Inside The Travel

While many tourists visit Bulgaria for the sun and sand on the Black Sea coast there are also many tourists who would love to come in land and see the historical, more traditional aspects of this wonderful country.

Bulgaria has some of the oldest towns and cities in Europe with many beautiful architectural monuments of years past, these vary from cave dwellings and Roman amphitheatres to cathedrals and monasteries.

There are many places to visit throughout Bulgaria but the one city that captures my imagination is Plovdiv. Plovdiv is the second largest city in Bulgaria and is a city that is older than Rome or Athens. If you were to visit Plovdiv your first impression would be that Plovdiv is a city that is up to date and full of new buildings, but on closer inspection you would be overcome by the amount of ancient ruins from Thracian and Roman times that are still standing today. If you take the time to walk around the city you can see remnants of Thracian and Roman ruins lying behind newly built buildings everywhere, even the main post office in Plovdiv has ruins lying behind it, almost left to defend itself from the elements.

In total there are 200 archeological sites in Plovdiv and many of these are of national importance, if not internationally. If you wander in to the old town of Plovdiv that is hidden away in the center of the city you will see some of the most impressive archeological finds of the 21st century like the Roman Amphitheatre that was found by a landslide in the 1970’s. The Roman amphitheatre has a seating capacity of almost 7,000 and was built in the second century AD under the rule of the Roman Emperor Trajan. The theatre is still used today for theatrical shows and attractions.

Guy Marlow is a writer who has a passion for the wonderful country Bulgaria. You can view Guy’s blog about Bulgaria at http://bulgarianguide.blogspot.com/

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Just in time to get everyone excited about the summer family vacation season, the movie “RV” comes to town.

Poor Bob Munro (Robin Williams) is just trying to get some family bonding time with the kids before they grow up and are gone. But, like many families, he dives into the preparations without a clear vision of the task - especially tackling an RV without some guidance (or apparently, common sense!).

RV trips are great for family bonding, whether you are an experienced RVer or just starting out. The Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) has lots of great ideas and help at their site www.gorving.com . If only the Munros had known about this source of information. Whether you need a CD on the basics or a list of campgrounds to get you started, RVIA can help you avoid the pitfalls that the Munros suffered.

According to RVIA, there are over 30 million RV enthusiasts in the country, with over 8 million owning an RV. Who is the most RVing age group? The baby boomers, of course, with over 9% of them owning RVs. Today’s typical RV owner is 49 years old, married, with an annual household income of $68,000 - much like the family in the movie. Whether you want to rent an RV like the Munros did, or are looking to purchase one, there is something for every budget with purchases starting at under $10,000.

Once you’ve gotten your vehicle lined up, you’ll surely need some additional tips and hints to make your vacation enjoyable. Phil and Carol White share lots of tips for road trippers on their website, www.roadtripdream.com . The website has a television clip of them sharing their experiences, a complete budget worksheet (.xls format) for both long and short trips, information on their award-winning book, “Live Your Road Trip Dream” and much more.

Carol offers some tips for your family summer vacation.

Instead of springing the trip on your family like Bob Munro did, enlist their help in the planning. Almost every age can help - plan out your route, mark the maps, gather information on the internet, get a travel guide or two, plan your meals - these are all things that the whole family can get involved in.

Don’t over plan your trip. Be sure to leave room in your itinerary for spontaneous adventures - or problems along the way. A little planning goes a long way. Too much planning kills to joy of exploration.

Consider leaving the electronics at home. Pack the games, sports equipment and hiking maps instead. Families spend so much time in solitary pursuits today, like personal music devices, DVRs, computers, game systems, and more - why not leave them home and explore other options on your vacation.

If you are taking teenagers along, give them each the responsibility to be in charge of one day of the vacation. They get plan the meals (hold your breath!), be the tour guide on the activities, deal with tickets, money, transportation and other things that crop up during the day. A great experience for them.

So don’t let the hapless adventures of the Munro family scare you off. Do some homework, get everyone involved, and take off on your own adventure and bring back memories to last a lifetime.

Carol White is the co-author of the award-winning “Live Your Road Trip Dream” (http://www.roadtripdream.com) and write’s frequently on travel related topics, specializing in road trips. She and her co-author husband, Phil, live in Wilsonville, Oregon.

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Rome is such a famous city for its exquisite art, its magnificent architecture, its rich cultural history and its fashionable population. So when you look for Rome travel information, you expect to learn details of cathedrals, piazzas, train travel, horrendous Roman traffic and espressos taken at bars. There are, however, people who not only travel off the beaten track, but make it a point, and rarely stop in at the popular tourist attractions. For the most fascinating Rome travel information, seek the stories of those intrepid travellers who thrive on back street explorations and local-guided expeditions.

These students of life often arrive in a country without having made any plans for accommodation. They will land at the airport or train station with nothing more than a guidebook and some currency to help them around. The first bureau of information they will seek out is a local who may be standing around waiting to collect arriving relatives. Rather than asking for your standard Rome travel information, they will ask where the best place is to get a cheap meal, or where the scooter hire desk is. Locals in any place in the world are usually happy to part with such details, even if to rid themselves of the pesky tourists.

Spending each night in a different boarding house, hostel, inn or local’s home, the savvy traveller-on-the-cheap will revel in his discoveries. He will take his dinner in the most outwardly looking eatery that happens to serve the most delicious spaghetti marinara in the entire world. He will be invited to Sunday lunch at the home of people he’s never met before in his life and before the meal is over, he has become one of the family, and perhaps even offered free accommodation for a night or two. His photo album is made up of former strangers, out-of-the-way locations and sights that are anything but the clich

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