Global Travel Made Simple

Welcome to Global Travel Section

This is the new global travel section from award-winning Canadian author A Dawn. It will focus on just about anything and everything to do with travel. As the title suggests, it aims to focus on traveling simply, as well as safely, to a range of popular destinations as well as a few which are off the beaten track. 

There is an old saying that it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive. And, while you understand what Robert Louis Stevenson was getting at when he said it (and what the Taoists were getting at when they said “the journey is the reward”) it is not necessarily accurate. Sure, there is a real enjoyment in the anticipation when you are traveling to somewhere you really want to go, but is the anticipation really better than the arrival and the experience when you are there? That surely depends on how artfully the holiday was sold to you. There are many of us who feel that although Stevenson and the Taoists were entitled to their opinion, the arrival and the holiday are the best bits.

Traveling is something that many of us have a real thirst for. The Germans have a word for it: wanderlust. It is a desire to journey, to explore, to experience something of the world away from your home. Not everybody has it. Some call it “itchy feet”, which seems somehow disparaging. Wanting to travel does not mean that one does not love their home – it just means that we want to visit other places too, and see how people do things in another environment. Is it better there? Not necessarily, but it is interesting, and brings a bit of variety to life. You can never have too much variety, surely?

Of course, both the journey and the holiday can sometimes fail to live up to expectations. As much as we enjoy a break from the norm, sometimes that break can come at the expense of things which we value highly or have simply come to expect. Holidays are mis-sold by people who misunderstand your requirements, or they are rated highly by someone whose taste differs from you. There are pitfalls for even the most experienced traveler because, when it comes down to it, we do not have omniscience and sometimes that “charmingly dilapidated” holiday cottage is actually just derelict. Sometimes “local character” is actually a high crime rate. But as often as not, it can just be a matter of taste.

Whatever one is looking for in a holiday, there will be countless Travel Now Simply1places that compete to offer you the ideal break for your needs. If you want to go skiing, for example, there are countless mountain ranges filled with ski resorts. Will you go to the one that is close to home? Will you go to the one with the global reputation for perfect snow and excellent après-ski? Will you go to the less-heralded, less expensive resort that is off the beaten track but has excellent write-ups wherever you look? There are a lot of choices to make.

Choices like these will be covered on this site. As the title suggests, Travel Now Simply aims to give you tips on how you can take a trip wherever you want to go, at short notice and with a minimum of extra considerations. After all, you go on holiday to relax, so you do not want to add unnecessary stress to the issue. We will feature tips on where to go, what to do while there, how to save money and how to travel safely – and much more besides. Whether you find it better to travel in hope, or to arrive, you will find plenty here to satisfy your wanderlust.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Travelnowsimply.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Ahmed Dawn Dot Com site. In the future, I plan to write more travel articles on this site . This article originally published on the above website on April 27, 2009.

Redeem Aeroplan or Hold On It To As Aeroplan & Porter Form Partnership

Aeroplan, Air Canada, Oneworld, & Porter Airlines

Loyalty Program Aeroplan had a few runs in the news again for some recent developments. We heard about the failed unsolicited $250 million hostile bid where Air Canada partnered with 3 other financial institutions—TD Bank, CIBC Bank, and Visa —and attempted to purchase Aeroplan.

Also, more news broke out that Aeroplan and Toronto-based airline Porter formed a partnership that will make Porter Airlines a preferred Canadian partner for the Aeroplan loyalty points program and let Aeroplan members earn and redeem miles on Porter flights starting July 2020.

July 2020 is also the deadline when Air Canada splits from Aeroplan.

And then there was the news that Aeroplan is in talks with another alliance, Oneworld, to form a partnership. Oneworld is an alliance of 13 of the world's leading airlines (+ other affiliate partners) and has partners such as American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Canadian Airlines, etc.

Currently, Aeroplan is a part of Star Alliance through Air Canada, which will end in 2020.

After absorbing all these developments, readers may naturally ask whether they should redeem Aeroplan now or hold on to it to redeem later? I will answer these questions in a video I just published.

Aeroplan Partners with Porter Airlines | Redeem Aeroplan Now or Wait?

Will Changing the One-Child Policy Work?

China Terminates One-Child Policy

First Published: November 12, 2015 ADawnJournal.com

China has decided to end its decades-long one-child policy. I wrote a piece on China’s One-Child Policy in the past. The one-child policy first started nationwide in 1979 to slow population growth. It is estimated that the one-child policy prevented roughly 400 million births in China.

