2012 Travel Tips for the Social Activist

Is the daily work grind or the continual schoolwork bringing you down? Is your wanderlust inner voice telling you you’re ready for a travel vacation? Yet this year you want a different travel objective, not the typical vacation, designed around personal pleasure and leisure. This year you also feel a desire to get involved with some worthy cause, to challenge the power elite status quo and make the world a better place to live. Well, if travel AND social activism are your interests, I have the 2012 travel tip solutions that will please both your traveling and social activist desires.1. My first recommended travel destination for 2012 is Chantilly, Virginia, USA host to this year’s annual Bilderberg meeting May 31st – June 3rd. Chantilly, Virginia, at the Westfield Marriot Hotel, was the host for the 2008 Bilderberg meeting.Chantilly, Virginia is within close proximity to Washington, D.C.; the nation’s capitol offers a unique historical, cultural experience as well as a great place to voice dissent! Fortunately too, for the budget traveler, Chantilly has a youth hostel on the outskirts of the Washington, D.C. area. Why not book your reservations now, and enjoy the beautiful Virginia countryside and Washington, D.C. cultural activities while also vocalizing your displeasure to a passing banker, politician, or corporate CEO? Your opinions and discussions may plant the inception seed activating a pang of conscience that will eventually lead to less harmful world policies. If you discover the overt sidewalk protests are less successful, may I suggest an alternative, stealth approach: position yourself as a well-dressed hotel patron in the lobby where the Bilderberg members are staying. Act as an unassuming gadfly, listening for telling conversations from Bilderberg meeting attendees.Granted, such intimate access may prove to be difficult; however, for the determined spirited social activist, the challenge enhances the adventure and the success sweetens the reward.Are you ready for summer outdoor fun, a freelance journalist’s dream, and a proud sense of moral accomplishment? That’s what I experienced when I planned my fall 2000 vacation in Europe to coincide with the scheduled IMF / World Bank meeting in Prague. A well-organized anti-globalization protest was waiting for the banking attendees, similar to the successful anti-WTO protest in Seattle, November ’99, which I attended. I wanted to continue being a part of this proud movement.I’m certain at the Washington, D.C. youth hostel, and around town, you will meet kindred spirits who are also knowledgeable of this Bilderberg meeting event (global citizen individuals and various NGO members). As I had experienced during the Seattle ’99 and Prague 2000 protests, you will form lasting friendships with these fellow travelers / activists.2. To start your summer season, I recommend planning a visit to Los Cabos, Baja California, Mexico for the annual G-20 meeting, June 18-19. What fun you will have mixing summer outdoor fun with social activism. Cabo San Lucas offers scuba diving, fishing, nightlife, and so much more. Even though the rich elite will be staying at expensive resorts, there are ample inexpensive lodging options at Los Cabos, including youth hostels. You can even pitch your tent near the beach!3. To start your fall season, I recommend a trip to Switzerland for the WTO public forum meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, September 24 – 26. A good central location for fine nearby skiing, autumn color hiking, and a piping hot cappuccino next to a roaring fireplace as you listen in to some powerful banker’s insidious plan.4. Continuing your fall season travels, I recommend visiting Tokyo, Japan for the IMF / World Bank meeting, Oct. 12-14. Enjoy social activism by day and exotic bustling Tokyo nightlife by night.For budget accommodations, Los Cabos, Geneva, and Tokyo, all have several hostels in the city and nearby vicinities.Last, for those planning on traveling through California, I recommend an outdoor excursion north of San Francisco. Besides marvelous vineyards, inspiring redwoods and dramatic coastline, there’s also an elite power broker retreat called Bohemian Grove nestled in the redwoods near the town of Guerneville and the Russian River.
The retreat of course has security ( as I discovered many years ago) so an undercover role as a naive hiker is a good start. While peering through the redwoods, you may find an influential politician or CEO performing some decadent, hedonistic ritual in a yellow chiffon dress! Don’t forget to bring your camera!I hope you find these travel tips useful for your future 2012 travel plans. You may even come across yours truly, the author. Happy travels!

Gambling: They call it Lady Luck

Thanks to the Lotto and scratch cards and online casinos, more women than ever before are developing a gambling problem.

