Ultimate Vacation Spots

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!

There is nothing more worrying than finding an injured person – and you can’t help!

Would you know what to do if you came across an unconscious person? Or if one of your party suffered a serious injury? What if a colleague started having an asthma attack – what would you do?

If you see someone close by on the ground unconscious, is it best to go and call the emergency services straight away? Don’t know the answer or said ‘yes’ – then you could have just made the situation worse!

Being the outdoor type – and the adventurous person who likes meeting others and taking part in organised activities – why haven’t you taken a first aid course yet? Wouldn’t you like to know what to do?

photo credit: North West Air Ambulance

First Aid At Work:
Most people wait to be told to take one for work or as part of a new job or volunteering opportunity – but why wait until then?

Do you not want to be able to help your friends and family in an emergency? Do you only want to know how to save the lives of other members of staff or complete strangers who pop into your shop for 5 seconds?

Why don’t we take a first aid course because we know it will save lives rather than because someone else has offered to arrange it all or it is free!

Your Choice:
You can take a first aid course when you are still at school these days – so why are you now in your 20′s, 30′s, 40′s or 50′s and have no idea what to do?

And even if you did learn something at school – it might not apply anymore. Medical advances and the success of current techniques can change how we should react to emergency situations – so it is a great idea to take a refresher at least every 6 months to make sure your knowledge is best applied.

Anyone can join a first aid course – but make sure that it is run by an accreddited body like the Red Cross or St Johns Ambulance. They may cost more – but you know that you will be learning the correct techniques rather than someone just running their own course from personal experience.

I mean, tipping the head back for nosebleeds, laying on your back with feet raised for fainting and putting creams on burns are all out of date techniques and are not recommended anymore.

Things are always changing for the better – so make sure that you are up-to-date with your skills – as 1 thing will never change:

Emergency First Aid Saves Lives!

Would you take a holiday in a jungle that was the scene of a Hollywood thriller?

There are plenty of horror and thriller movies that take place in a named location – but would it put you off visiting? Even if it’s only for this years vacation – would you postpone it for whatever reason – or just go ahead and look at the movie set instead?

Many places like New York, Paris and London have been in such films and we don’t mind going there for a look see – but alone in the jungle or down in a cave – or maybe staying in an abandoned cabin?

Would you be so sure?

Some Films To Scare You:
A classic travellers nightmare was brought to life in the film Paradise Lost (with Josh Duhamel) where a group of random travellers happen to be on the same bus in Brazil that breaks down in a remote location and the replacement will take hours. They see a party on the beach and end up getting drugged and hacked to pieces!

Fancy a trip to Brazil on your own?

Or how about a trip to Slovakia to stay at youth hostel there? Maybe with a group of friends, you could go to a local club with some total strangers you just met and see what happens!

Stay Out Of The Water?
Many people are still too scared to go in the sea after the wonderful Jaws series of films – even though they are now looked on a quite ‘silly’ films. I don’t think they are worried about a giant human-hungry shark – just the fact that it is just a reinforcement of a natural fear.

The same way that Jaws made people stay out of the sea of go to ‘safe’ beaches; ‘helpless tourist’ films can put people off travelling to more remote places and all congregate around the all-inclusive hotels and resorts.

Plane crash movies haven’t ever put me off flying – and I fly quite a bit – however I would never ever jump off the side of a boat and swim in the open ocean. What if I was eaten alive?

photo credit: Loren Javier

But then I haven’t seen a horror film where someone evil (and human) is lurking in a cave waiting to catch people – but I certainly wouldn’t be going underground either!

Why Do We Feel Safe?
However, saying that, I woud be happy to have a tour of a house, castle or wherever in a big city or close to one at least without a care in the world – even though there are more things to be scared of in the city than in the middle of nowhere!

So, back to the question of whether a scary film would put you off going somewhere?

My answer is a big fat ‘Yes’. Unless I was already all booked up to go and would lose a lot of money by NOT going, then I would change plans for the time being and head off somewhere else instead!

There is no way I would be heading off to a remote jungle or island location just after watching a film about dodgy goings on there.

It would just be too risky in the sense of the imaginary headlines afterwards ‘couple go missing on Island X after watching scary Island X film about couple going missing’! or ‘Girl eaten alive by shark in the bay where Jaws was filmed’!

What do you think?
Is it just me being silly – or do a few of you feel the same way??

If you want to feel like the only 2 people walking around Venice – just go there!

Now this doesn’t mean that Venice is devoid of other people and that you won’t see another soul there – quite the opposite infact – but what I mean is that you will feel asthough only you two are there.

When I went there, I found that everyone else seemed to just be getting on with things in the background – almost like they were setting it up for my trip! I was so distracted by all great buildings, all the passageways, the canals and the shop-fronts packed with delightful masks and glassware.

Nothing else mattered as we whirled our way around the city – there were no queues for anything except the coffee, there was almost no unnatural noise – so our wanderings were not interrupted by anything!

Maybe it seemed like it was just us there becasue there was so much to see and do – and to admire – that we just didn’t have time to see everyone else who was there? I’ll never know.

I just remember Venice as the place where there was just the 2 of us!

photo credit: anja_johnson

The Season:
We went in October, which some said might have high tides (which would bring in the sewage!), but it didn’t and it was perfect. The high tides meant that the canals were always topped up and you didn’t have to climb down into any of the boats we used for transport.

And the weather held up for up too – it wasn’t cold enough for bulky coats and we didn’t have to worry about suncream either – just like being at home!

The Hotel:
We chose to stay on The Lido which is a large island just to the side of the main island. This meant that our room had views of the whole of Venice itself with the tower of St Marks and the entrance to the Grand Canal within sight – which at night was something special!

There are plenty of hotels within the City itself where you could step out of you door and be right in the action – but we found that the action of catching a boat to and from the island made it more fun – and we couldn’t hear the hustle and bustle of the morning rush hour from our room either!

The Streets:
All I think about when I look back at my time in Venice is how we managed to get lost!

Now I don’t just mean scratching our heads at a dead end – I mean we managed to keep walking down all these different paths and streets and then ending up back at the same place – like a bad sci fi movie!

Now this shouldn’t be possible we thought as we tried a different route rather hurriedly as dusk approached – past that old church again and down the side of that canal – but then after a few more turns and past a glass shop – we found ourselves back at the same place!

I still don’t know how even to this day how we managed it – as the second day there, we were fine and didn’t get lost once!

The Food:
I won’t spend to long on this obvious section – as we were in Italy after all!

However I will say that the hot chocolate in my hotel (Hotel Panarama) was the best I have ever tasted, and all the restaurants wherever we ate were perfect – without fault on service, location or taste!

I would re-visit Venice without hesitation.

photo credit: winkyintheuk

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!