~ 5-Time Vantage Traveler • Brookshire, Texas

Do you have a tablet that you read eBooks on? Which one do you use? Which great books are you reading?

We are pleased to announce our new Jackpot Sweepstakes! Starting today, January 26^th, you can enter to win a Patagonia gift card worth up to $500!

The prize amount will depend on the number of Likes our Facebook page receives during the contest. The more Likes, the bigger the prize– so encourage your friends and family to Like our page too!

It’s easy:

• LOGIN or REGISTER for Facebook
• Like our page here
• Enter the contest by February 7, 2012 and your name could be announced on February 8, 2012 as the winner of a $500 Patagonia gift card! Just think of all the great gear you could purchase and bring with you on one of our small ship cruises, escorted land tours, or European river cruises!

Prize:

1,000 new Likes = $100 gift card
1,500 new Likes = $150 gift card
2,000 new Likes = $200 gift card
2,500 new Likes = $300 gift card
3,000 new Likes = $450 gift card
3,500+ new Likes = $500 gift card

Don’t forget you can also enter our other sweepstakes for your chance to win a FREE Vantage Deluxe European River Cruise for TWO worth up to $8,000! We select a new winner 4 times a year! Click here to enter!

Here is a list of our top 10 destinations that have received raving reviews:

• Castles Along the Rhine & Danube 16 days from only $3299
• Waterways of Holland & Belgium 12 days from only $2399
• Imperial Russian Waterways 15 days from only $3199
• Danube Odyssey 12 days from only $2899
• French Waterways 14 days from only $3999
• Best of Africa 17 days from only $4699
• Eastern Europe & the Black Sea 12 days from only $2899
• Switzerland & the Heart of the Rhine & Moselle 15 days from only $3499
• Grand Norwegian Coastal Voyage 14 days from only $2499
• Heart of Africa 15 days from only $4899

For trip information visit our website.
To read Customer Reviews click here.
For great travel tips, check out 151 Travel Tips.
For information on Small Group Travel, click here.
You can also connect with us on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn,YouTube & Flickr.

Tip submitted by 2-time Vantage Traveler, Rodney S. from Neosho, MO

What travel apps do you use? Let us know with a comment below!

There are countless resources for learning a new language, but to get you started, try Google Translate and take a couple languages and words for a test drive!

What words or phrases do you think are most useful when traveling to a foreign country? What resources have you used to help you break that barrier?

You can also save these perfume samples and bring them along with you instead of a bulky perfume bottle that could leak! Just rub them on and toss them out!

-Tip submitted by a 5-time Vantage traveler from Greenville, RI.

Do you have any great travel tips? Feel free to share them with a comment below!

On November 10^th voting will be open– so get your friends and family involved so they can help you win by voting for your tip! You can vote once per day, so return often! Remember: MOST VOTES WINS!

The travel tip that receives the most votes will win an iPad 2®! The second place winner will receive a Barnes & Noble gift card for $250, and third place will receive a $100 gift card to Barnes & Noble. All participants’ travel tips will be considered for publication in our new Travel Tips eBook!

Submission period: 10/26/11 @ 4pm EDT – 11/9/11 @ 11:59pm EDT

Voting period: 11/10/11 @ 10am EDT – 11/22/11 @ 4pm EDT

Winners announced: 11/23/11 @ 4pm EDT

Prizes:

1st Place: iPad 2®

2nd Place: $250 Barnes & Noble gift card

3rd Place: $150 Barnes & Noble gift card

ENTER NOW!

2. Avoid the mini bar: Ask the hotel to hold the mini bar key at the front desk. It can be very tempting and those little bottles come at a hefty price. Instead, go out to a bar to enjoy a drink. You’re getting more for your money with a better atmosphere and people watching!

3. Bring your own snacks: Bring something nutritious like nuts and dried fruit. Snack on healthy foods often to keep your energy and mood up!

4. Toss the bedspread: Hotels don’t often clean the top quilt. They can have bugs and allergens.

5. Disinfect: Bring some disinfecting wipes and wipe down the remote control, light switches, phone and other areas that may have been overlooked by the cleaning staff.

6. Use the gym: If the hotel has a gym, use it! If the hotel doesn’t have a gym, invest in portable exercise equipment to keep you fit. You can also bring good walking/running shoes and take a long walk around the city you’re visiting.

7. Avoid reusable glasses in your room: These glasses often collect dust and might not be clean. If you need a cup, stick to the cups that are packaged in plastic or use your own reusable water bottle.

8. Bring a fan: Incase you have a noisy neighbor, bring a fan for white noise. You’ll want a good night of sleep!

9. Renovation check: Nothing is worse that a jackhammer on a vacation. Ensure that your stay will be uninterrupted by checking in with your hotel prior to your stay.

10. Know the emergency exists: You never know when there could be an emergency. Make sure you know where the exits are!

(the list above was from a Today.com/travel)

What tips or tricks to you use to ensure you have a great hotel stay?

There are countless resources for learning a new language, but to get you started, try Google Translate and take a couple languages and words for a test drive!

What words or phrases do you think are most useful when traveling to a foreign country? What resources have you used to help you break that barrier?

Pick two basic colors of clothing.

• Picking two basic colors of clothing will allow you to limit the number of shoes and accessories you have to bring.

Plan on doing laundry.

• Try to bring no more than a weeks worth of clothing.  When you run out of clean clothes, just do a quick wash!

Bring washable silk

• Washable silk is as good as cotton. It keeps you warm and cool. Washable silk dries overnight and 10-15 pieces take the same space as 2 pairs of jeans.

Bring a rain coat

• A plastic rain coat can double as a bathrobe or windbreaker.

Bring old clothes

• If you bring old clothing, you can discard it along the way! That way you can have more room for souvenirs!

Plan ahead

• Make sure you check the weather before you leave. Although weather can be unpredictable,  this should give you a good indication of what’s ahead.

Do you have any other great packing tips? Let us know!

Book Shop Swap
As you make your way down the airport corridors to get to your terminal, stop and take a look. You may find this to be a surprise but many bookstores at airports are now encouraging book swaps. Bring your latest read and leave it on the shelf. Take a book left by another passenger that looks interesting to you. It will give you something to do in downtime and could become your new favorite and best of all it is FREE!

Traveling with Vantage Deluxe World Travel? Go to your MyAccount Page to check out your trip specific reading list.

In Flight Raffle
Here is a suggestion many of you may have never heard! On your next flight, try this out. When you’re allowed, get up from your seat and start the collection process. As you travel through the plane, ask people if they want to participate. Not everyone may want to join. If someone wants to join into the raffle they should take a 1-dollar bill and write their seat number on it fairly small, have them place it in a hat or a bag whichever is more suitable. After collecting the participants entry dollars, have someone pull 1 dollar from the bag. This dollar will have a seat number listed and will be your winner of all of the money collected! Congrats to John Q in seat 3C!

This tip may especially be helpful for group leaders who travel with their groups as a whole and want to get everyone involved.

Movie Magic
It is surprising how an in flight movie can make time fly! Plug into the movie provided by your airline for a chance to escape the noise of the plane or even the noise of the person next to you. Many flights may offer multiple selections so pick the one that suits you best. It may be a movie that you have never heard of but give it a shot. Airlines would not play movies that people are not interested in! In Flight television is now available on some airlines. If you travel on one of these planes, this is a great way to enjoy your time. Flip to the food network, the news, the sports channel and more with this enjoyable in flight activity.

Thanks for reading this week’s 151 travel tip, check back next week for more information on how to make the next trip of yours, the very best!