Traveling Alone Safely As A Woman
Traveling is an exciting pastime for anyone, but there are some things to keep in mind to make your journey not only successful, but a safe one. This is all true, especially if you’re a woman traveling alone. You need to prepare for all the things that can happen when you’re on vacation. Follow the tips written by the Springwood Guesthouse Gatwick hotels with parking below to stay safe and ultimately have a great time!
Leave your contact information at home with someone who is reliable like a close friend or family member. When planning your trip and booking your hotel, you will probably already know that contact information. Leaving it with a reliable source will make sure that if something happens someone will know and can relay your contact information to the proper authorities.
Making a schedule for your trip and sticking with it is imperative. This is especially true if you are on your own. Make sure that you provide a copy of your schedule to your friends and family members. This will ensure that someone will know where you are at all times. Sticking to your schedule leaves little room for error and makes you a much smaller target for crimes.
Research the area before planning your trip. It is important that if you pay the money that the place you visit suits your wants and needs. Read blogs or forum posts of people who live in the area. Consider reading reviews of local restaurants and hotels. Believe it or not, oftentimes reviews give you a much better insight as to what a place is like. Travel brochures and magazines only highlight the good things about a destination. Thorough online research can pinpoint the negatives or more affordable tourist attractions that many guides omit.
Make sure that you make several copies of your documentation before you travel. This means, make copies of your passport and IDs to ensure that if they are lost or stolen, you still have proof of your identity and citizenship.
Pickpockets are ten a penny, especially in large cities with many people. Limit the amount of valuables you carry with you. Only take the necessities and leave things of value at home or in someone’s care that you trust. Make sure that if you have a purse, it has a zipper you can use to enclose your valuables. Don’t let your purse hang at your side while walking through a mass of people. Hang onto it tightly!
It may be tempting to accessorize your outfit with flashy accessories, but it can also gain unwanted attention from pickpockets or criminals. Try to blend in with the tourist crowd and minimize your accessories to the bare minimum. Leave fancy watches, necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets and expensive handbags at home. Accessorize your outfit with costume jewelry and with a “low end” handbag.
There are dark neighborhoods in every city and sometimes you may be unfortunate enough to find yourself in one. If this is the case and you start feeling uneasy or perhaps even feel that someone may be following you, move to an area with a lot of people. This can help you get lost in the crowd and find your way safely to your destination.
Following the tips from this article ensures that you have a safe and enjoyable time during your next vacation! It is okay to travel alone armed with the right information and sources.
How To Take Your Vacation On The Road
With rising costs and increasingly invasive security, air travel has lost a lot of its appeal. You can avoid these hassles by taking a road trip. This article was written by The Springwood Guesthouse who offer Gatwick hotels with parking, and will help you plan and enjoy a memorable car trip.
The first step is to decide where you’re going. This can either be a big trip or simply a visit to a far away friend or family member. If you’re not sure, keep in mind how far away a potential destination is, how far you’d drive each day, and how much time you have. If you’re on the East Coast and only have a week, a trip to California probably isn’t feasible.
Once you know where you’re going, plan your route. Decide if you want to take highways or backroads. If you’re a member, visit AAA. They’ll provide you with books about the regions you’ll pass through and even a booklet of personalized maps just for your trip. When thinking about your route, think about the destinations along the way to help you plan which way to go.
Before leaving, make sure your car’s in good shape. Get an oil change, especially if you’re planning to take a true cross country trip. An oil change will also reveal if there are any other problems that need to be looked at before you set off.
Part of the fun of a road trip is that you can get out any time you want to. Plan stops during the day. For museums and other attractions, keep opening and closing hours in mind. Depending on when you’re driving through, there may be some things you won’t be able to see. Scheduling stops helps you plan your route and break up your driving day. Allow plenty of time to reach your destination and enjoy it. A leisurely pace with scheduled stops will give you something to look forward to as you drive and will take advantage of traveling by car.
A route and scheduled stops will help you get where you’re going, but don’t be afraid to stop if you see something interesting! A sign for a roadside attraction or an impulse stop lets you really enjoy the road trip experience. You’ll get to see and do things you could never do if you flew by plane, and you’ll be able to discover things that you didn’t even know were out there.
For hotels, you can either book things in advance or look for a place to stay on your way. You may find better deals if you book ahead, but you’ll give up some flexibility. If you’re looking for hotels as you go, you may sometimes have difficulty finding a room. If you feel too tired to drive, let someone else take the wheel. Don’t sleep in your car to save money. If you’re traveling alone, take a short break at a rest area until you feel ready to drive to the next hotel, but don’t try to spend the night there. Sleeping in your car isn’t safe and in some places it can get you a ticket.
It’s important to have fun and try new things, but remember to stay safe. If you have any doubts, don’t stop at a roadside attraction or stay at a motel that seems slightly off. Your trip will be much more fun if you trust your gut and stay spontaneous without taking chances.
Taking a road trip can be a great experience. You’ll save money, see new things, and be in complete control of your pace. Now that you’ve read this article, you’re ready to set out on the road!
Tips For Renting an RV
Renting an RV is not a decision to be made hastily. There are many things to consider before making a commitment to an RV rental. It is best to make a list of questions to ask yourself and an agent, before going to a place of business. Consider how many people will be traveling with you and what size RV that you may need. How long is your intended trip and what luxuries you would like included? Once this is determined, several things you may want to ask the rental agent come to mind.
