A Blog Devoted To Travel
Sunday, June 29th, 2008
For those of you that enjoy the exhilarating sport of snowboarding or are planning on giving it a go, there are 5 essential pieces of equipment that you must take with you if you want to have a successful snowboarding holiday.
1. Proper Equipment: This includes boards, boots, and bindings, it is essential that all your equipment is in good condition and are suitable for your level of expertise.
2. Clothing: It is imperative that you wear proper clothing, everything you wear should be waterproof, breathable and should fit properly. Remember wearing numerous thin layers is the way to go.
3. Protective Gear: You should take your personal safety very seriously and make sure you have all the essential safety items with you. A helmet is must to protect your head from any knocks, goggles are also a good idea, sun block cream and lip balm will make sure your skin is well protected.
4. Water: It is vitally important that you drink plenty of water when your out on the slopes, it is essential that you don’t allow yourself to become dehydrated.
5. Vitals: You will of course need a lift pass and holder, also some money is required because your going to get real hungry burning up those slops.
6. Energy Supplies: I wouldn’t bother with those fancy energy bars, take 6 mars bars with you, and a couple of cans of energy drink.
7. Backpack: Is of course required to carry your supplies.
Why don’t you head to the dry ski slopes for some snowboarding practise before the winter snowboarding season begins again. It will help you to get into peek snowboarding shape and avoid all those first few days of aches and pains.
Friday, June 27th, 2008
Pictures of London from top left:
1. London Routemaster red double decker bus.
2. Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.
3. Tate Modern.
4. Sir William Wallace Memorial outside St Bartholomew’s Hospital, West Smithfield.
5. West Minister Abbey.
6. Admiralty Arch
7. London Eye.
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Fancy getting married on a tropical paradise island, with white sandy beaches, warm turquoise blue seas, swaying palm trees in the breeze and lush tropical gardens, creating that picturesque back drop to that very special day?
Then come to Barbados.Barbados has been accommodating weddings now for over 20 years to seasoned holidaymakers and celebrities alike. Most recently tiger woods and his beautiful Swedish model wife Elin nordegren were married in Barbados on the 5th Oct 2004.
Popular wedding locations in Barbados are beach weddings, great house weddings, tropical garden weddings, church weddings and weddings at sea i.e. catamarans and private yachts.
Beach weddings
Beach weddings are located on the sandy public beaches of Barbados; popular beaches for weddings in Barbados are on the south west coast and the west coast of the island. A beachfront wedding can be as large or as small as you want it. With the reception being held at the any of the nearby restaurants that back the beach.
Your wedding location can be decorated with a decorated arch and your isle created by placing a bed of petals or isle runners for you to walk down. Also dependant on your budget a marquee could be placed onto to the beach, please bear in mind facilities such as rest rooms may have to be hired in, as some locations do not offer this.
Imaging your wedding taking place on a beach, watched by your close family and friends, or just you in an intimate ceremony with the striking blue seas and a tropical sunset at the backdrop to your wedding pictures.
Weddings will usually take place in the mid afternoon, as the sun is at it coolest.
Great houses and plantation houses
Barbados has some of the most beautiful great houses and plantations houses in all of the Caribbean.
Beautifully maintained properties set amongst acres of lush matured gardens driveways lined with thousands of years old mahogany and or tall palm trees. Such properties are hundreds of years old, and are steeped in history and provide an amazing location for your wedding.
Weddings will usually take place in the gardens. Whiles receptions can take place in one of the dinning rooms but this is for formal seating. Other arrangements can be made for an informal setting.
Church weddings
An old favourite, the church wedding. Walking up the isle in a beautiful old historic church, with an organ playing and filling the air with harmonious gospel like melodies. Get married in front of god with your friends and family present.
Catamaran and yacht weddings
Set sail on your own private catamaran or yacht for your special occasion. Saying I do out in the great blue yonder is ideal for the couple looking to get away from a normal kind of wedding.
This way your partner and you or even a few close friends and family could get away and sail out to sea with your own captain and crew.
You can laze around on deck or take a drive with the sea turtles, but what ever you choose, you know it will be a day to remember.
Barbados is a fantastic location for those of you that are planning on getting married; it is a unique island, which is unlike any other place in the world. If you are interested in getting married in Barbados I would like to personally recommend a company called Celebrations Caribee, they are a Wedding and Event planning company that does things properly; they take the time and effort to create something that is special and memorable.
