Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Sep 12

Arrange your honeymoon or vacation somewhere different…..

Have you considered the South Pacific?

For something completely different to all your friends, why don’t you consider an amazing trip to French Polynesia; where you can visit the beautiful beaches of Bora Bora, find tranquility in Tahiti or explore the elusive Moai statues of Easter Island………….   

Why There?
Imagine your dream island getaway.  Wide sweeping beaches of the whitest sand.  Crystal clear blue waters, filled with brightly coloured aquatic life and hardly anyone else around to block the view.

You’ll find yourself sitting on the veranda in your Bora Bora Hotel, overlooking the volcanic peaks that created these islands.  But why stay on just one island for your stay? 

It would be perfect to mix in some adventure on one of the larger islands like horseback riding or canoeing to secluded coves.  Or perhaps hiring a small plane to fly you over the remote jungles and tiny specks of un-inhabited islands that only peak above the ocean at low tide.

How can you find out more?
If you are serious about French Polynesia, and have looked for more information, you will find that not many companies even go there, let alone specialise in this amazing destination, but I found a great one - and they are actually based in Tahiti - perfect!

So if you want to start booking your dream vacation, look on the web for EasyTahiti.com to book your Tahiti, Moorea, Manihi or Bora Bora Holidays and Vacation.  The pictures on the website are almost too good to be true and all the information is first-hand - they live there!

The website is really easy to use and well presented.  The company follow through every booking to make sure that you are supported before you leave and all the while you are there, offering all the advice and information you need to make everything as you hoped. 

Flying with the local airline Air Tahiti, all these flights and holidays are custom made for peace and tranquility, with excellent services and the perfect locations - see the decriptions on the site before you decide.

Well, it is the holiday of a lifetime isn’t it!

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posted by Travel Cat on Sep 10

Welcome to the first Blog-Carnival for this site.

The theme for this Carnival was stories of your travels with your kids - or someone else’s - to tie in with the Travel Series that is currently being run on this blog. 

The 2 post below are the best of the offerings this month, but this is an ongoing Carnival, so please keep sending them in for subsequent posts, or add some useful comments along the way.  

First up is a great little story about taking a youngster to London.  Tamara describes all the best places to go to keep them busy Going Places Blog: Cookiemag.com posted at Going Places.

Second up is the story of some young girls, on the journey of their lives. Tracee Sioux presents Empowering Girls: So Sioux Me: Are We There Yet? posted at Empowering Girls: So Sioux Me.

The Story So Far….. 

There have already been 5 posts related to this theme - all filled with useful facts about organising travel with your family and top tips on all the essentials:

Traveling With Kids - A New Series

Preparation Has Great Benefits

Essential Documents: Passport, Visa & Tickets

Essential Documents: Travel Insurance

Essential Documents: Booking & Financial Details

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posted by Travel Cat on Sep 7

Travel With Kids Series - Essential Documents - Part 3

When making arrangements in advance for your vacation, make sure that you get everything in writing either posted to you or printed off of an email - and keep everything important for each journey to hand.

Confirm with hotels, vacation properties or car hire firms, etc, everything you think is important to you. For example if you are departing at a certain time or could be late arriving, make sure that they are aware of this and have made any extra arrangements for that.

If you are not sure of something, make sure you clarify the details in advance and get copies of everything that might cause a delay or confusion.

This is essential when either party is using a language that they are not fluent in. We had problems travelling in Central America, where the hotels claimed to speak English, but appeared to be answering slightly different questions to those that we were actually asking. We had to write them an email in just one line statements to get them to confirm all the details individually, rather than them just assuming our original email was just one single question!

Accommodation Details:
Make sure you call the accommodation or receive a written confirmation in the week leading up to your stay before arriving there.

Careful planning of your journey can all be wasted if your destination is not booked or they offer different rooms or services to that which you had planned for. For example planning for a self-catering location and then arriving at one without a kitchen could be a small disaster depending on the age of your children and their needs.

Make sure that for each separate journey, you have the details of that days destination to hand, checking that you have at least one contact number for that destination (that you have previously used so you know it works).

Directions - either spoken or written - can seem perfect to someone who takes that route every day, but to a stranger - things can seem quite different. You never know when you need to contact them again.

Offering an arrival time can be difficult when journeys and children are involved, but try to offer the accommodation a ‘latest’ arrival time. If you are not there by then - perhaps you could ask them to give you a call if necessary. If they know you are traveling with children, they are usually very helpful.

Financial Details:
If travelling with a credit or debit card, make sure that you keep a separate record of account numbers, etc, and make sure you have the contact number for your bank in-case they are lost or stolen during your trip. Advising the banks of your destination and departure dates can also help reduce fraud during your vacation.

Using the cards for everyday purchases can add up in conversion charges, so watch how often you use them - and obviously be aware of any bills could arrive home while you are still away.

Withdrawing larger sums on your credit card from a bank or bureau de change could save you on multiple charges - but could have a flat out charge for a ‘to cash’ withdrawal. Check with your bank or other account for the best deals when abroad and find out the best method for your needs.

