Preparing for Beach Days on Daytona Beach

Have a splash in the Florida sun on a Best Vacation Ever adventure in Daytona Beach.

Beach vacations are one of the number one getaway choices for couples and families alike, especially the tropical atmosphere of Daytona Beach, Florida, and its close proximity to Orlando, which is just an easy hour away. A beach vacation conjures up of images of a tropical, laid-back atmosphere, pristine sands perfect for jogging and the kids’ castle-building, soothing surfs, the East Coast’s best waves for surfing, swaying palms, gentle ocean breezes, glorious sunsets, seaside spa treatments and massages to release pent-up stress, adventurous water sports and coastal adventures, casual to gourmet dining amid the oceanfront, sea cruises, and tiki huts dishing out umbrella-clad tropical spirits and appetizers like freshly caught shrimp and palette-tempting Key-West–style coconut shrimp.

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Preparing for an Outdoor Vacation in Pigeon Forge

It’s time for nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts to start planning their family’s Best Vacations Ever this summer.

Now is the perfect time to plan a family outdoor adventure! Fortunately, Pigeon Forge is full of activities and its action-packed Smoky Mountains are blessed with a variety of trails, white-water rafting, zorbing, as well as numerous adventures that are both challenging and rewarding for people of all ages. It’s a great reminder of why Pigeon Forge is the ideal destination for outdoor lovers in the summer months. From hiking and biking mountain trails to white water rafting, Pigeon Forge offers visitors more than just T-shirts and souvenirs.

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Discovering the “New” New Orleans

Crawfish are a Cajun and Creole delicacy popular in New Orleans’ restaurants and during famous social-gathering crawfish boils.Temp your palette with your newly added and offered Best Vacations Ever custom promotional vacation package

The key to eating crawfish is all in the technique. This scampering shellfish bottom-dweller in Louisiana’s wading waters is a long-time delicacy of Cajun and Creole cuisine. If you’re a seafood lover, once you discover and master the technique, especially amid the confines of a crawfish boil or a New Orleans Cajun or Creole eatery, you realize what you’ve been missing—how something old becomes something new. New Orleans is an example of how things can change in an instance, yet many things stay the same. New Orleans took a crippling blow after Hurricane Katrina that had many wondering if the city would ever be the same. But the loyalty, heart and sour of the city emerged, and as news spread, locals, favored visitors and celebrities took to the streets to repair, restore and renovate damaged areas worth preservation, creating what is now the “New” New Orleans. That’s why Best Vacations Ever and Preferred Guest Resorts have recently added New Orleans, also dubbed The Big Easy or NOLA to its list of preferred destinations,

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The Benefits of Driving vs.Flying

Strengthen family bonds, stop at extra landmarks and save serious money driving to Florida instead of flying on your Best Vacations Ever adventure.

There are many ways to get from Point A to Point B—each one offering variable amounts of speed, cost, safety, comfort and carbon-footprint impact. Comparing all the options could be quite a task, but you don’t have to do it because Preferred Guest Resorts (PGR) has done it for you. When you book a one-week Alamo® car rental from PGR, you are eligible to receive a complimentary Best Vacations Ever promotional vacation package to Florida that includes a 3-night, 4-day stay in Orlando and a 2-night, 3-day stop in Daytona Beach—saving you hundreds of dollars. To secure your Florida Best Vacations Ever vacation package with a one-week Alamo rental car, simply call

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How to Maximize Your Time and Money at Walt Disney World® Resort

Have your most exciting family adventure to Orlando and Walt Disney World Resort with a Best Vacations Ever promotional vacation package.