Friday, June 20th, 2008
Infamous Slain’s Castle helped to provide Bram Stoker with the inspiration to create his masterpiece called Count Dracula. Nowadays it is a ruin, which has been left for nature to run its course, it may not be the prettiest of ruined castles to visit in Scotland. But never the less it is worth visiting, it has for some inexplicable reason been left to slowly erode by the local council, and all the other agencies which should be doing a lot more to save this historic ruin.
Slain’s castle is located beside Cruden Bay in Aberdeenshire, which is of course in Scotland. It is a majestic ruin which sits atop sea facing cliffs looking out to the wild North Sea. Slain’s Castle was originally built around 1597, by the 9th Earl of Errol. The castle was sold in 1916 after over 300 years of occupation by the Errol’s to a shipping tycoon, who took the roof off it in 1925 to avoid paying taxes.
If you dare to visit Slain’s Castle when it starts to get dark, you will understand why this eerie place provided the inspiration behind Count Dracula, Bram Stoker referred to Slain’s Castle as “the castle of the dead”, and for a very good reason!
It may be overgrown with weeds and grass, but as you walk along the ruined corridors, you still get a sense of the great grandeur which this vast place once had . For the truly adventurous you can still easily climb up one of the towers, but you have to brave and sure of foot. The dramatic views from the edge of the cliffs provide some fantastic scenery.
Slain’s Castle had the potential to be a top drawer tourist attraction, but through the short sightedness of the Local Council and various agencies such as Historic Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland who all decided to forsake it, its true potential has never been released.
Unbelievable the blind local councilors have allowed this famous ruin to be turned into holiday apartments, it could only happen in Scotland! Maybe Count Dracula will have the last laugh and there will be a lot of blood sucking late at night.
Go and visit this infamous ruin while you can and see where the legend of Count Dracula began. A story about one man and his accounter with the Prince of Darkness at Slain’s Castle, Most Haunted Slains Castle, I Swear That I Could See Dracula Watching Me!
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
The boring old suitcase, I never thought I would be writing an article on something so unexciting and trivial. A few weeks ago I flew on a UK internal flight, from Aberdeen to Heathrow. Nothing too different during this journey, the usual BMI delay at the start of the flight.
The fun began when it was time to collect the luggage, all i can say is that someone working within the baggage handling at Heathrow must have been annoyed about something! As I was patiently waiting for my bag, I couldn’t help but notice there were not one but three suitcases that had been busted open and all the contents were coming along the conveyor belt. Another guy was almost in tears as he discussed the damage that had been done to his new very expensive hard silver Samsonite suitcase on its first journey.
I personally had a bad suitcase experience last year, when I was flying back from Barbados. A suitcase owned by some bright spark, had at some point during my suitcases journey started to leak on to mine. It was a disgusting and stinking liquid that had penetrated my bag, which may well have been from fish. Some paper documents which were in the suitcase, had been destroyed, luckily I had copies held online. My suitcase was obviously not water proof.
So what is the best kind of suitcase to travel with? A hard one, or one of those fabric ones, with wheels or without wheels?
The good thing about hard suitcases is that they are obviously waterproof and the contents shouldn’t get too squashed during the journey. The downside to hard suitcases is that they seem to get scratched, knocked and are more easily damaged. They also generally don’t stand up to wear and tear as good as fabric ones. I must admit I have in the past owned a hard suitcase which was damaged beyond repair during a flight.
Fabric suitcases are generally longer lasting and harder wearing in comparison to hard suitcases, but most of them, if any, are not waterproof, but you can get ones with a vinyl like zip able interior, which may keep the rain off your belongings for a short period of time. Your contents in a fabric suitcase will of course get extremely squashed, during any flight. They can also get slashed open if they somehow get caught up in something they shouldn’t, believe me it occasionally happens, you know how careful baggage handlers are!
You would have to be either cheap or stupid not to buy a suitcase that comes with wheels and a sturdy pulling handle. I hear the voices of dissent, but you get luggage trolleys at either end of the airport. Do you get trolleys at your house? do you get them when you leave the airport? do you get them at your hotel? do they go up escalators? There will be countless occasions when you will wish you had wheels on your luggage bags. I have witnessed numerous people struggling like crazy with wheelless bags at airports and in the street.
