Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Apr 4

We all know that everyone buys smart looking carry on luggage and print patterns aren’t usually the most popular, but aren’t you forgetting something important here?

Everyone else has plain dark luggage too!

If you have ever gotten off a charter flight, packed full of tourists, and had to wait for your bag with 200 other people, you will certainly start to regret having that plain color suitcase.

I myself have a mango yellow suitcase, with a few discreet stickers on as well - just in-case anyone else out there was as bold as I was (and there have been a couple).

So unlike you - I never have to investigate little signs on every dark piece of luggage that trundles round the conveyor belt in-case it’s mine. I can see my beautiful suitcase a mile away, and have very little worries about finding my bag among a plane-load of other luggage.

Now you’re all thinking that the Hawaiian Luggage Floral Print suitcase set isn’t such a bad idea after all!

Don’t worry though if you have already got your plain cases - there are still some things you can do with them to make yours stand out. Examples include tying a brightly colored strip or material (like a shoelace) around the handle of your luggage, or investing in purple combination luggage straps to make your stand out (but make sure your luggage straps run through the handle and any other loops so that they don’t fall or get pulled off in transit).

Use bright stickers, or large more plain stickers on your solid cases so that whichever side up they get thrown out onto the conveyor, you can still tell which is yours from some distance. There’s nothing more annoying than seeing someone else nearer your case having a closer look at it in-case it’s theirs. Now with yours looking so different, hopefully they won’t prod it about or take yours home by accident!

Tapestry travelware luggage, crocodile pattern luggage and polkadot luggage sets are rarely seen and neither is a retro luggage set that is bright pink!!! Look at all these as potential niches for you to exploit - as long as you don’t mind everyone seeing you carry it around the airport of course…….

I know this article is only a bit of fun, but it really is something to consider before purchasing some expensive luggage for you or your family.

Other more serious things to consider about luggage include:

Weight of Hold Luggage: Maximum weight for individual hold luggage is 32kg per item. Most airlines will allow a certain weight for each person - usually 20kg - but that can be combined within your group, so for example 2 people can travel with a case each; one weighing 25kg, the other weighing 15kg or less. Many airlines will charge you per kg for overweight luggage and let you take it on-board, but ALL will refuse to take any one piece over 32kg. Therefore, do not buy a huge piece of luggage for airline use unless you can guarantee it will not be over this limit when you fly - if in doubt weigh it as you pack it.

Carry On Luggage: There are restrictions on the weight of this too and it is usually around 5kg in weight. Most airlines are ok with any style of bag, as long as it is not ridiculous in shape or size. Some countries are stricter than others and will actually weigh hand luggage before you leave the check-in desk, charging you for any excess.

There are also many restrictions about what you can HAVE in your carry on luggage and printing out the requirements for your AIRPORT (not airline) is advised so you can pack according to the ‘rules’, and put anything your are not allowed to carry on board in your hold luggage.

If you lie about what’s in your hand luggage at the check-in desk - they won’t know; but once you get to security - they will! And now you don’t have your hold luggage with you, so anything they find that is not allowed on the plane will be taken from you - without exception. You will lose it!

Internal Flights: Something I only recently came across myself was that internal flights in some countries may have a different weigh allowance per person than international flights, so say for example that you fly to Guyana in South America on an airline with a 20kg allowance per person - No problem? But what are you going to do if you want to travel on an internal flight there as you are only allowed 10kg per person! Where will you put your spare clothes and accessories?

Check all regulations on luggage for your whole journey before travelling to make sure you don’t have to throw your belongings away, or pay excessive charges for transporting it home.

Remember Hawaiian luggage - floral print……….

posted by Travel Cat on Mar 22

I was recently visiting a friend who is hoping to buy a holiday property in the south of France, somewhere in the Midi-Pyrenees or Languedoc region - mainly due to her love of Cathar myth and legend she told me!

By a wonderful twist of fate it turned out that at around the same time France Property Shop requested a paid review of their site here on this blog.

She had looked at a couple of sites that were a bit cluttered and showed bit’s and pieces all over them, but then I showed her a winner in terms of ease of viewing and website usability:

Straight away we loved the great layout with it clear sections and easy-to-use map of France divided into the main regions. It was a major help for me as I don’t know a lot about locations in France, but just move over the large map and they are all clearly highlighted along with the number of properties currently available in that region. So we were off to a great start!

We easily completed the main search fields although the price fields are shown in euros so we had to view our first property then use the built in currency converter (which neatly opens in small new window) to find out our financial limits!

Like Google, it shows the featured properties first, the moves onto the main search results - cheapest first. As expected, each property clicked opens onto the main property details page with standard range of photos and information, but it also has 2 further tabs with an interactive location map on one and local area information on the other - both very useful to the beginner!

It also has a feature where you can find properties close to your preferred port or airport and it shows all the properties (regardless of region or price) within 50 miles of each. A very useful tool for those looking to reduce their commute between locations without wading through properties in different regions.