Although the Chinese government didn’t explain this move, it’s widely believed that a drop in workforce and a growing elderly population are the main reasons behind it. Currently, the population in China is 1.35 billion, with 30% over the age of 50. The workforce is made of 64% women and women in the workforce did well in the corporate world because they were required to stay home less due to the previous one-child policy.

Over the long run, there may be a drop in the women’s workforce, as many will choose to stay home to have more than one kid. However, as having one child has become a social norm, there is a possibility that many families will not choose to have more than one kid. And also there is the question of how many families are ready to give up financial stability over having more kids.

There are also concerns that businesses will make it harder for women to stay off work or reluctant to hire them in the first place, knowing women could take off for giving birth repeatedly.

Although there are several factors that will work together to make this new policy work (or not), the most important part is how women in China respond to this change. And we will have to wait to see the outcome, possibly in a few years.

MBNA Rewards World Elite MasterCard Devalues

Brutal Devaluation Coming to MBNA Rewards WE

A popular MBNA cash back credit card is going through a two-fold massive devaluation. Not only is the annual fee is increasing, but also its point redemption rates are being axed by TD.

Starting September 6, 2018, MBNA Rewards WE’s annual fee will be $120, up from $89. If that’s not bad enough, MBNA is decreasing the rewards rate of return on this card from a flat 2 percent to 1.67 percent starting February 1, 2019.

Currently each 100 points generates $1 cash back, giving the card a 2 percent flat return on all purchases because it earns 2 points per dollar spent. After the devaluation to generate $1 you would require 120 points.

However, for travel redemptions only, the devaluation does not kick in because you will still get 2 percent return or $1 for in that category.

Most MBNA Rewards cardholders use this card for the cash back feature, so after devaluation MBNA will lose a lot of its clients. MBNA is aware of that because it’s lowering its minimum points requirement to redeem points from 5,000 to 1,000 from September 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019.

Even if you use this card solely for travel redemptions, you should take a hard look after the devaluation because of the annual fee increase and this card has minimal insurances.

There are other cash back credit cards available that can replace MBNA Rewards World Elite MasterCard and even provides better benefits. I have discussed these cards and the MBNA devaluation in this video: Brutal Devaluation | MBNA Rewards World Elite MasterCard |

Since TD took over MBNA, they keep slashing rewards and benefits for most of that MBNA cards one by one, even including TD’s own travel rewards cards.

Because there are better options available, always look for something better to get the most out of your credit cards.

How To Improve Your Life

Five Ways To Spring Clean Your Life

At present, we are all feeling the pretty rough end of the bad news that seems to filter through the airwaves every day. It can be pretty overwhelming and it’s totally understandable that you might feel you are swimming against the tide. But to look at it another way, when things are seemingly at a bit of a low for everyone it makes sense to use that time to try and build from the bottom up. Following a few simple tips can see a real improvement.

1) Procrastination is the thief of time: Making things better in the short term can be simple, but counter productive. Sure, moving some things around, and putting a few off until later might make the rest of the week go OK, but you will be cursing yourself two weeks from now when it’s due (or overdue) and you’ve still not got it done. It’s surely better to have the relaxation to look forward to and the work done.

2) Try saying “yes” more often: Caution is a useful trait, used at the right times and in the right way. But it can easily become a habitual thing, and you end up putting things off and turning them down because you’re not sure about whether they are quite the right thing to do. If something sounds like fun, but you aren’t totally sure it is for you, why not try it once?

3) Listen to compliments: There are a lot of people about whom you will hear people say “he/she only responds to criticism”. They are the people who, when offered a compliment, will try and palm it off, giving the credit to someone else, or some force like plain dumb luck. Every once in a while being gracious is good, but if you never accept a compliment you miss out on a lot of positivity

4) Do one thing each week that is just for you: Relaxation works much better for you when it comes at a time when you are able to appreciate it. Working all week and then falling into bed for a couple of days is not a good cycle for anyone. You will come to resent the work without having a competing positive thing because you are too busy sleeping. So set some time – sacred time – aside for doing something just for you.

5) Don’t worry about what others think: As the old saying goes, you cannot please all of the people all of the time. So if you are worried about doing something you want to do because you don’t want other people to look upon you worse for it, forget them. Chances are they are small-minded enough to look negatively upon anything you do. So forget them – don’t let them dictate what you do, they are not worth it. Do you know who matters here? You. So please yourself. You cannot do that if you are always concerned about whether people will take a negative view.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Simplepersonaldevelopment.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to Entrepreneur Journey site. In the future, I plan to write more personal development articles on Entrepreneur Journey . This article originally published on the above website on Feb 16, 2009.