With the opening of the highly anticipated Twilight movie, and being a huge, huge fan of the series, one tour I’d kill to join is the Forks Chamber of Commerce’s 3-hour Twilight Tour which takes you around locations that play important roles in Stephenie Meyer’s phenomenal Twilight series.

The tour highlights locations such as Charlie Swan’s house (which is a private residence, so please don’t trespass); the Cullen’s house which is really the Miller Tree Bed and Breakfast; the real Forks High School; the Fork’s Outfitters; Fork’s Hospital where you can take a picture of Dr. Cullen’s reserved parking space; and La Push Beach, home of the Quileutes.

The tour is hosted by Mike Gurling but only a maximum of 13 people can be taken at a time, so you can call ahead for reservations at (360)374 2531. And because of the popularity of the book series, the tour is pretty popular as well and is usually fully booked. The tour starts at the Visitor Center, located 1411 South Forks Ave. (Hwy 101).

Visit forkswashington.org and twilight.inforks.com for more information.

Photo Credit: twilight.inforks.com

Photo Credit: creatingkoan
It seems like Disney is staying away from theme parks this time around but don’t feel bad about your dream Hawaiian vacation yet because Walt Disney Parks & Resorts is planning a gorgeous resort in the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

It has been reported that the initial plans for the islands will include “830 hotel and vacation time-share rooms, a fantasy-laden water play area and an 18,000-square-foot spa to Kapolei in the rapidly expanding Ko Olina resort on West Oahu”. And Disney has always been able to deliver when it comes to fantasy places. Just think of Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida. Not to mention the one in Hong Kong which is just as glorious and magical as the rest of them. It wouldn’t be entirely different.

The resort is also expected to hire a thousand “cast members” so even though it’s not entirely Disneyland, it will still have that Disney magic. It was also reported that there had been no mention of a full-scale theme park but I’m sure that whatever the Disney name will touch will include magic anyway. This will also be a treat to locals and tourists alike as Hawaii has no full-scale amusement park, banking only on the beauty of the Hawaiian beaches and volcanoes. In my opinion though, Hawaii has enough beauty on its own.

Get your surfboards ready and join Mickey Mouse on the sea, sun and surf. The complex is expected to be completed in 2011.

Photo Credit: Redacted
The first time I heard the name “Cape Cod”, I can distinctly remember it. It was from the charming mermaid movie starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, Splash. I don’t remember the concept, but I remember how Tom Hanks cried it out.

Cape Cod is a long stretch of coastline and beaches on the Easternmost portion of Massachusetts. A tourist and vacation area, it has natural attractions and many history sites. The Pilgrims first landed at the very tip of the peninsula, Provincetown.

The best time to go is Memorial Day through Labor or Columbus day, where everything at the Cape is fun and alive. See the 43,608 acres of the Cape Cod National Seashore with its beaches, sand dunes and cliffs, and nature trails. Cape Cod also boasts of lighthouses including the Nobska Light, Lewis Bay Light, and the Cape Cod Light. I also remember a scene in the movie with a lighthouse. I should do more research, for nostalgia’s sake.

If beaches aren’t your thing, you can visit the many art galleries around the area, or go bicycling, boating or golfing. Cape Cod also has a large number if theaters where you can enjoy culture.

If you’re the sporty kind, maybe the Cape Cod Baseball League would interest you. It’s totally free and is one of the best amateur baseball leagues in the country.

Photo Credit: philip.stewart

If there was one hotel name that I kept seeing over and over again when it comes to traveling, that name would be Hilton. As “fascinating” as the lives of the Hilton heiresses are, the history of the hotels that gave them the means, is, well, just another story of hard work.

Conrad Hilton, the great-grandfather of Paris and Nicky Hilton, bought his first hotel in 1919, the Mobley Hotel in Cisco, Texas. Eleven years later, the first high-rise Hilton Hotel was opened in El Paso, Texas. The Hilton Hotel chain became the largest in the world in 1954 with the aquisition of the Statler Hotel chain. Click here for a more detailed view of the milestones in the history of the Hilton Hotel chain.

Today, the Hilton Family of Hotels include a number of the biggest and most influential brands in the world including the Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn and Hampton Inn & Suites, and Homewood Suites by Hilton. As they boast in their site, “not only are the brands in the Hilton Family of Hotels well known and well respected, but they also represent market leadership in their respective segments of the industry…whether in luxury, upscale, mid-priced, extended-stay or vacation ownership.” It’s quite impressive really. The company now owns over 3,000 hotels around the globe.

For more information, visit the following interesting sites:
Hilton Hotels in Wikipedia
Hilton Hotels Corporation
The Hilton Family
Hilton Hotels Online

Photo Credit: Oscar Papaorhum Four of the five finalists are from South America, and the one who wasn’t was from Russia. So I decided that to round off the Miss Universe series for today’s posts is the beautiful chilly region of Siberia in Russia, particularly Lake Baikal, the biggest, deepest, oldest lake on Earth, containing more than a fifth of the world’s freshwater supply set in a 445m above sea level stone bowl.

Aside from its ancient mystique, it is also incredibly beautiful and charming, and deserves a spot on anyone’s the must-see places. It is located about an hour away from Irkutsk Oblast in Eastern Siberia. While there, you might want to try the area’s specialty, smoked Omul, or you can check the seafood restaurant on the lake’s edge.

