Travel Diaries

Lots of people take holidays during the December time, it’s perfect because flights will get cheaper to fill them up over Christmas Day/Boxing Day, the airports won’t be so busy and everyone will generally be in a cheery mood.

However, travelling abroad at this time was always strange for me; suddenly your traditions are switched. You might be eating lobster or sushi instead of turkey on Christmas Day!

My family has never been particularly religious, nor have we ever celebrated a holiday in any religious way so we don’t go to church. We do have traditions though, being brought up in the UK we have always celebrated Christmas holiday. We eat turkey, beef, lamb with all the trimmings, open presents in the morning and spend the day together doing something fun.

I’ve been away for three Christmases, all when I was quite young.

First was when I was about 9, we went on a cruise in Europe, going to places like Italy and the Mediterranean. The cruise itself was terrible and I was so seasick the entire time, we left the cruise early to get back home for Christmas and we ended up having a pretty normal Christmas.

Second time we were away was on another cruise, this time I wasn’t seasick and the trip was amazing. The heat of Grenada was slightly overwhelming for Christmas Day but it was still cool to be there! It felt weird to be waking up not excited about presents but about the island that was about to greet us!

Third and finally was a hotel in Miami, this was probably the weirdest Christmas out of the lot, the sand, sea and food took me by complete surprise. I distinctly remember my sister eating alphabet soup which threw me. Where were the Brussels sprouts?

Would I go again at Christmas?

I think I’ll go somewhere with snow, possibly on a Skiing holiday or to Finland. Right now I wouldn’t like to be somewhere sunny and hot but things change… Who knows?

Another post I’ve found which has a cool illustrated diagram of holiday travelling statistics in her blog is Simply Stacie!

Have you taken any trips during the Christmas holidays that threw you? Or did you really enjoy it, I’d love to hear your comments below!

Technorati Tags: Christmas, Holidays, Travelling

Traveling abroad can be massive amounts of fun, although you want to make sure you and whoever you are holidaying with are safe. During my endless surfing sessions of the web I’ve compiled a top ten list of things to remember whilst traveling, here goes..

1.  First and probably most important for trying to leave the country, Remember your passport and travel documentation (Tickets and/or itinerary’s) . If you don’t have those things, your pretty much stuffed.

If you’ve got a lot of traveling to do it’s probably a good idea to keep all important documents/passports in the same place!

Make copies of your passports and when you are on your holiday keep the important things in a hotel safe don’t carry it around with you on excursions out.

2.  Make sure you have Travel Insurance, God forbid anything happen you don’t want to be caught off guard, shop around for good deals with your insurance but don’t skimp on anything, make sure you read what your policy covers and doesn’t cover.

3.  Try not to take valuables with you, Jewelry and expensive technology (Laptops, Mobile Phones) will be a burden to carry with you and another thing to worry about the whole time. If you want to take things like cameras then make sure they are on your person somewhere that you can keep track of it at all times.

4. Money! A very important part of the holiday, being caught without money is probably one of the worst things that can happen to you whilst in a foreign country. If you’re traveling with credit cards take two, one that you will use when out and about, this one you want to carry with you as normal. The second one will be back up, keep it stashed in a suitcase and remember where it is.  You can do the same with notes if you plan to carry this with you, put some in different places so you always have some somewhere.

5. Get a book about the country or countries you are visiting, learn as much as you can about the culture before you travel. Guide books will usually tell you about the good/bad places in  a city, so take that into account. Also make use of websites like Trip Advisor, the forums are great for getting a feel of the area you are going to.

6. Make lists. Write down the things you need for your trip, and tick them off as you buy them and add them to your suitcase. As a woman I know that feeling you get when packing that you need those extra pair of shoes because they go with that outfit, but trust me you don’t want to be carrying around huge suitcases all the time. If you are going on a trip like mine with a lot of travel on trains then it might be a better idea to take backpacks instead of suitcases, they will fit easier on the train plus they are so much easier to carry.

7. If you are traveling to an area of high risk remember to get yourself and your family vaccinated in the right amount of time before you leave. You might also want to take mosquito nets depending on the place you are holidaying.

8. Make sure you are punctual for all traveling times, have your itinerary to hand at all times so you can get an idea of the times that you need to be at the airport or station. The transport waits for nobody

9. Always remember to fix your house before you leave, Lock everything including windows. Tell a neighbor that you’re going away and leave them with a key if you need someone to feed the fish or water the plants. Throw away perishable foods from you fridge and cupboards.

10. Remember to have fun! It’s your holiday so enjoy it.

Technorati Tags: Holidays, safety, Travel, Vacation