western Canada can be adventurous, romantic, and fun.  All you have to do is take the train. VIA Rail, Canada’s federal Crown corporation railway system, offers several routes to travelers who want to see Canada without having to drive through it.

The Canadian is the western transcontinental train, a three-day journey from Toronto to Vancouver with stops along the way in Winnipeg, Jasper, and Edmonton, among others.  Truly adventurous travelers who want to plan their own vacation can even request special stops anywhere between Sudbury Junction and Winnipeg, a service the rail line touts to outdoor enthusiasts.

The Skeena takes riders for a breathtaking trip along the Canadian Rockies and out to the Pacific, traveling from Jasper to Prince Rupert in British Columbia with an overnight stop in Prince George.  Be warned, though, the Skeena does not have sleeping cars and passengers need to take care of their own accommodation needs in Prince George. Read more »

Have you ever been to Las Vegas?  Vegas is much more than gambling, as I recently discovered when I visited the EarlyVegas.com site.  Ont he site I discovered the huge range of shows and other attractions that Las Vagas can offer.  Currently, Criss Angel is running.. and you can get a 40% discount from the EarlyVegas.com site!  They have many discounts available, you really can’t go wrong with the range of  Las Vegas Specials they offer.

Vegas such as the Lion Habitat, King Tut’s Tomb, and Shark Reef.. just to name a few. This makes Vegas much more family friendly than I could ever have imagined! Of course, all of the gambling, partying and general revelry is still there, it wouldn’t be Vegas without it! But Vegas certainly has matured over the years to encompas much more than that.

The EarlyVegas site will give you a real head start in organizing your visit to this remarkable city.. everything from car hire to the best Las Vegas Hotels are right there at your fingertips! Check it out for ag reat fun filled holiday.

Learning foreign languages is not something you should rate as difficult or impossible. In fact, if you follow the right strategies and put in some serious efforts in the right direction the right way, you can easily learn a foreign language. You’ll learn it in much less time than other people without any proper strategies can. Let me share with you some of the quick learning tips that will help you speed up your language learning process and you will soon have a good command over that language. You will not only be able to speak in that language but you will also be able to comprehend and communicate effectively.

Movies With English Subtitles
One of the best ways to learn a foreign language quickly is to watch movies in that language but with English subtitles. Once you have the basic knowledge regarding the grammar and vocabulary of that language, you can try turning the subtitles off and watching the movie with and without subtitles so that you could test the level of your language skills. You can easily find a DVD title that allows you turn the subtitles off. Read more »

With rapid advancements in the World Wide Web, things have become much easier now and that also includes learning foreign languages. In this competitive and evolving world, learning a foreign language was never that important. If you want to achieve your goals, overtaking others who are in the way of your promotions, you must be aware of the continuing need to improve yourself through online learning of the foreign language. You must learn at least one foreign language in order to keep yourself alive in this dog-eat-dog world. Time constraint is one such factor that has been one of the main reasons why online learning has become one of the favorite choices of both the employees and the employers.

Advantages Of The Online Courses For Language Learning
Perhaps the biggest advantage of the online language courses is that they provide the learner everything they need, to improve their language skills at their own convenience, and at a time when it is most comfortable for them. When you pursue an online course in a foreign language, you are provided all the materials you need anytime, anywhere. Moreover, there is no need to rush because you are racing against yourself only. Therefore, you can complete the course at a pace that is most suitable keeping in view your other engagements and commitments towards your current job. Read more »

If you have ever considered Alaska Travel, then I have found the perfect site for you!  Alaska Denali Tours currently have a sale on, and you can save over $1000 on your package trip.  honestly, packages are the way to go.. you get all of the expertise of the travel agent, and often at a price that you couldn’t put together on your own.  (Agents can often get you to places that you couldn’t get to on your own.. either!)

So why not Travel Alaska for your next holiday?  Alaska Denali Tours actually offer the service of fully customizable Alaska tours in their flexible packages in which you can put together your own itinerary. This gives you endless options so you can customize your vacation to suit your needs and your budget, which of course can range from from economical to luxurious.   You can buy the travel components you’d like to have.

Of course, a trip to Alaska wouldn’t be the same without a trip to the famous Denali Park.  Alaska Denali Tours are unique because they own and operate their own Denali lodges and Denali tour buses into Denali National Park, giving you amuch better holiday experience.

Get in quick while the sale lasts.. there has never been a better time to see Alaska!