Travel tips and Clean Water from Tripbase

A while ago I was asked to contribute some travel tips in a game of tag where each blogger shared their tips and then nominated a few other bloggers to do the same. The project was organised by Tripbase and so many bloggers were soon involved that it soon became difficult to find anyone to tag that hadn’t already shared their tips. You can read my travel tips here.

Now all these tips and travel secrets have been collected to make a series of e-books that you can download for free and with a wonderful bonus attached. For every free e-book you download here, Trip-base will donate 1$ to a fantastic cause called Charity Water with a mission to provide clean drinking water in developing countries around the world.

Clean water is something that my family and I just take for granted – we turn on the tap and it’s there. But for many families around the world, this isn’t the case. Women and children may walk for miles every day to find water in dirty pools or rivers, even though they know this water could make them sick, but may have no choice if it’s all that’s available. Through projects such as building wells, Charity water can give communities the clean water they deserve, freeing time for more productive activities and improving health.

There are several free e-books in the series to download from travel tips, tips from the US, Italy and countries around the world, to beaches, foodie and family travel.

My tips on staying in Religious guest houses and on meeting locals through social networking sites are in my article here and you’ll also find them in the Travel tips guide along with tips from many of my blogging friends.

Sherry from Ottsworld has obviously been asked too many personal questions about whether she is married, and reminds us that we don’t HAVE to answer all those personal questions but can turn the tables and ask the locals questions about themselves instead (Travel tips – P15)

Nancy from What a Trip advises us to use social media like Twitter to get advice from local Visitors Bureaus who are there to help us plan our trip and get the best deals. (Travel tips – P15) and also suggests that we take a quick photo of our luggage so that if it goes astray we can provide the information to find it again more easily (Travel tips – P37)

Anil from Foxnomad urges to try the places that locals flock to but may be less known to the average visitor – there are no real secrets in the world of travel, just places that someone could be waiting to recommend to you or for you to discover (Travel tips – P19)

Barbara at Hole in the Donut suggests that if you’re the sort of person that likes to research and book hotel accommodation ahead of time, an additional web search for your chosen hotel name + discount voucher coupons could reveal a further 10-20% discount on room prices especially from major hotel chains. (Travel tips – P24)

Keith at Velvet Escape has a tip for when you are in a hotel and want to check in to your flight online but don’t have direct access to a printer. If you check in and then save a PDF you can e-mail it to your hotel reception and ask them to print it for you before you leave. (Travel tips – P38)

Mara from Mother of all trips is a girl after my own heart when she urges the benefits of a bit of realistic planning, to avoid wandering aimlessly around or ending up at somewhere that’s closed on your chosen day. (Travel tips – P54)

Ms Gourmantic, like many other writers extols the benefits of leaving the guide book behind and experiencing a place fully with all your senses, rather than through someone else’s interpretation. (Travel tips – P53)

Liz from Travelogged makes us aware that in Greece you don’t flush the toilet paper but put it in the bin instead. Although I know this as my sister lives in Greece, it often catches me out when I go over and is a great relief when I come home again and can flush without fear of the consequences! (World tips – P.69)

In the world tips e-book I also mention London’s lesser known museums such as the Denis Severs House (not really a museum, more a Georgian house that’s a living stage set of the past) and the Geffrye Museum in East London with room sets of domestic English interiors through the ages. (World tips – P. 86)

If you want to check out these and many more travel tips, do go to Tripbase and download one or more of the free e-books so that Tripbase can make the donation on your behalf to the Clean Water project.

Download your free Travel tips e-book here

This article is published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

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How (not) to start your holiday on the sun!

The alarm on the mobile goes at 2.30am. I’m slightly worse for wear after getting to bed at midnight after a day of non-stop clothes washing, shopping for sun cream and preparing blog posts. For the last few weeks my husband has been telling me how he can’t wait until we get to Greece, and now the big day’s here. The M4 to Gatwick’s free of traffic and we make it in record time only to go round in circles trying to find our holiday parking (which I thought from the website was practically beside the terminal but in fact is tucked with little signage down a leafy lane).

As we reach the terminal my heart sinks as I spot the queue for the Easyjet check-in snaking back and forth endlessly inside the building and right out the door. Periodically the staff shout out a destination that’s just about to leave and rush those customers to the front – it’s a roll-call of all the package holiday destinations – Tenerife, Faro, Mikanos, Malaga. After 45 minutes we reach the check-in desk and then join the queue to get through security, but luckily we’re well practiced, remove belts & bracelets, extract lap tops and so we’re through without even a beep of the scanner.

