Image via Flickr by RobBixbyPhotography
When thinking of a Southern vacation, cities like New Orleans, Orlando, and Atlanta typically come to mind. However, the South is sprinkled with beautiful and entertaining cities that don’t have the crowds, the expensive hotels, and the traffic. Instead of following the masses, check out one of these five Southern cities instead. (more…)
We get tons of emails every week about “how can I be a successful blogger” “how can I make money blogging” and the like.
To be absolutely honest, we didn’t really have a strategy, we just fell into long term travel. However now we have got the bug, and we’re making a decent living whilst we’re away we find ourselves wondering the same questions… How do we do it? What are we doing that makes us a popular blog vs. the hundreds of others out there that write better stuff than us? (more…)
The act of travelling can be quite a daunting prospect, not just for the usually home-bound but often for even the seasoned traveller. Oft-repeated questions; “which train am I getting”, “what time is my flight”, “where the hell even am I”; plague every type of traveller, be it the globetrotting backpacker or the slightly less intrepid summer sun worshipper. Luckily, a map and a phrase book are no longer the only weapons in the traveller’s arsenal, smartphones and applications overtaking these traditional items and making travelling the dream that it rightly should be. Here are some of my favourite travel apps out now that will make your next trip a blissful breeze!
PackPoint
Leaving behind essential items is something I personally can attest to doing. Misplaced phone chargers, travel guides, even tickets have all soured what would have otherwise been faultless journeys. With PackPoint, however, you can make sure you have all those essentials packed and ready! It’s not just a listing app, however; PackPoint users enter their destination, date, length of stay and purposes of their trip, and the app generates a list of likely items users will require.
MrSmithCasino
It’s not the train, plane or taxi journeys that truly make a trip abroad, it’s the magical things you see and do. Even with this in mind, however, travelling does inherently involve a heck of a lot of waiting around. With the MrSmithCasino app, where players can play a variety of free and for-money games through a smartphone, boredom is banished and you’ll also have an opportunity to make a little extra money whilst you’re playing. Be careful though, you don’t want to burn away all your money before you reach your destination!
Entrain
Jet lag is the pox of travel. So many times I have been abroad, just having reached a destination, only to find myself tired and lethargic, confined to the hotel room for a day or so as bodily rhythms catch up with the local time. Entrain aims to get rid of awful jet lag, however. Users input their sleeping habit data, schedule their trip, and then are informed via a lighting schedule as to when they should be asleep or awake. The end result; drastically reduced periods of jet lag!
HerdTracker
Going on a safari is one of the most enthralling experiences anyone can enjoy, though often finding that elusive wildlife can be rather difficult, especially during the wet season. HerdTracker combats this, allowing guides and travellers to update in real time where they have seen groups of animals, placing these on a map of African national parks. Though some will enjoy the adventure and surprise of finding wildlife on their own behest, HerdTracker is a highly innovative system.
My friend and I would like to go away for two weeks from June 15 as a post-university holiday. We have a maximum of £1,500 each to spend and would like to go somewhere we can combine culture, wildlife and some time on the beach. Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Galapagos appeal, but we would be open to suggestions. Also, what would the visa requirements be (if any), how much do they cost and would we need injections?
Rachel Stephens, via e-mail
I think you will have to forget the Galapagos because flights are too expensive. Indonesia will also be a stretch on your budget if you want an organised tour (a 14-day Java and Bali itinerary with Toucan Tours, plus Singapore Airlines flights, costs a little over £1,600pp on your dates), so Sri Lanka is your best bet. Tropical Sky (0843 636 2246, tropicalsky.co.uk) could offer a 14-night holiday in June, combining nine nights at the beachfront Mermaid Hotel on the west coast of the island with a five-night private tour that includes visits to Sigiriya, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, the Dambulla cave temple and Kandy. There’s also a visit to the elephant orphanage at Pinnawala and a trip to the Horton Plains Nature Reserve, where you’ll see elk, deer, wild boar, porcupine and — if you’re lucky — one of the 16 leopards that have been recently counted there. It would cost £1,449pp, based on two sharing, all-inclusive at the Mermaid Hotel, half-board on the tour and flights. Alternatively, you might consider the new 12-day Treasures of Thailand trip from Wexas Travel (020-7838 5892, wexas.com), a combination of city, beach and jungle. It starts in Bangkok, followed by a stay in a traditional teak house at the Ndol Streamside Thai Villas in Muak Lek, handy for the monsoon forests of Khao Yai National Park, home to wild elephants, and finally a week on the beaches of Koh Kood, one of Thailand’s most unspoilt islands. It starts at £1,265pp including flights, transfers and B&B. You won’t require visas or injections for either trip.
