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Travelling to England – Everything You Need to know

If you’re waiting to get off on your next vacation, we don’t impute you.

This year has brought out the most powerful wanderlust in us all, particularly since much of the world is still off-limits to Americans. But last week, England performed a separate Test to Release plan that guaranteed to make travel more convenient.

Last Dec. 15, 2020, England started allowing tourists from some high-risk, non-travel corridor nations (including the U.S.) to enter England, quarantine for five days, and when test out of the balance of their quarantine.

Now, just 5 days later, many parts of England have become subordinated to new Tier 4 travel constraints that all but ended travel to, from, and within these regions — including London.

The new testing plan, which was announced in late November, was welcomed by the flight and travel industries, which have been trying as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. But what is Test to Deliver exactly? How will it run? And is England swiftly a viable destination for Americans? Let’s get a closer look.

What is the travel passages list?

England opened its doors to travel — and for its citizens to travel overseas — in July. Since then, the state has completed a travel passage strategy to travel.

Destinations that it deems reliable have been featured on the list, and if you’re traveling to England from one of them (say, Bermuda, Australia, Israel, or Japan) you don’t need to separate upon arrival. That’s true whether you’re touring England from one of these nations or returning home to England from a trip abroad.

Destinations not featured on the list have remained subject to quarantine. In other words, arrivals into England from any non-travel passage country have been required to quarantine for a full 14 days.

Currently, 75 countries, regions, and territories are featured on England’s travel passageway list.

What is the Test to Release project?

Just this week, the English government revealed its Test to Release scheme. The schedule is the government’s answer to an agreement on the travel corridor list. With it, arrivals from non-travel passage countries can elect to have their quarantine time reduced from 14 days to five days.

Because the United States is not on the travel passage list, arrivals from America require quarantine when they arrive in England. After the Test to Release program took effect on Dec. 15, however, Americans have been able to go to England and quarantine for just five days. Get a COVID-19 PCR test, and skip the balance of their quarantine if the test comes back negative.

The traveler has to inform the government that they plan to utilize Test to Release and plan where they will receive their test after five days. The test must be obtained through a government-approved provider.

Ultimately, Test to Release cuts the quarantine period from 14 days to five days for visitors from non-travel corridor countries — including from the U.S.

Guests from places that are on the travel corridor list will proceed and will be exempt from any quarantine or testing requirement.

When did the schedule start?

The program officially began on Dec. 15, 2020. As of that date, arriving passengers to England remained to test out of a full 14 days of quarantine if they’re coming from a non-travel corridor country.

How do I inform the gov’t I want to use Test to Release for a degraded quarantine?

If an arriving traveler intends to test out of quarantine, they will need to let the council know on their passenger locator form. All arriving passengers to England — even those from travel passageway countries — have to complete a tourist locator form before their flight.

Look for a new option on the form where you can register if you plan to test out of a full 14 days of quarantine. You’ll also need to register at that time where you plan to take your PCR test.

You are also allowed to change your mind. For example, if you arrive in England and believe you will go through a full two-week quarantine and indicate that choice on your traveler locator form, you can resubmit your form at later date. The resubmission will need to show that you plan to take a test. Upon the receipt of a negative PCR test, thee can then leave your isolation.

How much will a test take?

Testing as part of the Test to Release plan must be provided through a government-approved single provider. In other words, you won’t be able to practice testing through the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS).

Testing across the U.K. for travel use has largely settled on the pricey side. U.K. travelers have voiced disappointment over sky-high prices for fit-to-travel certificates. Many of the individual travel tests cost around £150.

Can I travel to England soon?

During the coronavirus pandemic, England has not closed its borders. Americans have been approved to visit England all along. However, there’s perpetually been a 14-day quarantine in place for visitors from addresses that the government has considered high risk.

Though the quarantine period has been reduced to five days if you are entering England from a non-travel passageway land and agree to take a test, travelers need to be informed that many areas in England, including London, are now under Tier 4 limitations.

Tips on Travelling During COVID19 Times

Travelling is a vital activity and is usually close to the heart of many individuals. Everybody likes to plan extensively about their traveling agendas and destinations and create extensive preparations to make it a memorable experience. It is even moving for specific job professions that people cater because the sneaking explorer within them compels them to seize the opportunity.

