Blog catchit.com

@ ChazWags

Couchsurfing consists in welcoming one or more people in lending your sofa, for a night (or more…), a piece of your garden in order to plant a tent, or, even better, a room with a real bed, or simply, having a cup of coffee with a foreigner to do some culture exchanges. Rules are not specified which makes all the charm of it.

According to a survey done by “Réseau de Veille en Tourisme de l’UQAM” more than hosting, it’s all the travel philosophy that’s changing: “Couchsurfing moves aside travelers from usual touristic places, stimulates better behavior to the host community and strengthens intercultural understanding”. What do we need else?

Where to get informed?

You can go on the website www.couchsurfing.com; there are a lot of offers. Thus, don’t miss the opportunity to get to know new people from other cultures by traveling for cheap.

Here are some websites where you can get more information.
Couchsurfing.com
hospitality club
Let me stay for a day

This is one of the most practical idea that I’ve seen lately, a portable shower that you can bring each time you are going to camp rough or to a camping site in order to be as “clean” as being home.

As a result, you won’t have any excuse anymore for not being fresh. You will not have to share bathroom with dozen of strangers as you will have your own personal shower.

As you can see on the picture, it is small but enough, which makes easy its carriage.

Actually, it is a multiuse tent which can be utilized as a shower, a sink and a place to get changed. This tent is sold with a floor that you can put on and take off as much as you feel, a tank of 20 liters of water that will get warm by the sun and a spillway to evacuate the water.

This tent is perfect to get privacy while camping or while you spending some days in a music festival.

You can find it on the website of Wenzel camping gear.

@ OliBac

Even with the crisis, we wish to escape, once, twice, event three times a year from our routine.

But what’s the price of it? Nowadays, there are low cost, flights cheaper than others. We are able to go all over Europe, and sometimes more, for really low-priced.

But, once we’ve got the flights we need to find accommodation, and most of the time, this fee is not low cost anymore. Here, the home exchange for holiday steps in.

The concept is simple. For instance, you go on holiday to US to M. X. While you are there, M.X is in your house, in UK.

Lending your own home is a kind of “special”, I agree. For sure, right now, you are thinking about “Ho my God! What about if someone steals something!!!” or “What about if they do strange things in my bed”. That’s true!
But after a bit of cleanup and changing sheets, it’s fine again. Moreover, I think there is no hotel that changes mattress and bed after each client.

Above all, think about all the saving you can make, by going anywhere in the world. Funds planed for the housing will be used to enjoy, even more, your holiday.

If you are still skeptical, take a look on the websites:
-> Home exchange
-> Switch home
-> Home link

There are offers and feedbacks.

“Thanks for your help to locate an exchange for us. We did find one for Germany and spent the most relaxing holiday we ever had, in the Harz Mountains, for 3 weeks. The other couple met us there and took us for dinner with their mother who would help us out during our stay. We had a great exchange! Both couples did and it all worked perfectly!
We met and made new friends.
Home exchanging is the BEST way to go and we’ll do it again as often as possible. Even people we corresponded with and couldn’t make it work out right, have become friends through email, and it is so interesting to hear from all over the world!”
Dianne and Ed Clowes: Canada”

Thailand had to face up to many things these past years. It had been destroyed by the Tsunami in 2004, there were various politics problems, and the country was pointed out as a paradise for sexual tourism.

To attract tourists, the tourism authority has just announced that a new cocktail has been created, the Siam Sunrays. Cuba has its Caipirinya; Guadeloupe, its Ti-Punch, Thailand will get its Siam Sunrays.

@ alpha du centaure

Travelers will need time before they accepted the Siam Sunrays as an authentic and traditional drink.
Actually, a lot of traditional products were created only for tourists (such as in Québec where they invented the whisky with maple).

This cocktail will be soon available in all hotels and shops of Thailand.

Just to give you a little idea, here are the ingredients: Vodka, coconut liqueur, a piece of hot red pepper, sugar, lime juice, lemon slices and ginger.
All of this served with crushed ice and sparkling water.

Will this latest drink boost tourism in Thailand? Will it attract holidaymakers? We’ll see…

@ BastieN [M]

It’s a bit difficult to imagine a beach entirely white, but it’s much easier to see it for real, on the Hyams Beach, a village setting in the Guinness records book as the whitest beach of the world.

Agent Smith

This takes place in the state of New South Wales, between Sydney (2h30) and Canberra (3h), in the South east of Australia.

The village of Hyams Beach will surprise you with its large beach entirely white and its transparent and turquoise water. The sand color is due to eroded corals which get the beach.

goldfoot

Hyams Beach is one of the most touristic destination New South of Wales state.

Moreover, the village is surrounded of a national parks area whereof Jervis Bay National Park, Boodere National Park and botanic gardens.

Booderee is a large reserve. Its name means “abundance bay”.
The reserve is made of several virgin beaches with a lot of wildlife, perfect to move away from the city life and to get directly in contact with the nature.

In Jervis Bay, another National Park with similar virgin area, you might see kangaroos going through the beach.

This Bay offers aquatic activities. Moreover, with luck, you will also see some wheels.

In summer this area is lively. Plenty of tourists and foreigners come to enjoy the sun…

Geological factors have given us a huge quantity of natural beauties. One of them takes place in Turkey, I am talking about Pamukkale.

Pamukkale consists in a bunch of limestone-forming that gave those curious shapes (you can see it by yourself on the following picture).

