Did you know that international corporations will pay for you to fly to Zurich…or Paris…or Rome? All you have to do in return is agree to carry time-sensitive business cargo (it could be files or computer discs, for example) to your destination. You may never have to touch, let alone actually carry, the bags. Representatives of the firm that has hired you will take care of all the dirty work. All you have to do is check the cargo as your luggage.

It’s called traveling as an air courier. And it’s perfectly legal. Thousands of travelers do it every year. As an air courier, you fly like any other passenger on the plane, enjoying the same comforts and amenities. There are only two differences. First, you don’t have any checked luggage (just your carry-on bags). And second, you don’t pay full fare for your ticket. In fact, you may not pay anything at all.

But more than that, there is something exciting, even romantic about traveling as an air courier. You can be called up for duty with little more than a day or two notice — like a foreign correspondent or an international spy. What an adventure, to receive a telephone call asking if you can leave for the Far East in 24 hours…or if you’re interested in flying to London in the morning.

Of course, it can be much less spontaneous, if you prefer. Some courier services allow you to make reservations weeks or months in advance.

Making the connection

You want to fly to Sydney, Australia, and then take off for a grand adventure Down Under…exploring Queensland’s rain forest…sailing the Great Barrier Reef…maybe traveling northwest from Sydney to Mudgee, a little, undiscovered town cradled in the Cudgegong Valley on the western side of the Great Dividing Range, where you can visit stud and sheep ranches, go prospecting for gold, and marvel at Frog Rock (a huge sedimentary amphibian that crouches beside the road)…

But the cheapest round-trip ticket to Sydney you’ve been able to find costs US$1,500 — considerably more than your pocketbook can afford.

Don’t give up on your trip. Pick up the phone and call a courier service. Explain where you want to travel and when and ask if the service has any packages going to that destination at that time. Most services require that you call not more than 60 days in advance of your trip.

If it is your first time looking for work as a courier, it might be better to make the initial contact by letter rather than telephone. Tell the service a little about yourself, include a resume, and assure them that you are flexible, available, eager to travel, and accustomed to packing light (remember, you’ll only be allowed your carry-on luggage). Then follow up on this letter with a phone call, requesting a specific assignment.

But before you accept an assignment, verify the terms of the arrangement. Some services no longer offer free tickets to their couriers; some offer only deeply discounted tickets. In fact, as the occupation becomes more popular, it is becoming harder and harder for couriers to travel free. Years ago, courier services not only provided couriers with free airfare to their destination, but they paid them a fee as well. Today, this is unheard of.

It is still possible to get free airfare, though, but you may have to shop around. And you probably will have to settle for a last-minute booking. Even if you can’t get your ticket for free, you will be able to get it for about 70% less than you could buy it anywhere else.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you can bargain for a fare. If you’re interested in flying in two months to Buenos Aires, you may not be able to find a free ticket. (Remember, free tickets are usually associated with last-minute bookings.) But neither do you have to settle for the first fare quoted you. Haggle. Bide your time. The closer it gets to the date of departure, the more eager the courier service will be to make a deal. The only red tape involved is an application form that the courier service will ask you to fill out. Some services also charge minimal annual registration fees.

The reason for couriers

More and more businesses are using courier services. The reasons are simple. First, nearly all major businesses now operate internationally. When someone says, “I want it on my desk by 9 a.m.,” he doesn’t care that the person he’s speaking to is halfway around the world. If packages or documents are shipped by traditional methods, they can take hours, even days to clear customs. Not so with material shipped with a courier. It clears customs within minutes of landing at the airport, just like any other passenger’s luggage.

Second, material shipped with a courier flies on a scheduled airline, and, because of that, it usually flies on time.

So, when a marketing manager in Des Moines wants to send the results of his most recent studies to his affiliate in Hamburg — and ensure that they reach their overseas destination by 9 the next morning — he picks up the telephone and calls an international air freight company.

The major freight companies, such as Federal Express and DHL International, fly their own planes and therefore have no need of couriers. Smaller operations, however, must rely on courier services to arrange for the transport of their parcels. These freight companies contact a courier service, which in turn tries to find a free-lance courier who wants to fly — immediately – to Germany, for example. If you happen to call the courier service that same afternoon, you’re on your way to Europe.

For your part, the work involved is minimal. Always check in the day before you are scheduled to depart to make sure the time  or the flight or the carrier has not been changed. This is not a formality; it is a safeguard. It is not unusual. In fact, it is common for courier flights and times to be changed at the last minute. 

Once you’re sure of your flight, simply arrive at the airport about an hour ahead of your departure time. A representative from the freight service will deliver the material to the airport and check it in as the baggage for your ticket. You’ll then be given the ticket, the baggage claim check, and a form detailing the contents of the baggage.