As you can see, there are pro’s and con’s to both, fabric and hard suitcases. I think it just come down to luck at the end of the day whether your suitcase survives a journey. If you are using a fabric one and your carrying valuable paper documents, put them in a waterproof holder. One of my friends had their wedding License destroyed when something leaked on to their baggage during a flight back home from Barbados.
Weight is also a factor when traveling nowadays, I was recently traveling on UK internal fight, and as you know the luggage allowance is not very good, and nowadays they will charge you extra without blinking, if you go over your baggage allowance weights! Before I packed my very pretty looking and I may also say, fairly expensive suitcase, I weighed it without anything in it, and it weighed an unbelievable amount, almost 5kg. Needless to say that suitcase is now history!
When buying a suitcase, put a little bit of effort into the process, test it out, pull it along the shop floor and get a feel for it, make sure that it does what it is supposed to do. My wife bought a new suitcase not so long ago, and the trolley handle is too short, which makes it very difficult to pull along the ground, she is only 5,4 and she struggles with it!
All I would recommend is that you must have a wheeled suitcase with a sturdy pulling handle, and don’t make extra work for yourself by buying one of those massive suitcases that look as big as a bed. You could spend all day at your destination upon arrival waiting for a taxi that it will fit in!
My advise to you is, chose your suitcase wisely, do not become the next victim of a second rate, unsuitable and useless suitcase!
Monday, June 16th, 2008
Relocating is a major decision, especially when an entire family moves from one city to another. It has an impact on the financial status, daily routine of an individual and his or her contacts with friends and family.
The cost of living is higher in many cities, giving rise to the need for a bigger pay packet. A thorough study of the job market is essential. Though employment opportunities may be plentiful, due consideration must be given to finding a job appropriate to ones qualifications.
Moving can be a trying time for many children. Often, family and friends are left behind. Children should be made to feel included in the relocation process and be made fully aware of where they are going. By being part of the relocation process, a child feels more involved and informed, reducing their levels of tension and fear. It is essential to ease their transition into a new home. Giving priority to their rooms, letting them join community organizations and escorting them to school in the initial stages of relocation, gives them a feeling of security.
On arrival in a new city, it is best to make use of the telephone directory and the Yellow Pages to locate local retailers, grocery stores, government agencies, and service providers.
The local motor vehicle office must be approached for vehicle registration and a driver’s license. Prior to reporting for a new job, it is important to unpack, relax and get acquainted with neighbours.
Often, when people relocate, they have a need for interim housing. Realtors assist people find suitable interim or permanent homes.
Strategic planning and research on the city of one’s choice can ward off problems and minimize potential headaches involved with relocation. If planned well, moving can be an exciting and memorable experience.
Author Ross Bainbride, Relocations Expert
Sunday, June 15th, 2008
Do your duty as a fellow, traveller, tourist, holidaymaker or day-tripper and make the world aware of must not visit destinations. Save other people the pain and suffering that you had to go through when you visited a location from hell.
Leave your comments, name and shame those places and what makes them so bad, what you hated so much about them and why you would recommend people stay away.
My own recommendation for people to not visit, is Dundee, I would recommend that you pass through this ugly and grimy looking cesspool as quickly as possible. If you hang around for too long you could catch the plague!
Dundee is a City that has very little going for it; the only thing that I like about it, is when I’m leaving it. It’s a pity they don’t have a ring road around the city, so that you don’t have to drive through it.
I think the official government figures for Dundee kind of sums the place up perfectly, 1 in 3 of the citizens of Dundee live in areas of deprivation; it also has twice the Scottish average for babies born to mothers under 17. Young girls see it as a way of avoiding work and being able to live of the social!
Dundee isn’t a pretty city, any history it may once of have had, it seems to have been allowed to be bulldozed down in the 60’s and 70’s by inbred, inept and short sighted councillors, who deemed it there master plan to make Dundee one of the ugliest City Centres in the UK
If for some inexplicable reason you are stuck in Dundee and you need to fill in a couple of hours, the only thing I could recommend is that you pay the RRS Discovery a visit.
Dundee may well be my city from hell, but I suppose there are people out there that like visiting strange places.
Now leave some comments regarding your own personal villages, towns, or cities that should be avoided like the plague.
