Airline passengers are losing 1000’s of bags daily.  Airlines can misplace them, and they can be stolen by professional ‘airport thieves’.  Take these precautions, and you will drastically increase your odds of arriving WITH your luggage:  

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With Halloween around the corner, here’s a look at 7 of the Scariest Travel Movies ever made:

The Shining
Jack and his family are stuck in the Overlook Hotel. The Hotel is haunted; it drives Jack crazy (All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!) and he turns on his poor family. Can the mystical force of The Shining save them…? 

Psycho
Marion Crane steals a suitcase of cash and flees to Norman Bates’ remote hotel. She’s the only visitor and things soon get creepy. Norman acts strangely, and who exactly is living in the big house above the hotel? Things are definitely not as they seem… Surely the original hotel-horror, Psycho will leave you reluctant to ever take a shower on holiday again.

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The more confined the space, the more aware and considerate we need to be of those around us.  Well, a plane is about as about as close we will get to a large amount of strangers for an extended period of time, so please consider this excellent list the next time you fly: 10 Unwritten Rules of Plane Etiquette

Published by one of Travelonly’s top Adventure Tour partners: Intrepid Travel

Ah, the adventure traveller.   He’s young, buff, loves roughing it in the Outback or the Serengeti, on the road for weeks at a time.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. (more…)

We all know that you should never leave home without your toothbrush, and you’d be silly to forget your passport.   But too often it’s the little things that make all the difference on the road.  Here are eight non-essential travel accessories that you may find to be, well, essential.  If you have any of your own, feel free to post a note below.

1. Hot sauce

Anyone visiting Mexico, Thailand or Jamaica needn’t worry about the spice of their meals, but if you’re going to Europe, Africa, or just about anywhere else, a tiny bottle of hot sauce rescues any meal from certain doom.   Hot sauce rescues most airline meals too. Remember to keep it in a plastic bag for security, and just in case it breaks and spices up your luggage.

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Travel can be expensive, but with a little thought and planning, you can really minimize your costs and travel more!  Here are some tips:

1. You don’t need to pay big bucks for water.  Take an empty bottle through security and fill it at a water fountain. 
2. Research current local currency exchange rates so you can shop for the best rate and avoid being scammed.     (more…)

Jet lag from long distance flights sometimes make us wish we never left home!  It is caused by a mismatch between the time zone you are in, and the time zone your body thinks it’s in, essentially a disruption of the body’s circadian rhythmns.  Jet lag affects us all differently, but there are some things we can do to minimize the effects and get on with enyoying our trip. 

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Rest Up.  Sleep well and gets lots of rest in the days leading up to your trip.  This will help you adapt much more quickly.
2. Stay hydrated.   Airplanes are low on humidity and high on recycled air, so drink lots of water and avoid alcohol and caffeine (more…)

It is always a great idea to visit with a Travel Health Nurse before your big trip, but another great resource is Travel Health Online.   It is a comprenensive and very useful resource for destination information,  vaccines, diseases, travel health advice, and even travel medical clinics.  If you are planning any sort of international trip you should definitely register on this site!

Most of us have enough common sense to watch our wallets and jewellery and to keep money and traveller’s cheques in a secure place when travelling. The mistake we can make, though, is understimating the clever stealth and fearlessness of professional scam artists and thieves. The fact is that every major city has them, and while paranoia can certainly wreck a vacation, some simple preparation and precaution can save it:

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Have you been considering a cruise?  If not, you should be!  

Cruising is more popular than ever, and with good reason.  Try out Royal Caribbean’s interactive cruise planner to tour some of their incredible ships, get a taste for potential destinations,  and to see why you should be planning your next cruise NOW!

When you are ready for help, just contact me!  I am an Accredited Cruise Counselor, and can work with you to ensure that you have the perfect cruise vacation.