When you arrive at your destination, another representative from the freight service will meet you at the airport, where you’ll retrieve the baggage, clear it through customs, and then take off to enjoy your trip. The service is responsible for making sure that the contents of the baggage are as they should be and that they are delivered where they are supposed to go. Your only responsibility is walking the parcel through customs.

The courier service will have given you a sheet with instructions for your return flight. Don’t lose it. And the day before you are scheduled to return home, again check in with the courier service to verify your flight time.

Finding a service

To find a courier service, you could simply open your local yellow pages, look under “Air Courier Services,” and then call each firm listed to see if they use free-lance couriers and if they provide free tickets or only discounted tickets. But you’ll probably be disappointed. The services that advertise in the yellow pages rarely use free-lance couriers and never give free tickets.

A better way to start is to contact Now Voyager, 74 Varick St., Room 307, New York, NY 10013; (212)431-1616, a large courier service that deals with a lot of different freight companies and uses a lot of free-lance couriers. Call between 6 p.m. and 11:30 a.m. to hear a tape recording detailing all available flights and prices; call in the afternoon to book flights.

Other courier services that use free-lance couriers and that sometimes offer free tickets to their couriers include:

• Airhitch, 2790 Broadway, Suite 100, New York, NY 10025; (212)864-2000
• Courier Network, 295 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001; (212)691-9860
• Halbart Express, 147-05 176th St., Jamaica, NY 11434; (718)656-8279 or (718)656-8189
• International Courier Travel, 5757 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700-26, Los Angeles, CA 90045; (505)758-7911 
• TNT-Skypak, 38 E. 29th St., New York, NY 10003; (212)532- 5777
• World Courier, 137-42 Guy R. Brewer Blvd., Jamaica, NY 11434; (718)978-9552 or (718)978-9400
• Courier Travel Services Ltd., 346 Fulham Road, London SW10 9UH, United Kingdom; tel. 71-351-0300.
• Polo Express Services Ltd. (a subsidiary of British Airways) 2 Fitzharding Street, London W1H 9 PN, United Kingdom; tel. 81-759-5383
• Air Facility, Esmeralda 634, 4oB, Buenos Aires, Argentina; tel. (54-1) 322-7720.
• Jupiter Air Ltd., Ground Floor, Block 2, Tien Chu Centre, 1 E Mokcheong St., Tokwawan, Kowloon, Hong Kong; tel. (852) 761-1303, fax (852) 761-1029.
• Jupiter Air Oceania Ltd., Unit 4 154-166 O’Riordan St., Mascot, NSW 2020, Australia; tel. (61-2) 317-2113; fax (61-2) 317-2238.
• Jet Services Roissy, Batiment 3416, Module 700, Route du Midi, 95707 Roissey, France; tel. (33-14) 862-6222, fax (33-14) 862-6246.
• Discount Travel International, 169 W. 81st Street, New York, NY 10024; tel. (212) 362-8113, fax (212) 362-3236.
• Way to Go, 6679 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood CA 90028 USA; tel. (213) 466-1126, fax (213) 466-8994.

Do not be concerned that most of these addresses are in the United States.  Although most companies are headquartered there, they operate worldwide, and may also refer you to local offices that they do not publicize.

For more information

For more on traveling as a courier, read Air Courier Bargains by Kelly Monaghan, available from Inwood Training Publications, Box 438, New York, NY 10034-9959. The cost is US$14.95. Another good reference is Fly There For Less by Bob Martin, available from TeakWood Press, 160 Fiesta Drive, Kissimmee, FL 34743 USA. The cost is US$8.95.

Steve Lantos is the publisher of Travel Unlimited, a monthly newsletter on international courier travel from the U.S., Canada, and Britain.  The address is P.O. Box 1058, Allston MA 02134 USA. 

Contact the International Asssociation of Air Travel Couriers (IAATC), 8 South J Street, P. O. Box 1349, Lake Worth, F: 33460 USA; tel. (407) 582-8320. The IAATC charges an annual fee of US$35.

Author: Adam Starchild

If you are male, gregarious, hospitable, and relatively good looking, you can be paid to travel on board a luxury cruise ship. That’s right, not only will the cruise itself be entirely free, but you will be paid a salary in addition.

In return, you simply must agree to act as companion to those ladies on board the cruise who find themselves without partners when it comes time for dinner and dancing.

More and more women are taking cruises alone. But that doesn’t mean they want to eat alone…or sit alone while everyone else is dancing the samba…or wander alone in each exotic port of call. The cruise line wants to ensure that these women have a good time (and that they return for a second or third cruise), so they arrange for debonair and polished older gentlemen to join the cruise and act as hosts.

