Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Jul 30

Travelling With Your Pets.

If you wish to take your pet on vacation with you, there are many things to consider before you set off.

You firstly need to think about the whether the destination is suitable for your pet – for example tropical fish can live in a heated tank in any country, but your cat may not be able to go outside if you move to a city. Similarly it is OK to take a 2 week vacation abroad with your dog, but it would really be a hassle to journey 400 miles with your horse for just a few days.

Secondly, there are practical and financial decisions to be made – and sometimes over 6 months preparation is needed for your pet to complete the trip with you depending on where you are going – or where you are returning to.

Additionally, there are legal rights and wrongs to battle with – preparation really is the best method of making sure that you have everything in order plenty of time before you need it.

Unfortunately, relying on word of mouth from well intentioned friends or colleagues has caused many travel plans to be ruined or seriously delayed. Only rely on the actual facts given by the companies or government bodies involved in your specific countries. Never just assume anything.

Finally - even if you don’t take your pet away, there are still some important things to bear in mind before you head off without them, including rules and regulations for leaving pets alone or in paid care.

In this continuing series, I hope to cover the basics for each occasion, highlighting any laws or potential problems along the way. It should also offer insights into real life cases and the joy of vacationing with your pets.

Articles in this series will include: Travelling Locally with your Pet, Pet Passports for entry to the UK, Vaccinations recommended for pets in general, Airline Travel Regulations for animals, Transporting your Pet Long Distance, Identifying your Pets, Getting Veterinary care abroad, Diseases and Illness Abroad, Quarantine and Kennelling Regulations.

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posted by Travel Cat on Jul 27

We all love to travel – but have you travelled enough?

I know these days we are supposed to be cutting down our travel, but if you work abroad or have been around the world – you may find you already qualify!

I myself (a wanderlust victim) love the buzz of traveling – however, I am very, very, very short of the membership requirements – only about 75 countries short!

So Whats the Century Club all About?
Well - as it’s Romanesque name says: You need to have travelled to at least 100 countries - more if you want to show off!  There is Silver Membership on offer for travellers to 150+ countries.  Needless to say, there is also a Gold Membership – only available to those lucky few who have visited more than 250 countries in this lifetime!

Frighteningly – there is even a special award for some one visiting over 300 different countries – and this year it went to a lady from New York…

What Makes a Country a Country?
If you want to start counting your achievements, you need to check their listings to make sure you are not cutting yourself short as Alaska for example counts as separate territory to the US mainland states.

So to give you a rough guide:  In North America there are 6 ‘countries’.  These are Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Prince Edward Islands, St Pierre + Miquelon and the US itself.  There are 7 countries in Central America, 13 can be found in South America and a wonderfully warm 29 are awaiting you in the Caribbean.  However, don’t stop there - as even if you trekked or bussed your way from north to south - you would still find yourself 45 short!!!

The European mainland has a whopping 67 in total – so a train ride around most of the countries here (after all those mentioned above, of course) and you could apply to join!!!

How Many Are There?
There are currently 317 territories listed on the site – and as a result of travel these days – there are thousands of members.

The Travellers Century Club holds meetings throughout the year, debating about travel-related issues and problems, and the site itself is filled with related information and maps, etc, for all the locations they list as being ‘valid’.

Only been to 75 countries on the list - well don’t feel left out!  The Club lets you come and sit in on any meeting – as long as it has any seats left after the ’real’ members have had a look-in.

Think You Qualify?
Go Visit their site (pay $100 to join and $50 yearly dues thereafter ($60 if non-US)). or just scan through all the useful data and facts they have on the Travelers Century Club site.

Right – I just need to get round South-East Asia and the whole of Africa – and I might see you at the next meeting!!!!!!

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posted by Travel Cat on Jul 24

Travel With Kids Series – Part 1

Lets start at the very beginning here – it really is the best place.

Step 1:
So, you have the idea of a vacation with your family, but you are not sure how easy it will be to make all the arrangements and to get the best package for your needs and for those of your children.

Quite rightly you should consider the health aspect of your trip – is where you want to go someplace with excellent health-care? It’s ok getting the travel insurance package that covers the best treatment where you are, but what if there is no way to get to that health-care, or what if the best available just isn’t good enough?

In addition, what if your baby needs specialist care, or you older kids have special needs or specific medication that you might not be able to receive in your destination? Even apparently silly things like your preferred baby formula or children’s glasses prescription can become the biggest hurdles to you well deserved vacation plans.

Tropical diseases shouldn’t be ignored either, and local crime and the countries political climate are also very important – and the same goes for very warm, very humid or very cold locations – they all have their good and bad sides – but which can all be researched prior to making a decision.

