Entries Tagged 'Travel - Local and World' ↓

photo credit: abragad

For quite a small island there certainly are a large number of flights to and from Cyprus. If you’re coming from the UK it seems that there are plenty of different airlines to choose from although they all seem to fly our of just the main hubs. So in London you’re spoilt for choice with several flights from Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton and Stansted. Birmingham and Manchester are also well served. Airlines like BA, EasyJet, Monarch and of course Cyprus air all fly from these airports.

Be careful though to keep checking on flight times because these airlines do chop and change their services between low and high season. Of course their are plenty of other destinations too with Flights from Paris, Tel Aviv, Malta, Athens Dubai and many more.

Am I wrong in thinking that the best tropical islands are always the ones with open bars? I don’t know if it’s because you just care less about the details after collecting too many little paper umbrellas or if those island resorts just “get it.” There is something inherent to the idea of vacationing on a tropical island that demands relaxation. These little island paradises practically insist that you sit around soaking up sun and sucking down piña coladas from sun rise to sunset and whichever resort nails the concept of “doing nothing in paradise” best will always be the clear winner in the hearts and minds of vacationers the world over. People will go to hell and back to find that one perfect place in the middle of the ocean (no matter where on the globe they have to go to find it) where you can spend an entire week doing nothing. And NOTHING says, “I’m not going to do ANYTHING today” better than a never ending stream of foo-foo drinks with little paper umbrellas and too much pineapple juice.

Do you want to immerse yourself in the historical aura of one of the finest medieval castles in eastern England? Hedingham Castle is a majestic Norman keep in immaculate condition, yet the tourist crowds have barely heard of it. It boasts one of the finest Norman domestic interiors in existence anywhere in the world, and yet this is a family-owned castle on private land that is hard to find and very much off the beaten track.

Castle Hedingham is an eponymous  idyllic and remote village just an hour north-east of London, but can be accessed in the first instance by the M11 motorway and then A414 road.  The village boasts charming streets, quaint thatched cottages and an old church, and feels like the epitome of a sleepy and picturesque English rural community. The castle’s owners do not reside there, but live in a much more modest country house in the grounds. You turn left over a stone bridge – literally, into their garden, and the 100 foot stone monolith of the old castle strikes you round the corner.

Hedingham Castle stands serene and proud in a calmly manicured garden, but its brute stone facade is testament to its more dramatic history as military stronghold that endured bloody sieges and warfare. The highlight is surely the Great Hall with drapes, shields and a minstrels’ gallery from which musicians would have played as the lord and lady ate a medieval banquet feast. You can imagine yourself a time traveller back in that darker but more vibrant medieval world.

photo credit: shig2006

Whenever I hear the phrase “exotic vacations around the world” I can only think of one thing and it’s not likely to leave my thoughts quickly. In fact, all I really have to hear is the word exotic and sudden an image of a Moroccan market complete with brightly colored bowls of spices and intricate tapestries is conjured. I think it just may be that this is the one place in all the world where I felt most out of place. Not that I didn’t belong necessarily, just that I had fallen through the rabbit hole as it were. Maybe I would eventually find a way to fit in but right now I have no idea what’s going on, nor do I know whether or not someone is go to start screaming, “Off with his head!” if I make a wrong move. Even the music that pervades the market in my head is unlike anything I’ve heard anywhere but poorly made pulp action movies. That sense of being completely out of your element is the DEFINITION of “exotic.”

I love geocaching and have become increasingly more adept at locating those hard to find, more difficult caches, but until I invested in my Garmin GPSmap 478 GPS Receiver, I had to shy away from caches that would take me off the land.

It kind of got my goat to have to leave the sea and coastal accessed caches to the geocachers that had boats and marine geocaching GPS units.

So I was on the lookout for both a good sea worthy craft and a marine GPS system to go with it. As you can tell, I was really anxious to expand the difficulty and locations of the caches I could target. To be frank, I was over being left at the dock when water access only caches were targeted by my buddies.

Today, I’m a happy marine geocacher, I bought a boat at a bargain price, and I found my Garmin GPSmap 478 for 49% off the original price. Hey, can life get any better than this?

