Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Aug 15

Joining a Charity Vacation was the best idea….

It was my partner who found the trip for me. I’d seen them advertised a million times before, but just never felt that final ‘tipping point’ - enough to make me raise thousands of pounds for a charity in a relatively short period of time.

But, somehow this one was different - I really wanted this vacation. And, I was in a position at work which I felt would help me raise the required funds more easily.

Most importantly, it was with a charity that I believed in, and felt that others would also share in. Some charities for animals can be off-putting for some, whereas other people would rather give to wildlife charities than desperate children overseas. I felt this charity represented me, and so I knew I could raise money for them.

First things First:
The application was a big step for me. Getting all the vacation details, as well as the payment plans in the starter pack was an interesting few days reading. Before I signed up, I wanted to know all the details - including the ‘get out clause’ if I couldn’t raise all the money. I certainly didn’t want to find myself owing the charity money if I didn’t get to go!

I had to raise around $5500/£2700 for the 10 day trip, plus I would have to supply my own equipment (walking boots, sleeping bag, rucksack, day pack, etc) as well as my own medication and toiletries, be up to date with my vaccinations and hold travel insurance that covered mountain climbing and camping etc.

The cost of the trip itself included all flights and transfers, accommodation and food as well as several guides and 2 doctors for the duration. It also included continuing support from the charity for fundraising ideas and travel advice leading up to the trip.

Before I signed anything, I wanted to know I had a head start, so I checked with my boss whether he would get the ball rolling with a $1000/£500 donation. He said ‘yes’, so I completed the forms and the challenge began.

My Plans:
I had 2 important things to consider in the build up to the trip in a few months time, and they were raising the funds and getting fit. I didn’t want to be struggling to walk the 7 or so kilometres a day up and down the mountainside. I wanted to really enjoy myself, so I had to be as fit as I could. I joined the gym and started hill walking after work - well I had to wear in my new boots - I didn’t want blisters out there!

My work allowed me to arrange a few raffles and ‘open days’ in the stores, where the suppliers gave me some free gifts, and I was able to sell tickets for the prizes as well as promoting the store itself. Other customers were happy to just donate to the charity itself anyway. I sold other free goods at car boot sales, and was getting donations all the time.

Friends and family were also generous, and I put in $1000/£500 myself because that’s how much I would normally spend on a vacation anyway. The funds were starting to get very close to the final amount - and the deadline was fast approaching!

We did have a meeting for all the fundraisers to attend, and it was a way to meet people as well as get some more ideas for raising money - and we got to watch the video diary from a previous trek. One man there had raised well over the required amount (he ran his own bar and had been doing quiz nights) and others had been doing all sorts of things to reach their targets. It was a great day out.

The Final Week:
I was very fit by now and the boots didn’t give me any trouble at all - I was even walking sideways on hills in them to make sure that they really weren’t going to get sore whilst out there. But they really were absolutely fine - a great buy!!

And, after banking all the money - yes, I reached the target amount with a last minute push - I started to pack!!!! It was only a few days now to departure. I had read all the guide books and had packed everything on the checklist the charity had supplied - I just had to get myself to the airport.

When I arrived, I met a few of the other travelers that I had spoken with at the previous meeting, who all seemed very friendly - and then we were away……

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I had the absolute best time on the trip, and still keep in touch with several of the people who were in my little ‘group’ while we were out there. I certainly won’t forget this trip for the rest of my life - that’s for sure. And together (we were part of a large group) we raised over £72,000 for the charity!

Great work - and a great vacation!

from Sarah Nettleton

posted by Travel Cat on Jul 16

What do you do when Kenya ‘closes’?

This was the question I had to ask myself when a friend at work called to say that she had just heard that the UK government had cancelled all flights to Kenya after a security threat in Nairobi. My heart sank, but I was nervous at the same time.

What happens to my holiday??????
Basically we had booked a really cheap deal to Mombasa a few weeks before (to get a bargain of a late deal) and had just got our visa’s, paid for our yellow fever vaccines and had started taking the malaria tablets - all ready to leave on the Sunday morning.

This all seemed less important with the threat of losing everything on the Friday. Obviously all my work mates knew where I was off to and when as I do like to talk about my adventures so when one of them heard the news on her day off - she called me to see if I’d heard.