Risks from too much sun are probably more of a risk than any other – but all things should be considered when young humans are involved – they certainly know how to create something from nothing from a very young age!!

What First Then?
So before you start with your packing, get some destination guides out from your library of the places you would like to go – and start noting down the small print for each vacation spot, narrowing down the different pro’s and con’s for each and deciding with your partner or family where seems the most suitable destination.

If the question ‘where do aye-ayes live?’ or ‘ where is Myanmar?’ appear in school projects – maybe factor those in when selecting locations. Maybe the answer to the seasonal classic ‘where is Santa Claus right now!!’ is a great place to travel with your family – with regular family orientated vacations to Lapland – with reindeer and sleighs a popular choice!

Sometimes vacation packages can be just as much fun for you as for your kids – little to worry about for yourself, but maybe a reduced amount of adventure. But if you want more adventure – you have to do most of your own cooking and cleaning – and there will be no ‘kids clubs’ in the jungle or desert……..

Ask The Experts.
Visit your local Travel Agents and find out the best times to travel to your favourite locations and see if these fit in with your preferred vacation slots. If it’s winter in New York, it will be winter in Canada, China and most of Europe – but summer in South America, Africa and Australia.

The Tropics are generally warm all year – but they have different seasons – the hurricane season in the Caribbean, monsoon season around India, rainy seasons throughout Africa. The list is endless as nearly every vacation spot has a down side – and you need to know about these way before you start to make plans.

Travel agents also know about local information in worldwide destinations like festivals, religious holidays and other specific factors that could make your destination more crowded and more expensive just because of the dates you needed. You need to decide how flexible you can be with dates as these can really help with finding the best deal and the best weather across the globe.

Confirm Your Choice with All Involved:
If your child is in education, you will need to make sure that their school will allow them time off – some UK schools now ‘fine’ parents who take holiday in term time – and older children cannot normally miss lessons close to exams.

If you are pregnant or your kids have medication or special needs – will your doctor approve their travel and write letters for insurance companies and airlines for your travel.

If you are travelling without your childs other parent – will they consent to their travel and give written documentation for this? Adopted children also need certain written details for travel to some locations, as will nephews, cousins and grandchildren travelling abroad without either parent.

When you have decided on location and time – you can move on to Step 2 – making sure all the documentation is correct for travel.

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posted by Travel Cat on Jul 21

Want to Travel with Kids?

This series of travel related articles will focus on all the details needed for a trip at home or abroad when you are pregnant, have a young baby or some little kids in tow!

It will cover all aspects of travel including preparation tips, air travel ideas and kids games, the best travel insurance policies, travel health issues and advice, all inclusive vacation packages verses independent travel and much more.

It will take the form of a series of articles, each covering a certain aspect in detail – starting with the questions you need to ask yourself before even thinking about your vacation.

There will be several articles covering the steps you need to follow leading up to your vacation (including documents and visas as well as vaccinations), then more tips on issues when you actually get there…….

So whether you are looking to travel within your own country, or are considering a family vacation worldwide – there will be information here to help you decide on the final details – and to remind you of some things you may have forgotten.

It’s easy to think that they are just smaller versions of you – but there are a lot more differences than that – and it’s these little things that could cost you an awful lot of time and money to find out if you are already there!!!!

So regardless of whether you want luxury or discount travel, a peaceful 1-to-1 holiday or some noisy family fun – a Las Vegas kid-friendly lodging or a group ski vacation – or maybe you have a traveler with special needs – get your teeth into this travel guide for everything you need to know………..

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posted by Travel Cat on Jul 18

Personalized Medical ID Jewelry is now available.

I recently found a website that offer personalized, stylish - and fashionable – medical ID bracelets.  Basically, the site allows you to become involved in every step of the design and manufacture of your or a partners ID bracelet.

Instead of having the standard solid wristbands with pre-determined text, Universal Medical allows you to design a piece of art – personal to you and your needs in just 3 easy steps. And it makes the whole process fun by offering such a range of choices.

Those living with chronic or rare medical conditions such as diabetes, asthma or heart conditions, know the need for such identification is real, but more so, people with allergies such as food, drug or insect; or those taking multiple medications or blood thinners are finding the medical bracelets very useful when travelling – as sometimes the language can get in the way. 

Medical ID’s cross that boundary most effectively – reducing the time taken for you to start receiving the right treatment.

The site offers US, UK and Canadian (French & English speaking) individual pages for ordering to make purchasing and posting a local affair, and improving the sites efficiency – making sure your individual order is completed exactly as your requested.

If you want to have a look at Universal Medicals huge range of bracelets, necklaces, children’s ‘sports’ bands and even medical ID watches – visit their friendly site and see if there is anything you need – and want!!

Identify yourself.