Category Archives: Travel

*** Travel For Health ***

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8 Reasons Why Traveling Is Good for Your Health

(Original article by Karen Reed for PositiveHealthWellness.com)

Traveling is one of the best things that you can do for your health. It helps your physical and mental health, with many travelers saying that it’s also excellent for the soul.

There are no limits when it comes to traveling, except for what you can afford. You can sight-see around some of your most dreamed about countries or choose exotic adventures. Go by rails, car, or even by boat. There are just so many options, and they will all help you in ways that you have never imagined.

You’re Able to Get Moving

The biggest benefit of traveling is the amount of movement that you will do. You will constantly be on the go, even if you are taking a trip on a cruise. There are sights to see and things to do!

Challenge Your Brain to Improve Its Health

The brain is another muscle that needs strengthening and challenging. While it doesn’t necessarily work in the same way as other muscles in the body, it can be developed and improved over time. The great news is that travel has been shown to help improve the brain health.

Get Away from the Everyday Stresses in Life

The more you get away, the more you move away from the everyday stresses of life. You get to take your mind and body out of work, family life, and other problems.

You’ll Find It Much Easier to Cope with Stress

Getting worked up about everything is causing your heart and other organs to fail. You won’t be happy, and you’ll feel exhausted every single day. You need to step away and start traveling. Getting away from the everyday stresses isn’t just a way to unwind. You’ll find that traveling helps you cope and deal with stress so much better. In fact, you can find that situations that were once a nightmare are those that you breeze through when you return.

Boost Your Creativeness to Boost Your Health

Did you know that more creative people are healthier? Okay, so this isn’t in every single case, but you will help to improve your life and health by focusing on a more creative approach. The great news is that traveling will help to improve just how creative you are in life.

Boost Mood and Thoughts Through Social Connections

Isolation is one of the worst things in life. While you think that you may like the quiet, it can be draining on you emotionally. Humans aren’t isolated creatures. We crave the social interaction of others. Maybe not every day, but we do benefit from some social interaction regularly—and definitely not just with kids!

Find It Easier to Boost Weight Loss Efforts

If you’ve ever wanted to lose weight, you want to look at traveling more.  Let’s focus on the activity element that was our first main benefit of traveling. When you do more activity, you instantly burn more calories. You make it easier to get rid of the excess calories that you eat on a daily basis.

Try Out Alternative Lifestyles and Health Remedies

When you visit new cultures, you get to experience how other people live. This isn’t just about developing new social thoughts or beliefs, but also about witnessing health remedies and different types of lifestyles. Traveling will let you try out the alternative lives safely and without too much commitment. It’s possible to get away from the touristy areas and focus on how the real people live.

Where Will You Travel First?

Traveling really is one of the best things that you can do for your health. This is something that supports both your physical and mental health. You will get to support your emotional health and life a better and more natural life, even when you’re not traveling.

The eight reasons to travel more above are a snapshot of the way you will benefit. There are just so many more reasons to travel to help protect your health.

This is an extract of the article written by Karen Reed.
You can see the full article here https://www.positivehealthwellness.com/fitness/8-reasons-traveling-good-health/

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*** Crocs, Crocs & More Crocs ***

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After spending 12 hours in a cramped and uncomfortable British Airways 777 from Heathrow to Hong Kong and a much more pleasant Cathay Pacific flight , Maureen and I were greeted by our daughter Alison and grandson Matari at Cairns airport even though we arrived an hour late.
We hadn’t seen them for 18 months since their visit to England when we took them on a weeks’s trip to Munich in Germany to visit friends and take the cable car up the mountain for Matari to see snow for the first time in his 6 years.

Although we’re in Australia for 3 weeks time passes quickly catching up with family and friends we haven’t seen for many years and checking out the local eateries and drnking places.

However, we’ve travelled around a bit and on Sunday we went to the market at Port Douglas stopping off at the “Zen Beach” en route.

On the way back we visited Hartley’s Crocodile Adventure Park and had a great afternoon, and if you’re in the area just north of Cairns do yourself a favour and pay them a visit and help preserve these incredible creatures.

You can cruise the Lagoon in a boat to see 5 mtr saltwater crocodiles in their own wetlands environment.  Walk the Wildlife Discovery Trail and meet freshwater crocs, turtles and lizards and go through the tropical walk-through bird aviary. Visit the Macalister Education Centre for an insight into the local environment. Meet the beautiful flightless Cassowaries, and discover why they are so important to our rainforests. Enjoy entertaining and educational wildlife presentations including snakes, cassowaries, koalas, crocodiles, quolls and much more that makes up our unique and beautiful eco-system.

