Vacation planning for empty-nesters

The kids are all grown up and out of the house. It's time to think about year-round vacations!

The kids are all grown up and out of the house. It's time to think about year-round vacations! It certainly isn't time to mope about the empty nest: now you can start planning to take vacations when other people's kids are in school. No more thinking about kid friendly places. Now you can plan late…

Flexibility key to a successful vacation

Flexibility key to a successful vacationWhen you're travelling, you have to be ready to be a flexible traveller, even when you've got your itinerary planned down to the last minute. There are just times when it doesn't work out the way you planned. The world is changing quickly all the time and the same holds true from travelling. In fact,…

Tips to healthy travelling

While it may seem obvious you don't want to be climbing on a plane if you have the flu or some serious illness, people do it all the time

Tips to healthy travellingWhile I have discussed health and travel before, if you're going to travel healthy there are some things to add and there are some things that bear repeating! First, you should be healthy when you leave on your trip. A last minute cold aside, you don't want to be climbing on a plane if you…

Should you drink the water while travelling?

Cook it, Boil it, Peel it, or forget it!

Should you drink the water while travelling?Can you drink the water or should you drink only bottled water when you're travelling? Is it safe to drink tap water? Is it safe to brush your teeth with it? These questions come up no matter where you're travelling. In most developed countries, you don't need to drink bottled water all the time. Tap…

Pilgrimage cities of interest to all travellers, not just the religious

From Jerusalem to Rome, from Kyoto to Mecca, from Varanasi to Lhasa, all the major religions of the world have cities of special significance

Pilgrimage cities of interest to all travellers, not just the religiousJust coming off of a trip to Israel, we started thinking about pilgrimage cities of the world. While most people take a pilgrimage for religious reasons, pilgrimage cities are interesting to all travellers. Most have layers of history. There is much to see and learn about in all of them. All the major religions of…

Pilgrimage great way to give travel more meaning

A pilgrimage is a journey to visit a place that has religious or historic significance

Pilgrimage great way to give travel more meaningHere's a different travel idea for you: why not take a pilgrimage? A pilgrimage? Does that sound a little heavy? It doesn't need to. You're right in one sense, however. A pilgrimage means, most often, to go on a journey to visit a place that is religious or has historic significance and, more often than…

More budget travel tips that will save you money

All these little budget travel tips could add up to more travel time ... so watch all those little things carefully

More budget travel tips that will save you moneyThere are endless little budget travel tips that can save you a little money here and there. None of them will save you tons of money, but all those little bits can add up to an affordable trip. If you're visiting a big city, hotels tend to be expensive the closer you stay to the…

Short-term voluntourism one way to enrich your travel experience

Wherever you travel, you will have a more meaningful trip by connecting with locals

Short-term voluntourism one way to enrich your travel experienceVolunteer vacations are becoming so popular that the travel industry has coined a word for this kind of tourism. Now you can search the web for voluntourism and find hundreds of sites that provide travel with a heavy focus on volunteering. Many of those programs have you signing up for a week or two, or…

Five of the best castle stays in Scotland

Five of the best castle stays in ScotlandThere's no more Scottish an image than that of a castle surrounded by swirling mist, and most of Scotland's castles ooze a colourful and turbulent history … the stuff of swashbucklers, legends and ghost stories. All the classic imagery can be found in abundance: secret passageways, spiral staircases, dungeons, haunted rooms, four-poster beds, old oil…

Everything you’ve ever heard about Paris is true

But like a flirtatious mistress, she will drive you to distraction while capturing your soul

Everything you’ve ever heard about Paris is trueEverything you’ve ever heard about Paris is true: Expensive. Unfriendly. Grimy. Noisy. Gaudy. Congested. So why do I ache with longing whenever I hear the name? And why do I spend every cent I can spare to fly there again and again when there are a thousand-and-one other places in the world I’ve yet to…