From magnificent beach resorts, historical landmarks to pristine landscapes, there are lots of destinations around the world that we should all visit at least once in a lifetime. However, most of those popular destinations are constantly packed with tourists seeking similar adventures. As such, underrated vacation destinations provide an ideal alternative for those hoping to experience unique adventures away from the crowds. The following are some of the top 5 underrated travel destinations in the world. 

Budapest, Hungary 

While Budapest is rarely talked about among the world’s best travel destinations, it has unique attractions that will surely delight every traveler. The city, which is nicknamed the ‘’Little Paris of Middle Europe,’’ boasts great art, culture, and myriad historical attractions including World Heritage sites such as the Buda Castle Quarter, the Banks of Danube, and Andrassy Avenue. 

Taiwan 

Taiwan is a key gateway into East Asia with endless streams of natural attractions and a bursting food scene. The food culture is driven by 300-night markets that bring the streets to life as the sun goes down. Its nine national parks and hot springs offer travelers the desired connection with nature. It has good transport infrastructure comprising high-speed trains. Taiwan is also an art center buzzing with museums, cultural performances, and exhibitions. 

Cairns, Australia 

Most travelers who have been to Cairns, Australia say it is one of the few travel destinations in the world where it is always summer. It has rainforests, waterfalls, sandy beaches, and sunny weather that provide the right backdrop for a summer vacation. Visitors can indulge in various activities including boat tours, snorkeling, hiking, and scuba diving. It also boasts unique sights like the Great Barrier Reef. 

Cape Verde 

Located off the coast of Senegal, Cape Verde is a tropical paradise bursting with warm sandy beaches, clear sparkling waters with whales, electric entertainment scene, and multi-cultural attractions. It is also home to colonial towns, historical landmarks, and various cultures including Portuguese, African, European, and Spanish. The multi-cultural composition of the island allows visitors to get the best of both worlds. 

Charlotte, North Carolina 

Charlotte, North Carolina is another underrated travel destination with lots of hidden treasures for travelers. Some of its top highlights include the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Carowinds amusement park, and U.S National Whitewater Center. It also has the tallest and fastest Giga Coaster in the world, known as the Fury 325. Visitors can also indulge in various fun activities such as mountain climbing and outdoor yoga. 

Whether you are hoping to relax at the beach, sample unique cuisines, tour historic landmarks, experience the nightlife or connect with nature, the above travel destinations can deliver truly memorable adventures.

When planning a solo trip, the decision on where to visit can sometimes be very overwhelming, especially if you are a beginner solo traveler. Even savvy travelers still find it hard choosing suitable travel destinations from time to time. To help you beat such challenges, the following are the top 5 solo travel destinations. 

Costa Rica 

Costa Rica is one of the places that you should consider visiting when traveling solo. Apart from just the pristine sandy beaches, it boasts great weather, lush landscapes, historical attractions, vibrant culture, wildlife and so much more to make your trip fun and memorable. In Costa Rica, you can also enjoy various activities including swimming, biking, hiking, zip-lining, kayaking, and others. The best places in Costa Rica for solo travels include La Fortuna, Santa Teresa, Tamarindo, and Puerto Viejo. 

Thailand 

The self-proclaimed land of smiles is no doubt a must-visit for solo travelers.  The destination is not only affordable but, also friendly, full of attractions and easier to navigate. Here, there are also lots of things to experience including unique cultures, historical landmarks, wildlife, beaches, and food. In terms of activities, Thailand also has plenty including scuba diving, riding elephants, and hiking among others. As a solo traveler, begin your adventure in Bangkok or Chiang Mai. 

Stockholm, Sweden 

If you are yearning for the Scandinavian weather, Stockholm is a great city to visit. But, it is not just the weather that gives this destination the credit. Stockholm is home to many islands, pristine parks, ancient landmarks and unique beauty that you will truly cherish. Its multicultural metropolis landscape and bursting nightlife are other reasons to visit. Besides, the cuisines will also blow your mind off. 

Iceland 

Iceland is a beautiful destination ideal for solo travelers that love outdoors. Something that many people do not know about Iceland is that it is one of the safest countries in the world. It is also not easy to get lost in Iceland because many travelers use Ring Roads or Golden Circle. The country has a unique sense of intimacy and safety attributed to its small population. Here, you can enjoy some of the most thrilling outdoor activities. 

