Beat the Mosquitoes - And The Bank!
Malaria is the most probable serious illness a traveller will face. It's hard to imagine a worse travel experience than being seriously ill with malaria when you are far away from home. I'm talking the how-can-I-find-a-doctor-at-3am-in-Cape-Maclear kind of horror that ruins a trip and can even make you fear for your life. This mosquito driven infectious disease, which the World Health Organization estimates affects nearly 220 million people each year, does not discriminate and thousands of travellers are stricken with malaria each year.
Fortunately a traveller can limit their exposure and lessen their risk - but it all comes at a cost. Like many specialty health care items, malaria prevention products, devices, and prescriptions can be very expensive. The information below is NO substitution for a physician's advice, but I've done my best to provide you with the information needed to beat both the mosquitoes AND the bank! Food & Friendship in the City of Brotherly LoveI'm not sure exactly what I expected for my first visit to Philadelphia, but I certainly hadn't anticipated the City of Brotherly Love to be so darn opinionated about food, shops, and even art. Within a few hours of announcing my trip, I was inundated with social media messages from locals suggesting -no, ordering - where to go and what to eat. Talk about a passionate crowd! This first visit was far too short (I'm already musing a return visit) but even a brief stay had the makings of a fantastic girlfriend getaway.
In the digital age, are old fashioned luggage tags still necessary on airlines? And do you need luggage tags for carry on bags? Here are all the rules you need to know about travel, airlines, and luggage tags.
Not once, not twice, but FOUR times this month readers have asked me about luggage tags. Do you really need to use them? What kind of luggage tags should you get? Where should you put them? And who, exactly, cares about this stuff? Um, that would be me - and you!
Let's pause for a minute and say a very special hello to all the folks reading TurnipseedTravel for the first time. This is one of our most popular posts for new readers and we're thrilled that you've found us and started here! Please stick around and tell us what you thought of this post at the end. So why do luggage tags matter? I believe that it's often the little things that can make a big difference in travel. And while I wouldn't go so far to say that good luggage tags can make or break a trip, having reliable gear that makes your journey easier goes a long way in guaranteeing a great vacation. As always, I'm happy to do my very best and try to get to the bottom of things. Any info that makes your air travel smoother is good in my books! So let's dig deep into luggage tag rules, what to do about luggage tags at the airport, and more. "Warmly welcome and take care of tourist" - this is the train ride of a lifetime! Read all about our experience on the overnight train from Bagan to Yangon in Myanmar.
Less than 12 hours after enjoying the BEST travel experience of our lives, we were off to catch the overnight train from Bagan to Yangon. An overnight train seemed to an efficient and economical way to get across the country without losing a precious day of sightseeing to transit and we were excited to try something new.
Our expectations for the train were very modest. We had done considerable research, learning a lot from The Man in Seat 61 and Lesley Leep Phoography We had watched Anthony Bourdain’s Burmese train trip on the Parts Unknown series and had taken to heart a passage from Lonely Planet, in which a local resident advises that the train is “not as bad as you think, not as good as you hope”.
Travelling to Bagan: Expect Temples, festivals, massages, golf & more!
A trip to Bagan has been on our list of "must dos" ever since we first heard about Myanmar. The incredible archaeological and spiritual sites are unparalleled and the plains of Bagan are home to the largest concentration of religious buildings in the world. Over 2200 temples and pagodas remain from over 10,000 that were built starting in the 11th century, when Bagan was a thriving kingdom. Built on fault lines, the surviving structures - some up to 1,000 years old - remain as an impressive testament to faith and community.
Traveling by boat from Mandalay to Bagan is one of the nicest ways to get around Myanmar. And the most memorable! Join us as we talk about our journey sailing down the Irrawaddy on the Mandalay to Bagan boat. (Updated 2021).
Thousands of travelers stream into Myanmar every year, anxious to catch of glimpse of the ancient temples and famous hospitality that for so long have been kept in isolation. Unfortunately, transportation routes have not kept pace with the flow of visitors and it still takes considerable time to travel between cities that are quite close to one another. This was the transportation dilemma we faced as we debated whether to include the Mandalay to Bagan boat in our plans.
We needed to go from Mandalay to Bagan, but the expense of flying was out of the question and neither the lengthy bus nor ancient train offered a comfortable or efficient option (as we would find out later in the trip!) That left the Irrawaddy River. As such we decided to travel from Mandalay to Bagan by boat and it made for a decidedly slow but relatively pleasant commute. The BEST Travel Experience of My Life - My Ultimate Anti-Adventure with Balloons Over Bagan.16/1/2014
There's nothing like seeing the sunrise over the ancient temples of Bagan in a hot air balloon.
I try to never lose track of how fortunate I am to travel and I always remind myself how lucky I am that my work as a travel writer introduces me to extraordinary locations, experiences, and people. Never has this been more in focus than during my hot air balloon ride over the spectacular ancient temples of Bagan, Myanmar. Without a doubt it stands alone as the most incredible, breathtaking travel experience of my life and I'm so happy to share my memories with you here.
Why Golfing in Death Valley National Park (in July!) is Something That Should be on Every Golfers' Bucket ListsThere are a couple of things I must be doing wrong. Waking up at 5am and stepping outside into a 105 degree pressure cooker is not normally high on my agenda of pleasant summer activities. But this is no ordinary morning – I have a 6:00 am tee off time at the Furnace Creek Resort in Death Valley.
This course was rated as one of the 50 most difficult to play in the United States by Golf Digest, and it’s not hard to see why. By the time my round finishes on this clear July morning, the sun will be baking the 18th green with temperatures passing the 120 degree mark. Combined with the heavy, still air of the valley at 214 feet below sea level, this course certainly tests the resolve of any golfer who attempts it – and that’s the very reason why I have come to play. To play the world’s lowest elevation golf course, to dodge coyotes who are chasing road runners, and to sweat out a round that should be on everyone’s golf bucket list! For two years, I called St. John's my home... Here's what I learned to love about Newfoundland. I lived in St. John’s, Newfoundland for 18 months as a graduate student at Memorial University and had previously visited different areas of the island several times to visit friends. Renowned as one of the friendliest places in the world, there were many things I loved about Newfoundland…. but also a few that I didn't. Here's my take on this popular destination!
1.) Rich folklore – Newfoundland has a wonderful artistic community, ranging from music to literature to handicrafts to storytelling. Visiting a museum or going on a walking tour is a great thing to do in St. John’s. Every guide has a flare for the dramatic and knows that sharing oral legends is as important as sharing the facts of history. |
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