Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Jun 20

Ultimate Accessories - Girls Travel Club

Recently, a new company caught my attention as they offer something special for all those female travellers who want to travel - but with style.

Why should ladies have to settle for everything ‘practical’ in either a dull green or a navy blue? Why not have feminine, stylish products and useful but attractive accessories, that are both practical and environmentally friendly?

I Want That!!
The founder of Girls Travel Club, Becci Coombes-Burr thought just this - having extensively traveled the globe and used all sorts of outdoor and travel related products - for better or worse. She decided that we shouldn’t have to settle for boring, environmentally damaging products that didn’t always work as planned.

So she managed to find all her essential travel-related products that were all eco-friendly and chemical-free, and were perfect for travelling light and designed for style, then created her on-line store offering these products to everyone. She didn’t stop there either - in those instances where there was no suitable product available - she had her own one made!

I contacted Becci, and asked her a few questions about her site and her motivation:

Q: What inspired you to create your own products?
A: Well, I’ve been backpacking all over the place, and being a girl weight can be a real issue when packing your rucksack, so I tried to cut down on unnecessary kit as much as possible.

When I set up my own business one of the first things I looked for were products that were multi-tasking, (like an all-in-one shower gel/shampoo/shave gel), and when I couldn’t find them I decided to have them made specially. They’re also biodegradable, packed full of lovely oils and no nasty chemicals.

Q: If you could recommend 5 essential travel remedies for any holiday from your range, what would they be?
A: Ooh. Tricky one. The luxury eye-mask, definitely, then you can sleep practically anywhere at any time of day, and beat the jet-lag or that dreadful airplane lighting! Ours are shaped so they are incredibly comfortable and won’t smudge your eye makeup!

Lavender oil is amazing and I don’t go anywhere without it. Use it on bites and stings and sunburn; a few drops in the bath and on the pillow will help you sleep and get over jet-lag. Get a friend to mix a few drops in some vegetable oil and massage your aching rucksacky shoulders, while it is also an antiseptic and great on cuts and grazes.

A good quality kikoy or sarong is a real boon as well. If you get a good quality one (ours are fair-trade Kenyan cotton ones) it will last you for years, and has SO many uses; picnic cloth, table cloth, baby carrier, sunshade, towel, pashmina…..

I also find good quality earplugs really helpful if you are on a plane or sleeping in a noisy hostel. Ours are specially attenuated and designed to cut out all kinds of background noise, and they come in a very cute little zip up pouch (basically I am drawn to anything that comes in a cute little pouch or drawstring bag…)

Lastly I never go anywhere without a good travel journal and a Pritt stick, because invariably although you try and keep all those tickets and leaflets and postcards and bits and pieces safe for your scrapbook, you’ll have lost most of them before you get home! 

Q: What 1 piece of travel advice do you think is most important for female travellers?
A: Act with confidence and a smile. (And pretend you know what you’re doing and where you’re going even if you don’t!). I never got into any trouble in all the time I was travelling, mostly by sailing through everywhere with a mindless grin and a purposeful stride,  whereas other girls who seemed more nervous attracted all sorts of hooha. 

Q:  How did you become involved with funding schools in Guatemala?
A: After returning from travelling round south-east Asia I decided to sponsor a child in the Philippines, and it is through the same charity that I heard about the schools project.

Over To You:
If you want to make travelling easier and more stylish for yourself - take a look at www.girlstravelclub.co.uk right now, and see which products you like the look of for your own travel kit - take some advice from the many pages offered and have a look at the courses on offer while you are there too.

You’ll find that ‘going green’ and helping preserve the environment and the people you are going to visit really is quite simple when you know where to look……

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posted by Travel Cat on Jun 12

Operating only 2 smaller vessels for their guests, Azamara Cruises make sure that you get that special service you require, and can visit more sites than conventional giant cruise ships - meaning more of the destination to yourself - including Morocco, Thailand and even through to the Pacific.

Rather than crowd onto a larger ship with thousands of other people, hop on board either the Azamara Journey or Azamara Quest and travel in 5 star accommodation (including a butler service for every cabin) - along with excellent entertainment and dishes inspired by the world’s most renowned chefs - and you will be only one of a few hundred other guests being pampered.

Unforgettable Itineraries:
See some of the choices below for a taste of adventure…

Panama Canal- Cruise through the Caribbean on your way to the amazing Panama Canal from Florida through to California - all in luxury.  Stop in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico to be surrounded by dolphins and whales who use the natural harbour all year round, or make land in Costa Rica for a taste of the rain-forest.

Mediterranean Cruises - Start your journey of Europe in the picturesque city of Venice, where the Azamara Journey can navigate the waterways surrounding this ‘floating’ wonder, before blazing across the azure waters towards Athens or Barcelona, to witness years of our history trapped within their architecture and people.  Still on the Journey, you could leave Spain for one of several transatlantic cruises, including a 14 night voyage to Miami. 

Amazing Asia- Choose from busy Hong Kong, expanding China or sassy Singapore to board the Azamara Quest for your tropical journey into the mysterious East.  You find yourself amongst some of the most sought after views from the seas - great pinnacles of limestone fill your view, local fishermen hauling in their catches - or stare at the bright lights as you approach Japan in the evening.

Isolated Antarctica - Visit this little known continent in luxury as part of a longer cruise around South America, witnessing culture and people you will not be able to forget.

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posted by Travel Cat on Jun 10

10 Most Searched for Destinations from the UK

With summer holidays just around the corner, a top travel and vacation website announced that the top 10 worldwide destinations being searched for by people in the UK this past month included the following:

The Maldives
Las Vegas
Dubai
Orlando
Turkey
New York
Egypt
Cuba
Paris
London

I have already been to 7 of those and my mum has been to 8!!! Neither of us have fancied Dubai, but you can do a stopover there on the way to the Maldives if you like, and I would certainly recommend the Maldives for the tropical island idyll (I’ve been back 3 times).

However, you can use this guide in one of 2 ways:

A) Choose on of these destinations for your next holiday as they are where the buzz is!
B) Choose somewhere not on this list and get away from the hordes!!

Your choice.

posted by Travel Cat on Jun 8

SocialSpark From Izea.

A new social marketing network has begun to rival all others!

It connects bloggers like myself (and possibly you) with advertisers who prefer to use the blogosphere as a way to promote visitor numbers to their sites - with the possibility of earning some money for doing what you already enjoy!! They are already paying people (like me now) to go an investigate this new site and see what it’s all about - to get the word out.

What’s it all about? 
It’s actually a great place to meet other bloggers in your subject area, and those who are writing about some of the most unusual things!!! I went inside the site for a look myself and found a growing community of both bloggers and advertisers already in there …..

I went in as a visitor first, to see how everything was set up, and how the information I entered was going to be displayed, and found some great blogs - and there is so much information on offer from each profile. And it’s really a bonus to be able to view all this without having to set up an account as well, as it encourages you to go in and have a look around before plunging in to something new.

I searched for ‘Travel’ and browsed a few people already there, and found one I particularly liked - she was called ‘green me’ which I liked straight off, and her photograph was very welcoming - and a quick browse of her interests and subject tags were a good match for mine.