If using travelers cheques, you will need to plan a bit in advance to free up your funds - as you need to visit a bank or alternative foreign currency establishment to get them changed. Looking around for the best exchange rate for them can also use up a bit of valuable time. But - if lost - the money is guaranteed.

Try not to check your bank statements on the Internet while abroad as the Internet cafe pc’s may not be free from viruses or key-loggers (which record your details and keys pressed), or the Wifi connection may not be secure - leaving your accounts open to invasion!!!!

If you plan to use the Internet abroad - then read some suitable materials about Internet security before departure. Not saving any personal details onto the computer, deleting all history and removing ‘cookies’ after use is a great start. You could even run a free online virus check before use to be sure.

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posted by Travel Cat on Sep 3

When Not To Save Money on Vacation!

We are always on the lookout for a cheaper flight, or a cheaper vacation package to Mexico of wherever, but there are definitely some parts of your vacation that you really shouldn’t be trying to scrimp on.

By all means look for a cheaper price for the same thing - like the cheaper of 2 flights going to the same place, or the same hotel through 2 different agents - but when there are several different versions of what appear to be the same thing - you need to choose wisely.

I have found a few areas of travel, where you really need to make sure you are getting what you pay for.

Travel Insurance:
Not all policies are the same. Yes, they are all insurance policies - but they do not all cover the same things. You need to read the small print, and you need to make sure it covers everything you personally need - not just what they offer.

If the policy is really cheap - there might be a reason for that - just make sure it’s your health and safety that will be compromised for a $20 saving - or £10 - off a second policy…….

Tours and Tour Guides:
I went on a 2 day trip with the recommended tour guides in Venezuela (LTA) at what I thought was a reasonable price. The tour guide spoke perfect English and all 6 people in the group were English speaking too. The tour was definitely 5* and I would recommend it to anyone.

Someone else from our hotel booked a similar trip from a street vendor - to save money. They went to all the same sites as me, but they were the only English speaking person in the group of 8 (3 languages in total) so they had to wait for the descriptions that they could understand. They also couldn’t communicate with the other people in the group for the 2 days they were away.

They saved a small amount of money (about $50 or £25) off the amount I paid - but their trip was a total waste of time.

Car Hire:
Obviously every company has their ’small print’ and you must read and understand this 100% before taking out a policy otherwise you could end up really out of pocket on that cheaper car rental.

Many companies offer extra ‘add on’ extras and waivers for everything. Make sure you find out which ones are essential and which are just precautionary. If you are not fully insured on the car you hire, you may end up paying a small fortune for a bump or scrape. Even if you are the best driver you know it makes no difference - don’t forget, you are not insuring yourself against accidents - you are covering the stupidity of the person that hits you!

Footwear:
Only really essential for active holidays, but if you are heading off for a long adventure on rough terrain or trekking up mountains, you need to make sure that your boots or shoes are the most comfortable and hard-wearing you can afford - and you get them worn in way in advance.

Waterproof footwear is also worth the extra cost, otherwise you could step in one small puddle at the start of a trek and end up with blisters and sores regardless of how good the boots were dry.

It’s not always easy to find great footwear when already abroad and (as usual) you are probably in the middle of nowhere when you need to replace them!

Outdoor Equipment:
Needles to say - your life could be at risk if you buy cheap or potentially ill made equipment for adventure sports or long and remote trips. The same goes for something as simple as your tent and sleeping bag. If it starts to leak or cannot protect you from extremely low temperatures or bad weather, you could find yourself in serious trouble.

If you invest in second-hand equipment, always make sure that is 100% effective and safe before heading off anywhere. Never rely on someone else’s word as it is your trip that is in jeopardy if things go wrong.

A Once in a Lifetime Experience:
With all things added together, the importance of a ‘once in a life time trip’ should not be made cheaper by cutting corners. By all means find the same tour or flight for less money, but don’t gamble on ‘lesser used’ guides or companies that have not been recommended by people you trust.

If you are going to spend a large sum of money anyway, make sure every penny counts. Imagine getting half way around the world to find that your flight over the canyon is cancelled and they offer no alternative, or the overnight accommodation included on the tour is unsafe or in the ‘wrong part of town’.

Sometimes breaking down the cost of an organised tour with a reputable company works out the same if not cheaper than your own creation. Take the following 15 day tour of Southern Africa from the UK with Kuoni Tours, including everything like transfers, flights and guides but not all meals. Brochure price: £2100.00

Taking a rough estimate of the combined parts which you will have to research, coordinate, link with internal transfers yourself and deal with at least 3 different companies:

£600 return flight to Cape Town
£600 for accommodation at around £60 per night in standard hotel for 10 nights half board
£1400 for 5 night safari in Kruger park
£500 internal travel and sundries

£3100 Total - per person (estimate).

That could be around a £1000 extra than just booking it all through a reputable agent and having just one person to deal with throughout the whole trip.

It’s alright to mix and match when just traveling, as it allows you to change your plans and stay for longer or shorter than planned depending on what you find there. But when it is an important vacation to celebrate something one off - it’s better (and usually cheaper) to leave all the planning to someone else, and just enjoy yourself.

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