Most of the men are retired military officers, executives, and professional men. In return for treating their female companions to a few rounds of drinks at the pool and engaging in lively conversation over dinner, they are given free round-trip transportation to the port of departure, a completely free cruise (including food and drink), and a sizeable salary.

The two cruise lines that employ the greatest number of male shipboard companions are Cunard Lines, 555 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10017, and Royal Cruise Lines, One Maritime Plaza, Suite 1400, San Francisco, CA 94111.

Author: Adam Starchild

“Have coffee in Dublin at 11 and walk in Stephen’s Green and you’ll be in heaven.”

You’ve replayed the words of that old song over and over in your head for years. In fact, all your life, you’ve dreamt of seeing the Emerald Isle, of spending long evenings in Irish pubs, sipping Guinness and engaging in lively conversation.

The only thing that has kept you from making your dreams come true is money. After all the monthly bills are paid, you never seem to have enough left over to afford a trip to Dublin.

But money need no longer be an obstacle. You can arrange to see Ireland free — maybe even make a bit of money in the bargain.

Cruise lines, airlines, tour companies, and hotels will gladly accommodate you free of charge — even put cash in your pocket to boot — if you promise to bring them a certain amount of business in return.

You don’t have to be an experienced tour leader. You don’t need any experience as a salesman. The only job requirements are enthusiasm and a desire to see the world.

The possibilities are endless. You could lead a tour of Ireland’s green, green countryside and ancient ruins. You could lead an art tour of northern Italy. A garden tour of Britain. A river cruise in New Guinea. An archeological expedition to Easter Island. A family train tour of France. A hiking trip in the Alps. A castles and wine cruise of Germany. A tour of rural Japan, visiting teahouses and farmhouses. A cycling adventure in Scotland. A luxury yacht charter in the Greek Isles.

And as the leader of the tour, you travel for free.

Making a business of biking

Peter Costello did it. He had been working restoring antique furniture in Baltimore, Maryland. It was a steady living, but what Peter really enjoyed was riding his bicycle and traveling. If only someone would pay me to ride my bike and travel around the world, he thought. Because he could find no one willing to do so, he decided to arrange it for himself.

After a vacation to Scotland, his future was determined. He would lead bicycle tours through the green and rolling Scottish hills.

Peter asked a former executive of a bicycle touring company in Vermont to act as consultant. Scotland was the perfect place to begin the business, not only because Peter (whose family was from Scotland) knew the country, but also because the market was wide open. In fact, no one else in the business was offering bicycle tours in Scotland.

Peter knew bicycling, and he knew Scotland. But he didn’t know anything about starting a business or leading a tour. As Peter explains, “I took a crash course in Business 101.”

“The touring is the easy part,” he says. “All of my tours begin and end in Edinburgh. We take off down the road, supported by a van, exploring beautiful countryside. We travel about 40 miles a day, and then spend the nights in comfortable, homey bed and breakfasts. That’s easy.

“The hard part is the marketing.”

Peter handles all of the marketing himself from an office in Baltimore. He advertises in major bicycling publications and tries to generate business through travel agents.

Peter has been quite successful. His amateur operation, Peter Costello Ltd., P.O. Box 23490, Baltimore, MD 21203; (410) 685-6918) has grown into a full-fledged business. He employs two other tour leaders and leads 17 tours a year. Peter attributes his success to two things: first, he was able to find a niche in the market; and second, he keeps his tours competitively priced.

Keeping it low key

Peter’s tour operation has grown into a big business. He is making enough money to support himself and two employees. To get to this point, Peter has devoted himself completely to the company. It has become his livelihood and his favorite pastime.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can travel for free as a tour leader — and still maintain your regular job and home life. It doesn’t take a lot of time or energy to arrange one tour a year, for example.

But it still works in much the same way. As Peter explained, the most difficult part is the advertising and marketing. How do you convince four or five other people to pay you to act as their tour guide? We’ll tell you, step by step.

How it works

The first step is to decide where you want to go. This should be the easiest task of all. After all, this is the reason for arranging the tour in the first place — to allow you to live out your
life’s dream of seeing another part of the world.

Once you know where you want to go, do extensive research on the area. Call the tourist board and the embassy for that country and request all the brochures and literature they have available on hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, transportation, sightseeing, and local customs.

Spend a day or two at the library, poring over travel guides and reference books. The best general reference guides available include Fielding’s, Fodor’s, and Frommer’s (which include the Dollarwise series on budget travel). Also read Lonely Planet’s guides and the series known as Let’s Go. If your library doesn’t stock these books, you can order them (as well as a catalog of worldwide travel guidebooks) from Forsyth Travel Library, 9154 W. 57th St., P.O. Box 2975, Shawnee Mission, KS 66201, or the Traveler’s Bookstore, 22 W. 52nd St., New York, NY 10019.

