Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Mar 4

Imagine that ‘dream’ yachting adventure you’ve always wanted – then just book it!

You don’t need to wait and see what each yacht can offer and then have to choose between them – you should be able to decide on the things you want your boat to offer and then find your perfect boat!

Whether it’s got to be large enough for 30 guests or small enough for just the family – no worries; whether you need to stay in touch with your business with a large wi-fi office space or you want to get away from it all with plenty of outside space – no worries; whether you want a large crew to supply your needs or if you want a small launch boat available so that you can entertain yourself on land – no worries!

On your hand-picked luxury yacht charter - you’re the boss!

How Do You Find The Perfect Yacht?
You could use a travel agent, ask a friend or trawl the internet looking for that perfect yacht – but I will guarantee that you will hit many dead ends before you do.

They might have the first few things on your list – like availability and enough berths – but then they might not be able to travel to the places you want to see, or they might not have an onboard gym or jacuzzi – so you have to start looking all over again. Or end up settling for something less than you wanted.

So, why not go straight to a website that can do everything for you; only offers the best, and which has the experience to know what you need – and to find it for you.

We are already busy enough these days – without having to waste time checking that everything we expect is included – so why not leave these things to the experts and you know you won’t be able to find fault.

And Fraser Yachts can offer you just this – an expert to find you the boat that suits your exact needs at a time that you want it!

photo credit: emuphoto

The Ultimate Yacht:
Just one look at their website will tell you how much they care about their customers and you can also see examples of their excellent standards with images of the crew and some of the smaller rooms they offer.

They haven’t just shown you a handful of the ‘best bits’ – they have shown you an image of almost every part of their yachts allowing you to get a true picture of all the boats they have to offer.

And they cater for all sizes too – whether you want a compact 26 meter yacht to cruise the South Pacific with a handful of friends or you want a 70 meter mega yacht charter for 30 friends in the Caribbean – it’s all on their website.

With access to a large number of the best boats on the water – your dream vacation could become a reality for you. So all you need to decide is when you want to go – and they will do the rest!

Looking at some of the boats available – this would be so much better than hiring 5 or 6 rooms in a hotel for your family – or conference facilities for that work meeting!

Imagine a week of totally undisturbed bliss in crystal clear waters on your super yacht charter! No interuptions during business, no other ‘tourists’ getting in your way and only having to unpack once – but getting to see as many different destinations as you want.

It puts ordinary vacations to shame!

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?

posted by Travel Cat on May 26

It is really easy these days to get information on any type of travel – so why not try something completely different! 

Imagine being in the absolute middle of nowhere – places that noone else you know has ever seen. places that aren’t even on your friend’s list of places to see this year – or in the next 10 years – like shark-watching 10,000 miles east of Australia, or watching a hit movie just miles from the Antarctic?

You want this?  If so - you need to get yourself on a cargo ship.  You can find them heading out around the world every day of the year from almost every big port in the world!

Now I know that doesn’t sound appealing to everyone – but the things you see will certainly be ‘once in a lifetime’.  Imagine the adventure of being 3 months at sea! Or sailing through the Panama Canal – and out past remote uninhabited Pacific Islands.

The Ultimate Vacation?
It could really be a vaction like nothing you have ever done before – or are likely to do again!

Of course it doesn’t have to be that long a time away, and you can choose some routes that are a lot closer to land and stop of at some pretty nice looking destinations along the way.   And you don’t need to stay onboard for the entire journey – you can hop off at any port along the way and just see where life takes you.

Those less adventurous might want to know exactly where they are going in advance – but that’s OK too – as the ship’s cargo has to go from A to B – that’s the whole point of them crossing the oceans in the first place – so you can guarantee a definite stopping point at the end – whereas you can’t always guarantee a stopping point in the middle!

Maybe you would prefer a trip from the UK to Australia like in the pioneering days of exploration – thankfully there is luxury these days, and it only takes around 84 days rather than the 6 months it probably took the average passenger a few hundred years ago!

Or maybe the 2 month trip from South America to the Far East, the 35 day trip from the US to the Mediterranean, or even the 7 day voyage around the British Isles checking up on all the lighthouses!