Thoughts ran through my head of not getting a refund, or the whole process taking about 2 months to sort out with ‘deductions’ for something or other so the travel agents get to keep as much of the loss as they can - and me left in the UK with 1 of 2 choices:

1) Book another holiday somewhere else with extra funds (at least another $2000/£1000) and wait for the other money to come back (if at all)

2) Don’t book another holiday and try to work instead so not losing any more money.

Anyway, I was in a main town, so decided to take an early lunch and visit a branch of the company I had booked through up here to discuss my options. There are always such horror stories about ’small print’ and the like, that I wasn’t hopeful as I trotted across the town centre towards the travel agents.

Why are we so unsure of these things?
There are ‘fine details’ for everything these days, but we never really understand all the jargon - I mean you can read the clauses in the back of the travel brochure over and over again, but until these things happen, you have no idea which way it’s going to go.

A cancelled holiday by the government had never happened to anyone I had known, so I was totally at the mercy of the travel reps details - you make sure they are ATOL and a member of ABTA but we never really know exactly what these acronyms mean!!!

High street travel agents are notoriously bad for giving refunds or compensation after a bad vacation or hotel complaints, but they offer the cheapest late deals, so we are lured into their realm and have to hope for the best! They are not likely to offer the same generous customer service agreements of the more exclusive vacations because we are not paying their prices.

What Happened.
Well, I walked into the store to a bright cheery face, who seemed to know exactly what I was there for. We sat down and she explained what my options were from here - and I was genuinely surprised!

I could either get a full refund, or use the funds to book another holiday with them right now.

Wow! I was gob smacked! Not wanting to mess around with a different holiday slot at work I asked to see what other holidays were available leaving on the same Sunday.

As it turned out, not a lot. There was a ‘room only’ deal to Aruba for the same price (but we would have to eat out all the time meaning extra money), or a 2 weeks all inclusive deal to Cancun. We never fancied going to Cancun due to it’s crowded reputation and giant hotels all crammed into the same place - but this hotel was apparently very ‘mexican’ and quiet - not a giant sky-scraper with a zillion other people crammed around the pool.

It was flying out a day later though, and we had to pay a little bit extra than before, but it was arranged and we hastily got brochures and guide books to find out more about the resort and the hotel - finding Cozumel and Chitchen Itza as possible day trips.

Happy Ending?
As it turns out, there were several people on the flight to Mexico with us who had also been going to our doomed Kenya resort, and one ended up at our hotel with us - freakishly with the same surname as me! It only turned out that they were distant relatives living about 20 miles away from my family in the UK!!!!!

And apart from the whopping prices at the bars in town, it was a fantastic hotel and I had a fantastic time looking at the Mayan ruins and lounging beside one of the 6 smaller pools at the hotel - in peace.

Vacation Facts:

Location: Cancun - Yucatan Peninsula - Mexico - Central America

Accommodation: El Pueblito (3*) - Southern End of the Cancun Beach - 20 minutes from the Airport.
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posted by Travel Cat on Jun 22

Jersey, one of the Channel Islands in the English Channel (in contrast to Jersey, USA), is a small yet beautiful island, perfect for a short holiday.

The island itself is as far south as France (St. Malo is less than 4 miles away and visible on a clear day) and so whilst still part of the British empire it benefits from far better weather.

This weather means not only an ideal place for camping, beaches and outdoor persuits but also you will see a profusion of plants and animals not normally seen on mainland Britain. Most notable is the only British population of the Green Lizard, often nicknamed the Jersey Green Lizard for just this very reason. Reaching around a foot long, and the males possessing a bright blue throat they are certainly a wonderful (if rare) sight to behold. Red squirrels can still be seen here for the eagle-eyed and dolphins may often be seen during the summer months.

Talking of beaches, whilst the island only measures a few miles long there are beaches for all ocassions. Long, sandy beaches perfect for surfing, more protected “sun bather” beaches and wild rocky outcrops covered in breeding sea birds. There are even some caves that only appear at low tide.

You can arrive by ferry or plane as Jersey is well served by both a safe port at St. Helier or an airport on the west side of the island.

Escaping from the attractive but busy main town of St. Helier, venture to the northern half of the island for the “true” Jersey experience. Rolling fields filled with Jersey cows producing thick, delicious cream. Farmers fields green with the tops of Jersey Royals - the finest new potatos around. Greenhouses filled with flame-red tomatoes. Foxglove-strewn laybys and meadows and the deep blue sea. There are also castles and fishing-boat filled coves to enjoy.

