Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Mar 17

If you lost your dog while travelling – what would you do?

Being in a new place is so different for your dog too that the thought of them getting lost or being startled enough to run away doesn’t bear thinking about.

But it happens – and it happens a lot.

So, you need to think ahead, and plan for the fact that it could happen – and then things will run a lot more smoothly if it does.

For example, if you don’t have your dog microchipped then it could take a lot longer to get your dog back than if it just had a collar on. But if your contact details for that microchip only had a home contact number on them – and you are only vacation – then you might never hear that your dog has been found!

This also can be transferred over to different animal collection processes in different countries – as some countries don’t work with microchips – they use tattoes. So your perfectly wonderful chip in your dogs neck won’t even be scanned!

And other countries just round up stray dogs and give you 7 days to find them – otherwise they are rehomed – or worse!

photo credit: pheezy

This Is My Dog!
So, the best thing you can do is clearly mark your dog in the first place. Whether this is with a microchip, or with a securely fitted collar and tag – the more the merrier!

Ideally, you wouldn’t let your dog run off in the first place – but of course we get used to relaxing on vacation and this includes letting the dog run free!

So, make sure that you are super attentive to your dog at all times. Not only could there be new smells and noises where you are, your dog may be a little bit unsettled in new surroundings and after travelling some distance too.

So take it slow and it is better to be safe and have your dog on a leash more than you do back home – as once they run off – they don’t know where they are or where they can go, and to be honest, you might not even know where you are either!

It’s Not Just The Dog Who Is Lost!
If you are in a new neighbourhood or out in the middle of the wilderness – then how can you report your dog missing? You don’t know where they went missing from!

And of course – you don’t know where the people are who can help find him – for example where local vets are, whether there are rescue centres close by – or huge roads!

And how can you give your address as the RV in the free car park outside of town!

Reporting your lost dog become a million times harder now as you are in unknown territory yourself – and you might not cover all the options on your own!

However, there are organisations now who specialise in finding lost pets. Not just pets who have been gone ages – but pets that have just this past hour gone missing.

Rather than you calling everyone you can think of to report your dogs details and all your contact numbers etc – these companies can take your information just once and then instantly distribute it to vets and rescue centres by fax or text.

Within minutes of your first call, all the people you would have had to have found yourself in the telephone listings and then called one at a time would already have your dogs information.

The Solution:
Combined with their knowledge and ongoing relationships with these contacts – they will treat their faxes and texts as urgent rather than routine (resuce centres and vets get several calls every day reporting lost pets).

And you could be reunited with your dog within hours of them running off – rather than the days it could take the old-fashioned way.

Of course – the best way to have your dog with you after a lovely vacation is to not give it the chance to run away in the first place!

posted by Travel Cat on Feb 28

If you love going to Festivals – then get to London for 2 weeks this summer!

There are 3 of these beauties still with tickets for sale and a chance for a great summer vacation – in the company of a multitude of music geniuses!

So, have a look at these festivals below and see if you can spare the fortnight needed to soak it all up – or whether you want to add a week either side and make a month of it to see a few more of the great sights in London and the UK!

Arcade Fire: Hyde Park – June 30th.
This 1 day event is something to get you started. There is no need for days of the unwashed in this place just to get close to the music – you can go straight home after and wash off your sweat (and any acquired food and drink stains) with the music still ringing in your ears!

Rather than being multi-tented and filled with event sites galore – it’s just the main band and a few friends singing their hearts out for you (and the other few thousand listeners).

Great for those of you who want to get into the spirit of things without taking a week off work and dragging round a holdall full of your underwear!

photo credit: Johnny Worthington

Bluesfest: London Venues – June 27th – July 3rd.
Rather than find yourself in a muddy field with 60,000 other people – why not try something more intimate.

Bluesfest is just the ticket, with smaller more personal venues on the menu. Great names in Blues and Jazz settle down for a great evening ‘in’ at some well-known and less hectic venues and play almost just for you.

The 100 Club and the Jazz Cafe are just 2 of the venues that will be welcoming some of the best inside during this week of live music – so make sure you find yourself on a comfy chair in at least 1 for a night to remember!

Wireless: Hyde Park – July 1st – 3rd.
After all the people from Arcade Fire have worn out the grass – now it’s time for the hardened festival crew. This 3-day event will mean some real mud, real music and real numbers!

With PULP, the Black-Eyed Peas and the Chemical Brothers taking to the stage – you can’t imagine this event not being great – and you could be there to experience it all first hand.

