Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Feb 8

Do you want a free all inclusive vacation in Spain – for just talking?

Would you believe it – I know a place that does exactly that: in exchange for you talking all day to a bunch of strangers about absolutely anything – you get a great weeks vacation in the countryside with board and lodgings included!

The reason becomes clear when you investigate their reasons – they are an English Language institute, and they want their students to hear real English spoken by real English speakers.

They aren’t all noisy youngsters though – these students are sent on these courses by their workplace or to improve their specialist language skills and learn specific ‘jargon’ related to their industry.

Language Skills:
As long as you are a native English speaker and experienced or qualified in a professional or educational industry – you can apply to ‘work’ on the project.

Basically, your skills in the industry are far more important than your second language teaching skills!

Infact you don’t really need to teach at all – as the program is designed to get you to communicate with the students in all areas of life; eating lunch, group discussions, running events, tours and performances, etc.

You just have to chat to them as you would your usual friends.

However, you have the edge they need in their jobs – so you will be asked to run a workshop or do a short presentation on your main area of expertise to challenge the students into listening to a different set of language parameters.

Whether it is Retail, Industry, Metal Working or Medicine – all is welcome and all is important!

What You Gain:
Firstly a private room in a delightful location in the Spanish coutryside, all meals and some free time and included tours of the area.

Yes, you might have to eat with the students – but you will no doubt learn from them as well as what they gain from you.

You get to improve your people skills, make some friends and also improve your CV.

And you can even take your kids to the group courses – so a holiday for everyone – for free!

And before and after the course, you are welcome to take a vacation of your own. Seeing as you are already in Spain – why not head for the mountains, the coast, or the history – there is plenty of all 3 in Spain!

The House Rules:
The only rule is that you don’t speak a word of Spanish while you are there!

These students (or their companies) have paid for these courses, so that they are completely immersed in the English language – so even speaking simple words of their native tongue can break down their learning.

Even greeting them with an ‘Hola’ can reduce their acceptance of the many ways that English-speakers greet each other. Hello, hi, watcha, alright, oy and hey will all be lost as you try to remember to say Hola to them all.

And once you have said one word in Spanish, you may feel confident to add to it – or more importantly, they may reply in Spanish too – which will be very much frowned upon!

So, if you fancy a challenge – or an interesting week in your longer vacation – then maybe you should look at their website, and see if you fancy giving it a go!

posted by Travel Cat on Jan 16

All animals depend on water for survival – so if you visit when there isn’t much, you can see more!

During the wet season, there is plenty of natural water to go around. Rain falls sometimes for weeks at a time; rivers fill up to their highest levels and neighboring land floods or becomes boggy. Even all the nooks and crannies in rocks and buildings, trees and other plants and even man-made litter like tires, buckets and plastic materials fill up with puddles that can sustain thousands of creatures.

As a result of the widely dispersed water – and the resultant abundance of plants and insect life to keep all these animals alive – they are spread out all over the place. They can eat and drink wherever they want to, so finding them can be a difficult task.

In Drier Times:
Needless to say then, if there is less water – then it will be easier to find the wildlife. They will all have to gather around the same water holes.

It works the same way as all the people you see at the cinema; they all have to go there for the same thing as it isn’t available anywhere else close by, but you don’t get crowds at your local food store – as you can buy bread and milk everywhere!

So, if you are hoping to see some lions, alligators, monkeys or elephants – your best chance is where the water holes are – and when there is less water elsewhere.

Obviously, the animals may not be quite as relaxed near the water in times of drought as when water is plentiful – but it will really add to your whole safari adventure if you actually get to see something!

photo credit: Rainbirder

More Crowds:
And in their quest for water, or food, many animals congregate in huge numbers either to trek to new lands or to breed – and this can make for some great viewing!

Large migrations of animals is one of the greatest natural spectacles on the planet!

Just think of the million wildebeests in June marching across the Masai Mara – with 500,000 gazelles and 200,000 zebras in tow! And the hundreds of crocodiles waiting in the rivers to eat them!

How about 120,000 elephants all wading in the Chombe in September – or the thousands or buffalo and lions that are thirsty too!

Not to mention the hundreds or different birds species migrating north to south, east to west or even over the Himalaya! All in search of better eating and drinking!

So before you head on your ultimate wildlife vacation – check the weather!

posted by Travel Cat on Jan 5

Join me in learning a new language online for the New Year!

The BBC are offering free online language courses for the new year on their website – so why not take advantage of it!

It’s easy to use online courses as you get visual stimulation with constantly updated and easy to watch videos and activities as opposed to the flat scripts of a language coursebook!

So rather than read to yourself from the text – you can click ‘next’ and hear the words spoken by a native speaker one line at a time rather than on a dodgy tape that you have to keep pausing all the time!

They also offer ‘email tips’ to be sent to your email to help you make the most of the course – and a certificate on completion.

Now what could be easier?

The Course:
Now obviously I have only just started the course – so am on Week 1 out of 12 – but it is great fun.

I have chosen a language that is completely new to me to see how effective it is for a beginner – and so far it is really straight forward – making me feel quite confident after only the first 2 topics.