Jersey has a low national speed limit, plenty of narrow tracks and a “no caravan” rule making it a great place to walk or cycle, and an efficient local bus service covers the entire island. Exploring this small island is therefore safe, practical and incredibly good fun.

Other things to see here are the underground tunnels used by the Nazis during the war (the Channel Islands are as far north as the invasion got) and the world-famous Durrell Wildlife Preservation Trust (or just “Jersey Zoo”!). It was here that a small boy fell into the gorilla pit many years ago much to the shock of his parents. Alive, but scared, rather than being attacked, the boy was watched over and looked after by the gorillas until keepers were able to extract him safely.

Personally, I like to camp though there are plenty of hotels around (less self catering accomodation though) of an international standard. Being a tax haven, Jersey boasts rich businessmen, private jets and Ferraris making it a more British Monaco. English is spoken, they drive on the left and they use the pound. There is, however, a lovely “French” feel in the style of the houses, many French place names and in the excellent quality of food available here - especially the seafood.

The Channel Islands also consist of Guernsey, Alderney and Sark, all of which can be reached by one of the inter-island boat services in operation over the summer months and day trips to France from here are easy to arrange.

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posted by Travel Cat on Jun 5

Waiting for Pay Day is a thing of the Past.

Having just got home from holiday in Europe, my friend found that she was a bit shorter than she thought - and there was the car road tax to pay…..

We’ve all been there - thinking we have it all planned for when we go away:  enough in the bank to cover everything for that month, then we want to do that one extra trip on holiday (well, we might as well while we are there…) and the budget is blown.

Many of us would just reach for the credit card, but some people just don’t have one - like my friend - however I had just been asked to review a site that offers small loans with the minimum of fuss: e-payday loans.

They don’t do credit checks before issuing the money, you just need a current account check book for your wages bank account (as you send the repayment checks forthe loan in advance), and some identification documents.  The money is in your account the day they receive all your information by fax or post.

It couldn’t be simpler - and it doesn’t affect your credit rating to apply.

My friend got her money just in time, and had it all paid off within the month.  Job done.

If you’re interested in a quick, easy loan, maybe you should find out more by visiting their website at payday loans

This article is a paid post.

posted by Travel Cat on Apr 16

Mini Road Trip 2007.

Well, it wasn’t quite across the whole of America, but we certainly had some fun on the way!

Me and a friend had just finished college and decided to head off for a week driving to all the places within easy reach that we fancied seeing. We packed our bags, got the road map and set off one evening with the intention of avoiding the worst traffic.

Our vehicle of choice was a clean but very old British car - a Ford Fiesta, already having several thousand miles on the clock before we even set off! With Elvis on the stereo, we trundled across town and up the highway, heading for our first stop - which was as far as we could get before it got too late to find somewhere to stay!

We failed of course, and spent the night in the car! We were in a side street in a busy city, reclined in our front seats eating burger and fries before falling asleep!

We woke up in daylight, in a stinking car and in need of a freshen up ourselves! Pulling into a city car park, we went into a shopping mall - they usually have the best restrooms - and we got cleaned up and changed into fresh clothes, then stopped in a local restaurant for a cooked breakfast!

The town itself was a bit boring, but it meant that we would be driving through the best countryside in the day light today, so we soon headed off again, singing ‘Viva Las Vegas’ with The King! We made sure that we got to our next destination in time to find a place to stay and have a look around too this time!

After a great day in the sunshine, stopping for lunch when it took our fancy, we found a great building in the centre of a small town with its own parking, perfect! After checking in, we were free to look around the town at the sights, even taking a short drive to a local beach. We returned in time for a great meal there, then simply headed upstairs to bed.

We continued on like this for the week - booking places on arrival rather than in advance. It just gives you that extra flexibility to get one town further if somewhere or something is not as exciting as you thought it would be!! Some of the nights we weren’t so lucky with the accommodation in terms of location (or bedroom decor!), but on the whole we did OK with availability and that’s all that mattered to us.

We managed to cram in hiring a boat, some fishing, some shopping, some sight-seeing, some cheese tasting (?) and even some horse-back riding. We certainly didn’t hold back - if we saw something worth stopping for - we stopped!

We had no problems with the car, but a few problems with the driver!! Well, apart from endless Elvis - who was great to start with, but really getting on my nerves now - we had her singing, which again was OK to start with…..

Sandra Nettles