Also study local maps. Remember, everyone you bring with you will look to you for guidance.

Once you’ve become familiar with your destination, pick something unique about it and plan your tour around that theme. It is easier to sell a tour of the stately homes of Britain’s
aristocracy than it is to sell a tour of Britain, period. Look for a niche in the market, something that no one else is doing (or doing well).

Next, plan your itinerary. Choose the hotels where you would like to stay, and then contact them to explain what you want to do. Ask for special group rates and request that you stay free as the tour leader.

Do the same with the airline you wish to fly. Find out what restrictions are attached to the cheapest tickets available. Usually you have to purchase special fare tickets a certain number of days in advance. Other restrictions involve the length of your stay and the days of departure and return. Make sure you know about all of this up front. And again, request that you fly free.

Plan some sightseeing and evening entertainment, but keep some time open. Your group will want time to itself.

Make all of the plans — but don’t make any reservations. At least, not yet. Wait until you’ve gathered your group together and agreed on a departure date.

Next, set a price. This will be the first question you are asked when you approach someone about joining you on your grand adventure. Figure in all of your costs (airfare, hotels, ground transportation, sightseeing, taxes, departure fees, and any meals that you plan to include in the package). Take this total and mark it up as much as you think the market will bear. The lower your costs, the greater your profits. You want to make at least enough to cover all of your expenses, including the entire cost of your trip. Any money you make beyond that is an added bonus.

Finding the people

This brings us to the most difficult part of the project: finding the tour participants.

The easiest way to do this is to tell everyone you know — everyone you work with, everyone you run into at the supermarket, everyone you meet on the subway, everyone you play bridge with on Thursday nights — that you are planning to lead a seven-day, all-inclusive tour of Germany’s Bavarian castles (for example). Tantalize them with tales of Mad King Ludwig, who built the country’s most beautiful castle, Neuschwanstein, the turreted, white creation that Walt Disney used as a model for Disneyland. Tell them about Linderhof Castle, near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where the mad king had the dining room built directly above the kitchen and then installed a dining table that could be lowered into the kitchen, set by the cooks, and then lifted back up to the dining room. Thus, King Ludwig could be waited on at dinner without ever having to be bothered by the servants.

Once you’ve got them interested, remind them that group travel is always cheaper than going it alone; they’ll save several hundred dollars at least. Remind them also that group travel is much more hassle-free than independent travel. Tell them that you’ll arrange everything. You’ll make all the reservations. You’ll check on all the train schedules. You’ll offer suggestions for good restaurants. All they have to do is enjoy the experience.

The other way to find tour participants is to advertise for them in travel magazines and newsletters. It doesn’t cost much to place a small classified ad. Publications to try include:
International Living, Agora Inc., 824 E. Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD 21202; International Travel News, 2120 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818; Transitions Abroad, Box 344, Amherst, MA 01004; Travel and Leisure, American Express Publishing, 1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036; Travel-Holiday, Travel Publications Inc., 28 W. 23rd St., New York, NY 10010; Conde Nast Traveler, Conde Nast Publications, 350 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10017; National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic Society, 17th and M streets N.W., Washington, DC 20036; the International Herald Tribune, Box 309, 63 Long Acre, London WC2E 9JH, England; or the Travel Section of The New York Times, 229 W. 43rd St., New York, NY 10036. You can also place ads in your local newspapers. Make the ad simple. Tell where you’re going, when you plan to depart, how long you’ll be staying, what the trip includes, how much it costs, and how to contact you for more information.

Another easy way to advertise is to put up notes on bulletin boards at community centers, colleges, and libraries in your area. Include the same information you used in your classified ads. This may be just as effective, and it will cost you nothing.

Once responses begin coming in, create a log of everyone who has expressed an interest (either as the result of an ad or the result of a chance conversation at a bus stop). Contact each person by phone or by mail and make a record of the correspondence. If you don’t hear back within a couple of weeks, send another letter or make another telephone call.

When someone does make a reservation, ask him if he can suggest anyone else who might be interested. You’ll find that word-of-mouth referrals will be your best source of new clients.

Booking the trip

Once you have your group together and you have determined an itinerary and a departure date, the next step is making the reservations. You can do this in two ways: on your own or with the help of a travel agent.