Fresh from the other events – and having made a few friends along the way – you will want to hang around and see some more of this country – even if it’s just to have a nice bath!

There’s More:
It doesn’t stop there for festivals – but you might need to travel a bit – or stick around a long while……..

T In The Park: Kinross – July 8th -10th – head to Scotland for this tasty looking event as most of the other T events are sold out! This might be your last chance to get in on the action with Foo Fighters, Coldplay and Arctic Monkeys on stages elsewhere……

Rewind: Henley-on-Thames – July 29th – 31st - for your retro ’80′s night-out with Bananarama, Rick Astley and Buck’s Fizz heading up the oldies listings!

End Of The Road: Dorset – September 2nd – 4th – with a ‘clean’ almost family-friendly festival with a limited 5,000 capacity – and showers! All very cosy – and that sounds great…….

Welcome to England!

posted by Travel Cat on Jan 16

All animals depend on water for survival – so if you visit when there isn’t much, you can see more!

During the wet season, there is plenty of natural water to go around. Rain falls sometimes for weeks at a time; rivers fill up to their highest levels and neighboring land floods or becomes boggy. Even all the nooks and crannies in rocks and buildings, trees and other plants and even man-made litter like tires, buckets and plastic materials fill up with puddles that can sustain thousands of creatures.

As a result of the widely dispersed water – and the resultant abundance of plants and insect life to keep all these animals alive – they are spread out all over the place. They can eat and drink wherever they want to, so finding them can be a difficult task.

In Drier Times:
Needless to say then, if there is less water – then it will be easier to find the wildlife. They will all have to gather around the same water holes.

It works the same way as all the people you see at the cinema; they all have to go there for the same thing as it isn’t available anywhere else close by, but you don’t get crowds at your local food store – as you can buy bread and milk everywhere!

So, if you are hoping to see some lions, alligators, monkeys or elephants – your best chance is where the water holes are – and when there is less water elsewhere.

Obviously, the animals may not be quite as relaxed near the water in times of drought as when water is plentiful – but it will really add to your whole safari adventure if you actually get to see something!

photo credit: Rainbirder

More Crowds:
And in their quest for water, or food, many animals congregate in huge numbers either to trek to new lands or to breed – and this can make for some great viewing!

Large migrations of animals is one of the greatest natural spectacles on the planet!

Just think of the million wildebeests in June marching across the Masai Mara – with 500,000 gazelles and 200,000 zebras in tow! And the hundreds of crocodiles waiting in the rivers to eat them!

How about 120,000 elephants all wading in the Chombe in September – or the thousands or buffalo and lions that are thirsty too!

Not to mention the hundreds or different birds species migrating north to south, east to west or even over the Himalaya! All in search of better eating and drinking!

So before you head on your ultimate wildlife vacation – check the weather!

posted by Travel Cat on Jan 5

Join me in learning a new language online for the New Year!

The BBC are offering free online language courses for the new year on their website – so why not take advantage of it!

It’s easy to use online courses as you get visual stimulation with constantly updated and easy to watch videos and activities as opposed to the flat scripts of a language coursebook!

So rather than read to yourself from the text – you can click ‘next’ and hear the words spoken by a native speaker one line at a time rather than on a dodgy tape that you have to keep pausing all the time!

They also offer ‘email tips’ to be sent to your email to help you make the most of the course – and a certificate on completion.

Now what could be easier?

The Course:
Now obviously I have only just started the course – so am on Week 1 out of 12 – but it is great fun.

I have chosen a language that is completely new to me to see how effective it is for a beginner – and so far it is really straight forward – making me feel quite confident after only the first 2 topics.

I must admit it isn’t that easy to find the courses to get started in the first place – and this is in my native language – but once you are started, it lets you pick the activities in order or hop to the bits you like best.

It even has little tests along the way to confirm your learning – or to let you know you need to go back over the chapter again.

You first listen to a conversation, then recognise the order of what is being said (like the hello’s before the goodbye’s) then you get to guess at the words being used for direct translations.

I have looked a hotel reservations, booking rooms and basic directions already and feel quite confident!

It’s quite fun if you do it with other people, as you can all work together to find the right answers – and as the course can be accessed from anywhere, you can go back over it on your own afterwards to check those finer details!

It also recommends other courses, more advanced courses and many other languages including Mandarin, Turkish, Greek and Japanese – although you have to learn a different alphabet for them so could be harder!

So, what are you waiting for – 2011 has already started!

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?