There are lots of people with timeshares that suddenly say “Oh man, I have no money, I really need to sell my timeshare.” The economy has taken a tumble and a lot of the extras that people used to be able to afford are going by the wayside. So how does one go about selling their timeshare? Patiently.

You’re not going to throw up an ad somewhere for a thousand or two less than you paid for it and sell a timeshare overnight. In fact, you probably won’t sell it at all. The reality is that you need to be prepared to sell your timeshare for a 75% loss and wait 3-6 months, and maybe even spend a little money to do it. Timeshare prices have come way down over the years as more and more people dump their timeshare on the resale market.

The most important thing you can do is to price your timeshare according to the market. Look on the internet for ads selling timeshares at your resort and see what they’re going for. If most of them are way to low for your interest, then hang on to it and look for ways to use your time better, or perhaps look for ways that you can rent it to recoup some of the fees every year.

If you decide that the going rate for your resort is reasonable, then hit as many newsgroups, forums, free website listings as you can with an advertisement. Thrown an ad up on Craigslist and consider checking out Ebay. Both can be good for selling timeshares.

If you decide to try out a timeshare resell site, make sure you don’y pay anything up front. There are sites that work based on a commission just like a real estate broker. Those are the sites you want to try. Let’s face it, if a site already has your money, where’s their motivation to even try and sell your timeshare for you.

Selling a timeshare can be a rough ride. Go at it with perseverance and patience, and with any luck, you’ll be one of the people saying, “Look mom, I was able to sell my timeshare.”

Maintaining your camper will prove useful in the years to come. Regular inspection of the working parts will prevent any nasty suprises from occuring when you are on your travels. Because most folding campers have a fabric roof and side walls, they are susceptible to damage from bad weather conditions. It is important to look after the fabric and treat it with respect and care. Modern fabric materials are very good at keeping water out, and the fibres inside the fabric are very tough and strong.

However, an older folding camper trailer may not have this kind of technology, and so will need more attention. Cleaning down after use and allowing the material to dry out properly is the best way to prolong their shelf life. Checking for tears and holes regularly should also be on your maintenance schedule.

photo credit: Näystin

If you are travelling from the UK into Carcassonne airport here is a little more information about the airport and what to expect. Like most French airports, that Ryanair flys to, it is quite small. Just a small arrival hall and a departure lounge with about six check in counters. When various flights are arriving and leaving it can get a bit crowded. There’s a fairly good restaurant here to get refreshments from but it’s not cheap. The car hire companies are based just fifty yards away from the main terminal but if you need a taxi to Carcassonne city then the taxi rank is just outside the main building. There’s a good sized car park  and there are a couple of cashpoints. Finally there is also a transfer bus that will take you into the city centre. All in all a neat little airport.

… by traveling too fast. If you are traveling on a budget or are trying to travel for free then doing so hurriedly or trying to follow a tight schedule puts you in a poor position where there remains little time to discover advantageous opportunities amongst which you can choose from (not to mention that it’s the perfect way to take the fun out of any trip). This way of traveling is almost always due to wanting to see too many places and effectively prevents you from developing meaningful connections with the people you meet along the way. Experienced free travel aficionados will tell you that the best opportunities nearly always come by the way of the people you meet and make friends with. A slower pace will reward you both financially and in quality of experience.

photo credit: Josedeluna

As a holiday destination, in my own personal opinion, Italy is practically unbeatable. I first visited Rome a few years back and on arriving in the city, I knew I was somewhere special. We arrived in the evening at the main railway station and the place was frenetic with activity.

We attempted to queue for a taxi to our hotel, and as is to be expected in the Italian capital, nobody else was very sure how to do this. Our first night there was drab and rainy and we made our way to the Pantheon and had a McDonalds.

Rome really revelealed it’s beauties to us over the coming week. The Roman Forum, St Peter’s Square, The Coliseum, the Trevi Fountain. It’s all so rich in history and so stunning to witness at first hand.

It’s a country you must visit at least once in your life. A holiday to Italy truly takes the breath away.