If you go it alone, all of the profit is yours. If the tour costs you $2,000 per person and you charge $3,000 per person, you’ll make $1,000 off each tour participant. If you have
five people traveling with you, that’s $5,000. Assume that you’re able to arrange for your airfare and accommodations free of charge (as the tour leader), and you’re way ahead. You’ll spend several hundred dollars at your destination on your personal expenses; the rest of the $5,000 will be clear profit. Plus, of course, you’re getting the trip free. Not a bad deal at all.

The disadvantage to all of this is that you alone are responsible for everything. If you don’t know what you’re doing — if you’ve never dealt with airlines and hotel managers and bus drivers and taxi cab drivers and translators before — you might be in for a rude awakening. Your dream trip overseas might turn into one huge headache. It is possible to go it alone. But it may not be practical.

So consider affiliating yourself with a travel agency. True, the agency will take its cut of the profits — but in exchange, it will share with you its wealth of experience. It will tell you whether it’s better to land in Beijing, tour China, and exit through Hong Kong or to land in Hong Kong, visit China, and return to Hong Kong for the flight home. It can tell you which Rhine River cruises are a delight and which are taking water. It can help you choose hotels. It can tell you about special health requirements at your destination. It can
offer tips on the climate and how to dress. It can tell you whether it’s better to take a bus at your destination or to hail a taxi.

When looking for a travel agency to deal with, your first question should be, “What commission do you pay to outside agents?” (That is what you will be considered.) If the agency won’t pay you a commission (and a sizeable commission at that) for the business you bring in, find another agency.

The second most important question involves free tickets. Who gets them? You or the agency? Travel agents receive free airline tickets and vouchers for free hotel stays all the time in
exchange for the volume of business they bring the airlines and the hotels. But make sure that these tickets are also available to outside agents.

Ask about other outside agents working for the agency. How many of these agents organize tours? What kinds of tours do they organize?

And inquire about support for outside agents. Will you be given a manual? Reservation forms? Guidebooks? Will the agency maintain records for you?

And shop around. Don’t settle for less than you think you should be getting. If you don’t come out of the deal with at least a free trip, something’s not right.

Book with a tour company — another alternative

If you’re intimidated at the thought of making all the arrangements on your own, but you don’t like the idea of having to share your profits with a travel agency, you have a third alternative. Decide on the tour you want to lead, and then book it through a tour company that offers free trips to individuals who reserve a certain number of spaces on their package trips.

Globus-Gateway, 95-25 Queens Blvd., Rego Park, NY 11374, for example, offers a free trip for anyone who books 16 people on any of its tours to Europe and one-half off a trip for anyone who books eight people on a trip to Europe.

Saga Holidays, 120 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02166, offers one free trip for 20 bookings. Destinations include Europe, Asia, the South Pacific, and South America.

Travel Plans International, P.O. Box 3875, Oak Brook, IL 60521, offers one free trip for 20 bookings on a safari to Africa.

Toucan Adventure Tours, 1142 Manhattan Ave., CP #416, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266, offers one free trip for 12 bookings on a tour to Mexico.

Newmans Tours, Suite 305, 10351 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025, offers discounted trips for 10 bookings on trips to New Zealand.

The following companies also give complimentary trips to anyone who signs on five or six other people to travel with them:

* Ambassadors World, 5601 Roanne Way, Suite 314, P.O. Box 9751, Greensboro, NC 27429 * Bryan World Tours, P.O. Box 4156, Topeka, KS 66604

* Friendship Tours Inc., P.O. Box 2526, Shawnee Mission, KS 66201

* Travel Careers and Tours, P.O. Box 91102, International Airport, Los Angeles, CA 90009

In addition, almost all major cruise lines offer free tickets to anyone who can sign on 15 paying passengers.

Most major tour companies around the world will offer terms very similar to these. Unlike the American companies, most are unwilling to publicly advertise their terms. They want to meet you or discuss the situation first, but the net result will invariably be along the lines discussed here. These are practically world-wide industry standard compensation rates, and not usually negotiable.

Trip tips

You and five strangers are sitting in the airport lounge. They answered your ads in travel magazines, and now they are counting on you to take them on a memorable tour of the castles of Bavaria. How can you make sure that all the tour participants feel like they’re getting their money’s worth — and still have a good time yourself?

Well, you will have to work a bit. After all, these people have paid you money. Following are a few tips to make sure all goes smoothly.

1. Take charge. The old saying that too many cooks spoil the soup applies here. As the leader, you should make all the arrangements and all the decisions — within limits, of course. Ask for input from the group, but don’t waste time debating every move.

2. Be flexible. Itineraries are made to be broken. Don’t be more concerned about following your original schedule than you are about enjoying the trip. Take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.

3. Make sure that no one feels left out or overlooked. Ask if everyone is comfortable in his room. If his luggage arrived safely. If there is anything special he would like to do or see. Don’t ever let anyone eat alone during an unscheduled meal (unless he prefers to do so, of course).

