Many people seem to think that the online travel world has ‘arrived,’ and that it’s a very crowded market.  However, I read an interesting article over at the UpTake blog today by one of that company’s founders Elliot Ng.  His reviews of the new wave in travel sites, those that are moving away from being solely booking platforms and which are now more integrative planning tools.  From what I have seen, the best of these act like a virtual guide book that you can dog ear and write in without having to carry the weight around.  I’m excited about this development in the industry, however I find myself getting frustrated frequently because many people don’t know about these options or that there are better ways to plan your travel.

For example: My friend was working on booking a hotel for a getaway in July to a nice place in San Diego.  I was looking over her shoulder and suggested several of the great booking and review platforms that I know of because of my work in the industry.  She insisted instead on spending a large amount of time trying to do everything through Travelocity.  Why?  Because the travelocity gnome is her friend on MySpace.

Yes, that’s great advertising by Travelocity, but seriously?  Seriously?  (now I sound like Grey’s Anatomy) but Seriously?  Sorry… got into a moment there.  Anyone else excited that the new season starts soon?

Back to where I was.   So in an effort to encourage others to check out new advances in travel planning, here are some great new startups and services: Nile Guide, TravelMuse, Tripit, Doppler, the Yahoo trip planner read about them and more in Elliot’s article.  

Enjoy!

PS- no one’s gotten the age right yet… keep trying!!!

Sorry… just one more… for the new season… SERIOUSLY????!

Really, I’m done now.

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Ok, so this is bad. I just took this test (see results below) because I was inspired by A Traveler From The World of Work’s post about it, although I was shocked by the statistics regarding use of websites that he quotes. I guess I’m a bit of the stick in the mud, I was hoping I’d rate a little bit younger than this, I like to think of myself as ‘hip’ but I guess not.  Then again, it does describe me well.



You Belong in the Baby Boomer Generation

You fit in best with people born between 1943 and 1960. You are optimistic, rebellious, and even a little self centered. You still believe that you will change the world. You detest authority and rules. Deep down, you’re a non conformist.

What Generation Do You Belong In?

 Ok, so here’s the question for you all to comment on - how old do you think I really am?  A couple of hints: I’ve got a Master’s Degree, I’ve had multiple careers and I’m married (not a newlywed).  We don’t have any children except our animals - read Aelou’s blog here.  I’ll send something weird (how about homemade preserves?) to the winner.  If there are multiple correct answers, I’ll draw a winner.

posted in Los Angeles, CA.  

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Yes, there was supposed to be the inagural “Traveling Money” podcast this Saturday. No, you didn’t miss it.

What happened? My Podpress plugin was corrupted and I couldn’t make it work. I needed to re-download and re-install. Then I had to leave for the weekend because I was leading a Youth Camping trip to Anza Borego State Park (see posts to come). So it didn’t get done. You’ll have to hear it next weekend baring any unforeseen circumstances. Which will probably happen. But I’ve never done a podcast before so bear with me!!!

In other news- we’re taking suggestions for what you want to hear more of on this blog about travel and money. Let me know by contacting me at kangogirl at gmail dot com with your suggestions!

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I’m an affiliate whore. I love them. It’s the easiest way to make money online that I’ve ever found. However, it took me a bunch of reading and about $100 in books to figure out how to actually make money from affiliates. And I’m still working on learning! Here is an ‘affiliate primmer’. If you want to make good money online you’ve got to learn how to use affiliates well.
What are affiliates?
Affiliates are companies that sell products and who want you to get your readers to buy their products. They create the product and you advertise it through a unique link on your website that has a code in the link that identifies you as being you. When your readers click through this link and buy the product you get a percentage of the purchase, up to 50% usually. The best affiliate programs are ones where the product being sold is a recurring cost (such as a membership or insurance policy) that will generate income for you each and every month.
Why use an affiliate instead of link advertising?
Actually, I recommend that you use both. Affiliates done well will fit in seamlessly with your website or blog so that it will be a recommendation of a product not a sales pitch your readers are receiving. For dedicated readers this means more to them and will increase the funds that you receive from your link advertisements. Link advertisements are great for new or occasional visitors to your site.
How do I find affiliates?
I find affiliates in two ways. Most of my affiliates are products I found helpful first and then went looking for an affiliate program with. These are, however, the lower-paying of my affiliate programs. I use them because I’ll be writing the recommendations anyway why not make a few bucks? The more productive affiliates that I work with are ones I’ve found through searching ClickBank and Commission Junction for affiliates that meet the criteria I’m looking for. These I choose by two main criteria- if their product is a good one I will want to recommend in good conscience to my readers and if the commission scale will make me a significant amount.
How do I start?
If you have a blog or website sign up with Commission Junction and ClickBank and probably a few other affiliate programs out there to figure out how they work. Once you’ve had a good look around, choose 3-10 affiliate programs to promote on your site and focus on these by rotating them on a regular basis. Good luck!

Do you use affiliate programs? Which ones do you like the best? Which ones make you the most money?

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Once again, I remind you that anything here are my own opinions and experiences, not professional financial advice.  That said, I want to say a few words about the importance of saving money even when you’re in debit.  Every financial website, book, talk show, planner and smart person will tell you to pay off your debit then start saving money.  Most of them are smart people who have good money sense and were never in debit themselves.  Even if you’re in debit, I think that you should save some money every month.    
    I recommend this because of the psychological impact that saving money has upon someone who has accrued debit in the past.  As anyone who reads ReallyBigGoals knows, I’m pretty far in debit myself from past school loans and in general living above my means.  It wasn’t until I started saving a little bit of money every month that I was able to learn the skills that have taught me to finally live below my means. 
    Saving a little bit of money, even when you owe large sums of money, teaches you three things.  First of all, it teaches you how to live on a budget that is below your income level, not at it.  By putting away even $5 a month (although I always try for $100) you force yourself to downsize your budget which teaches you how to live not just within but below your means.  This is the key to ceasing increasing your debit and the key to getting out of it.
    Secondly, it creates a small fund of money that provides a sense of security.  If you’re always living in debit and never having any emergency money, when something happens unexpectedly (like our move across country) you can end up in more debit and more depression/frustration which can then trigger unreasonable spending.  Call it ’shopping therapy’ or whatever you want, but a Santa Barbara shopping trip because you’re anxious or stressed or depressed because of your debit will only make it worse.  If you have a tiny bit of savings this isn’t so strong of an impulse.  To my great surprise and pleasure!
    Finally, by saving for things and rewards that you want you appreciate them more and learn to postpone your gratification until you can truly afford it.  How much more fun will your trip be if you come back and haven’t racked up any credit card debit?  How much easier will paying off your debit be if you know that you’re still going to get to go on a trip, even if it might take you a tad longer to save for it? 
    The down side- it’s not the best way to get the most from your money.  You’ll be paying a higher interest rate (in most situations) than you will be getting in interest from your savings.  If your debit can easily be paid down in a few months, do that first.  If, however, you’re working with a larger amount that will take years to pay down consider saving some money as well for that trip and/or rainy day so that you can continue to live while you pay off your debit.  You can always dip into that savings later and pay off chunks of your debit if you want to.

Ok… now your turn to sound off.  Don’t worry if you disagree with me, share your reasoning here!

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