New York, USA 

New York is a vibrant city with endless attractions and activities for every solo traveler. Due to the expansive nature of the city, there is no chance that you will get bored on the trip. New York boasts unique cultures, world-class attractions, electric nightlife, incredible cuisines, and endless activities to make your trip unforgettable. 

Other great solo travel destinations that should also form part of your to-do list include Canada, Malaysia, Hawaii, and California. 

Generally, there are many places to get inspiration for travelling including travel journals and other similar resources. However, talking to a traveler can be more eye-opening, enabling you to get practical advice and suggestions from people who have been on the road. In case you happen to meet a traveler, the following are some of the things to ask. 

What Do You Like Most About Traveling?

People travel for various reasons including business, vacations, learning new things among others. However, asking an open-ended question like the one above will enable you to dig deeper into the mind of the traveler and, maybe get something unique about traveling. That could give you a new reason or inspiration to travel more. 

Do You Pick Travel Destinations from a List or Go with Your Gut?

Most people like to choose travel destinations from a list of choices offered in travel journals or magazines. However, a savvy traveler will tell you that there is so much more to explore outside the given lists. Therefore, it is important to check travel destinations off a list but, you should also have an open mind and dare to discover more on your own. 

Is it Possible to Experience Amazing Adventures when Traveling Locally?

Some usually think that memorable trips are only experienced in foreign destinations. An ardent traveler will tell you that you can have amazing adventures anywhere including your hometown. Traveling locally has endless attractions and activities that will surely make your trips remarkable. 

Do You Always Plan Your Trips in Advance or Make-Up Plans on the Road?

This may sound quite complex to some travelers. The truth is; a great trip requires a mix of both pre-planning and adjustments. It is recommended that you always plan every detail of the trip beforehand but, leave some room for small changes that may occur along the road. 

There is so much that you can learn from talking to a traveler. Asking the above questions can help you to understand some of the rewards of traveling as well as potential challenges to look out for when planning a trip. 

How to Ensure Your Safety When Travelling Alone for the First Time

Solo trips are usually very exciting, offering you an exclusive opportunity to explore unique interests in your own way. You will learn a lot when traveling alone including how to become independent. In fact, a solo adventure is an incredible way to get to know who you are better. However, traveling alone also comes with certain fears that you must know how to deal with in order to enjoy the adventure. The following are tips on how to ensure your safety on your first solo trip.

Get to Know Your Destination

If it is your first time visiting a place, finding the right routes and streets can be hard. Since you are alone, you might feel scared to talk to people. To ensure that you have a great time, do a little research about the destination beforehand. When doing the research, find out the best areas to visit as well as the best times to tour as well as the places to avoid.

Be Cautious with Strangers

Not every stranger has a bad intent but, do not get too absorbed into the culture that you lower down your guard. It is true that many of them will hit on you, but you should always act confident and settled to avoid raising unnecessary attention. In case the situation gets out of hand, it is advisable to walk away. Blend in with the locals but, always watch your back.

Travel Light

Packing way too much stuff will not only cost you a lot in airfares but, also make transportation and movement once you get to the destination hectic. Use a minimalist approach when packing and, only carry what is essential and cannot be obtained on the road.

Stay in Touch with Family and Friends

When traveling alone, it is important to keep your friends and family back at home updated about the progress. While one of the reasons many people travel solo is to have some personal time, keeping in touch with your family and friends is a crucial safety precaution. In case anything happens to you, they will easily know and provide the necessary assistance.

Every trip has its vulnerabilities but, the above tips will help you ensure greater safety when traveling solo for the first time.

Touring the world is an amazing experience that everyone dreams of. With so much to see, taste, feel and do, a world tour is an experience like no other that you will remember for the rest of your life. However, the success of the trip mainly depends on how well you plan for it. Below, we offer tips to help you put together a memorable world tour.

Develop a Plan for at Least One Month

The world is so big an area that you cannot tour in a matter of days or a few weeks. So, the first thing is to figure out how long you are expecting to be away. This will enable you determine the places to visit and how much time will be spent at each destination. To make the excursion worthwhile, you should create a plan for at least four weeks. However, the trip can even take more than one month.