4. Make time for yourself. Promise your group your undivided attention from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., for example, but make everyone know that he’s on his own after that (except for one planned night out).

For more information

For more on traveling as a tour leader, read Travel for Fun and Profit by Larry King, available from Dreams Unlimited Inc., P.O. Box 20667, Seattle, Washington 98102; (206)322-4304. The cost is $12.95.

Leading a tour with a twist

We’ve a unique suggestion for anyone who loves boating, loves to travel, and is ready for a change in lifestyle. It requires a little more commitment and investment than organizing a single tour a year, but the payoff is potentially much greater as well. If you follow up on our idea, you could earn a comfortable living — and spend your days floating down the riverways of Burgundy, France.

The idea is to lead guided tours of the French countryside — in your own passenger barge. As we mentioned already, this is not something to be undertaken lightly. And it is not something to be undertaken by a total novice. You should have a bit of experience in the boating industry.

But don’t let these words of caution discourage you. This could be the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to live out your dreams. Dennis Sherman did it. He had been crewing on
boats, primarily as cook, for years. Mainly interested in barging, his knowledge of the industry served him well when it came time to take the plunge and purchase his own passenger barge. “The barging industry is small and close-knit,” he explains. “If you want to get into it, your best source of information, especially about boats for sale, is word-of-mouth.”

Dennis’ first piece of advice is that you shouldn’t try to buy a working barge and convert it into a pleasure craft. Too timely and costly, he says. Neither should you try to build a barge from scratch — that is, not unless you have nearly unlimited capital to invest.

The remaining option is to purchase a barge already operating as a pleasure craft. Without contacts in the industry, it’s paramount to begin by contacting a barge agent. Dennis recommends Joe Parfaitt, Chantier du Nivernais, 89000 Mailly-La-Ville, France; tel. (33-86) 40-44-77. Parfaitt has his own shipyard. In addition to barge sales, he handles conversions

When you’ve found a boat you’re interested in buying, the next step is arranging the purchase. Find an independent lawyer who is experienced with Americans doing business overseas. Dennis consulted Catherine Kessedjian, 27 rue des Plantes, 75014 Paris, France; tel. (33-1) 45-40-86-27. Experienced with handling the details of setting up a corporation in France, according to Dennis, dealing with Catherine “is like one-stop shopping,” because she is capable in all areas.

Dennis set up a French corporation to handle the barge operation and an American company to handle the marketing. This enabled him, with the barge operating under a French corporation, to arrange financing in France.

Dennis chose France as his location, because that’s where the barge that he wanted to buy was operating. But there are other reasons to choose France. The country is striving to attract new small business, and therefore, any new venture in France is eligible for tax-free status for the first three years and considerable tax breaks the next two years.

The capital investment

How much does a venture such as this cost? Dennis estimates $250,000, including purchase of the barge, any improvements, first-year operating expenses, and professional fees. True, that’s hardly free. But think of the return. And after the initial investment is made, if your barge company is successful, you’ll not only be able to travel the French countryside for free for the rest of your life, but you’ll also have a comfortable annual income. And the equity in the barge.

Dennis’ barge, called the Papillon, travels the Burgundy region of France. Spring and early summer, it cruises in the Nivernais; in June, the barge moves to the tree-lined waters of the
Burgundy Canal; in late summer, it cruises the River Seine and the Canal du Centre, through the heart of the vineyards of Santenay; in the fall, the barge heads back to the Nivernais. It makes one-week cruises for a 33-week season.

Author: Adam Starchild

Can you really spend a week in Morocco, bargaining with Bedouins, exploring the casbah, and wandering ancient caravan roads — without spending a single penny of your own money?

Can you fly off to London at a moment’s notice, take tea, see a show, and go on a shopping spree at Harrod’s — while someone else picks up the tab?

Is it possible to travel through the former Soviet Union, exploring what remains of this crumbling empire — and then deduct the entire trip from your taxes?

In a word, yes.

People — just like you — do it every day.

The obvious question, then, is how?

The answer is that it takes a bit of creativity, a dose of old-fashioned ingenuity, a little leg work, and, most important, a great deal of reliable information.

You’ll have to come up with the imagination.  And you’ll have to invest the time and energy. But we can provide the information. With this information, you have everything you need to know to travel wherever your dreams may take you…without ever worrying about the cost. In fact, you may even be able to make money on your next trip.

Author: Adam Starchild

Finally, I’ve done my 10 articles for Travel with Zero Dollars.

As a conclusion, it’s possible to travel with less cost which is almost a zero cost to you with the help of the following 10 tips:

Article 1: What a real holiday should be like!