I have booked tickets to travel to Austin in Texas at the end of March and will return on April 7. However, my passport is due to expire on September 24 along with my Esta (visa waiver). As my passport has less than six months remaining from when I travel out, do I need to renew my passport before I travel, and will I need to renew my Esta, as the passport number will not match?
Martin Pinchard, via e-mail
The short answer is no. The US has an agreement with the UK automatically extending the validity of a passport for six months past its expiration date, so your passport need remain valid only for the duration of your stay in the US. Find more details on the US Embassy website, london.usembassy.gov. You won’t need to do it this time but the rule is that if you change your passport, you have to reapply for a new Esta (https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov).
My wife and I would like to go by rail from London to a European city for five or six days over Christmas. We know that London can be a bit miserable on Christmas Day, with the streets deserted and everywhere shut, but are there European destinations where the tradition is much more for people to go out and about, with museums and other attractions open?
Peter Waller, via e-mail
Few European cities shut down over Christmas in the same way as London. In Amsterdam, major museums including the Rijksmuseum, the Anne Frank House and several others are open on Christmas Day. It’s an easy rail journey: Eurostar to Brussels, then the high-speed Thalys service to Amsterdam. Return fares start at £121 through voyages-sncf.com (0844 848 5848). Paris is another possibility. You won’t find the Louvre open but you can visit the beautiful Jacquemart-André museum, the home of two avid 19th-century art collecters, and the Grévin wax museum, as well as the Eiffel Tower.
Julia Brookes is the Travel Doctor
The carefree life of a gypsy moving unhindered from place to place is a thing of the past, according to official figures, with two thirds now living in a house.
The first official census of travellers found that only one in four lives in a caravan or other mobile home.
Experts said that public order legislation and hostility from residents opposed to travellers setting up camp in their neighbourhood has robbed gypsies of their heritage.
Analysis of the 2011 census, which for the first time offered “Gypsy or Irish traveller” as an ethnic group, also revealed a largely disadvantaged community, with 60 per cent having no qualifications and fewer than half having a job.
Compared with the rest of the population in England and Wales, gypsies and Irish travellers are twice as likely to consider themselves in “bad” or “very bad” health.
While the community is tiny, with only 58,000 identifying themselves as travellers, the British public seems to be fascinated by the lifestyle. The television series Big Fat Gypsy Weddings gave Channel 4 one of its biggest audiences at 9.7 million, although the documentary was criticised for making members look stereotypically feckless and untrustworthy.
Damian Le Bas, editor of Travellers’ Times, said that the findings of the census were troubling, and life was tough for travellers. “The figures also show the impact of changing times on the nomadic lifestyle,” he said.
“Multiple factors, including a decrease in travellers doing agricultural work, as well as legislation like the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, aimed at stopping people from travelling, mean that many ethnic Romany Gypsies and Irish travellers, while retaining other elements of their culture, custom and ancestral languages, now live in housing, just like everybody else.”
Mr Le Bas said that there were probably as many as 200,000 travellers, but the group was wary of official forms and bureaucracy, so many of them may have been reluctant to identify themselves in the census.
The ONS figures do not include Roma.
From new ships in Burma to historic-style steamboats in the States and private visits in Venice to rumba on the Rhine
1. Luxury in Burma
Burma is the cruising hotspot of the moment and a new name on the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers this year is Sanctuary Retreats whose new luxury all-suite vessel, Sanctuary Ananda, is being built by two Burmese brothers in traditional teak style. Soak up the atmospheric padogas, palaces and temples of the Irrawaddy before sailing along the quieter Chindwin River through the jungle towards the Indian border past isolated villages and ancient settlements.
