Europe, Travel Advice

Move Over Waygu Beef, Chianina is the next Beef Trend!

Waygu beef has long held the crown for the best beef in the world for its tender texture and succulent flavour.  As the demand for good beefs and steaks increases worldwide, one can only wonder, what is the next best thing?

The answer lies in the heart of Tuscany, Italy.  As if there isn’t enough reason to visit the area, Chianina beef is making the region even more famous.  The Chianina breed is becoming the latest foodie steak trend in the U.S. as its beef is delightfully tender, tasteful and very low in fat.

 

Chianina Beef Trend Tuscany Italy

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Travel Tech

Change the Size of Facebook Video Previews

Looking for ways to change the size of the Facebook Video Preview?  I recently discovered Enlargeify and use it regularly now for Facebook videos.  It’s a cool new free tool that allows users to take an existing YouTube link and convert it into a Facebook friendly format (i.e. larger Facebook video preview image) without the need to upload directly to Facebook.  So not only does it give you a larger video preview (which can lead to more views), but it also saves you from having to upload twice to YouTube and Facebook.

Enlargeify Larger Facebook Vidoe Previews

Travel Advice, Travel Tech

Two New Social Media Tools For Bloggers

Below are a couple social media tools that all bloggers should add to their arsenal.  Both give you more real estate in news feeds in both Twitter and Facebook and are easy to use.

1. Enlargeify

Enlargeify Facebook Video Tool Social Media Enlargeify Facebook Larger Video Tool Social Media

This tool coverts YouTube videos into native Facebook videos so your preview shows bigger when you post on Facebook. The great thing about this tool is it allows you to get the bigger real estate on news feeds without having to upload your video a second time.

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N. America, Travel Advice

YYZDeals.com Review

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Most travellers based out of Toronto, Canada have probably heard of YYZ Deals and its amazing flight deals.  Chris Myden, the founder of the site, has discovered a way to automate the search process and posts about great deals he finds on flights from Toronto to numerous destinations around the world.  On occasion, he even posts infamous ‘mistake fares‘ that allows purchasers to book flights well below cost.

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Travel Advice

Airvinci and EHANG184 – The Future of Travel

Airvinci EHang Drone Review and Introduction

At the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Chinese drone manufacturer EHang stole the spotlight with the unveiling of their EHang184, the first fully electric autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV), aka drone. This area of personal flight has been getting a lot of attention lately and EHang is the first to capture the attention of the world.

With EHang184 taking the lead, there are other noteworthy startups developing similar technology including Canadian startup AirVinci.

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Travel Advice

Travel Hacking Cartel Play-By-Play

Of the many notable travel trends over the past couple years, one trend that has become quite popular is Travel Hacking. This gave birth to sites like Travel Hacking Cartel among others.  So what is travel hacking and how does it work?

Travel hacking is the strategy and tactics implemented by individuals or groups that track, exploit and maximize travel savings, travel rewards programs, airline/hotel loopholes, and pricing errors to travel at superiorly discounted rates usually not readily available to the general public.

In other words, by mixing reward program points with a dedicated collection and redemption strategy, while tracking airline sales and mistake fares, it is possible to travel for free (or close to it).

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Asia

What is Japan Tax-Free?

*Please note that the information below is accurate as of the date of the post and includes opinions and observations based on first-hand experience as of December 2015.

Looking for things to do in Japan?  See here.

If you’re in Japan or planning to visit there, there is a wonderful program for temporary visitors called Japan Tax-Free that will save you the VAT/sales tax at many popular retailers.

The biggest confusion and questions seem to arise from the exit (leaving Japan) procedure of the Japan Tax-Free program so I will start with this first. If the below doesn’t make sense, it will as you read further.

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Travel Advice

2016 Travel Trends


Low oil prices should keep airline prices steady or slightly lower
The low oil prices and increased competition (in most countries) should keep base fares of flights from rising. Some routes are already showing signs of trending lower. The only caveat is that a lot of airlines are moving to the charge-for-use model. This includes charging for checked bags, carry-on bags, and drinks.

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