Monday, October 1, 2007

Top 21 Travel Games For The Car -part Two

10. Hang Man
This is another old favourite we can't forget. Hangman has been around since I was in Maths class. Just make a number of lines for each letter of a word or words of your choice. Then a designated passenger has to guess the letter which corresponds to your word. If they are wrong, you start drawing the hang man. This drawing consists of a straight vertical line, followed by a line to the right, then a hang man's noose and a stick man figure. The aim is to guess the word before the last leg is drawn.

11. Dictionary Game
Another word game, but it's the perfect time when there are no other distractions except the passing scenery. Just pick out an unusual word from the dictionary, and everyone has to write out their own definition. All the definitions are read out, and everyone has to guess which is correct. The results are hilarious as wrong meanings are guessed, and the actual definition is finally read out. Allocate a point to whoever gets their meaning guessed.

12. Snap
Always bring a pack of cards when you are travelling. Not only is this much loved card game a no brainer, and easily played with most travelling partners, there are adaptations to make it more exciting. Instead of Snap, you can say a different word..or you can say Snap, then a new word every time to help test your memory. Inevitably, you will then remember another card game and time will fly before you know it. It's a good idea to bring a travel table for games such as this.

13. Scrabble
Everyone knows how to play scrabble. Hunt around for a magnetic travel scrabble version, which will be a worthwhile investment in family fun. This will give you at least an hour of enjoyment during your journey. It would not be recommended to bring a non magnetised game, as the pieces will inevitably become lost. Another game you can play with scrabble is to make up as many words as you can by a designated time limit. Its quicker and just as much fun.

14. Scissors Paper Rock
This has to be included seeing as it is played all around the world. Do we even need an explanation? Just say 'Scissors Paper Rock' and then your hands will either seal your fate or your victory. Scissors is two fingers extended out and three enclosed. Paper is hand outstretched, and Rock is hand in a fist. If both players have the same then you start again. Scissors and Rock means Rock wins as scissors are blunt. Paper and Rock wins as Paper covers rock. You can go on and on. It's a lot of fun especially when you get faster.

15. Mobile Phone Games
It's the century we're living in now, every second person has a mobile, and they all have games on them. So if your mobile is up and running why not let someone have a few contests on the games panel. These are addictive so you may need a time limit depending on how many phones are owned.

16. Questions
How well do you know each other? Depending on the age range of everyone in the vehicle you each take turns asking someone a question about themselves. Then, after about ten or so questions have been asked, you have to repeat as many answers as you can remember. You will learn a lot about each other, especially with questions such as, 'Where were you born?' and 'where did you go to school?' Find out who in the car has been listening as inevitably someone will remember all the questions that were asked.

17. Tongue Twisters
Try out as many tongue twisters as you can, and make your own up. This is lots of fun for the whole family. You can even buy board games with tongue twisters already printed up on cards. (ie Tongue Tangle) Just bring the cards with you when you have run out of other ways to fill in the time.

18. Art attack
This is a great way to make the most of the passing scenery. You may discover a budding artist or two as you appreciate each other's artwork. Allocated five or ten minutes to sketch the first thing you see out of the window. It could be a simple sketch of a tree or a bridge. When the time is up everyone has to show each other their drawings. Another game is one person starts their drawing, and others have to be the first to guess what it is. Children will love the chance to become creative especially if you buy them a small sketchbook. This is ideal for any age group.

19. Sing A Longs
This list would not be complete without Sing A Longs. Use the radio / CD player for backup as you try to remember favourite songs and their lyrics. Another great idea is to surf the local radio stations until you come up with a song you like. Every person gets to choose a song the rest of the group has to listen to. Make up your own words to the tunes. You'll find after this you will be humming the rest of the trip.

20. Memory Game
Find a number of small items around the car or next stop,ie bandaid, coin, phone etc and place them all on a tray or travel bench so everyone (except the driver) can memorize them. Then cover them with a towel or cloth. Everyone then has to write down as many items as they can remember. The winner is the person who has remembered the most items.

21. Travel Diary
Although it is not a game, it is an essential item if your child can write, and also for anyone who likes to record special holiday moments. In my case I wouldn't leave home without one. Encourage them to stick in whatever they want, even entry passes or flowers. On one of our family trips my daughter wrote three pages on how bored she was! At the end of the trip, photos and pictures collected along the way are included, and you have lasting hand written travel memories.
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By: Jenny Brewer

Jenny Brewer is a travel agent whose passion is writing. After spending her leisure time writing time writing childrens stories, she now enjoys writing about travel destinations. For more of her articles visit Car Hire Australia

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Cancun Is Back And Better Than Ever!

On October 21, 2005, Cancun was struck by Hurricane Wilma, the most intense Atlantic storm on record. However, after little more than a year, Cancun has remerged as an even more enticing destination. With over $1.5 billion committed to the citywide rebuilding effort, resorts have not only repaired their structures, but have improved upon pre-storm conditions. Nearly all of the citys restaurants and bars have reopened, many with sparkling new additions and renovations. However, Cancun isnt finished. Many more improvements will be completed early this season, guaranteeing that this could be the best year ever to visit beautiful Cancun.