Determine the Overall Costs of Touring the World

While the cost of travel usually depends on where you want to go and how you wish to travel, a world tour is not a cheap adventure. Flights and accommodations are usually the most expensive but, there are other related costs too. In order to keep travel costs on the low, consider buying around the world ticket, avoid expensive destinations, engage a travel agent and never forget about the visa.

Pack Smart

Packing for a world tour can be challenging even to savvy travelers. The general rule is to pack lightly and there are certain things that you need to remember to achieve this. For an easy trip around the world, remember to dress like locals, carry light layers, think about the weather, use packing cubes, and leave the unnecessary stuff behind.

At first, planning a world tour might seem like an uphill task to many people. But, with the above pointers in mind, you will find it to be quite fun and eye-opening.  

With so many exciting things to see and do when travelling the world, managing your money can be a huge challenge. Justin from On The Rocks Party Halls blogs about if you are not careful, you might even run out of money before you even get to the middle of the journey. And, that could be very humiliating. In the following chapters, we discuss some of the best ways on how to manage your money when travelling the world.

Sometimes, the reason many people spend so much when travelling is because of doing things in a hurry without checking the stakes. Even if you are just exchanging money for local currencies, take time to first find out what different outlets are offering. Buying items or exchanging money in a rush without shopping around could see you lose so much in a short period of time.

Thus, it is always advisable that you first shop around to determine the prevailing exchange rates.

Cash

Although most countries across the world today use electronic payment systems, there are many places whereby cash is usually more cost effective. You can still use US dollars to buy goods and services in most countries but, local currency is more convenient. However, just carry small amounts of cash that you will need for a limited period of time.

Travelers’ Cheque

Travelers’ cheques are safe and can also help you manage your money well when travelling overseas. The cheques can be cashed at banks and currency exchange establishments across the world. Another benefit of travelers’ cheques is that you can cancel them and order replacements in case they are lost or spoilt.

Prepaid Travel Debit Cards

These are considered the modern versions of travelers’ cheques. However, they are little costly than cheques. All you need to do is buy the card and load some money onto it then swipe it just like credit or debit cards when making payments. Travel debit cards are not linked to the user’s bank account, which makes them quite safe.

When travelling the world, it is usually advisable to have a multi-dimensional approach to money management. Debit cards are the best for withdrawing cash while credit cards are recommended for making payment for goods and services along the way. Travelers’ cheques and prepaid cards should mainly be reserved for backup.

Putting together an ideal travel plan and seeing it through is not an easy task. However, these are procedures that you have to go through if you wish to travel. Below are steps to assist you in accomplishing your travel goals without so much effort.

Clearly Outline Your Specific Travel Goals

The first step to achieving your travel goals is finding them. Based on the kind of experience that you desire in travelling, it is important to carefully list the things that will drive you closer to that adventure. When outlining your travel goals, you must have a clear idea of the travel destination, attractions, activities and your budget. Make sure you identify the particular goals that will deliver the desired experience.

Work on Limiting the Challenges

Even when you think you are ready to travel, there are certain fears that might still linger in your mind. And, holding on to these fears can really make it hard to achieve the set goals. So, take time to evaluate any likely challenges and deal with them outright. For instance, if you are worried that traveling is expensive, find ways to cut costs and save more for travel. On the other hand, if you are skeptical about solo travel, get a travel companion.

Visualize the Fun

Some may call it obsession but, playing mind pictures of how exciting the trip will be is one way to generate the desire for it. Making time to obsess over your travel goals will give you the drive to work hard towards achieving them. And, there are many ways to create the desire including, talking to people who have visited the destination, watching movies or documentaries about the destination and reading travel guidebooks.

The road to accomplishing travel goals is paved with various uncertainties. But, navigating it can be quite easy if you keep to the guidelines discussed above. With better planning and determination, you will be able to enjoy great adventures around the world. Check out this site, for good travel deals, its one of my fav’s.

North Korea is officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Considering the kind of life they live, or the conditions the tourists are subjected to, it is hard to understand what democracy has to do with that communist state. It borders China and Russia to the North and South Korea to the south. There is a demilitarised zone between the South and North Korea, which is a no man’s land, but more about that later.

