Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Jun 9

You might be dying to climb a mountain – but you don’t actually want to die!

Altitude sickness can be avoided by a number of simple steps – but sometimes the desire to take part in a high-altitude event or to achieve certain goals can make us overlook the dangers of trekking or climbing in high altitudes.

Anything over 10,000ft can be considered ‘high’ and so trekking in the Andes, Himalaya and certain African peaks could cause potential problems.

So make sure that you are aware of what to look out for when trekking or climbing for fun or in competitions, to make sure that you stay healthy and actually enjoy your vacation.

Signs Of Mild Mountain Sickness:
The most obvous things to look out for in yourself and colleagues is a headache and loss of appetite.

These can also be signs of dehydration or other abdominal illnesses – but it is always worth assuming that it is the altitude as you are at a great height. By all means treat for the other symptoms (more water/simpler food) but stop climbing for a while, slow your rate of ascent to your slowest walker, or descend at least 500m and break for the day to be sure.

If you ignore these signs and continue walking, keep an eye on that person and look out for nausea, vomiting, chest discomfort and a general slowing down of their walking. If they get any of these and still have the headache – STOP, and ideally descend as far a you can and don’t ascend anymore until the headache has gone completely.

If you have missed all these symptoms in yourself or a colleague – then you are about to enter the really dangerous part. At least 1 in 10 mountain climbers die every year through mountain sickness – so this is no joke. And hiding your symptoms from your friends may have got you this far – but it is now up to your friends to save your life.

Do you trust them?

Signs Of Serious Mountain Sickness:
Sometimes you may have overlooked or not even got any of the above symptoms – but the signs listed now are unmistakeable and cannot be anything else.

Action must be taken immediately if you recognise one or more of these symptoms in yourself or a climbing friend – and the only action that can save you is to get to lower altitudes – and fast!

First thing will be that headache again – it will be really bad and just won’t shift! It won’t go away as it is the pain of your brain swelling up inside your skull. And the swelling won’t stop until you are lower.

The effect of lower oxygen levels affects the internal workings of your body no matter how fit or young you are – and the fitter you are, the faster you may ascend and so are more likely to suffer from these symptoms!

These bodily changes could also cause fluid to build up in your lungs which can lead to breathlessness, coughing and frothing up blood – and you could drown from this build-up.

Other less specific symptoms will result in a change in character of the person and include mood changes, decreasing speed or ‘fitness’, increased nausea and vomiting, disorientation or ‘drunk’ behaviour, drowsiness and even hallucinations.

But these symptoms can cause the victim to think that they are ‘fine’ and they may tell you to stop worrying about them, they may even get quite angry that you are fussing over them – but you must persist in getting them to a lower altitude if you want them to survive.

And this means as soon as possible. So if it is dark and/or dangerous to do so yourself – then call for help, don’t wait until morning as this could be too late.

Altitude sickness only goes away if you get lower down the mountain – so get down the mountain!

posted by Travel Cat on Jun 4

If you are travelling to a high-altitude location – you should read up on its possible effects.

There are different atmostpheric conditions the higher up you are from sea level – and sometimes your body just decides that it can’t cope with the extra pressures put on it but the thinner along with your extreme physical activities.

Some people show no symptoms at all, others get really ill and some may even die – so it is essential that you can spot the varying and not always obvious symptoms – or know how to avoid then in the first place.

There are many guidelines for climbers or people travelling to the world’s mountain ranges for vacations – so if you ignore them – you really should expect trouble.

And annoyingly – you may be fine at altitude for one trip – but get very ill on the next!

photo credit: Lee Coursey

How To Avoid Mountain Sickness:
Firstly read up about what causes it – then you can put all the advice into perspective.

It’s ok to think that ascending too fast can cause it – but if you don’t know what the recommended ‘fast’ is, you won’t know whether you are still ok. And sometimes, the weather conditions can make you think that you need to ‘keep going’ to reach a suitable camping location rather than thinking of the possible effects on your body.

When you add this to the fact that altitude sickness can cause a change in character and confusion – you can see why avoiding it in the first place is essential – otherwise you will over-rule all common sense and walk to your death!

So, aiming not to climb to fast or too high in one day is essential; aiming to settle for a shorter distance or a less-than-perfect campsite rather than just keeping going in times of trouble is advised; and never trekking above 10,000ft alone would really make sense too.

And be ready to change your plans at a moments notice to descend as far as you can before the symptoms get worse. Always plan for emergencies – reaching your destination in ‘record time’ isn’t worth a friends life.

1 in 10 mountain climbers die each year from altitude sickness.

The Height Barrier:
You need to be over 10,000ft (3000m) really for any signs of altitude sickness to kick in – and you need to be active. So if you arrive at anywhere near these altitudes by anything other than walking you need to take it really easy for at least the first 24 hours.

So if you are travelling by train or plane to anywhere over 10,000ft – like Cuzco, La Paz, Mt Kenya, Kilamanjaro and anywhere in the Himalayas you should be thinking of the potential problems. Even flying into Denver at just over 5000ft can make people unwell – so plan ahead.

Add an extra day into you trip for this acclimatization period – maybe 2 to be sure. There is no point starting out if you aren’t going to be able to complete your trek or climb. If you take a ‘sick’ person with you, it could mean that the trip is ruined for everyone – not just them.

So read all the literature – no matter whether you have been to another mountain range before. Refresh yourself of the problems and symptoms and make sure your climbing friends know them too – as you might need them to save your life!

posted by Travel Cat on May 30

Why wait with everyone else at the airport – when you can choose your own plane!

If you fly a lot as part of your job or you just love travelling to new places – then why not consider buying into private jets?

Now this doesn’t mean that you have to buy a ‘share’ of one plane, or fork out for specific plane that you can only use for a few hours a year.

I mean join a Jet Charter scheme where you can pick and choose the private jet that suits your needs at the time.

They Are All Different:
There are many such schemes available for the frequent flyer – so make sure that you look out for the things that are most important to you.

I bet that safety is one of those things – so your first check should be to see that their entire fleet meet the high flight safety specifications of FAA Part 135 for example. Well, you don’t want to have to worry about any of the planes that you fly in – you want guaranteed assurances that they all meet strict safety regulations as part of the service!

Secondly, check things that relate to your own comfort and plans; like how quickly could you book flight at short notice?

Do they have a huge choice of different jets for larger groups or for just you and a colleague? Do they know about your dietery requirements in advance or do you have to keep telling them for every flight!

Do they expect huge deposits to ‘join’ and then fly – and are there certain time and cost limitations.

The Little Things:
And so what if you have a latest jet ready just 10 hours after ordering – what if they don’t have the drink you like?

What if everytime you called to arrange a flight you had to speak to a different person and go through all your details again time after time?

And what if your flight time was shifted at peak times to suit the airport instead of you?

You may as well check all of these things are covered with your jet company – otherwise you could be paying for a less-than-perfect service. Watch these Private Jet videos to get a taster of quality you should expect…..

There are plenty of companies out there that want your custom – so why not be a little bit fussy?

Only choose the company that offers you everything you would expect – plus a little bit more.

If you are going to be on the jet for 5 hours with an important client – that last thing you want is for them to be allergic – and you can’t give them any of the onboard food!

Expect More and make sure you get it – and it could be for a better price too!

posted by Travel Cat on May 17

Indiana Jones went there – and so did Sinbad; so why not you?

This city is like no other city in the world! There are many great Italian cities, Greek Cities, monumental buildings and other abandoned cities across the globe – but Petra is something else entirely!

Petra literally means ‘rock’ and that is so apt for this city which is carved into the bedrock of the cliffs. Rather than cut the cliff in pieces and make ‘bricks’ to build a city elsewhere, they just hacked away at the cliff faces to make their homes and buildings right there in the rock!

Some of them have very elaborate fronts and others were very simple dwellings, right in the crevices of this gully between higher land – for added protection from the weather and marauding horsemen. Well you couldn’t see the city unless you walked right past it!

photo credit: guillenperez

The City Of Petra:
Known to be in existance in an early form around 1550BC – this city has grown and changed along with the Rulers that came and went in this area of the World – I mean it is even thought that Moses passed through here during Exodus!

The Greeks, Syrians, Egyptians and the Romans all came and went – leaving their mark somewhere in it’s very essence. But it was the very Earth itself which ruined the city – after an earthquake.

The city was at a great way-mark along some of the better trade routes – and its ability to catch fresh water from flash floods made it sustainable – but the earthquake broke the channels, dams and storage areas – making the city what it really is – a desert!

Places To See:
Well, after the long journey there – you had better plan your route – otherwise you could end up missing out on some of the buildings.

I know it would be lovely to just wander about aimlessly seeing where you found next – but there is so much to see that you don’t really want to waste time if you are only visiting for the day.

And sometimes that is all you leave time for as you think it is quite small – yet there are over 50 buildings, temples, theatres and monuments to see – and explore!

And if you want to learn more while you are there – you need to factor in the all the reading you will be doing in the visitor centre and guide books!

Other Facts:
The site has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985 and is working towards becoming more sustainable as a tourist destination.

In 2006, it had just under 60,000 visitors in just 2 months (!) but since then local organisations have been trying to reduce the numbers visiting at one time to reduce the pressure on the site of 12,000 feet walking all over it in such a short time! And you won’t be able to see much with all those other people in the way anyway!

Within the site there are also 2 full musuems showing finds from the site and recreating a lot of the scenes from times gone by. Well worth popping in to as well – for a thorough overview of the site.

And, once inside you can hire a camel to walk you around the massive site so you can get from one side to the other in style – well, as much style as a grumpy and wonky camel can offer!

photo credit: happyjed1

The Rose-Red City is one of the New Wonders of the World.

posted by Travel Cat on May 7

What a great way to celebrate travel, than make your own ‘been to’ or ‘want to’ map!

I have a plastic coated roll-away map of the world and I put stickers on to all the places I have visited! Not only does it feel good to see all the dots across the map everytime I open it up – it also makes me want to visit new places for my next vacations so I can see the new dot rather than cover an older dot!

I also have differnt colours to, as I like to see where my close friends have been too – and it opens up new ideas for places for me to visit.

Get Your Map!Obviously, you need to decide on the scale of the map first as this can make a lot of difference in relation to your traveling style.

One major problem with my world map is that all the places I have visited in the UK fit under 4 dots – and Europe just looks like a great big blob as well!

With the tickers on top of each other and countries like Switzerland, Wales and Belgium being so small – once you pop a sticker in place, you can’t see the country anymore!

So if you were driving across the states, inter-railing acorss Europe or catching the Dragoman through Africa – you might want to get a smaller scale map to highlight all the details!

My World Map is great for an overall perspective of everything – as I can see my friend stopped off in Japan, Australia and Chile with some single dots – but having all been to Cancun and the Maldives – it leaves little space for new dots!

photo credit: Caitlinator

Give A Map Away!
And why not give a map of where you are going to a younger relative or whoever is interested when you go away for a longer vacation – like going around the World.

That way, everytime you send them a postcard, letter or email – they can put your dot on the map and follow you around on your trip!

They will know where you are and hopefully get to know a bit about the places you are visiting – and maybe even get them inspired to travel themselves!

Go get those stickers!