Article 2: Religious Traveling

Article 3: Saving money with timesharing programs

Article 4: Travel free by going backpacing in the wilderness!

Article 5:  A role playing journey!

Article 6: Saving money on food

Article 7: Finding a good travel spot

Article 8: House exchange program

Article 9: Techniques on how to save money on accommodation

Article 10: Six tips on saving money while traveling

I’ve prepared a complete article for you to download. Click here to get it.

Perhaps you would like to check out more tips of how to travel with zero dollars. I’m conducting a free 5-day e-course on sharing with some secrets tips of travelling with zero dollars, you may get more info here.

That’s all for now. Thanks.

Wait till the end:

Do you know that hotels usually have left over rooms at the last minute? The moment those rooms go on sale, make sure you are the first one to get a booking there and you will find one of the best rates.

Your travel agent is taking a very huge commission:

There are many ways to find out if the travel deal is paying a lot of money to the middle man. All you have to do is compare your given rates to the ones presented on the Internet. If you see a huge difference then you should fire your agent!

The Internet isn’t always the cheapest place to buy travel:

On the other side of the coin, some travel agents might have access to special deals that are not published on the Internet. Sometimes, the affiliate commissions on the Internet could be very big as well. As a matter of fact, you can find some rather good deals in your local newspaper as well. You can even look for someone who owns a timeshare and get them to book a room for you for a fee.

Two roundtrip airline tickets are sometimes cheaper than one:

Airlines use sophisticated computer algorithms to price their tickets. It tries to predict demand for tickets and sets the price based on the data. However, it doesn’t always work properly. A one-way ticket can cost more than a round-trip ticket because the system thinks you’re a big-spending business traveler, and charges more. The solution may seem weird – buy two sets of advance-purchase roundtrip tickets, but to use only half of each — a process called “back-to-back” ticketing. The trick works best with a short trip where you aren’t staying over a Saturday night (the system thinks you’re a big-spending business traveler if you don’t stay over a Saturday night, too). Airlines frown on passengers who use this clever strategy, but they are actually quite legal.

Don’t spend money on car rental insurance:

Don’t worry too much about car insurance. You can rent with a credit card –  Visa, for example, will cover you for most car rentals and you have to read the fine print carefully.

Get better rates on your hotel rooms:
Did you know that you can save money and still get a better room; all you need to do is to buy directly from the hotel’s Web site. It typically treats its direct-booking customers better than outsiders. Hotels will deny they do this when they’re on the record. But off the record, you can still get away with it.

Hotel accommodation is one of the most money draining expenses when it comes to traveling. So how does one overcome such ruthless schemes?

Here are some tips and tricks that will help you save money on traveling.

Do you know that you can also save money on your hotel room through negotiation? Sometimes, it is very important to open your mouth and speak up. For example, when you call the hotel, you are arranging with the clerk or the administrator and not the manager or the boss. These guys only follow what the book says and are not flexible when offering rates.

Talk to them and negotiate with them what are the best rates for the season and see if there are any last minute cancellations.

If you are part of a business trip, you can organize a conference or meeting at a hotel and they will usually offer a much cheaper rate for you and your business partners. Once again, all you need to do is open your mouth and ask.

They will be more than happy for you to bring big business to their doorstep.

You can also opt to stay at the suburbs. In most places, you will pay a lot more for staying in the urban areas. Once you figure out the bus route or other forms of transportation, you will save on accommodation and still enjoy a day in the city. You need to know the train or bus routes so just ask one of the locals.

You can also stay at motels or guest houses. Guest houses are actually smaller hotels, with fewer hotel type services, are called guest houses. If you don’t need a bar or a direct phone, you can save tons of money.

You can even try traveling off-season. Of course, it depends on the location which you visit. You can even arrange for Self-Catering. Cottages and small apartments are suitable because you cook and clean for yourself. These places are rented by the week and are much cheaper than other kinds of accommodations. Say for example, you and your friends could rent a place, which is big enough for five or six people, for a whole week, for not much more than the cost of a couple of nights for two in a good hotel.

If you are feeling adventurous, try traveling in an RV or a caravan. You will eliminate your hotel costs all together.

Remember to check out everything on the Internet. Never book a hotel before checking out the many online, accommodation search engines first. You can save lots of money doing your research in advance.

Do you know that a house exchange program is one of the most interesting ways to travel at low cost while having a very unique holiday experience?

Here are a few reasons why:

There are free vacations available worldwide.

Swap homes for a free vacation home-away-from-home. There are many people offering home swaps everyday through agencies. You get to live in someone else’s home for free!

You get to enjoy living like a local, not a tourist.

