I’ve been doing quite a bit of research into the world of travel websites and how best to save money on vacation travel. Of particular interest is trying to find the best hotel deals online.

Of course travel is a huge category at search engines like Google and Live Search, and there are tons of websites that offer to help us find the best pricing. Some are well known because of all their advertising on TV and elsewhere. But there are lots of websites that I had never heard of, all of them wanting to set me up with hotel reservations or other services.

I have come to the opinion that there is no magic source for travel deals, but there are numerous great sources that will help us get the best possible pricing assuming your brother-in-law isn’t the CEO of say Starwood Hotels.

One option is to use a website that runs your search on several other travel sites and airline sites; they basically organize the search for you. That’s helpful to a point, but since major websites like Travelocity offer a low-price guarantee, you’re not likely to see big differences in price most of the time, even when checking a lot of other competing sites.

Some of the websites will monitor prices for you over time, to grab any great travel deals or airfare discounts that come along. That works OK if you start early enough in advance of your trip to let them watch for you. And, of course, you can look for last-minute deals at nearly all the major websites; they usually have a page or more just for such specials. That option requires that you have quite a bit of flexibility in your travel plans.

It might be best to find a major travel site that offers all the important search options, last-minute deals, price guarantee, etc., and also has a well-established track record of top-notch customer service. A great deal on a hotel room doesn’t mean much if the reservation is lost or the hotel doesn’t know anything about the special price you found online. So my inclination is to stay away from the secondary travel sites for the most part.

Pregnancy is a life experience like none other.

It literally engulfs your life and becomes YOU.

So, if you have an iPhone or iPod touch, of course you will want add a few pregnancy apps to your collection.

For instance…

You might be on your way to get your prenatal massage and have a baby name idea… there is an app for that, you know.

Your girlfriends may call you about what unique baby shower gifts you’ve registered for… is there an app for that?

You may want to chat with other mommies-to-be in a organic pregnancy forum… you can make an app for that!

iPhone Apps for Mommies-To-Be

App #1 – Best Pregnancy Calendar

My choice is iPregnancy from Dr. Gregory P. Moore. It will help you keep track of your pregnancy right along with your doctor!

Once your due date is established and entered, the program will keep track of your current progress in pregnancy including your:

• Current gestational age in weeks and days (like doctors use)
• Current gestational age in lunar months
• Progress bar that will show you how far you have progressed
• Current Trimester Time remaining until your due date (in weeks and days)
• And more…

App #2 – Best Baby Game App

I really like playing with the app called Babyface. It is a “baby appearance predictor”. Meaning, it creates a full color graphic of what your baby may look like .

Now, this is for fun so don’t be surprised if it isn’t accurate. The app has an amazingly scientific explanation behind the technology which is supposed to generate the babyface… despite that mumbojumbo, it is a lot of fun.

App #3 – Best Baby Naming App

NameShake is an app I really love. It has over 19,000 names and, the coolest part, you just set a few parameters, shake your iPhone and, voila, out pops a cool baby name you never would have thought of.  

My husband loves it too. We had lots of baby name books but this app is really all we needed.

Obviously, there are lots of apps on iTunes. These are just the 3 I played with the most.

I hope you like them too!

 

The white tiger is one of the most beautiful tigers out in the world and what many people really do not know about them is the fact that they are not a seperate breed all by themselves. In fact, white tigers are born with a condition that takes out the coloring from their fur.

The most common type of tigers that white tigers are found in is the Bengal Tiger subspecies.

Most of these types of tigers are now found in captivity, as they are extremely rare and very few – if any at all – can be found in the wild anymore.

Interestingly, it was once believed that they were never found in the wild. A myth once said that they actually could not strive and live without human intervention and that often they lived only short lives. However, this has proved to be extremely false.

In fact, the opposite is true. There was once a time where, in the wild, there were generations upon generations of white tigers being born.

An interesting one of the white tiger facts is that back in the nineteen eighties there was a time that of all the white tigers in the world, the entertainment team of Siegfried and Roy owned roughly ten percent of them. That just goes to show exactly how rare and special this type of tiger has become.

At the moment, throughout the world, there are hundreds of white tigers that are kept in captivity. Most of these can be found in the country of India.

If you want to learn more, head on over to Tiger Facts.

Personal Trainer