The Result:
Well, rather than telling your travel stories like everyone else – ‘when I was in Mexico…..’ or ‘when my family went to Hawaii’ – you can start your story with how many continents you cruised past, or how many miles you traveled in 1 day!

It will certainly be like nothing you have ever experienced before.  The people you will meet, the countries you will encounter – and the extreme weather you could get to witness first hand!  Imagine writing a travel journal of your voyage – just like Darwin did!

It might be worth trying out a few shorter boat journeys before you settle for something long-haul - as if you get seasick, this might not be the vacation for you!

Of course, check that your travel insurance covers your whole journey, and your passport is valid for the whole time you are away – and your vaccinations are current for all countries you might stop off at on the way.  Bad weather or maintenance could land you at any time in any country – so be prepared!

If you are still interested, then visit GeoCities Freighter for other peoples experiences on Cargo Ships and read their tips before booking your own once-in-a-lifetime ‘mega-cruise’. 

posted by Travel Cat on Jan 1

Due to some great solar activity at the moment – the Aurora Borealis should put on a great show for your January holidays!

Anywhere in the North could have the chance of seeing these eerie green or red wavy Northern Lights filling the night sky, although popular sites in Iceland, Canada, Norway and Russia tend to publicise their displays more.

They occur throughout the year, but you cannot really see them when the sun is in the sky, so winter is the best time – and some of the winter scenes are the best for photography.  However, anytime up until March should still offer you a glimpse of these mysterious celestial light shows!

They can occur in short bursts several times throughout the night, or can last for several hours depending on a host of other factors – with viewings around midnight resulting in the best shows!

What Are They?
As with most things awe inspiring, they have quite a boring origin.  The lights are created by particles in the ionosphere that become ‘excited’ by solar energy in close proximity to the Earth magnetic fields.

The same phenomenon occurs in the southern hemisphere – creating the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights – and there have also been auroras on other planets!  However, a vacation for this January sort of rules that last one out!

Anyway – it doesn’t matter how they get there – you just need to see them for yourself, they truly are amazing.  Just search online for some images of them then imagine how much better it would be to be standing under then yourself!

Where To Stay?
Taber Holidays in Scandinavia offer trips into the Arctic Circle to see the northern lights.  They offer more than 10 different January holidays to see the displays including boat trips that also visit whales, icebergs and even include dog-sledding!

Or look at the trips to Iceland and Lapland that Discover the World offer this winter.  They offer a choice of 3 day trips to a variety of lodges and hotels.  Simply choose your destination for a virtually guaranteed light show!

Or visit with a little niche company in Canada: Alta-Can Aurora Tours.  They offer inside viewing of the northern lights for your comfort with professional photographers, toilets and hot drinks – as well as a whole host of additional experiences you can become involved with during the daylight hours.

This is obviously only a taster of what you can experience – so get looking at the pictures, then think about visiting the arctic circle yourself – but wrap up warm!

posted by Travel Cat on Nov 20

As if they aren’t big enough already – here comes the biggest ever cruise ship!  40% bigger to be precise.

This baby boasts it’s own giant amphitheatre and even an outdoor park – just like Central Park apparently – with trees and everything!

So you can order a ‘park view’ room instead of the coveted ‘sea-view’ which to be honest on a ship is a bit over-rated!

Weighing in at around 225,000 tonnes – the Oasis of the Seas mega-ship is due to hit the water for a show session shortly!

Costing an estimated £800 million to produce, The Oasis has already cruised across the Atlantic from it’s original dock, past The Solent in the UK then over to the US, although keeping it away from prying eyes wasn’t really an option!

Measurements and figures for this beast are astounding – but if you love cruises – then you really are going to enjoy this one!

OK.  They say that it can hold 6,296 passengers – that means that all the members of your extended family could be on board a weekend cruise at the same time – but never even meet!

It is 1,187ft long – that is as long as nearly 15 blue whales, or 12.5 basketball courts or around 200 women laying head to toe!

Stars present for the launch are set to include pop singer Rihanna who has already performed on one of the stages inside the ship, as well as Jane Seymour and Gloria Estefan being among it’s god-parents (?).

More to come from this one in the future!