Recently, President Donald Trump arranged a meeting with the North Korean leader, the first of its kind between the two countries. After that handshake, it is expected that North Korea will open up to the rest of the world and eases travel restrictions, but as things stand now, travelling to North Korea is a complicated experience, to put it mildly.

Before 2010, it was impossible for Israeli, American, British and Japanese citizens to travel to North Korea. Since then, it is not impossible, but only difficult. However, if you are a missionary, it’s still impossible.

If you overcome the complex and ever-changing regulations and manage to get to North Korea now, take note of the following:

Security

Be ready for around the clock surveillance. Tourism in North Korea is unusual. The real fascination or tourism attraction is the restrictions. First, your presence is unwanted, and the treatment you get is enough assurance they don’t want you to visit there again unless you are the stubborn type. Upon entering, your passport is taken and kept for you.

As a tourist, your most important duty is not to enjoy your tour, but to be obedient to the state. Do not poke your nose where you are not authorized to tour, or the security might kill you

The security personnel will closely monitor your every step and perhaps your facial expressions too. Your phone calls (if your phone wasn’t confiscated and kept for you), personal possessions, hotel room and everything else will be scrutinized and re-scrutinized. There is access to international TV channels in big hotels but it’s strictly for foreigners, and the access can be banned anytime the government feels.

For your (discomfort, at least three tour guides from the state-run Korean International Travel Company will be with you everywhere as you move around. And it is not by your choice; you just cannot be let alone in North Korea. While this heavy security escort is a guarantee robbers cannot attack you or be a victim of any other serious crime, sometimes you would wish you be less safe but free to enjoy solo travel.

Respect the Past And Present Leaders

If you see any monument or statue of Kim Jong-Il and Kim Il-Sung, kindly bow and give praises. Remember to have flowers to place at the pillars of any North Korean leader gently.

Health

Since even your meals will be carefully examined, you will not be free to eat in the streets from where you are likely to be a victim of cholera, TB, typhoid or rabies outbreaks that are frequent and serious. Foot and mouth diseases are also common. Sometimes a wind blowing from China and Mongolia carries yellow dust that causes throat irritations.

You are not supposed to leave your booked hotel without the tour guide and no public transport for a foreigner even if accompanied by tour guides. You must never try to find out how the local citizens live their lives. You only speak to the official tour guides and shop in the approved stores or markets designated for foreigners. Sometimes you may be allowed to take pictures with your camera if you ask for permission, but at no time should you take photographs depicting scenes of poverty or anything negative about North Korea.

If you breach any of these simple rules, you may be heavily punished and also put your guide’s life at risk. If at any time you feel the rules are too much, you can terminate your visit and return to your country of origin.

However, if you wish to proceed with your tour, these are some of the sites to visit in North Korea:

The Demilitarized Zone

Considering that the relationship between the South and North Korea is improving, this neutral zone separating the two warring neighbors may soon be declared open. The Demilitarized Zone, from 1953, has for decades remained a symbol of the never-ending conflict between the two neighbors. The real war ended in 1953, but since no agreement or ceasefire was announced, they technically remain at war until now and the border between them is a no-go zone for both.

Surprisingly, the Demilitarized Zone attracts a multitude of visitors from around the globe. Since there is no serious human activity taking place at this neutral site, it is one place you can find the most endangered species of animals and fish.

Tower of the Juche Idea

This impressive tower was made to celebrate Il Sung’s 70th birthday. At its base is a 30-meter high statue of three people with upheld arms. Each person holds a particular tool: a sickle, hammer or a writer’s brush. These tools are the emblem that together represents the Workers’ Party of Korea. There is an elevator for accessing the top of the tower to the viewing platform, from where you can see Pyongyang, the lovely capital city.

Ryugyong Hotel

This rocket-shaped skyscraper is the tallest building in North Korea. It has 105 floors and has a 40 meter wide rotating cone on top. Its on and off construction began in 1987, stopped in 1992 for lack of funds following the fall of the Soviet Union, resumed in 2008, paused in 2011, and ever since it still keeps starting and stopping until it has now been named the tallest unfinished building in the world, the reason for which it is now a tourist attraction.

Conclusion

With these insights, enjoy your trip.