For those of you planning on visiting Scotland, here is some great places to visit, 10 Must Visit Places In Scotland That Everyone Should Visit
Saturday, June 14th, 2008
London is a fantastic city, which offers an amazing choice of things to do and places to visit. It also is a fairly easy city to find your away around, and the bus and tubes systems are fairly easy to understand, if you just take a little bit of time and effort to figure out how they operate.
I cant believe the amount of times I have been on a tube and you see someone rush on, and then ask is this tube going to Heathrow, “No,” It only takes a little bit of common sense, a map, and a little bit of brain power to navigate your way easily around London! Take your time, stay calm, relax and you will probably get to wherever your trying to, a lot quicker.
Great Places to Visit in London:
1. Tour Bus: My advice is to take a tour bus tour of London, there cant be a better way to see what the city has to offer than via a bus tour. It will also take you to most of popular attractions that London has to offer. A great article discussing the merits of the tour bus, Why I love Going On City Bus Tours So Much, I Was So Wrong!
2. Tower of London: One of my personal favourites, you will easily spend at least half a day here, unless you’re one of those mad Japanese tourists that rushes around like crazy! I would definitely recommend taking one of the Yeoman Warder Tours, which are part of your admission ticket, they are informative, well presented and not to be missed!
3. Thames Cruise: There is a huge choice of different variations of Thames Cuisses to chose from. My personal favourite is one, which offers afternoon tea. I find it a great leisurely way to enjoy some of the sites of central London.
4. London Eye: You quite simply cannot visit London and not go on the London Eye, it’s a crime and you will be sent to the Tower of London. At 135 metres above London, it is the world’s tallest observation wheel, with 40km panoramic views on a clear day.
5. Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms: The unique historic Cabinet War Rooms, secret underground headquarters used by Winston Churchill, the greatest Briton and his British Government during the second world war. The Churchill Museum is the first national museum dedicated to Sir Winston Churchill.
6. Tate Modern: This amazing building displays the Tate collection of international modern and contemporary art from 1900 to the present day. It is however more than just an art gallery. The vast and amazing space of the Turbine Hall - has housed a succession of installations, which have caught the public’s imagination, and unbelievable it’s free.
7. Natural History Museum: This amazing museum houses one of the greatest and most important collections of natural history in the world. I know its hard to believe, that in a city such as London where everything seems to be so expensive, this is another free gem.
8. Westminster Abbey: A truly amazing place to visit, you can experience the grounds, cloisters, museums and gardens of one of the most famous Abbeys in the world.
9. Houses of Parliament: A fascinating place to visit, if you get the opportunity, you can even walk on to the floors of the House of Lords and the Commons. An amazing amount of history has passed through the walls of the houses of parliament. Even if you find politics the most boring subject in the world, you will be impressed with the tour of the Houses of Parliament. The full access tour is only available at certain times of the year.
10. British Museum: Founded in 1753, this museum houses the world’s greatest collection of world antiquities from ancient Greece, Rome and Asia, plus items from prehistoric Britain The British Museum houses an incredible collection of artefacts that will literally astound you.
Visitors to London will never run out of places to visit, there is a huge array of sites, attractions and things to do in this city. You will never get bored in London, even though you may run out of money! For some people living in London isnt quite as good as being a tourist, Seeking Inspiration, Its Not Easy in London
When the sun is shining, I love finding a nice spot down by the Thames and having a cool bottle of lager, 10 Fantastic Bottled Lagers to Drink, When the Sun is shining and the World Aint Such a Bad Place!
Friday, June 13th, 2008
Scotland is a country which offers travelers, tourists, holiday makers or whatever term you want to use, an abundance of wonderful places to visit. Some places are better known and more popular than others and as result attract all the attention.
The five not so well known Scottish places, which I have listed are maybe not well known, but they are all fantastic places, which are worthy of your attention, effort and time.
Nigg Bay & The Balnagask Headland: Aberdeen, a 2.5km walk around Aberdeen’s Balnagask headland gives an insight into the processes that formed the coastal landscape. With breathtaking views, the area is also abundant in a variety of wildlife.
You will take in spectacular views of Aberdeen harbour, lighthouses, an old fort, and rugged coastline, a pretty shingle beach and much more. At the Balnagask end there is a nice wee pub overlooking the harbour, waiting for you to quench your thirst.