However, the severe disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic has left people in a distressing state, and restricted all traveling activities. The local authorities and governments have asked people to go under quarantine and exercise extreme caution for their safety. These guidelines have avoided any traveling plans and barred people in their houses. The restrictions demand that only those who have solid reasons for leaving their home are allowed to head out. The reasons include people who wish to reach local businesses and services, travel to offices and schools, or are going to authorized gatherings. These qualify as essential and valid traveling purposes, but even they aren’t allowed unless the person is practicing excellent personal hygiene and meeting particular criteria.

Besides these, international and domestic travel has even strict protocols and checks required to avoid the spread of this terrible virus from one region to another. You need to be rigorously in line with the requirement set and provide relevant details to guarantee that you are not a carrier of it. Only people with unique permissions can consider air travel at this point after meeting all requirements. Apart from anyone but them, it can be a dull idea to think of air travel on any scale. However, individuals who can’t avoid it can use the services of a domestic charter flight to reach their destinations. Those flights are equally safe and follow the same protocols before accepting any passengers on board. The most common people using them are those who wish to take an international flight from a different city, which falls under the category of essential traveling.

If you are scheduling a trip on any scale for the right purposes, then make sure that you are in line with the safety standards. To ensure your well-being, follow these steps for your travel plan to evade contracting the COVID-19 virus.

1. Do a Test to Yourself

The first thing that you need to do is have yourself tested for the virus to ensure that you are not a carrier. Anyone showing mild signs of illness and is incapable of providing a report showing that he isn’t infected can’t travel. Besides that, if you are waiting on test results, then again, you are not the fit candidate for traveling. Also, if your test results for COVID-19 came positive and you recovered from that situation, even then, you are not in line with the traveling requirements.

Make sure that you have all the required paperwork to prove these things to avoid any difficulty while traveling. It’s best that you also ensure that you haven’t been in contact with a COVID-19 host.

2. Get Your Medical History

Your medical history is your best friend under these conditions. Make sure that you have all the required documents to prove that you haven’t got that illness. Acceptable updated records from the past two weeks to help you get through the checks smoothly.

3. Get Your Travel History

The most common way of getting this virus is by traveling from one place to another and getting in contact with various people. The person who has been in a different place than where you are in the past 14 days is at high risk. That is why you need to keep a record and present your travel history before boarding a flight to ensure that the chances of you catching the virus are slim to none.

4. Bring All the Essentials

Make sure that you have all the important things that you need to ensure exceptional cleanliness. Wear a pair of gloves, always bring alcohol wipes and hand sanitizers, and remember that the face mask is a must to wear. Instead of coughing or sneezing casually, see to it that you cover your mouth. Take a bunch of toothpicks onward while traveling and use them to push elevator or ATM buttons with touching it. Carefully dispose of it every after use. Also, make sure that your devices and documents are in polythene bags while moving through security checks.

Regularly sanitize your hand if you aren’t wearing gloves and avoid passing the sanitizer bottle to another person. It would help to treat everyone as a possible carrier to be more careful with your conduct while traveling.

5. Remember the guidelines

Remember that the fundamental guidelines are issued to ensure your security. Keep a safe distance of about two meters from everyone, avoid touching things or people, and don’t step into full places. Wash your hands frequently when you get the chance and don’t use the other people’s belongings. Make sure that you are in line with all careful measures to guarantee your safety while traveling.

Summary

For any significant traveling, follow these steps down and see that you are not in violation of any security guidelines. In case you feel sick, reach out to relevant medical services quickly, and keep your distance from others. Remember that while you are viewing upon everyone as a threat, you also have a chance to qualify for it. Even if you don’t have any symptoms, you can also still be at risk and be a potential carrier and a threat to the others around you. So be careful and stay safe!

Benefits of Getting a Travel Insurance

Travelers usually overlook or just don’t mind getting travel insurance when going on a trip. They often think that they don’t need to get one but the fact is we must.

When we travel, there are potential risks to our health and even our life. Be it on the road while riding a bus, train, or even an airplane. We don’t know when an accident might happen or when do we get sick.

Everyone who travels must get insurance, yes it’s maybe an additional cost and might not be on your budget at the moment but you will later thank yourself for getting one if you find yourself in a situation that you may need to use it. We must always consider the following potential benefits.