Cost
The cost of the rental will be one of the first things to cross your mind, but other fees not openly discussed are excellent starting points. Is there an extra charge for mileage? You can ask about a package deal that would include several hundred miles over the distance of your planed trip. You might consider renting for a longer period time than planed also, in case you decide to stay on the road for an extra day or two. What kind of fuel mileage would your rental get? Some models do not do very well with fuel, a good thing to know to stay within your budget. Ask what type of insurance is available, specifically what is covered and what to do in case of break down.
Research
With the ability to get on-line, research has become very easy to accomplish. The facts that you learn can be very powerful tools to approach a rental agent with. Such as their competitions packages and pricing. You could find a discount coupon on-line as well.
Negotiate
Of most importance, keep in mind when you are considering renting an RV, the rental agent would like to rent it to you too. An RV sitting on the lot to be rented is not making any money for him or his company. With that knowledge, you can negotiate a rental agreement that will be to your advantage. Never be afraid to walk away and think over an agreement before signing. You can probably get a package deal for far less than you thought possible.
Once you have rented a few times you may decide to buy an RV. There are some great deals to be found when you look at used campers for sale. A pre-owned RV could save you thousands over new and still have many great years left in it.
Visit Incredible Santorini, an Aegean Volcanic Gem
Santorini is one of the must see islands in the Mediterranean – a stunning volcanic caldera with a dynamic culture and amazing history, surrounded by crystal clear blue water. It has an international airport and is easily accessible by regular flights from Gatwick. After booking a flight for a short or long period, one of the several gatwick airport hotels with parking can be booked to ensure a comfortable night’s accommodation and security for a car while away on holiday.
Santorini, also called Thira, is an island like no other in the Aegean. It is a volcanic caldera -a collapsed volcanic cone. The crater walls have been breached in two places by the sea and now the entire crater is filled with seawater, except for a few islands in the centre. The crater walls are bare and steep, with the surprisingly large population of 13 to 14 000 living in a series of small picturesque villages and towns on the top of the island slopes. At least two of these small towns sit precariously it seems on the very lip of the crater and the views are stupendous as one sits in a restaurant or hotel room looking across and out as the sun sets over the horizon.
Santorini’s past is as incredible as the present. Site of an outpost of one of ancient Greece’s earliest and most mysterious civilisations, the Minoan, based in Crete to the South of Santorini, it saw one of the world’s greatest volcanic eruptions some three and a half thousand years ago. The resulting tsunami and shockwaves from the eruption is thought to have wiped out the Minoans and Greek history only really recovered many hundreds of years later. Santorini literally blew itself up in the eruption, with the present central caldera being formed. This didn’t stop the occupation of the island much later. It was recolonised perhaps because of the rich volcanic soils, but later eruptions and earthquakes saw more damage and the appearance of new cones in the middle of the crater.
The largest settlement on the island, Fira, is about 5 miles from the airport and is a busy, bustling place with just about any sort of services you can possibly want. There are many types of accommodation on the island from little home stays or domatia in Greek to five star resorts situated on the black sand beaches on the East coast. Be sure to book well in advance if you are thinking of visiting between the end of June and the end of August as prices skyrocket for just about everything and accommodation and just about everything else becomes scarce.
There are plenty of things to keep you occupied on Santorini for a week or more – that’s when you can drag your eyes away from the view over the crater of course. The stunning small village of Oia to the North is a short bus or car ride away and is filled with narrow streets and classic architecture of this part of Greece – houses, shops and churches decked in blue and white paint and walls covered in bougainvillea and oleander.
There are sea trips, cave trips, archaeological sites, plenty of shopping, great places to dine and have a drink and if you were thinking of island hopping anywhere else in Greece the constant comings and goings of ferries will whisk you away whenever or wherever you want.
Grenada is Famous for the Aroma of Spices
There are many places you can fly to from Gatwick that are close to home in Europe but if you are looking for something more exotic, then the Caribbean is the place to go. Grenada, apart from being a tropical destination with lush vegetation, warm tropical seas and great beaches, is also a well known spice growing country and major exporter of these aromatic plants. To take a week’s break in Grenada will not be long enough but it will give a taste of this island country. After you have spent a night at a Gatwick hotel with parking, left your car in safety then you are ready to jet to the Caribbean.
On arrival in Grenada you can book a spice tour. The country grows and processes cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. They have a wide variety of uses as well as being added as a flavouring in food. The export market sells them to drug companies, who use them as part of the ingredients in patent medicines. They are also used as a component in various lines of beauty products.
It is an interesting fact that Grenada’s land area has the highest concentration of spice plantations than any other place in the world. When tourists visit the island they always visit the plantations. The health giving properties of some of the spices is of great interest to visitors. Nutmeg oil, for example, is supposed to be good for the relieving of aches and pains and a clove placed in or near a tooth which is hurting, rapidly reduce the pain until a dentist can be located to examine and fix the problem.
Spices that are now grown on the island were not native but were introduced and over time have developed into a massive industry. Many of the islanders now work or own spice plantations and it has become a main way to make a living. The island is one of the world’s largest producers of nutmeg and mace. There is a large nutmeg processing factory which is definitely worth a visit as well as stopping in the countryside to admire the plantations of these amazing plants.
Often a holiday is to do with lying in the sun on a beach or by a swimming pool and enjoying other in house activities put on by the hotel. Sometimes the only reason to venture outside a hotel is to get back to the airport. However, Grenada has something else to offer the visitor that gives them the insight into the way of life of one group of Caribbean islanders that is unique in every respect. Once you have come back from a spice island tour, you can relax by the swimming pool with a glass of Grenadian beer in your hand and say to yourself that at least you know more about the country than the inside and outside of one of its hotels.