Details: A ten-night voyage along the Chindwin River on Sanctuary Ananda is offered by Abercrombie & Kent (0845 4851845,abercrombiekent.co.uk) on August 5, 2015. It costs from £3,875pp and includes flights, excursions and drinks
2. Chateaux on the Loire
Storybook castles and romantic chateaux make the perfect backdrop on this new programme of sailings along France’s longest river, the Loire, with CroisiEurope. The French family-run cruise line claims to be the first company to offer full voyages through the Loire Valley. From April 2015, it will run sailings on a novel paddle-wheel riverboat designed to cope with shallow waters as it cruises to the cultural heart of this region with stops at Angers, Ancenis and Saumur.
Details: A seven-night round-trip sailing from Nantes on April 14, 2015, costs from £1,280pp, cruise only (020-8328 1281,www.croisieurope.travel)
3. Rumba on the Rhine
Slip on your dancing shoes and get ready to chassé on a new “Strictly River Cruising” ballroom sailing with The River Cruise Line. Joining guests on this twinkle-toed voyage along the Rhine and Moselle rivers will be two professional dance teachers who will lead organised sessions, including an afternoon tea dance and evening ballroom dance. When they aren’t waltzing on water, guests can explore the beautiful Moselle Valley, famous for its wines, and atmospheric medieval towns such as Cochem and Bernkastel.
Details: A one-week sailing from Andernach to Koblenz on October 10 costs from £799pp, including coach travel and ferry crossings (0844 5446437, rivercruiseline.co.uk)
4. Knitting on the Danube
Casting off takes on a whole new meaning on this knitting cruise with AmaWaterways. It is being hosted by American aficionado Barry Klein, described as one of the world’s top knitters, who will lead classes on stitch patterns and knitting techniques along with forums on fashion trends. Enthusiasts can also pick up the latest developments in luxury yarns, share stitching techniques and swap knitting patterns as they cruise through the former Austro-Hungarian Empire stopping at Linz, Vienna and Bratislava.
Details: A one-week cruise from Vilshofen to Budapest on December 27, costs from £2,149pp. Flights, drinks with meals and excursions are included (0808 2235009, amawaterways.co.uk)
5. Amazing Amazon
Pink river dolphins, chattering monkeys, and the vivid hues of flocks of macaws give cruises along the Amazon a pioneering feel. Aqua Expeditions offers sailings along the Peruvian stretch of this legendary waterway on two luxury vessels, accommodating between 24 and 32 passengers. The Aria Amazon and newly-refurbished Aqua Amazon combine haute cuisine and opulent surroundings with jungle treks and wilderness outings.
Details: A 10-night package that comprises a seven-night sailing onAqua Amazon is offered by Bales Worldwide (0844 4881192,balesworldwide.co.uk) on September 12. It costs from £6,250pp and includes flights and two overnight hotel stays in Lima on the outbound and inbound journeys.
The annual event encourages travellers to experience the advantages of starting a short break or holiday by boat
The Channel Tunnel is now rated an unqualified success, no-frills airlines are finally attempting to become passenger-friendly but British ferries, those workhorses plying across the English Channel, the North Sea, the Irish Sea and beyond, are attracting more and more travellers.
The reasons are easy to understand: ferries offer flexible and comfortable travel, very seldom suffer delays and make the journey an enjoyable part of any holiday. Also, the majority are no longer workhorses but fine beasts with cosy seating, pleasant bars, first class lounges and, on some vessels, spas and fine dining restaurants. And they are exceptionally stable.
Last year, 38 million passengers travelled on Britain’s ferries, an increase of almost one million, and more cars and coaches were carried. To highlight the ease, value and variety of routes, today sees the launch of National Ferry Fortnight, the sixth consecutive year of the campaign.
Supported by the 12 operator members of Discover Ferries, this year’s event urges everyone to “join our ferry family” and encourages travellers to experience the advantages of starting a short break or holiday by boat. One notable slogan — in a dig at the airlines — is that “baggage goes free with ferries”, which will appear on thousands of luggage labels.
The aim is to remind families that they can take multiple suitcases, buggies, golf clubs, guitars, even giant teddy bears with them at no extra cost and with no hassle.
Bill Gibbons, director of Discover Ferries, says: “We have chosen these themes to help even more people realise how family-friendly ferry travel is. Having sailed once, we are sure they will see the many benefits which include no hidden costs, is stress-free and great facilities for families.”