Medical Emergencies
Usually, travel insurance can cover medical care and transport. Some may even include medical evacuations if adequate care is not available at a local hospital.

Loss, Damage, or Theft
Yeah, you read it right and it can happen to anyone anytime. Some of the insurance can cover your personal belongings that got lost, damaged or stolen during a trip. This would be very useful especially if you are often bringing important and expensive items such as cameras, laptops, and even your passport.

Personal Accident or Liability
If you have insurance and got injured during your holiday trip, you or your loved ones will be entitled to compensation. There may also be some insurance that can cover to pay the damages you have done to anyone that you hurt or any property.
In case of death due to an accident, while traveling, your beneficiary will be able to get a sum of money. This may not be a pleasant thought but there are cases that the benefit will cover the cost of transporting your remains back to your home country if you were to pass away on your trip.

Getting insurance for our trip in the case of unforeseen events could be one of the best ways to make sure it will not be ruined by expensive emergency bills or sudden expenses. There’s a lot of travel insurance company that can offer protection against a range of unforeseen events.

Benefits of Traveling

Traveling to different places may have a great impact and benefit on you. It may include getting to know new friends, new experiences, and stories. When you start going to new places you may sometimes get a better understanding of people living in that area and this includes their culture and history.

There are even studies that show some results that traveling can improve your health and improve one’s creativity. You may sometimes need to take time off from your daily duties, office responsibilities, restless schedule, and everyday stresses. Plan a tour in a city new you to relieve all of this and refresh yourself, be more productive, vibrant, and happy.

Here’s my shortlist of common things that are often getting changed every time you travel.

Social and Communication Skills
This happens when you go into places that don’t use your native language. You may sometimes need to learn it and find a way how to communicate with people in society. Learning phrases and questions can help you a lot to better reach out to the locals.

Peace of Mind
Because all of us got stress and feel pressure in our lives, traveling can help relieve it. When in different places we are often get separated as well from our daily usual routines which may be causing stress in our inner self. Our mind is in vacation mode that all it can worry about is getting food, walking, and touring around.

Improves your self-confidence
Going in places that you don’t totally know helps to boost one’s self-confidence knowing that no one can assist you and you should be able to get through the day by yourself. You may even be able to cope with the barriers that you cannot do before because you learn how to trust and believe in yourself that you can do it as there’s nobody who can work that out for you.

Have Fun
There’s no age limit when it comes to having fun. When you travel you sometimes would feel that you’re acting like a child who just wants to have fun.

Create a memory of a lifetime
Traveling especially with family or friends creates a bond that nobody can take away from you. It can also give a new point of view on your relationships. This also creates great stories and memories that you can share with others throughout your life.

It has never been this cheap to travel considering the increasing prices of oil, airfare, accommodation, and food. However, if you make it, you will never regret it as the price you pay is much worth than the experience, happiness, and great memories you had. You can all do this by planning thoroughly and sticking to your budget.
If ever you get to have some time off, I suggest you take the time to have a trip and experience life outside your world. Take the opportunity, it may come pricey but nothing can pay off the experience you’ll get to have.

4 money-saving tips while touring the Philippines

Our country – the Philippines have various pristine islands with extensive history and culture is one of the best places to visit because it’s beautiful and cheap. If you are traveling on a budget, I’m sure you would love my top money-saving tips so you can still save some more even if it’s already cheap.

Travel in off-season
All places around the world have an ideal time of year, but you can even save more if you choose to travel during the off-season.
Usually, accommodations like hotels, airfares, and guided tours offer great deals during the off-season to encourage more tourists to visit their place and of course to win out their competitors.
Philippine destinations are usually in peak season during November, December, April, and May. These months have long holidays and vacations, try to avoid and choose other days to visit our place so you can enjoy your vacation and save a lot more.
Before making a plan for anything, double-check that the place you want to visit if it got an off-season.

Eat like a local
Usually, when you are in a different place, you would look for restaurant recommendations or we sometimes rely on our friend’s suggestion and website review. The food in the Philippines were all tasty and filling, you would be able to find it from corner to corner.
To save money from your meals I would recommend that you like a local. Go out and find authentic food, they often call it here like “turo-turo”, “kerinderia” or eatery. You would be able to find them offering various The price would range around $1 to $2 a meal with rice and drinks. Sometimes a bit higher than that but trying this one out will definitely cut your meal expenses around 75%. Don’t be a total stranger and rely on restaurants and fast-food chains, enjoy your trip by appreciating what the place has to offer.