This is a great family attraction and you can find their full programme at www.crocodileadventures.com

Our thanks to the guys and girls who run this fantastic park and made our day really one to remember.

Cliff
Traveljunkies.com

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*** Who are Bamboo? ***

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ABOUT US

Bamboo was built on a cornerstone of a combined experience of almost 40 years in international travel and global volunteering. The three co–founders; Colin, Steve and Mark, each share the same visions and agree it’s essential that travel in developing countries must be giving–back to the communities that it visits. This, combined with having the most fun possible, is the priority of all Bamboo’s tours. Each tour is designed around the positive impact that creates, the legacy that it leaves behind and the way that travelers and communities work together. This is as much about a cultural experience as it is a holiday.

The history of Bamboo is as interesting as the tours that we now operate. Colin is the real trailblazer having launched Global Volunteer Network almost 15 years ago. GVN, as they were known, was the first of its kind, paving the way for other volunteer travel companies to follow suit.

Mark and Steve met in 2009 whilst working for a small volunteer–travel company. They quickly became friends and realized that the only way to ensure that what they had their name on was operating honestly and with the very best of intentions was to do it themselves. They took a huge leap of faith and launched the now world–famous, Bamboo Project.

GVN and The Bamboo Projects worlds’ collided in 2015 when the three founders met up in Thailand. It wasn’t long in to that first meeting they realized that by working together, with the principles on which Bamboo is founded, they could effectively begin to change the face of international travel. Bamboo was born.

GVN is one of the oldest and most well–respected volunteer placement organizations on the planet. They became and held that position to become a trusted brand because of the commitment they have shown to their volunteers and their projects. The Bamboo Project reached incredible heights in a very short space of time due to being different, being fun and taking every step with a huge smile on its face. This was recognized in 2015, after operating for just 16 months, when they were awarded the much coveted ‘Worlds Best Volunteer–Tour’ by Tour Radar!

Over the last 15 years, GVN and The Bamboo Project have placed 26,769 volunteers on projects around the world and opened the eyes of international travelers to new cultures and customs globally. They’ve raised almost $2.5 million in project donations and have generated tens of thousands of volunteer hours for needy and worthwhile projects.

Since GVN and The Bamboo Project have joined forces the effect has been incredible. As one, in the first six months, they’ve signed up over 3,000 new and returning volunteers and travelers. In the first full year, they will have signed up over 5,000 new volunteers!

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Why You Need Travel Insurance …

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travel insurance

Are you looking to save money on your travel costs?

Have you thought about cutting down, or even cutting out your travel insurance? Are you looking for cheap travel insurance? Before you do anything else, do yourself a favour and read this.

Why you need travel insurance.

When planning a vacation or business trip, travel insurance is often one of the last things you think about, if at all, yet it’s one of the most important things to ensure your trip is stress free.

You carefully plan your holiday making sure you get exactly what you want and the best deal.
But what if things go wrong? You never know what might happen.

At home you have a pretty good idea how things work, what risks you can take and where to get help when you need it. But when you travel, it’s quite different. Especially if you’re traveling abroad but even when traveling in your own country. You don’t know what kind of unexpected setbacks could affect you and your family while you’re away.

Here’s what to protect yourself against if you’re to have a safe, enjoyable and stress free trip.

1. Things do go missing, get lost or stolen

2. You can have an accident or become ill and need medical attention. And make sure your children are properly covered. It’s very easy for children to have an accident and need medical care.

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3. Your travel arrangements can get changed or cancelled.

4. Travel companies do go out of busines

5. Bad weather can affect your plans. Recent events across the world, floods, storms, cyclones, earthquakes etc have affected thousands of people’s plans resulting in additional travel costs, extra accommodation etc.

6. You may incur legal expenses

7. Things can go wrong back home and you may need to return early

8. Medical attention and dental treatment can cost a lot more abroad than they do at home, especially in the United States.

9. You may need foreign help, with language or legal situations.

10. You may need to change your plans for many different reasons.

11. The world is unstable today with terrorist threats and actions, and countries and regions do become unsafe.

12. Hired equipment such as skis, snowboards, surfboards etc do get broken.

13. Luggage does get damaged or gets lost on flights

14. Family illness etc can prevent you going on holiday or to return early.

15. If you run your own business and can’t return, who will run it for you?

16. And finally, the thing no-one likes to talk about, what happens if you or member of your family is injured or even dies?.

