What’s life like in a foreign country? Is it anything like what you’re used to? It’s no easy decision to make the move overseas. This site will help you see what life in a foreign country is like, from the perspective of an ex-pat. Let’s give you a bit of insight on another part of the world, and let’s make you laugh a little bit too. Heck, life is funny. Even if you’re just looking for an overseas adventure for a week or two, you’ll find info and stories here that may change your mind and visit a new country altogether. So give it a go, have a look around, and see what it’s all about. What you see might surprise you. Welcome, we’ve got stories to tell!

Whether you’re looking for the next airfare finder or trip-planning tool, here are seven sites we love.

TripIt

BEST FOR: ORGANIZING TRAVEL DETAILS

A tidy, paperless way to keep track of everything from flight reservations to OpenTable dinner plans, this site extracts travel details from the booking confirmations that you forward by e-mail, then organizes them all on a private Web page. Bonus: it automatically adds trip-specific SeatGuru tips, weather reports and Google Maps.

Momondo

BEST FOR: SEARCHING FAR AND WIDE — FAST

When the price tag is paramount, try this Denmark-based aggregator, which swiftly scours more than 450 sites — including major booking engines, national carriers and no-frills airlines — to unearth cheap flights to destinations around the world.

Tripology

BEST FOR: ARRANGING TRICKY ITINERARIES

This matchmaking service assesses your wants, needs and interests with an online questionnaire, then matches you with a savvy travel agent. It scans a global network of more than 6,000 independent experts to find three who’ll be able to coordinate your complex route.

ExpertFlyer

BEST FOR: GETTING THE INSIDE SCOOP

With real-time seat maps for more than 100 carriers, this site will help you find what’s available the next time a cancellation leaves you stranded at the airport. (Basic subscription is $4.99 per month.)

Yapta

BEST FOR: WATCHING FOR PRICE DROPS (AND SCORING REFUNDS)

This site keeps tabs on fare fluctuations before and after you book your flight, so you can get any applicable credits or even cash back from the airline if the price drops. Caveat: Refund policies apply only if you book directly with the airline.

Mile Maven

BEST FOR: MAXING OUT YOUR MILES

Updated every day, this simple but comprehensive database links to limited-time offers for bonus miles. Covering hundreds of carriers and millions of different routes, it’s easy to search by airline, frequent-flier program or city.

OrbitzTLC Traveler Update

BEST FOR: CHECKING FLIGHT STATUS AND DELAYS

Along with a color-coded map providing arrival and departure delay details at a glance, this veteran site’s latest feature relays advice straight from fellow travelers, who send updates in real time — by text-messaging from their cell phones — on security lineups, traffic jams, cab queues and more.

Due to the overwhelming amount of Aussies living overseas, Australian Idol has taken their search for the next big start overseas. Read about it here.

WASHINGTON - Last year was among the worst for airline delays and 2008 did not start any better, according to government data released Tuesday.

Nearly one-third of commercial flights in the U.S. arrived late or were canceled in January, up slightly from the same month last year, the Transportation Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ data show. The results were an improvement from December — usually a busier month for leisure travelers — when almost 40 percent of flights by the nation’s 20 largest carriers were delayed or canceled.

The month-to-month improvement did little to soothe agitated passengers as customer complaints rose, compared with December and last January.

A quarter of domestic flights failed to arrive on time in 2007 — the industry’s second poorest performance on record — and analysts say things are likely to get worse as rising passenger demand and an industry preference for smaller planes magnifies congestion in the skies and on runways.

Airlines continue to replace larger aircraft with smaller ones in an effort to maximize profit margins by flying with fewer empty seats.

Moving? No? Ah, just traveling, I see. What are you going to bring? Everything? Ok, we’ve got a problem here.

Packing light saves time (e.g. waiting for baggage to be unloaded), money (no overweight fees), stress (no worrying about lost luggage) and the environment (less luggage means less fuel used to carry it). The industrial strength hairdryer does NOT need to come. With help from Go Green Travel Green, we bring you 35 links that will help you pack a bit lighter and more economically the next time you’re pulling out the suitcase.

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Have you got that urge to just get up and go? Experience a new party of the country? The world? Even that far end of the local mall that you’ve never been before? It’s not uncommon for one to seek out the unknown, leave your comfort zone, and see what’s out there. For many the journey stops almost as quick as it begins, staying in a fancy hotel room, ordering room service, and watching TV. For others, it’s getting your hands dirty and feeling what it’s like to not just see the culture that surrounds you, but experience it.

Wanderlust (Middle High German: wandern, to wander, and Lust, desire) is a German loanword. It is commonly defined as a strong desire to travel, or, of having a strong desire to explore the world.

Think you’ve got it? Most immigrants do. There’s a “push and pull factor” that affects the human population.

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Have you ever been stuck on the plane for an extended period of time because of so called “weather”? CNN has written and interesting article letting in you in on a little secret:

It may not be the weather at all.

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