Travel for less and more frequently. Stay longer if you have the time. It is a great trip for anything from weekend breaks to international vacations, and the best thing of all, it is even more comfortable than in a hotel and highly suitable for families

You will also gain a first hand feel when you learn about their local culture.

With the benefit of local knowledge from your exchange partners. Sharing knowledge with one another is such a fun thing to do. It’s such a great way to travel!

Have you watched ‘The Holiday’ by Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet?

This is an excellent movie about two women who have ran into problems during their lives decide to take a vacation by staying in each other’s houses far apart from each other.

It is a done by a mutual agreement. Both decide to ‘loan’ their houses to each other and put themselves in each other’s shoes as they live out their day-to-day lives with the people around them.

You can do the same thing to if you find the right people (who are hopefully trustworthy) and switch houses with them. Remember to do a background check on your exchange partner.

Alternatively, you can do house sitting for other people. If you choose your houses wisely, you might be chilling out at a Caribbean villa having a fun-filled adventure at a local farmhouse.

Most important of all, you must be very specific when it comes to signing agreements. You must be clear who pays the bills.

You have to be very clear with all the details. You don’t want to get into any trouble with any of the locals (especially the authorities – you will never know if there are any drugs in the house!)

There are many places beneath our noses when we talk about finding a good place to travel to. Do you know that some of the best places could be right around the corner? Do you know it could exist in your own country without you knowing about it?

Take for example; people love to go to Australia to travel. However, some AUSTRALIANS may not think Australia is a good place to travel namely because it is their home land. The grass usually seems greener on the other side. Other countries usually is a better place to travel but not your own country.

Many a times, we don’t realize that traveling to a local vacation spot saves a lot of money on air travel and the currency exchange rate. We rather go further only to find that certain places overseas are no different from our backyard.

Before setting off on a journey, you must do your due diligence. The best and cheapest way to check out the best travel spots is online!

Travelocity.com, Expedia.com and Orbitz.com are just some examples on how you can locate good air travel rates. http://www.travelpod.com/ is a very good website that gives you information on many travel spots. They claim that they are the web’s original travel blog.

These are the biggest travel booking sites very up to date.

Another good place where you can check out information before going there is the discovery channel. You can get a preview on all the best vacation spots without leaving your chair. Once you are sure where you want to go, and then place your booking.

How about animal planet, if you love exotic animals, you can switch on your TV and learn all about the best vacation spots and tourist attraction.

At the end of the day, you save lots of money learning about all these stuff without making costly mistakes such as going to all the wrong places only to find nothing is there.

You will also get a lot of understanding of vacation spots from other travelers because word of mouth is very powerful indeed.

Do you know that one of the reasons why people hate traveling is the fact that they have to pay cut-throat prices as tourists in a foreign country when they are looking for food?

The locals have a way of ‘robbing’ the money of any unsuspecting tourist and you don’t wanna be a victim of ‘robbery’ in broad daylight.

Here are a few suggestions on how you can save a lot of money on food while you are traveling.

Eating in a group. It always saves money when you buy food in bulk. For example, when you go to a fast food restaurant, between buying a value meal and a family meal, you usually save more money by ordering a family (extra large) meal and sharing the food with other people.

There are many other ways to save money.

You can eat at the suburbs. There are many places where you can eat good and inexpensive food because the cost of living is rather low in those places. For example, places like Indonesia and Thailand where you can taste the local cuisine. The food is delicious and VERY inexpensive. For less than $3!

There are many ways to save money on food while you are at the hotel as well.

When you book your hotel, check to see if breakfast is included. Make sure you eat every morsel you can find. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and once you are full, you won’t find yourself spending tons of money during lunch time.

However, if breakfast isn’t provided at your hotel for free, then try and look for a local bakery (or French Croissant) in the area. In Asian countries, try and look for ‘Old Town’ Coffee shops and ‘Mamak’ stores.

You can also consider putting a picnic together. A picnic is usually much, MUCH cheaper compared to eating at a restaurant.

Do you know that you can get lots of leftover food cheap at certain bakeries? They offer 50% discount off their bread on the ground of ‘clearing stock’. That is also a good way to save money.

If you are from the U.S. or European country, never EVER eat at a fast food joint in an Asian country. Fast foods in Asian countries are much more expensive compared to the local delicacies. And more than often, you will find the helpings are much smaller as well (for example, Big Mac at McDonalds are probably a fraction of the actual size in the United States)

Eat Instant noodles or cup noodles. You can pour hot water into the ‘cup’ and Voila! Your Instant noodles are ready. Toast bread if you have brought a portable toaster. You can even drop by the local market and shop around. Buy the ingredients you like and cook your own food if your hotel room has a kitchen.

Just be creative and you will be able to find a way to save money on food.