We also came across a great section on ‘moving tips’ and ‘buyers guides to moving’, etc, all available to read for free - and all of which are very detailed and very informative! Definitely useful enough for my friend to ‘favourite’ some on her pc.

Needless to say, I would recommend this as the best website to start with if you are considering buying a property abroad, or actually moving there permanently. It covers all the basics in a really simple yet attractive format.

My friend certainly recommends it, and in-fact didn’t go to another site after this one. I think she found something she liked…..

posted by Travel Cat on Mar 21

It seems that scrapbooking retreats are popping up all over the States at the moment! They are everywhere you look and just about everyone is talking about them.

Just like scrapbooking itself we use scrapbooking getaway parties to record personal moments, not only for our own benefit, but for others - like nieces and nephews for example - like first bath, first trip to the park, and more popularly for elder relatives to be given as presents - albums of their lives to be looked back over and enjoyed and even added to by future generations.

I thought it was just my friends that got swept away with all this activity but it would appear that everybody has some things to share - whether it specialist themes or some new technology - and they don’t want to keep it to themselves, they want a whole different experience - they want a scrapbooking getaway package to pass on their skills to others and possibly learn others at the same time.

Simply type your home state into Google, like ‘Scrapbooking Getaways MD’ or ‘Scrapbooking Retreats in Colorado’ and just watch a giant list unfold in front of your eyes! You find so many choices that you won’t know where to start! You will find yourself totally spoilt for choice.

Scrapbooking has become so widespread in the states, that businesses are offering local short courses at colleges in Iowa, or even organised scrapbooking weekends in Ohio state for example, I even had someone ask me about scrapbooking in France! Now that would make a great vacation!

Where can you go?

Local hotels and lodges everywhere are advertising ’scrapbooking getaways’ amd running them like the holidays you find for painting and other crafts. I can’t believe I haven’t found out about these sooner!

A scrapbooking retreat will usually offer a few days at a time in a hotel or lodge in town or country and will involve sharing and practising techniques such as the best acid-free adhesives to prevent photograph damage, etc. They will also focus on sharing ideas on layouts and presentation, possibly on combining scrapbooking and poems for example or printing out free scrapbooking sayings and phrases.

It’s even possible to attend scrapbooking sessions which focus on a current theme, like Easter page scrapbooking for example, there was even one I heard of that involved creating some fun scrapbooking video podcasts to share with friends!

You may find yourself working alongside experienced scrapbookers, who can offer not only start-up advice on the getting hold of scrapbooking supplies, but also to help with storeage ideas, or maybe help you organize a scrapbooking room to store all your craft supplies and stickers in! It’s not uncommon for them to offer more specific advice, such as how to use distressing inks in scrapbooking for example, or how to access scrapbooking freeware from a pc, and many many more scrapbooking tips for you get your hands on.

If you don’t have the time to attend more than a short course or you can’t travel too far - why not plan your own scrapbooking getaway party for some friends and yourself not too far away. You need to locate a local hotel or lodge that has available conference rooms, then reserve as many rooms as you require and you may even get a group discount!

Choose your own themes like dozibear scrapbooking for the kids, or portrait collage scrapbooking for the more advanced, maybe bringing a laptop and start an online scrapbooking business with your friends. It’s not so difficult if you are so passionate about it!

Have fun!!

posted by Travel Cat on Mar 15

I am hoping to book an adventure holiday in Wales for later this year, so I had sent off for some information from the national tourist board from there, mainly regarding accommodation.

I got their pack this morning and it is very descriptive of areas and activities, but there was a leaflet enclosed that was supposed to detail about their new star ratings and accommodation ’styles’.

Star-Ratings - Basically they are now rating the individual accommodations not on cleanliness, attractiveness, or the local knowledge of the owner - because that would just be stupid, apparently.

They are rating them on what facilities you had and how many bedside tables were in each room! This is so much better for the traveller isn’t it!!

Why on earth they think that I am more concerned with how many chairs are available to sit on or how many inches there are between the dresser and the radiator I have no idea. Surely, the facilities are something that vary with every resort anyway - even the 5* resorts probably offer different things - and we know this fact - so we look for them before booking.

I don’t want a lovely beautifully presented traditional farm house bedroom ruined by the owner having to cram in 2 further bedside tables and 3 more chairs with another lamp for good measure just to keep their 3* rating. I’m only spending 1 night there anyway - I don’t need tables: I need a bed, a shower and a cup of tea in the morning!

Accommodation Types - They have even made it more difficult to actually find a property in the first place! We all know that Bed&Breakfast’s are generally cheaper than Hotels, and a farmhouse property will be more peaceful than one in town, and it’s all very simple.

However, they think they are helping out now by splitting hotels and B&B’s into - I cannot believe it - 11 different category types:

Small Hotel
Country House Hotel
Town House Hotel
Metro Hotel
Budget Hotel
Guest Accommodation
Guest House
Bed & Breakfast
Farmhouse
Restaurant With Rooms
Inn

The only thing the Farmhouse has to be is actually a farm to be classed as such, and there is nothing technically different in summary between the guest accommodation and guest house apart from guest houses TEND to have more than 3 rooms - but then B&B’s can have 3 rooms according to their descriptions too.