Your travel insurance will give you peace of mind that if anything goes wrong, you have the protection and help you need.

Never travel without it.

Cliff Chapman
traveljunkies

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What Does EHIC Really Cover?

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A EUROPEAN HEALTH INSURANCE CARD IS A MUST IF YOU’RE HEADING OFF TO THE CONTINENT. BUT WHAT PROTECTION DOES IT ACTUALLY OFFER?

EHIC - Travel Insurance

 

WHERE CAN YOU USE IT?

You can use your card anywhere within the ‘European Economic Area’; so that’s all the countries in the EU plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and it also applies in Switzerland. You can find a full country guide on the NHS website.

Travel further afield and there’s no cover under the EHIC scheme, although some countries do have reciprocal arrangements with the UK, like Australia, New Zealand and Croatia, where you can get reduced cost medical treatment.

WHAT DOES AN EHIC COVER YOU FOR?

You’re entitled to healthcare on the same basis as the locals in whatever country you’re in. But this is the ‘basic level of state healthcare’, and as each country’s healthcare system varies, your EHIC may not cover all your costs.

If you’re on holiday in France and need medical treatment, then you’ll usually be expected to pay a doctor or dentist directly, even with an EHIC, but can pick up a treatment form which enables you to apply for a refund. You should then be able to claim back around 70% of your costs, which you can do by calling the NHS Overseas Team on 0191 218 1999. However you’ll need to submit your receipts and treatment form so make sure you hang on to any paperwork you’re given.

In Spain and Switzerland dental treatment is generally not available under the state system so you may well have to stump up. And in Cyprus, while it’s free for a doctor to issue you with a prescription (if you show your EHIC), you may get charged to pick it up from a chemist unless you visit a state pharmacy.

If your EHIC won’t cover the full cost of any treatment, you may be able to claim back the remaining ‘unpaid’ portion of the bill from your travel insurer. Some insurers like Churchill will waive the usual policy excess if the bulk of your bill is covered by your EHIC.

HOW TO USE IT

In practice you should be able to claim your free or reduced cost treatment by simply showing your card to the doctor, dentist or consultant carrying out your treatment.

But as your EHIC cover only applies in state run hospitals and clinics, (not private ones), be sure it is the state version you’re going to, and if you ask your tour rep for advice on which doctor or dentist to use, make sure they know you’re going to be getting any treatment using your EHIC.

EHIC OR TRAVEL POLICY?

So which is best to use and when? There’s no hard and fast rules on this but the Association of British Insurers (ABI) recommends that your EHIC is best kept for relatively routine treatment, such as if you need antibiotics, develop toothache or have a scrape that becomes infected.

Even if you don’t need to make a claim on your travel insurance for a minor incident like this, it’s best to let your insurer know that you’ve had medical treatment abroad.

If you’re unlucky enough to need more serious or emergency medical treatment then the ABI recommends using your travel insurance as policies provide not only medical cover, but will often cover other subsequent costs, which can be anything from rearranging your flight home, to having a family member stay on with you and even taxis and transport to the hospital for further appointments.

With some travel policies you’ll also be able to claim back things like the cost of phone calls which can quickly add up and would naturally be excluded if using your EHIC.

DO I NEED MY EHIC ON ME TO CLAIM?

You’re covered for travel from the date of your application for up to five years, and if you’re abroad and lose your card you can apply for a provisional replacement certificate by calling the NHS overseas team on 0191 218 1999.

You’ll need to give details including your name, address, age and national insurance number but a temporary certificate can then be issued to the doctor or hospital treating you.

APPLYING FOR AN EHIC

Make sure you apply for a free card on the official EHIC website. There are some commercial sites out there charging fees of around £9.99 a time to supply them, which is a complete con!

Thanks to Love Money News
https://www.lovemoney.com

Cliff Chapman
http://www.traveljunkies.com

 

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HOTELS TO VISIT BEFORE YOU DIE

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A good hotel can make or break a trip.

The worst hotel in the best place is an unfortunate experience.

The best hotel in the worst place can be a very pleasant experience.

But the best hotel in the best place is something we dream about.

Here are 48 absolutely epic dream hotels.  http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2Mf8S3/1vZ0xK-ao:KBxOfR6F/matadornetwork.com/trips/48-epic-dream-hotels-visit-die/

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