@ deepgoswami

It is located in Denizli Province, about 220 miles from Istanbul. Pamukkale was declared as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. Don’t miss this place if you pass by Turkey.

Moreover, the most interesting thing in this curious place is, at the top of this paradise, there are ruins of Hierapolis, which give us one more reasons to pass by this country.

@ Giant Ginkgo

The famous Bamboo forest is located in Kamakura. It is one of the main attractions in Japan.

A walk through this woodland will be unforgettable.

Bamboo is natural material; it has a peculiar beauty offering various colors and beatified feelings. This takes place nearby Kyoto.

Moreover, you can use this occasion to visit some Zen temples, such as the Tenryu-ji temple

By Swiv

Everyone has already heard, either from advertising or from movies, about the famous Route 66, also called “The Mother Road”. It has been created in 1926 and 2460 miles long.

From what point to what point does this road go?

Actually, it connects Los Angeles with San Francisco, crossing 8 states which are the state of Illinois, the state of Missouri, the state of Kansas, the state of Oklahoma, the state of ,Texas, the state of New Mexico, the state of Arizona and the state of California.

Through this road you will discover small-town America and its eventful past, but also its historical places. You will be amazed with its landscapes, going from deserts to agricultural plains. Good for forties/fifties lovers: The route 66 has kept all signs of this carefree time.
Along your way you will see restaurants and drive-in, abandoned motels belonging to this period.

Caveman 92223

You will probably cross bikers, as we have already seen in movies, with their leather jacket, riding large engines, making so much noise that they could wake dead people up.
Various tours are organized by various agencies, but it would be better to do it entirely, following the “real” route 66, which means without taking highways.
There are also other ways to do this trip: By auto motor, by big Americans cars, by bus, alone or in group, and others… But if you are a fan of huge engines, and especially of Harley Davidson, it is possible to own one for the period of this unforgettable trip.
Can you imagine driving this engine for 2460 miles, thinking about anything else, for 15 days…But doesn’t matter your means of transport, you will get this feeling of freedom. Once you brush this bitumen, there only you and this magic experience.

By Caveman 92223

By Caveman 92223

@ Robert Scales’ photostream

Don’t pack too much!!
As you’re going to be carrying the entire backpack on your back, there’s even more motive to only take the basics. And also, everybody expects you to have an impression of being crummy while you’re travelling. It’s a symbol of honor!

Don’t forget your MP3 player.
For some travelers, they’re an abomination, they will miss some funny parts, or some important conversations and I understand it. But after 24-hour in a bus or in a train, you’ll agree with that fact that it’s the best invention ever.

Avoid school holiday.
If you don’t have any children or any other work engagements, avoiding peak periods can enable you to save some of your money, I’m not talking only about flights, but also housing and entrance once you are there. But be careful, some places have a specific raison to be cheap in low seasons: nothing is opened.

Make use of public transport.
Buses, trains and trams are always cheaper than taxis. It’s also a better way to mix up with local people, and you’ll be surprised at how many different kind people you can get along with.

Learn a bit of slang.
Even if it’s only a few words … even if you only know the question: “Can you speak English?” Locals will notice your effort, they will be pleased, and you will always get something more or better than if you don’t do it.

Don’t be afraid of tours.
Doing a tour might be a bad idea even if you have traveled before. Sure, sometimes it can be really boring, but if you’ve on are restricted in your schedule and have a limited budget, choose a tour company that seems matching with your approach of traveling, and you’ll meet a lot of people like you, and have a plenty of fun.

Bargain.
Negotiate with your travel agent. The fee they charge you for flights is what they assume they can make you to pay. Don’t let them do it.

Enjoy!
Of course you will meet wrong people, wrong situation…etc… and when you’re far away you take it even worse, but keep thinking in this only way: no extraordinary situations (good or bad) = no decent stories to tell. So go with the wind, be kind with everybody, and stuff will work out well…

By Pop_wilson

Did I miss out something? What would you recommend?

@ twenty_questions

Nowadays, traveling to some countries without being vaccinated should be unthinkable.
However, each year, hundreds of travelers jump in this adventure. A single bite, in a tropical country, can waste your holiday and your plans for the future.

Some diseases are grave, such as the yellow-fever (spread via South American and African mosquitoes), the dengue-fever (mostly city area in South America, Africa, and Asia), or the Malaria (South America, Africa, Asia), among others.

Du to globalization, diseases travel easily from a country to another. Via people going back to their own country, or via mosquitoes, taking a flight, landing on another continent and spreading these diseases.

We also know viruses are able to mutate and to get worse, such as the West Nile Virus in 1999 in New York.
To sum up, viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungus travel freely at an international level. We have, as travelers, the mission of preventing this disease-spreading with vaccines and going for regular checkups.

Warning!! Because of the climate change, some mosquitoes are now able to reproduce in more places (more northern); the best is to ask your doctor or in a vaccination center.

@ poil0do

Some vaccines, such as hepatitis A and B, have to be administered some weeks before the departure. It is also better to do a check up some month after being back; moreover, for some diseases, such as Malaria, there is no vaccine. The only way is taking pills everyday. But theses pills are not fully reliable: only 60 % and symptoms can appear later.

Also, some vaccines are mandatory to get into a country, such as the yellow-fever in India or some part of Africa.

Traveling to tropics well vaccinated, would avoid worries and would allow spending relaxing holiday.

Never forget this common saying: “Prevention is better than cure!”