Travel with Friends
The more, the merrier and the cheaper. Enjoy your adventures when you travel with your friends or buddies. You don’t just get to enjoy but doing so will make your journey less expensive simply because you have someone who will share the expenses and split all the bills.

Make an Itinerary
Before going on a trip, it is recommendable that you create a travel itinerary especially if you will be traveling on a budget.
Use the power of the internet to do a bit of research on your destination. Create your DIY itinerary and if possible the amount of money you would need to spend on each trip. Now you can go find a travel agency and see if they provide a similar offer to what you have created and compare. I bet the one you created would have so much difference.
Following your own itinerary would be fun and fulfilling. Apart from saving from a bunch of fees, you get to have a chance to maximize your time because you already have an idea what to do and where to go. Enjoy your tours as you will be in control of everything.

Top 4 Places to Visit in Canada

Nowadays, more and more people are traveling than before and when it comes to Canada here are the most popular tourist spots that you must include in your itinerary:

Jasper National Park

Is located in the province of Alberta and the part is quite huge for it got a 4,200 square meter area. Its hot springs, mountains, waterfalls, lakes, and many more are all great especially for travelers like me who want to take landscape pictures.
You can try some activities like whitewater rafting at the Athabasca River, do some hiking with friends or just explore around the area. It also has a SkyTram that will give you a great view of the scenery. This park is also a home for over 50 mammal species.
Banff National Park
Similar to Jasper, the Banff National Park is part of the Canadian Rockies. It was Canada’s first national park, and you have here a lot of activities from hiking, biking, skiing, and camping. The Banff is so popular that every year more than 3 million people make a pilgrimage to the park.
Upon my visit, I was so surprised because the park got exceptionally beautiful nature. That time, we visited Lake Moraine which looks so amazing. This place is picture-perfect, with lovely colors all over the place and impressive nature. It was really worth visiting.

City of Toronto

Toronto is not the capital of Canada but it is one of the biggest and most known cities in the world. It is the home of the largest tower in the world – CN Tower.
You can also find the largest South Asian Ethnic Market here which is Little India where you can find various and combinations of eateries featuring a lot of their delicacies. When you visit this place you will be amazed by the lively colors and aroma.
Toronto is also the home of Casa Loma, a gothic revival style mansion that is now a museum and you can find this at its midtown. I am really amazed by its 18th-century castle design and enjoyed the tours.

Niagara Falls

This one for me is the most famous waterfalls in the world. It is by far the most visited place in Ontario. People from different parts of the world are visiting this to see its beauty. The breathtaking scenery is very relaxing, refreshing, and a really great spot for a selfie. But I would recommend visiting this place off-peak because it was really overwhelming when you’ll stay here with a lot of tourists. Social media has really taken its toll and everyone who visits Canada is looking after this place.
There are also casinos or museums around that you can visit and lots of restaurants you can dig in.

Calgary

Calgary is another popular city in Canada. Most tourists visit Calgary in July so they would have a chance to experience the Calgary Stampede where the Olympic plaza actually becomes a Fluor Rope Square.

Tips on Booking Your Hotel

We got various choices when it comes to booking flights. We have a lot of resources but it would often depend on your preferences. The same thing applies to book hotel reservations. It may just be hard at times which are the most reliable and which say it right, who’s just promoting?

Here are my top tips for booking hotel reservations online. I wrote these based on my experience. I will share a few but the decision is always up to you.

Go get some research done.
When booking online reservations check the location of your accommodation. See to it that the place is accessible and can is very close to common transportation like bus, trains or taxis. It would also be great if the place will have a close supermarket or restaurants. This will help you save a few bucks in transportation when you got that midnight craving.