Visit the charming town of Listvyanka which is just a stone’s throw away from the lake. Worried about the climate? Baikal is called “a museum of climates” because of a number of factors. It is unique in a way that the water mass gives it the features if a seashore climate. There is also a lot of sunshine, considering that when you shiver when you hear the word Siberia. It’s actually sunny on Baikal, although it can also be stormy there. As with everything, best time to go is still, of course, summer.

But because it’s incredibly beautiful, you wouldn’t really mind whatever weather you find it in, would you?

Click here for more information on Baikal, and here for the area’s UNESCO World Heritage site.

Photo Credit: Zac-Attack
One of my travel dreams is to visit an aquarium in a different country. There’s something about the sea and the animals that call it home that tugs at my soul. Some memory maybe of a past life? Or just my romantic fancy. Sadly, I haven’t even been able to visit an aquarium in my own, but no matter. There’s a lot of time, and there are a lot of aquariums out there to explore.

When I pulled up a site that lists down the aquariums of the world, I was stunned to find out the number of aquariums all in a lot of countries. Looks like I have my work cut out for me.

The United States has the most number of aquariums, followed by Europe. Not wanting to randomly choose an aquarium, I decided to list down and link ten aquariums from ten places in the world I wanted to visit. So here’s my list.

Aquarium of Rhodes, Greece
Ocean Park, Hong Kong
Irish National Aquarium, Ireland
Marine World, Japan
Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, USA
London Aquarium, England
Acquario Civico-Statione Idrobiologica (Milan Aquarium), Italy
Seoul Ocean Aquarium - Coex Aquarium, South Korea
Deep Sea World, Scotland
Underwater World, Singapore

There’s just something tranquil, mysterious and magnificent about the sea, even though its just a copy of the sea. Let’s go visit the aquariums together!

Photo Credit: -Marlith-
Who wouldn’t want to stay in the lap of luxury while vacationing? Think about impressive rooms, wonderful service, amenities that would make you want to just stay in the hotel and never come out… or never go home. In my research, I can across this site and was stunned by the luxury-with-a-capital-L offered by these hotels.

The Hotel Avenida Palace is the only palace in the city and Lisbon’s first luxury hotel. It was built with 82 elegantly beautiful rooms, unbelievable marble bathrooms, and a Jacuzzi. It also offers breathtaking views of St. Jorge Castle and Marques de Pombal Square.

The Fujairah Rotana Resort and Spa in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates has a distinctly Far Eastern feel: darkly mysterious, and dangerously seductive with gardens and pools as well as beaches. You can choose a room that overlooks the Indian Ocean or the gentler view of hills and lakes. You can also avail of the incredible Zen-inspired spa treatments. What can be more luxurious than that?

A jewel called the Marco Polo Parkside Beijing in Beijing, China is conveniently located a 15 minute walk away from the 2008 Olympic Main Stadium and the Water Cube. It offers 315 gorgeously decorated rooms which come with wireless broadband Internet access, and their own private bar.

Wishing you can go on a luxurious vacation yet? Head on over to the site for more stunning hotels on the list that would make you grab that phone and call your travel agent pronto.

Every customer service representative have spoken to a minimum of one irate, difficult customer a day. Now, imagine if that customer is a harried tourist who just got off the plane, lost his luggage and needs a hotel pronto, ignores local customs and is impolite? And YOU happen to be a hapless hotel employee? In a survey conducted for employees of 4,000 hotels in in various countries for Expedia.fr, a French travel website, it was determined that the winner of the Most Obnoxious Tourist award goes to the French!

According to Bruce Crumley’s article entitled “Most Obnoxious Tourists? The French” in Time.com, the French has overtaken Americans’ reputation as the most horrible tourists, “characterized as impolite, prone to loud carping and inattentive to local customs”.

The French may also have an excuse for not being able to properly speak English, and thus, are more prone to miscommunication which leads to frustration and therefore, misunderstandings which the passionate French people may only be too easy to goad into. The same limit to language had first pushed Americans into the spot. Only goes to show how important language incredible is. Most, if not all, hotel staff who speak with guests are fluent in English, so the Americans shouldn’t have any problems with expressing their thoughts and opinions about the service. The less than fluent French may have problems with that.

Anyway, want to read more? Head on over to Time.com. What do you think? What type of tourist are you?

It’s a novel way to get close to God. With Rocks, and rivers heralding a spiritual presence, Christian adventure camps take you on a Rock-N-Water trip.

With Class III whitewater rafting, and Rockclimbing, this adventure will make you feel alive, and close to nature. One hour east of Sacramento, the cost of a day raft is $83 per person with lunch.

For the land lubbers, enjoy a day of Rock Climbing with lunch for $60. You can also take a course in team building, as the camp organizes games that improve your leadership skills, and team participation skills.

All these activities can also be combined, into a mix n match experience that is customized to your taste. This is a truly vigorous experience for the daring!

The seaside resort of La Jolla is one of the wealthiest communities in San Diego, famous for it’s beaches and shores. The beaches host a wide variety of marine life, specially wild seals.

Of all the various beaches, “La Jolla Shores” has one of the few beach boat launchers, and is a perfect spot for Kayaking.

Kayaking tours and rentals in La Jolla Shores, offers it’s Kayaking Services to visitors who wish to explore it’s marine life. The main attraction is a location called the “7 Caves”.

Likely marine life that you will see include the sea lion, and the leapord shark. With the apparatus on board the kayak, you can even go snorkeling! The trip takes place once every hour into the evening, and includes life jackets. You can kayak singly for $40 per person, with discounts for families.