Vacation Dreams

Author: admin

  • Fave Websites of the Month

    The travel company part owned by Sir Bob
    Geldof:

    deckchair.com/



  • Travel Tips

    Putting a backpack in a large rice sack or
    specially made nylon sack is a great way of not only tidying away the
    handles, but also deterring potential thieves.

    Got any travel tips for the Beetle?
    Then e-mail them to: the
    Beetle



  • Request for Help with Food Survey

    Holly, originally from Austin, Texas but now
    living in Newfoundland is hoping that readers of the e-newsletter may
    be able to help her research for her doctoral thesis. Her thesis
    explores the ways in which individuals experience food as part of
    travel in Atlantic Canada.

    Holly has a short survey that anyone who has
    visited any of Canada's Atlantic provinces (New Brunswick, Nova
    Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador) can
    complete. There's also a web page that people can
    have a look at to find out more about her project, if they wish or,
    you can email Holly with any questions. To contact Holly for
    preliminary questions, and returning any completed surveys, is drpepper@warp.nfld.net

    Interview topics may include: 1) food choices at
    home and while travelling; 2) lifestyle considerations influencing
    food preferences; 3) extent of travel experience; 4) and expectations
    of travel. The data obtained from interviews and observation will
    form the basis of the thesis, and may also be used in published
    articles and/or book chapters, class lectures and public
    presentations. Anonymity will be maintained for any participants who
    wish it.



  • The Seychelles in a Nutshell

    The Seychelles are in the Indian Ocean, 1,000
    miles away from the African coast and the island of Mauritius. The
    capital is Victoria on the largest island of Mahe (17 miles by 5
    miles) and they are about 11 hours flying time from London.

    They consist of 115 tropical islands with some
    amazing wildlife, for example, the huge tortoises that freely roam
    some islands. The people of the Seychelles are called the Seychellois
    and are a mix of Creole, Indian, Chinese, French and British. It is
    not an easy or cheap country to travel around cheaply and most of the
    food is imported, making it quite expensive to eat too.

    A useless fact: the local beer is called
    Seybrew!



  • Mutual Aid

    Paula would be grateful for some help or advice:
    she is a single female aged 43 and a diabetic who wants information
    on travel to Ireland. She is planning a trip either next August or
    December. She is interested in music, Irish culture, meeting Reform
    Jews in the area and would be grateful for any advice on the best
    places to visit. If you are a music lover please tell her where the
    best CD stores are and where she can hear the finest Irish music. She
    is interested in classical music, Irish folk, pub music and pop.

    She also wants information on safe accommodations,
    diabetic food spots, where the nicest Jewish temples are and best
    times to visit.

    Please e-mail or write to: Paula Hurwitz, 7545
    Murray Hill Road, #832, Columbia, MD 21046 or e-mail
    phurwitz@erols.com

    Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about
    a place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit
    our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual
    Aid



  • Fly Me to the Moon!

    Have you got £15 million to spare? There
    have been two space tourists so far: 61-year-old American businessman
    Dennis Tito paid to go into space on a Russian space vessel. Mark
    Shuttleworth the South African business tycoon has just finished his
    week's training and is set to become the world's second
    paying space traveller when he visits the International Space Station
    aboard a Russian ship in April.

    Up until now, NASA has opposed private individuals
    paying to go into space. Until now, that is. NASA has now published a
    set of rules which all potential space travellers must meet before
    being allowed into a spacecraft.

    NASA's chief astronaut, Charles Precourt, who
    helped draw up the rules, said: 'We don't want to embarrass
    our space partners by having [a tourist] who would be so
    controversial that it would be an insult to the other partners to fly
    them because of some behavioural background that was considered
    distasteful.”



  • Don't Upset The Elephants!

    They really do have long memories! Research by the
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shown that elephants have
    very long memories, large brains and are highly emotional.
    Orang-utans are the cleverest of non human primates and can perform
    complex tasks such as opening doors by choosing the right key from a
    bunch of keys. Squirrels have a brain proportionally 1.5 times bigger
    than humans and can remember where they have buried 10,000 nuts!



  • Have you got a tale to tell??

    If you have a travellers tale that your aching to
    tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section
    of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites



  • MEETING NEWS

    Meeting news from our branches around the world.


  • London:

    We had two excellent speakers in February! First was Alastair
    Lee
    who gave us a multi-dimensional view of his travels in China
    and his very close up views of climbing various horrifically vertical
    mountains in Northern Yunnan. He spoke of the friendships he and his
    girlfriend struck up with people who lived close by who were
    fascinated by some of his climbing equipment, the weather which
    looked like it was going to defeat them and entertained us with some
    great poses and a dancing finale! Alastair has published a fabulous
    climbing guide on New Zealand. Take a look at his web site: posingproductions.com

    After the tea and coffee break, Ben Nimmo spoke of his
    cathartic pilgrimage complete with trombone from Canterbury to
    Santiago de Compostela, in Spain. He regaled us with hilarious
    tales of some of the larger than life characters he met en route, the
    amount of beer and wine he sampled, all out of a sense of duty and
    through a spirit of comradeship, of course, and in particular the
    story of how he became a god father to a little girl in France. Funny
    stories, great pictures, wonderful trip, Ben! Ben has written a
    highly moving and entertaining book called Pilgrim Snail documenting
    his pilgrimage. Pilgrim Snail is available now in bookshops and
    the following website fireandwater.co.uk and Ben's
    next book 'In Forkbeard's Wake' is out in January
    2003.

    Coming next, on Saturday 2nd March, we have Philip Koniotes
    talking about “The Antarctic Peninsular.” Philip has
    regularly travelled to the Arctic dog-sledding and has travelled
    extensively, including diving around the world and making five polar
    trips – the Antarctic has been his most recent journey. He loves the
    space and trying to capture it on film. After the break, Mark
    Elliott
    will be talking on “Saving Kilum Forest” set in
    NW Cameroon – about curious kingdoms and unique mountain forests.
    Mark is standing in for Juliet Coombe who is unable to attend the
    Globetrotter meeting due to a car accident in Australia. She is okay
    but not yet fit to fly

    London meetings are
    held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune
    Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month.
    There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back on Saturday
    1st September. For more information, you
    can contact the Globetrotter Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or
    visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk