Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Sep 4

Do you know all the local attractions right on your own doorstep?

The more time I spend in my local area, the more things I realise that I have never visited.  Yeah, I know all the ‘big’ things close by - but what about all those little places that will be just as good for a day out - but places that I always overlook.

The types of things I mean are the secluded parks in the city, the small ’specialist’ museums that are really just a modified house or old church hall, old buildings that have been converted into coffee shops or tea rooms or an open garden just around the corner from yours!

To find out about these things you need to either take time to explore places on foot - walking down the smaller streets, alleyways and footpaths; or reading local newspapers and leaflets down the Tourist Information - which can hold a wealth of information that you can’t really get to know by just watching TV or listening to the radio.

Not all these places can advertise large scale as they are usually run by a single person or even volunteers - not the right profile for TV advertising!

Get Local:
So, make sure you seek these things out if you can, by scanning the local papers and any leaflets that fall through the door.

We all know you don’t have to travel for miles to have a great day out - so why not make an effort to search out the local beauty spots and attractions. 

Everyone dreams of jetting off to some great destination for a week or 2 to relax - but why wait until you can take the time off work?

Why not just take a series of ‘day’ vacations - 1 day to the countryside village for a picnic, 1 day for shopping in the city, another for a trip to the zoo - there are a whole host of things you can do to make your life a breeze.

Rather than wishing away your life waiting for the next long vacation - why not have a great day out every week?  If these places are only a short drive away, you can enjoy every spare day you have without endless planning, packing and time off work!

You don’t need to find a dog sitter, or cancel the milk to have a great day out on the beach!  You don’t even need to set the timer on the lights or inform your credit card if you take a long weekend in the mountains.

It’s all close to home - and it can be every week!

Think about it for your next day off!

posted by Travel Cat on Aug 1

Whether it’s home or abroad - you need to consider the needs of your laptop!

We take them a bit for granted now, but they are still valuable things.  For example, I save all my pictures on my laptop and all my contacts for email, etc - as well as spreadsheets about all sorts of things - so what happens to it all if your laptop is stolen or gets broken?

It’s enough to worry about at home - but what about when traveling with it for days or months at a time?

Well, I have put together a few great tips - things to think about before you head off that could save you a lot of time and money in the future!  Simple planning tools for a plain-sailing vacation!

Ultimate Power:
All laptops have their battery within them and a power lead to charge them up - so have you got both for starters?

But lets start with the battery first. You can calibrate your battery to make sure that it is charging itself up fully every time.  If they are not fully charged as per the manufacturers instructions the first time - they may never charge properly ever again! 

But - thank goodness - you can follow a set of simple steps at home before you go to make sure that you ‘reset’ the battery to take a full charge (following the manufacturers instructions of course!) - and at least it if won’t calibrate properly - or it is running out of juice due to age anyway - then at least you know this in advance of travelling anyway and can buy a replacement on home ground!

You also need to be sure that your laptop will charge fully on alternative power supplies in the countries that you are visiting - as they are not all the same.

Check that you have the correct shape and size adapter as well - and that it can power up your laptop properly - otherwise you have carried it all the way there for nothing!

Also - will you need to reserve a seat on the train, boat or plane that has a power supply next to it?  Not all companies cater for powering laptops or other electrical goods on the move - so make sure that you check for yourself, or upgrade to a seat that does!

Your Important Files:
Make sure that you back up all your important files before you go - either onto an external hard drive or online storage.

And, make sure that you keep them separate at all times - otherwise they will both get damaged at the same time!

Needless to say you should hide all your sensitive data as well - as you might need to be checked by security - and you don’t want them trawling though your company spreadsheets or personal files!  You can easily partition all you files so that the private ones needs a separate access code.

Also by using different passwords to get into your system in the first place; you are preventing data theft and rendering the laptop useless to anyone that steal it.  They can still take it from your of course - but they probably won’t be able to get into any of your files or even the software itself. 

Never assume that you are the only one who will use your laptop - so log out of everything while travelling - as some laptops save your log-ins or open automatically on typing in the web address - a total disaster if someone else gets their hands on your computer!

Airport Security:
Make sure that you can get your laptop through customs as quickly and as safely as possible, by thinking and planning ahead.

Use the right laptop bag to transport it around the airport in the first place, to allow instant access but also to prevent it getting damaged as you move other luggage around or bustle through crowds.

You will also need to send your laptop through the security device separately to your other hand luggage, so make sure that it is out of the laptop bag before you get to the front so as to limit your need to rush and fuss about the thing - and to prevent slowing down the queue!

Maybe even have the laptop powered up - but on sleep mode.  This way, if the staff ask you to turn it on for checking, you can just ‘wake it up’ rather than boot it up!  Not only does this save you time - but you will be less stressed through it and there is likely to be less damage to the laptop through all these checks.

If you have allowed your laptop to run out of battery on the journey to the airport - then you could have a problem if they want to see it working - so make sure that the power cable is packed in the same bag - otherwise you are going to get very stressed at the customs desk!

posted by Travel Cat on Jul 29

Have you ever just thought about driving into the sunset rather than going home?

You must have been sitting in traffic on the way to work - or stuck in congestion going to visit a friend - and just wanted to be out of there and off to somewhere different, so why not just do it one day?

You don’t need to plan a vacation and take time of work as such - just pick a direction and drive off!  Of course, if you have longer, you can get further - but a few days will do!  I did it once, just thought about a few things I wanted to see, and headed off….. 

The Trip:
I love historic buildings and wildlife, so when I set off on my 3 month road trip - I made sure that I joined a few societies (to get free entry) and then headed off into an adventure!

You can end up anywhere and for as long as you want - depending on your car and your ideas.  Even better the adventure if you just take a map and your bags!

Your only worry need be finding a petrol station and deciding where you want to visit next! 

As long as you have a hotel guide to hand, you can stop anywhere you want - 1 night or 2! There is no need to book a room way in advance - although you sometimes might have to make a few calls to find an empty room at the weekends - you can call as late as 3pm and still get a place.  This gives you more freedom to change your route and plans as things happen.

Staying in the same accommodation in places you like the look of allows you to leave your things in the room while you go out and explore - whereas if you only stay the one night, you need to have you stuff in the car while you visit places.  Not so much a problem on the shorter trips - but not so good to leave too much in your car while you head into a zoo or museum for 4 hours or more!

And most hotels offer breakfast included as well as a great place to eat dinner - so you don’t even need to wander around looking for food.  Or maybe stop off at a store on route and stock up on goodies for the room - there’s nothing better than feet up and a box of chocolates after a day exploring!

The Car:
Well, needles to say you are going to need a car you can trust to take you all those miles - and a car that looks good too wouldn’t be too bad either!

If you are only going away for the weekend - then just head off in whatever you have - but if you are going to make a habit of driving off whenever the mood takes you then why not start making your car look great too!

Make sure that the inside looks as good as the outside - whether it’s shiny bumpers or cool seat covers - you can drive in style wherever you decide to go!  No need to be embarrassed about your wheels!

Whether it’s a nice picnic basket for the back seat, a sleek bike rack for the roof or some brand new vw accessories for the camper-van - splash out and make it a trip to remember!

Sometimes, you wait so long trying to plan the ‘perfect’ trip, that you never actually get around to doing anything!  The number of people who say ‘I was planning to do something like that…’ or ‘I’ve always wanted to do that!’  But why can’t you just do it? 

Take a chance and just go do it!

So, get a collection of your favourite CD’s and grab your camera for the ride of your life!

posted by Travel Cat on Jul 26

Want to improve your wildlife photography - without standing in the cold!

There are hundreds of wildlife photography centres around the world that offer the chance to get up close to ‘wild’ animals in their natural habitat.

Some specialise in local or native wildlife and others hold a vast number of more exotic species for you to get up close to - like Lynx, Jaguar and Tigers - and you are virtually guaranteed a sighting!

So what are these places and how come you can get so close to the animals - and have the perfect backdrop for your images as well?

The Setting:
Basically, wildlife enthusiasts have built up a collection or animals over the years and house them in captivity.

Whether they were originally rescued animals or have been bred in zoo-like circumstances - they look great - just like their free-roaming counterparts.  I mean a fox looks like a fox whether its in the local woods or in a wooded enclosure doesn’t it.

So why stand around for hours all day waiting for a sighting - when you can virtually guarantee a perfect view from a local photography centre?

Many animals are kept in outdoor enclosures that mimic their natural habitat, whereas others are kept in an easy to maintain enclosure and transferred into a more photogenic and natural looking location when you arrive on site.

The Benefits:
Well clearly you can see that a days shooting is going to be a lot more productive if you visit a centre like this for your photography - and you pictures will be better to boot!

By getting so close to quite human-accepting animals, you don’t need to use your longest zoom ever!  You can use a normal shot thus making your shot that much clearer and easier to enlarge at home.

And as the animals are so used to people being around, you can get some great shots of their natural behaviour with their surrounding and other animals in the enclosure.  For example, they will curl up to sleep close to you - and if it is snowing you could get some fantastic shots!

But it’s not just about the final shots - its about the techniques you can use in the field.  For example, you can get to see how these animals move, what settings work best for still or moving animals and of course what lighting and angles get you the best images.

All this is virtually impossible in the field as you may just see an animal for 1 minute as it passes behind trees - you will have no time to plan for these - so you need to already know the best techniques.

The Extras:
Not only could you come away with your best photo ever of an owl - but you could have your only ever picture of a shrew or an otter or an exotic species.

Animals that are nocturnal or live underground - or in a different country - are things that you may never get to photograph in the wild.  Or you may have a collection of shots where you have to tell people what it is as it’s too small or blurry to see!

And, many of these sites have both wildlife experts to hand and if requested a wildlife photographer on site to help you work through your shots and to understand your camera that little bit better.

And becoming a regular at any animal sanctuary or photography centre could mean that you are in line for ‘first pickings’ at any new animals, scenes or special events that they offer.

And if there is a fresh layer of snow on the ground - you could get those perfect moments on film!

posted by Travel Cat on Jul 22

Welcome back, and I hope the first 5 beautiful spots tempted you enough to come back for this second part!

So, let’s get straight back into it, and get going on the final 5 - hope you like them…..

6) The Great Rift Valley - East Africa
Needless to say, this huge region is filled with wildlife and absolutely beautiful landscapes!

Surrounded by huge lakes, miles of mountains and plateaus and crammed full of greenery - you will certainly need you camera working on overtime! It contains some of the highest mountains in Africa as well as active and dormant volcanoes and some of the largest lakes in the world!

Witness where man first stepped out into the world and where this massive continent is actually splitting in 2 creating a new ocean!

7) Serengeti/Masai Mara National Park - Tanzania/Kenya
This is one of the largest and most visited National Parks in Africa due to it’s endless landscapes filled with huge game and indigenous tribes.

Famous for its unbelievable migration of around 1.5 million wildebeest and 200,000 zebra every year! As a result it has the largest population of lions of any national park and has the other 4 from the notorious ‘Big Five’.

Be prepared for some endless views of the savanna and the bumpiest car rise you have ever been on!  Alternatively, why not hire a hot air balloon for a champagne ride across the sky and get a panoramic view of this unforgiving landscape.

8.) The Great Dunes - Namibia
Down the southern edge of the continent and bordering the cold southern Atlantic Ocean - this region is one of the driest areas in the region. After years and years of little rain - the dunes have grown and grown into some of the largest dunes in the world!

Although you might think that makes for a bland landscape - you would be wrong. The canyons formed here and the huge wetlands along the coast add to the sheer beauty of the harshness fund here. Spotting a single antelope on an almost endless dune several kilometers in length is something to be admired.

9) Underneath The Red Sea - Egypt

Take yourself to another world underneath the crystal clear waters of the Red Sea Riviera! 

Filled to the brim with tropical and colourful fish, huge shallow-water reefs and marine mammals.  Whether you stay close to the shore or snorkel from the beaches of Sharm el-Sheikh or Hurghada - or you charter a boat out into deeper water and spend the day in this underwater world!

10) Marrakech - Morocco
If you love bright colours, the hustle and bustle of lively markets and a whole host of adobe buildings and materials painted in the brightest of hues - them this is the place for you.

This vibrant city - close to the entrance to the Mediterranean - is a hagglers heaven! With different cultures plying different trades on every corner, and different kitchens offering an endless array of foods and cooked meals - plus the influence of different religions on the architecture: this offers a whole different kind a beauty from the natural landscape surrounding it.

Send in your pictures!