According to government figures, 60% of adults in the UK spend up to £50 per month gambling at the betting shop or on Lotto. As the result of changes coming shortly, the amount spent in this country per year is expected to go up from the current £42 billion to £60 billion.

30 million people regularly buy UK Lotto tickets in the second largest of the 192 lotteries across the world. And despite official figures telling us that a mere 1% of these have developed out of control gambling habits, Gamblers Anonymous are finding that they’ve had an increase of 17% in calls for help. GamCare has also seen an increase in requests for their counseling service.

Women have always dominated the Bingo scene, where they outnumber men, 70% to 30%. The average age is under 50 and the average spend for a night (including food and drinks) is £20.

Women tend not to visit casinos and betting shops, and favour on-line gambling instead where they have the perception of its being safer, less intimidating, more fun, more tempting and where they can remain anonymous.

As they are seduced by the escapism of on-line shopping, developing an internet gambling addiction, as they are encouraged by the on-line sites to create alternative realities: a different identity; and play along with the fantasy that it’s not real money they’re playing with.

There are something like 1700 gambling websites, including casinos, bingo halls, lotteries. Something to meet everyone’s tastes. And of course, they’re open 24 hours a day.

As says Lysette Offley of Sounds Positive in Henley on Thames, where hypnotherapy for gambling addiction is used: We’re fast approaching a time when the number of people in the UK with broadband access to the internet will overtake those still on dial-up, so access and availability to on-line gambling is increasing. Not surprisingly, problems are expected to increase.”

So what can a person do about it if they feel their habit’s getting out of control?

“Get help now. Don’t let it go on and on,” says Lysette. “There is plenty of professional help available and many ways to stop gambling. I see people regularly who are able to turn their lives around and with just a little help learn how to stop gambling. And of course there are self-help products too which can help enormously. Why would you play the victim of your habit when you really can do something about it?”

Sounds Positive specialises in fully downloadable self-help hypnotherapy products, incorporating other psychology techniques such as NLP and EFT. Stop Gambling is available from their website.

Automotive Insurance Providers – Which Should You Pick?

Automotive insurance providers will help you find the best insurance company. But, it is up to you if what company you will choose which best provide your needs for your auto insurance. It is your decision which you think of the automotive insurance can give you the best deal of your needs.Planning to purchase an automotive insurance, you need to know the company you have chosen if it is a good auto insurance provider. One of the best ways to know is through the staff of local car body work shop since they deal most of the time with the automotive insurance.When choosing an automotive insurance, some people will not go for cheapest quotes but to some, it is natural to choose for cheapest auto insurance quotes. What is important is that, the insurance companies you choose have reputable records so that your money will not be wasted when in time for claims.Wherever state you belong in the U.S. you can ask your state’s department of insurance website if ever you don’t know. They provide you some information’s with regards to insurance companies. Since there are some people who reported that they are not satisfied with the insurance company they had especially to those people who already considering availing of an insurance coverage. Also, they provide you the statistic complaints ratio of the customer or consumers.You can also check to automotive insurance providers that have been working around for a long time to avoid lesser risk. If not, you can ask around with your friends or family or colleagues which auto insurance they know that has cheaper cost or rate they had experience and which is good. You can also go online to insurance websites you choose and check, make a comparison to other insurance websites.There are many ways on how to check good automotive insurance providers. What you have to do is to shop, be patient and have determination to find that automotive insurance company. There are lots of auto insurance providers and for sure you can find one, do always have hoped to find that insurance company who can give you the best deal of your needs.When you go online to ask for your auto insurance quotes, be sure you are honest to answer their online questionnaire. When you got the quote, try to keep it don’t throw it because you can used that in the future reference. Read their questionnaire carefully and always confirm that there is no obligation to purchase insurance company when you ask for a quote.Since there are many providers in every state, then for sure you can find one for your automotive. Always have faith that you can find one, slowly but surely. Remember that only fool rush in and every time you go rushing, you always stumble.Insurance companies offer a different strategy in order to gain more customers or consumer and one of their strategies is their services. Before deciding to which insurance company you will purchase your insurance policy, think twice or thrice.