A quick panini, a purchase of some flip flops and before we know it the departure gate’s showing on the screen. But there’s still a long promised purchase of some make up for my daughter and so we nip into Boots. Before we know it they’re calling for us, threatening to boot our luggage off the plane and leave without us. We sprint to the gate, only to sit for another 20 minutes in the departure lounge before boarding the buses. At the plane steps we find the cleaners are still bringing out the rubbish – apparently they forgot to clean the plane earlier and are just getting round to it now. We all grit our teeth as we’re penned in the bus for a further 15 minute and I make a mental to not ever, no never, fly from Gatwick again (unless of course it’s mega-cheap)

At last we are let loose and it’s mayhem as everyone jostles to get to the unsecured seats, worried they might not be able sit together. Luckily, an unusually for an Easyjet flight, the plane’s not full, so there’s room for everyone. The Captain’s smooth and apologetic words wash over us, there are offers for children to look around the flight desk, and the cabin crew are sweetness itself. I almost don’t mind paying the extortionate £1.50 for a tiny bottle of water.

3 hours later we touch down on the Greek island of Zante, where we’ll be spending the next week with my sister and her husband who run two hotels here, keeping us plied with ices cream and beer. The warm air hits us as the plane doors open and we’re nearly there. Will my husband follow his holiday tradition and drink a carafe of red wine before falling asleep in the sun and getting burned? Will the children get on their bathers and jump in the pool before we’ve even make it to the room? Will I calmly unpack my bag before going out to soak up the sunshine? We’ve been coming for 20 years, so we know the routine by now.

The stresses of the journey melt away – we’re on holiday!

More Zakynthos articles to enjoy

Welcome to Windmill Bay Hotel in Argassi, Zakynthos
My top three beaches on Zakynthos
The party begins at Zakynthos airport in Greece

This article is  published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

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Swimming, surfing, snorkeling – best beaches of the Dominican republic

If you’re on the hunt for the best beaches around the world, and like me you love to gaze out towards a sea of azure blue, perhaps a doze under a palm tree or a walk with the white sand between your toes, then you’ll love to hear about some of the fabulous beaches in the Dominican Republic that are featured in my guest post from allbestbeaches.com

The all best beaches team have recently been holidaying in the Dominican republic and seeking out the best beaches for swimming, surfing, snorkling or just relaxing under a sun umbrella. Here are three of their suggestions for beaches you’ll enjoy;

Playa Grande beach near Cabrera in the Dominican Republic

This beach is known as one of the most beautiful in the Dominican Republic, bounded by coral outcrops and cliffs and with fine white sand. The eastern side of this beach is especially nice, where you can feel as if you are on a small island away from civilisation. There is a parking place with several restaurants who will all want to entice you in for some seafood or Dominican specialities or a drink of fresh pineapple juice. The water is clean and the sand is soft and fine on the edge of the water without any seaweed and corals. The Playa Grande golf course is situated on the cliffs at one end of the beach and is considered one of the best in the Caribbean. As the surf can be quite high at times on this beach, it’s not ideal for young families but is great for adults and teenagers who are good swimmers as well a perfect one for a romantic beach walk.

More information on Playa Grande beach at allbestbeaches.com

Playa Alicia at Sosua in the Dominican Republic

Playa Alicia is located in the centre of Sosua – just head towards the ocean from the main square. You will see a restaurant to your left called “Beach Front”, just walk through it and take the steps leading down to Playa Alicia. This beach is a little more relaxed than the other town beach at Sosua with rocks and cliff faces bounding the beach and there are several hotels on the surrounding land. You can rent beach umbrellas here for around $3US.  The beaches around Sosua are popular with snorklers and at Playa Alicia there is a coral cliff on the left where you can snorkel in transparent water to see some little fishes. They say that the sunsets are the most beautiful here when the sun passes the Isabella Mountain and takes a snorkeling trip into the ocean just to magically return from the other side of the island.

More information about Playa Alicia at allbestbeaches.com

Playa Encuentro at Cabarete in the Dominican Republic

You’ll find this beach on the stretch of coast  between Sosua and Cabarete. It’s a favourite beach for surfers who somehow keep it secret from the tourists. If you’re planning on surfing, you do need to be a strong swimmer as the waves are high and there are waves and currents to watch out for. The beach is very clean and the view is just magnificent.  If you are planning on swimming here, get a pair of protective shoes as the ocean bottom is paved with corals, also needed against a plenty of sea urchins hiding in the rocks. The sand is clean on Playa Encuentro with larger particles as compared to other beaches of this area. You can easily reach this wonderful beach by car or motoconcho. Located about a mile away from Cabarete if you drive towards Sosua, turn right and pass through the unguarded gate with the sign “Mariposa”, follow the unpaved road along the villas, there will be signs “Beach” in English. The resort of Cabarete nearby is a major centre for windsurfing and kiteboarding.

More information on Playa Encuentro at allbestbeaches.com

If you’re on the hunt for the best beaches around the world, do take a look at some of the other beautiful beaches featured with photos and video at allbestbeaches.com

Other beautiful beaches around the world

A tour of the best beaches of Sardinia
Gone fishing for crabs on Isle Houat in Brittany, France
My three top beaches on Zakynthos, Greece

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com – Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

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