Compare in between your resources
To save more money, don’t just rely on one booking site. You often have to compare between two or three resources to see which offers the best package and price. I often use Booking.com as this gives me the most number of the search result. It often offers a healthy mix of hotels, apartments, and even hostels. If you’re not a fan of it you can just remove it through a filter. I love using this site as I can already see the prices and packages right upfront less the tax.
But wait let’s not stop from there, try comparing the best price with Agoda.com. This one started offering services focusing on Asia but now offers worldwide choices.
What I usually do is I check through these two sites and compare which offer the best price and package for the same hotel.
Almost done? No, we don’t stop there yet! Now you’re done comparing between the two try getting a quote directly on the website of your hotel choice (if any). These will totally ensure that you got the best price and package around. Sometimes if you book directly on their hotel’s website, you get to have a discount but some others don’t. So let’s be resourceful and get some research done as this will help you save a lot.

Read the booking guideline.
Alright, you’re almost there, you got your best choice, rate, and package now you’re ready to book it. Before taking this step, ensure you read their booking guideline.
Try to look for cancellation guidelines, it’s way better if they will allow at least 3 days of cancellation and check how much will be the refund rate. This will help you in the future in case something unexpected happens and you will need to cancel your booking.
The second thing you may want to check is the check-in time. Ensure this will match your arrival time so you won’t have to stay outside for too long just waiting for your room to be available. It’s better if they allow early check-in, some allow this just don’t be afraid to ask.
Also, if you will be arriving late, ensure you check with them if they allow late check-in, like in the super early morning around 2 AM. The majority of them allow this and you won’t have a problem at all, but some others have this kind of locked-door policy that you won’t be able to get into your accommodation’s door especially to hostels.

Get your accommodation’s contact number.
Getting the hotel’s accommodation contact number would be my last trip. This would be very helpful at times you feel kinda lost or forgot what to ride to get in there, you can easily get in touch with them if it seems you can’t follow the directions provided to you through email or chat. This way you can save a lot of time figuring out how.

So there you go, some useful tips I have been using whenever I book an online reservation. I hope you find it pretty helpful too, keep in mind it’s better to ask than to regret you have not. Cheers and safe travel!

Top 5 Travel Destination in the Philippines this 2019

Planning to visit the Philippines this year? That would be quite hard to figure out since this country got more than 7000 beautiful islands. You are in the right place because today I’m giving you my list of the finest destination in this country.

1. Huma Island Palawan
This island resort is a 5-Star luxury resort in north Palawan and very close to UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Calauit National Sanctuary Park. Its huge huge lagoon is exclusive and private for resort visitors. It got beautiful serene beaches and a diving spot. You may have a feel of visiting the Maldives with this place. It is very accessible from Manila through Coron then you will have a boat transfer to the island from Busuanga.

2. Puerto Princesa City Palawan
Puerto Princesa is the capital of and the only city in Palawan. It is considered a highly urbanized city but still feels like a big town. The place has been continuously developing and being transformed over time. It now has a few malls and a lot of huge hotels. From the city proper, you may be able to access and visit the Underground river riding a van for a few hours. Unlike my first pick, visiting Puerto Princesa doesn’t cost that much from accommodation to transportation you will have a wide range of choices that would suit your budget.

3. Coron Palawan
Coron often admired as one of the most attractive places to visit in the Philippines. The place is truly a sensational tropical paradise that will impress you in a lot of different ways. The place is well known for it’s postcard-perfect view, this Philippine destination delights its visitors with its crystalline waters, pristine white-sand beaches, mounting limestone cliffs, and lovely remote islands. What’s more, Coron has nice and colorful corals, and has a host of underwater wrecks, composing it one of the best places to visit in the Philippines for diving aficionados.

4. El Nido Palawan
El Nido is truly a paradise. It has a cluster of islands and beautiful beaches. The place can be reached easily by van transfer from Puerto Princesa City. The El Nido Tour will take you to the most famous, and beautiful, parts of the island. El Nido’s main town is very welcoming and could fit even for mid-range and budget travelers from any part of the world. The locals here are very accommodating and their day typically starts around 6 AM. People all over the place catch up early to enjoy the sunshine and work out with their busy day. Accommodations were now hassle-free as you would have wide choices and others even offer online booking, very convenient for a traveler.

5. Batanes
Batanes, one of the great places to visit in the Philippines. For local tourists, is a haven that promises to give you a slice of heaven of earth. A historic place famed for its sheer natural beauty and distinct views. This leaves its onlookers in awe with its noble lofty cliffs, rolling mountains, boulder-lined shores, and deep valleys

Traveling Alone

Traveling solo is wonderful. It was quite hard at first and tiring, but absolutely fulfilling. If you ever have the chance to go out and travel to a different place by yourself, I would surely recommend you to try it out.