Burn O ‘Vat: Near Dinnet, Aberdeenshire, Situated on low-lying ground, Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve (NNR) consists of extensive Birchwood, wetlands and heather moor. In its centre are two large lochs, Davan and Kinord, which provide a winter home for thousands of geese. To the west, you can find the hidden Vat, a spectacular geological feature famed for concealing the 18th Century outlaw, Gilderoy Macgregor.
There are many fine circular walks through the NNR, passing by such features as abandoned settlements and an ancient Celtic cross. There is an excellent visitor centre at the Burn O’Vat, to help you make the most of your visit.
Craigievar Castle: 6 miles south of Alford. This is an almost fairytale like looking castle which exemplifies Scottish baronial architecture. This great tower stands much like it did when it was built in 1626 by William Forbes.
Craigievar Castle is one of the best preserved tower houses in Scotland and is a great castle to visit and to take the tour of.
Cruden Bay Beach: Cruden Bay, a beautiful 2 mile arc of pink sands that form the bay of Cruden. Access to the superb beach is via a white wooden foot bridge, across the water of Cruden.
There is so much more to Cruden Bay than just the beach, it is a pretty enough village, with a golf course ranked in the top 100 in the world, the internationally know castle Slains Castle, which provided Bram Stoker with the inspiration to write Dracula is a short distance away.
Loch Muick: Lochnagar, This is a very popular walk round Loch Muick, in the shadow of Lochnagar. It is in an area where it is quite common to see large wild red deer.
Most of the walk is on fairly flat ground and part of it may be suitable for the disabled.It follows a route close to the Loch side with good views of the hills all around. After reaching a royal lodge there is a short wooded section. The walk then continues round the western end of the loch and goes past a sandy beach and a cascading stream, before rising slightly on the south-eastern side as it makes its way back to the start.
For those of you that are visiting Scotland and in particular using the Granite City Aberdeen as a holiday base, each of these great places are within about an hour’s drive of Aberdeen. For those of you thinking about or are heading to Aberdeen, here is my must read article, Aberdeen, Why Not Visit the Granite City?
I don’t think any country in the world can match Scotland for natural beauty, history and unpredictable weather, but for the truly adventurous that is one of the joys of travel.
Thursday, June 12th, 2008
Whenever I travel I do everything that I can personally do, to make sure that my journey is as comfortable as possible. For me one of the most uncomfortable and annoying forms of travel is flying, the seats are never comfortable and without fail I would come off a flight with a sore and stiff neck.
In the past I would just accept it, as the downside of travelling and anyway it would usually sort itself out after a few hours or days if it was a long haul flight. But as I got older and wiser I started to think about things more and the desire for making my travel journeys more comfortable become a priority.
Why should I suffer when travelling, if there is something that can be done to make my journey more comfortable? I had in the past noticed fellow travellers on flights with travel neck pillows, I must admit I use to be a sceptic and wasn’t willing to waste my hard earned money on such a devise.
But 3 years ago I was facing a 7-hour flight to Barbados, when I thought, I better give a travel neck pillow a go. I had a look at an inflatable one, it had some advantages, it wasn’t going to take up much space, and it only cost about £5, but I absolutely hated the feel of the material on my skin, in fact it made my skin crawl it felt so bad.
With a little bit of help from the master of the universe Google, I found a huge choice of different travel neck pillows. I eventually settled on one filled with micro beads, which has a nice soft removable cover and it even comes with its own travel case. It may take up more room that an inflatable one, but I would rather sacrifice other things. Since I don’t want to come across as if I’m doing a paid advertisement, I will not name the name of the company I purchased it from.
My travel neck pillow is now my perfect travel companion, it is shaped to perfectly support the neck when travelling. I have used it to my benefit on planes, trains and even ferries. I quite frankly won’t travel without it. It’s awesome.
All I can say is that, I paid under £10 for my neck travel pillow and I’m not exaggerating when say it has made a massive difference to the way my neck feels when I come off a flight, whether it’s a 2 hour flight or a 22 hour fight.
A travel neck pillow may be a humble and cheap piece of travel equipment, but for me it is a must have item.
For those about to travel, here are some tips that wont do you any harm to take a look at Ten Tips Before You Travel and 10 Essential Items That You Should Take On Holiday!