We all know that Bed and Breakfasts can either be a room in someones house where you have to walk through their kitchen or use their bathroom for example, others you have your own bathroom, but basically you are living in their house. In better B&B’s you have your own entrance, own lounge and en-suite facilities - why haven’t they split those up into different categories - it would make my life easier - I really don’t like using their own bathroom, but sometimes it just doesn’t tell you in their descriptions.

But no, they are splitting hairs here - I mean according to their descriptions, Small Hotels have less than 20 rooms and don’t offer dinner, (but I have stayed in B&B’s with up to 20 rooms that don’t offer dinner either). Anyway, a Metro Hotel seems to be just a Small Hotel in a town, but then the Small Hotels description does not say that they are not found in towns!

It’s all very confusing!!!!

I can’t believe someone was paid to come up with this as an ‘easy’ way to find somewhere to stay, but then not made their categories all to different after all. It’s a shame because it could have been really useful if done correctly without ambiguity.

I haven’t looked on their website to see how you search either - but if you have all those accommodation types and you can only select one or two at a time, then finding the right place for you could take ages!

I wish someone would create a search facility that offered you the choice to just select those features that you definitely didn’t want rather than all the ones you might want - it would certainly be easier in this case…. Not everyone cares THAT much about where they stay as long as it’s in their budget range and close to their destination.

How about just a cost scale search - well, sometimes you just need a place to stay near ‘A’ and you don’t care if it’s fancy or they don’t have a trouser press, you just need a pillow to sleep on. You could type in ‘between £25-£40 per night near ‘A’ please - what have you got in any accommodation type?’

That’s what I would call ‘easy’.

Personal recommendations:
One place I would definitely recommend you stay in for the Centre of Alternative Technology, with really friendly staff, beautifully converted barn and little terrace view would be: Marchlyn Cottage on 01654 702018 (no email)

One place I would recommend you stay in Betws-y-coed for the majestic house, voluptuous period features and a central location for activities would be: www.TanDinas.4T.com or email anntandinas@hotmail.com

One place I would definitely NOT recommend near Snowdonia for you stay in due to the difficulty in finding it in the first place and the rudeness of staff when you get there would be: Marie Briggs and clydfan@carmel37.freeserve.co.uk

posted by Travel Cat on Mar 11

Last year, I set myself a goal of visiting somewhere new (or somewhere I loved) every month. So far, I have done this without exception and it really has made a difference in more ways than one.

Firstly, it involves me with friends or family throughout the year - always meeting up with someone I can spend quality time with rather than just meeting them after work, or whenever they can squeeze me in. I find that actually making a ‘date’ of it makes sure that it happens, rather than it getting put off for a week or two. I find so many things do in this fast paced world we live in.

Secondly, I find that by planning a trip or visit every month means that I have less time left to fit in all the other things that need doing, but that I used to put off. When you start to see your diary filling up with things, you realise that you should ‘really get that car booked in for a service’ this week, otherwise you won’t get a chance until next month and that’s to close to your holiday to risk leaving it. Or you should ‘really ring up your friend for a visit’ otherwise you won’t be able to squeeze in seeing her again until after she’s had her baby or moved home, etc.

It doesn’t matter what your previous excuses were, they don’t cut it anymore when your time is restricted - and you could actually start to enjoy planning things. I found that I stated to plan WAY ahead, looking at 6 months down the line to make sure everything was still going to fit in. It’s fun being busy!!

Thirdly, I have now found time for a long awaited interest - photography. As I’m always off to different places and seeing different landscapes and wildlife - as well as children growing up - I have found myself recording these moments in digital. For the first time since I installed it on my laptop, I am actually using the ‘free’ software it came with - creating cropped landscapes of my snaps to put together slide-shows on blank discs for people. I find myself spotting what would make a great picture and have found out what all the buttons on my camera do that I just used to ignore!

Fourthly - and finally for this Soap Box, although I could go on - it has made me realise that there is more to life than just making money.

All my friends have heard the story: take time out of the get up/work/get home/sleep routine for just one day a month for something new, something different, or just some time on your own where you don’t have to worry about anything! What’s the point of working so hard that you actually miss your life - it just passes right by you at your desk, or till, or wherever you work.

On my rushed lunch breaks, I used to see people sitting there, just chatting away at a table and wondered how that happened - where did they find the time. But of course the time was always there for me to do that, but I was so wrapped up in working that I couldn’t see those times. Now I can.

I used to hear myself say ‘where did that last year go? I never got round to doing so-and-so’, now I hear myself saying ‘has it only been 7 weeks since Christmas! I can’t believe I’ve fitted so much in!’

See my other post for Skiing in the Cairngorms for details of my January 2008 experience, and watch out for my later posts coming up for a vacation in the Caribbean and another to Costa Rica in April, also my flying lesson in May and………..