Perhaps the best upgrades in Cancun were performed on the world-famous beaches. Known for their wide stretches of white powder sand, Cancuns beaches were reduced to rocks by Wilmas storm surge. Yet, because of eroding beachfronts throughout the world, the technology of beach reclamation has grown by leaps and bounds. Belgian firm, Jan de Nul, used their latest innovations to extract 96 million cubic feet of pristine sand from the waters off the Mexican coast. After the sand was transported by a pair of vessels back to shore, giant pipes succeeded in reforming up to a half mile of beach per week.

Yet, Cancun didnt settle for a copy of the old beaches. According to Cancuns Convention and Visitors Bureau, The white beaches are what Cancun is all about. So we wanted to make sure we were getting that same silky sand that people love and a lot more of it than before. In fact, the new beaches of Cancun average 140 feet in width, double the 70 foot width visitors were accustomed to not long ago. This sizable upgrade means not only will the beaches of Cancun look better than ever before, but visitors will have much more room to play or relax in the sun.

Cancuns finest resorts certainly didnt spare any expense during the reconstruction either. In addition to necessary repairs and upgrades required as a result of the storm, tourists will also recognize a number of notable improvements at their favorite resorts, from new recreational facilities to larger rooms. The streets of the Hotel Zone have even been lined with 6,000 fully-grown palm trees.

Furthermore, most of the major construction and renovation in the Hotel Zone was completed by the end of 2006, so current visitors wont be bothered. Though a few resorts will be remodeling through 2007, very few tourists have been distracted. Through August 2006, Cancun had already returned to 79% hotel room capacity, just below annual averages for the summer off-season. In fact, many of these visitors were unaware of the rebuilding that took place as nearly all of the resorts and businesses were open during the 2006 holiday travel season.

The nearby island of Cozumel, a popular cruise ship port, also underwent extensive renovations. One of the islands primary piers reopened to cruise ships at the end of 2006, while the other will reopen later this year. Inland from Cancun, millions of acres of Mexicos famous jungles remain undamaged. Most importantly, the historic Mayan ruins near Cancun were unharmed and remain open for tours.

If you still had any doubts regarding the success of Cancuns recovery, the leading travel publications have already returned the city to its lofty position. Conde Nast Traveler, Travelocity.com, 10best.com and many others have ranked Cancun as both a top beach destination and a leading choice for quick getaways. Furthermore, the American Express Travel Report, one of the most respected studies of upcoming travel trends, has rated Cancun as the fifth-most popular international destination for the coming year.

These accolades and the growing evidence of a successful rebuilding effort points not only to a miraculous resurgence for this luxurious resort city, but also highlights Cancuns eternal allure.
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By: Justin Burch -

Justin Burch writes articles about travel in Cancun and Mexico tourism for the Marriott Resorts.

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Finding A Search Engine Optimization Company

When it comes to business some people like to get their hands dirty and iron out every little detail of every little deal and transaction. Others like to handle the parts of the business that they know and are comfortable with, leaving the bits and pieces they are unsure about to people who know what they are doing.

Before you start looking for a search engine optimization company sit down and consider your situation. What goals do you have for your website? What are your priorities? How much can you afford to spend, remember that you pay for quality, the lowest price isn't always the best deal.

When it is time to submit your web-based business to a search engine their are search engine optimization companies who, for a fee, will be happy to optimize the websites for the business owners who do not feel comfortable doing it themselves.

Search engine optimization is the art and science of making a website attractive to search engines. If you don't know where to find a reputable search engine optimization company try looking in search engine optimization forums, references or articles on reputable websites, ask friends for recommendations, ask other webmasters if they used anyone to optimize their sites and if they did ask which company they used and if the experience was pleasant.

The first thing you have to watch out for when you're selecting a company to handle your search engine optimization is scams. The first thing to do is avoid any search engine optimization companies that are listed in the black hat directory. Black hat search engine optimization is not really optimizing but really just spamdexing, most search engines penalize websites that are caught spamdexing. Also avoid any company who guarantees a ranking before they even look at your site. Make sure the company you are considering is actually going to do something besides add doorway pages and meta tags.

What is spamdexing?

Spamdexing is using methods that manipulate the relevancy or prominence of resources indexed by a search engine, usually in a manner that is inconsistent with the purpose of the indexing system. A lot of times spamdexing is done by stuffing a website full of keywords, web crawlers (the programs search engines use to rank websites) read the web sites they read lots of the same keyword and assume that the sight is content rich. Based on the web crawler's findings the website is given a high rank. Allot of the time the keywords are stuck at the bottom of the document where the internet user can't see them. Keyword stuffing is considered content spam.

The other common type of spamdexing is link spam. Link spam is spamdexing that takes advantage of link ranking algorithms causing search engines to give the guilty website a higher ranking. Link farms, hidden links, Sybil attack, wiki spam, spam blogs (also referred to as splogs), page hijacking, buying expired domains, and referrer log spamming are forms of link spam.
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By: Li Ming Wong

Uncover The Brutally Effective SEO Software That "Average Joes and Janes" Are Using To - Quickly and Easily Blow Up Their Bank Accounts, Explode Their Traffic, and Triple Their Sales - With Little Or No Extra Work... Effective SEO Software.

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