I must admit it isn’t that easy to find the courses to get started in the first place – and this is in my native language – but once you are started, it lets you pick the activities in order or hop to the bits you like best.

It even has little tests along the way to confirm your learning – or to let you know you need to go back over the chapter again.

You first listen to a conversation, then recognise the order of what is being said (like the hello’s before the goodbye’s) then you get to guess at the words being used for direct translations.

I have looked a hotel reservations, booking rooms and basic directions already and feel quite confident!

It’s quite fun if you do it with other people, as you can all work together to find the right answers – and as the course can be accessed from anywhere, you can go back over it on your own afterwards to check those finer details!

It also recommends other courses, more advanced courses and many other languages including Mandarin, Turkish, Greek and Japanese – although you have to learn a different alphabet for them so could be harder!

So, what are you waiting for – 2011 has already started!

posted by Travel Cat on Dec 16

You don’t need to wander into town in the cold; dodging prams and charity collection cans!

Find your exciting New York City breaks online in the comfort of your own home – with a nice warm drink to hand!  They may have forecast snow for the next few weeks here - but you could avoid all that – and do some great festive shopping of your own!

Whether you go before the ‘big day’ or in the new year – you can’t beat New York for the city of shopping!  Imagine how jealous your friends will be when you tell them that you won’t be queueing up for your toys, music and games in the regular stores; you will be in shops they have never heard off!  So your gifts will be truely unique as they aren’t from Boots or M&S!

And imagine that dress you buy – or those amazing boots: no-one else you know will have anything like it – and when they ask where you got them; you can reply ‘New York’ and that will add to the ‘wow’ factor even more!

The Site:
So, what’s so easy about this site then?  Well for starters, it allows you to view the different hotels and review them as well as look at up-to-date information on NY itself – so you don’t miss some of the best attractions that you didn’t even know were there!

They also have a really clear mapping tool for NYC which allows you to zoom in on where your hotel is compared to the places you want to go visit – before you book.  It highlights all the hotels and streets so clearly – that you might want to extend your stay to get round them all!

This will be a great tool for you if you are planning plenty of shopping as you can make sure that you are within walking distance of all the great department stores – or on a great underground route to make things even easier for you.

Perhaps you want to be closer to the theatres instead for that late night cab home and don’t mind travelling that bit further to the shops during the daytime.  Whatever your preference – the options are there for you to investigate before you spend a penny. 

So planning your NYC breaks couldn’t be more enjoyable and simple to book!  Choose your hotel, choose your location, choose your airline – and choose for how long you go!  All with just a few clicks…..

Send us a postcard if you get time!

posted by Travel Cat on Dec 7

It’s not difficult these days to find a job in the location of your dreams!

Why continue working in a job you don’t really like – waiting for those few weeks off you get each year!  Why not look at getting a job you do like in a place that you can only dream of?

There are a whole host of jobs out there that include accommodation – but are on the other side of the world!

Whatever you fancy taking a stab at – whether professionally or just for the fun of it – I’m sure there is somewhere out there which could cater for it!

And the great thing about these types of jobs is that they are often on a set timescale without appraisals or 4 weeks notice - so you don’t need to work overboard on these things – unless you want to of course!  You just have to give it your best for the length of the season or chosen timescale – and then you know you can head back home – or on to another job!

Skiing In Canada:
Why not consider a whole season out in the Rockies as a gap year from uni?  Imagine the experience you could gain from running a resort, catering for thousands or managing a ski course for kids….  The choices are endless – and of course they come with all your bills and food on top of a great snow chalet in the mountains! 

Orchid Tours In Guatemala:
Why not settle down for some botanical beauty and work in an exotic flower garden?  Not only will you learn all about some amazing native plantlife – you will be working outside in the sunshine – and no doubt see plenty of hummingbirds and butterflies all in a days work!

Teaching In China:
There are always vacancies for willing workers to teach English to school children around the world – but in China you could end up working for a specialist business or medical speaker.  You can get very handsomely paid to teach the medical terms, business jargon or technology data to a degree level or professional qualification standard.  They don’t want to know the translation for ’where is the bus station?’ they need things like: ‘…that differentiate after gastrulation into mesothelium, endothelium, and myocardium’!

Singing On A Cruise Ship!
I know it sounds a bit ‘cliche’ but there are hundreds of jobs on boats out there – and they don’t all include singing.  All skills from catering, hospitality, retail, dry cleaning, casinos and much more – all on board a lovely boat – with cabin and food included.  Just imagine the places you could end up visiting!

And, Running An Eco B&B In Africa
So, you think you can handle giraffes eating your trees and crocodiles swimming in your pool? As well as the guests?  Well, you will certainly need some managerial experience and maybe the grasp of a second language to win this job – but I’m sure it beats working in a shoe shop!

As you can see, there is a huge variety of seasonal jobs out there just waiting for you to apply!  You just need to get-up-and-go in the first place – or maybe you want to save your company some money over the quieter winter months and fancy a change of scenery.

Knowing that you are only away for 3 months – or some other set period of time – and knowing that you still have your old job to come back to could make the whole experience even more rewarding!

So, what are you waiting for?