Planning a family trip to Orlando can come with a lot of planning and expectations, especially when you have children. It’s easy to fall under the illustrious spell of the world’s most famous family destination, but it can also come with a lot of stress, especially when you have limited time, financial resources and several parks to visit.  With an abundance of activities, restaurants, adventures and excursions to keep even the most active travelers and families happy, it’s no wonder Orlando, Florida, is the most popular tourist destination in the world. Visiting Walt Disney World® Resort is one the main reasons traveling families journey to the Orlando, along with SeaWorld Orlando® and Universal Studios® Resort and its Wizarding World of Harry Potter and its bloody good scare at Halloween Horror Nights, filled all month long with chainsaw- wheeling cast members and numerous themed haunted houses during the whole month of October. But a week-long family vacation with trips to the major theme parks can be very expensive. For every family hoping to get the most fun out of every magical hour

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10 Tips for Taking Better Travel Photos

A few helpful tip can help you  capture  amazing travel photos with just about any camera while traveling on your Preferred Guest Resorts’ Best Vacations Ever.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and every traveler wants to take beautiful photographs while on vacation so they document and share their visual story. The biggest mistake vacationers (and people) make is thinking a fancy new camera is the answer, when actually technique is more important than equipment. If you learn its capabilities, practice and learn how to avoid a few pitfalls, you can take beautiful photographs with almost any camera. Preferred Guest Resorts has culminated a top 10 list of tips and techniques from several of the world’s best travel photographers so you can take better photographs while on your Best Vacations Ever journey to picturesque family destinations:

  1. Read the camera’s manual, and learn all its controls and features so you’re prepared. TIP: More advanced information in expanded versions is often downloadable on retailer websites.
  2. Learn what “resolution” is and set your camera for the highest resolution possible. It makes digital altering/editing later much easier, especially if you want to make a vacation storybook. Get multiple large-file holding memory cards because high-rez photos create larger files and take up more room. TIP: Travelers take many more photographs than they expect, so you could be in a destination where it is too hard to buy one or have to pay higher tourist costs.
  3. Practice good focus methods—it’s the number one thing to ruin a photo. Learn how to use your automatic focus, which usually requires a half shutter press. Use the “macro” mode for very close-up shots. Auto focus often works better than manual. Pros often ignore auto focus and use metering to take better photos. TIP: If your auto photos turn out of focus, definitely try manual. You can capture some great close-up on manual at the theme parks and beaches.
  4. Learn how your camera works in varying light; Inside, outside and different times of the day when you get to your Preferred Guest Resorts’ vacation destination. Photos turn out very different in the varying forms of light. Also learn when to use your flash. TIP: Use your flash carefully; don’t use it when you don’t have to.
  5. Avoid red-eye by having people avoid looking directly into the camera or using a “bounce light.” Aiming your flash above the subjects’ heads, especially with surrounding light walls, will help avoid red-eye, too. TIP: Look around for color; red will draw into a person’s eye. There is a lot of color at theme parks for great images.

    Avoiding directly looking into the camera helps prevent red-eye and also creates more dramatic candid photos.

  6. Learn how to set your white balance—the most underused feature—that compensates for different kinds of lighting and how to set it for conditions like cloudy days, shade or bright sun in your vacation destination.
  7. Learn what ISO speed is, and set it to the lowest setting for posed or slow-moving photographs. TIP: This setting is perfect for group or tripod shots while on vacation.
  8. Before shooting, stand very still, frame and focus the photo creatively in your mind; then in your viewfinder. TIP: Avoid distractions and cluttered backgrounds in the photo when needed, although clutter can add texture and detailing to a photo, especially if you’re at a colorful attraction, theme park or exotic beaches while traveling on your Preferred Guest Resorts’ Best Vacation Ever.
  9. Try interesting angles that show minimum shadow and maximum color. Take a risk, and use the Photographers Rule of Thirds, where primary points sit along third lines. Horizon or other lines should not cut the picture in half. TIP: Divide your frame into thirds, and don’t put your subject in the middle of the frame, a helpful tip for any travel photo you take.
  10. Use lines, shapes, color and light to give depth and interest to an image, and add a dramatic, artistic effect to photographs, especially while in picturesque Preferred Guest Resorts’ vacation destinations.

    Depth, texture, color and contrast can create dramatically beautiful photographs while on your Best Vacations Ever with Preferred Guest Resorts.

If a picture tells a thousand words, fill your memory cards and share your expansive journey with more beautiful travel photographs than ever before. Remember, the more practice and the more images you take, the greater your eye becomes behind the lens. Preferred Guest Resorts’ promotional vacation packages can send you to amazingly affordable destinations and your Best Vacations Ever, so call 800-656-2780 today to book a vacation you’ll never forget, especially with brilliant photographs.

What are some of your tips and tricks for taking better photographs while traveling?

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