Calculate your fuel cost – Road trip tip

by Gadling Staff on

An essential ingredient for any road trip is fuel. While you know the cost of your accommodations, you may not always know how much gas will cost for the length of your road trip.

There are websites to help you determine that cost, however. For example, AAA‘s Fuel Cost Calculator allows you to calculate the fuel cost of your trip. Using drop-down menus, you select your starting city, destination and vehicle. The calculator determines mileage, gallons of fuel used and total fuel cost. Not all cities and destinations are listed, but you can get a general idea.

At GasBuddy.com, you can search for the best gas prices in each city or region you’re traveling through. Site visitors report what they paid for fuel at individual gas stations. You’ll learn the lowest and highest prices reported in the past 36 hours. Armed with this information, you can budget your fantastic road trip.

[Photo: Flickr | Borderfilms (Doug)]

Ask your social network – Dining out tip

by Gadling Staff on

If you’re on Facebook and/or Twitter, you already have a host of restaurant tips at your disposal: Ask members of your social network what restaurants they recommend in the city you plan to visit.

Those who live in that city will be able to give you a local’s perspective, and you will also hear from people who live elsewhere but have visited that city in the past.

Who knows? You might even find a dining companion or two!

[Photo: Flickr | Patrick Powers]

Pack spare passport photos – International travel tip

by Gadling Staff on

When traveling abroad, it is a good idea to have an extra set of passport photos packed among your belongings.

In the event that your passport is lost or stolen, you can save valuable time by immediately taking these photos to the embassy or consulate when you apply for a replacement. Without the photos, you may find yourself frantically searching for a photo lab in a potentially unfamiliar city or town.

[Photo: Flickr | selmerv]

Don’t tell hawkers where you’re from – International travel tip

by Gadling Staff on

Hawkers from Brazil to Thailand are excellent psychologists. Very often, when you say “no thank you” to whatever they’re selling, they will ask where you’re from. This is not just an effort to engage you: they’re trying to figure out what approach to use next and what price to offer.

They know that what works on a German will not necessarily work on an American, and vice versa. They also know that a Norwegian might happily pay a price that would seem exorbitant to someone from a country with a much lower cost of living.

[Photo: Flickr | gripso_banana_prune]

GPS: More than just a road map – International travel tip

by Gadling Staff on

Traveling abroad and don’t have an iPhone or other smart phone device? Got a GPS? A GPS can be your best travel companion.

Sure it can get you from point A to point B but many units also have a built in travel kit including —
* bilingual dictionaries,
* world clock,
* currency converter,
* measurement converter, and
* calculator.

It can really be a handy resource when you find yourself physically or mentally lost in an unfamiliar place!

[Photo: Flickr | u07ch]