When you travel alone take it as a break and enjoy your moment. You’d definitely need to be attentive at all times, observant, and do a bit of research too about the place you are visiting.

The first concern of the solo traveler is safety. Without someone to watch your back, you are more exposed to crooks, scammers, or even health worries. To ensure security while traveling alone, send a copy of your itinerary with your friend or family member back at home. Stay in touch with them regularly via phone, text, video chat, or email just so to give them an update on where are you at the moment. Since you are alone, you may go to places that have a lot of people around. Stay on open and public places, particularly at night. Stay away from areas that would be quite awkward to visit because it doesn’t have a lot of tourists. Be your own best advisor, if it does not feel right, then just don’t do it.

I’m sure you’ll feel like you don’t have anyone to talk to, but I can assure you that you would surely appreciate the environment and views of the places that you’d go into. When you’re out there, be confident and feel free to ask others if you feel kinda lost and if you feel alone, try to book a tour you’d definitely meet friends out there. This is one of the best ways to make friends based on my experience because most of them would probably be just like you. This way you would have a chance to meet some inspirational people, but keep in mind that you are probably one of those too.

If you’ll travel to a different country, try to learn a few words in their language as this helps to show honor to your destination’s culture. Read something about your destination history, the people’s way so you would have an idea of how to behave.

Your mobile phone would be your best friend during these times, so treat it well and ensure you got some juice for the whole day. Try to bring a power bank just so you need it, you got one. Wifi connections might be provided in your accommodations but not everywhere so it would be better if you can have an internet connection be so you can use some useful apps like Google Maps, Skype, Facebook Messenger. Sim cards are often sold for tourists even in different countries they offer a pre-loaded one or a prepaid kind of sim. Just make sure that you got an open line mobile phone so it will work otherwise you got to avail of internet roaming from your service provider and this must be activated even before you leave your place of origin.

5 Tips for Hassle Free Trip

When we said traveling it often sounds exciting. But the fact relies on the truth that traveling is one task that is very challenging. So to avoid getting any hassles, I am sharing with you my key steps in making your travel worth it.

Plan Ahead
If you would go on a journey I would say you start planning a few months in advance. Do a little research about the area that you will go or the country that you will visit. Check for any documents that you might be required to present. For international travels, ensure your passport will have a validity of at least 6 months.
Reading some blogs and reviews would be helpful so you would have an idea of what to expect in the place that you’re going to visit.

Set a Travel Budget
One of the key things about having a successful trip is setting your travel budget. This will have a say what are the areas that you can go into and the type of accommodation that you should choose. You may also want to check the accommodation if they will provide free breakfast, most hotel accommodations have one but if not make sure you include a budget for your breakfast meal.
Pick up places you will visit that would suit your budget. Setting a budget will not just limit you to the things that you can do in any place that you can visit but it will help you spend your money wisely when you are traveling.

Have an Itinerary
Create an itinerary for an organized travel flow and transfer. Choose to visit places that would fit within your resources. Consider the time that you would spend going to that place and as mentioned earlier it should fall within the budget. You can enjoy most of your travel trip if you will have hassle-free transfers so you may want to include the kind of transportation that you would use. This will help you save a lot of time and will make your transfers flawless.

Watch how you behave
Sometimes when you go to a different place you would notice that they may have a different culture. It is important to understand that the locals might have different beliefs, behaviors, or manners. To avoid any trouble just act like a local and respect their culture and tradition.

Pack Light
Going to another place for few days might require you to pack things that you would need during your stay. Ensure you pack only the essentials, the ones that you would need most like few pairs of underwear, shirt, and pants. If you love to make up don’t bring the whole thing, choose to bring only the necessary items such as lip balm, powder, and blush. Don’t forget to bring chargers for your mobile and bring an adaptor just in case your chosen destination will have a different plug.
Most often hotels would provide towels and batch essentials you can just leave those behind. Keep your things packed light so you will have a bit more space to bring something home for your family or friends.

So there we go, not so much but for me, this works. I hope you’ll find this article helpful. Enjoy your coming trip!