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Travel with Meaning: Five Ways to Improve Every Trip You Take

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Travel is a luxury only few of us are privileged enough to do, which is why when you take a trip, you need to make the most of it. This means exploring, relaxing, shopping, and experiencing far off lands. Traveling half-heartedly is a waste. If you want to make the most of your trip, you need to travel with meaning. To do this, you need to start doing these five things to improve every trip you take:

Learn the History

 

History is, inherently, fascinating. That is why taking the extra time to read up on the history of a country can make you appreciate it all the more. Every place has a history. Some histories are thousands of years old, some are only a few hundred or even a few years. The older the place, the more important it is that you read up and know what has gone on there in the past. If reading isn’t your style, there are also audio-books and documentaries, meaning that you’ll be able to learn before you go no matter your schedule and preferences.

Know Your Options

 

Though scheduling every part of your day is not advised, knowing your options is. Knowing the top places to go and having them saved on an offline map can mean that you can create a custom itinerary as the day goes on, without missing the top destinations in the area. This also keeps you open for spontaneous decisions and adventures. It’s a great way to plan, without over planning.

Be Respectful

 

Every culture has its rules, and every country has its laws, which is why you need to know them and be respectful of them. That is why you should generally read up on these cultural and legal rules that you should follow, or else face the consequences. This might seem obvious, but some common behaviors we do at home can be illegal in other countries. Know what is different before you go to ensure you continue to have a great time.

Take Home Better Souvenirs

 

The best souvenirs are the ones that not only support local artists and the locals in general, but also holds meaning and value. For instance, if you visit Italy, bypass the cheap Pisa tower keychains and instead pick up a bottle of wine from a vineyard. You could even purchase a crate of investment bottles, where if you wait for it to mature, it will become one of the best bottles you have ever tasted. However, ensure your bottle does not spoil after you bring it back home by storing it within the Octavian Vaults, a luxury wine storage facility, and in a few decades, you’ll have a beautiful bottle of wine to celebrate with. If you enjoy brining back bottles of wine from your travels, by storing them properly, this can even become a unique and profitable investment opportunity.

Memories are Not Forever: How to Capture Your Trip of a Lifetime

 

Forget the selfies and focus on taking photos of where you are, who you see, what you do, and the friends you make. Having more photos of yourself won’t help you remember, but focusing on capturing your experience will.

Travel is a wonderful thing, and when you can travel, you need to make the most of it. Making the most of it means having better memories to carry with you, and having an even better time.

Capitalise On Canada – Why Tours Are The Best Way To Visit The Great White North

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If you’re the type of person who wants to head off to a far flung and adventurous locale you may also be the kind of person who wants to see as much as you can and pack in the most adventure during your time there. A lot of the time going to a new country means trying to get your bearings and figure things out which means precious hours wasted wandering around trying to find something or even getting lost! Not great for someone who wants to pack as much adventure into a trip as they can. When it’s a country as big as Canada though, it can be even more of a time waste if you get lost or can’t find your way with everything so spread out. Here’s a couple great reasons why you should consider going on an organised tour for your next trip to the Great White North.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

Going on a tour to somewhere like Canada is one of the best ways to ensure you see and do the things that are important to you. Whether it’s adventurous stuff like rafting, hiking, snowshoeing or climbing up onto the Athabasca Glacier in Alberta, tours are great for packing all this into your short time in the country. You can go on a Canada tour easily and pick and choose which types of tours suit you and your travelling companion or family best. Between classic tours and VIP tours to choose from you can be sure that you will find the perfect type of package to suit your tastes and preferences. You can even choose small group tours for you and your friends to have the high quality professional guide without the massive tour group numbers.

Travel In Comfort And Style

Tours in Canada can incorporate a whole host of things to see and do but also will almost always provide high quality, high class buses and other various transport as well as accommodation in top quality hotels in your touring area. This means you will get the VIP treatment along with a knowledgeable guide who is an expert on Canada and the sights and attractions you will be visiting, meaning you get more bang for your buck in terms of value for money on your tours. Return home being an expert on Canada and become the envy of your friends, inspiring them to book their own tours to the Great White North.

No Better Way

With the vast size of Canada it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the things you want to see and how much time you have to do it in. Between getting yourself from A to B and beyond and to all the things you want to do, driving yourself can be exhausting. This is where tours come into take the work off you so you can sit back, relax in style and just enjoy the breathtaking scenery Canada is famous for while your tour company takes care of the rest.

 

So if you’re coming to Canada soon, consider taking a tour instead of doing it yourself, especially if you want to mix with like-minded individuals and enjoy comfort and class on the trip regardless of which part of this fantastic and beautiful country you choose.

How to Improve Your Financial Management Skills While You Travel

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We all need to be able to manage our money wisely and when you travel, you get plenty of opportunities to improve your financial management skills. These skills will benefit you when you return home and they can be developed in the following ways.

Enroll in an Online Finance-related Course

If you intend to travel for a while, you should consider enrolling in an online course like the online masters of accounting program that is designed to increase your financial knowledge and develop your financial management skills. More masters degree in accounting online courses than ever before are being offered by leading colleges and universities, so these courses are recognized by most employers. This means that once you have completed the course, your services will be in-demand or you could eventually work for yourself in the financial services sector.

Learn to Haggle and Look for Bargains

Haggling and trying to find a bargain are two of the most important money-related skills you need to master. The more you develop these skills, the more money you will keep in your pocket while you travel and in your everyday life.

While you’re away from home, you will get plenty of opportunities to put your haggling and bargaining skills into practice. The people you haggle and bargain with along the way will also show you how they have mastered the art of selling, which is also an invaluable skill to have.

Planning and Preparing for Your Trip

All leading financial professionals look to the future and are great planners. You should take the same approach before you leave home and develop a plan that will account for expenses and the money you will spend while you’re traveling. This is an important exercise and it will ensure that you stay more disciplined whenever it comes to the money you spend in the future.

Outsource Your Financial Services

If you have a finance-related qualification or you are in the process of obtaining one, there’s no reason why you can’t start to offer your services to other people while you’re on the move.

The internet and the emergence of a wide range of outsourcing websites mean it’s never been as easy to put your financial skills and knowledge to the test and learn new ways to improve these skills.

Keep Building Up Your Contact List

While you travel, you will meet a lot of people along the way. You will probably also interact with many different people over the internet.

If possible, you should look for ways to leverage these relationships, especially if you meet fellow financial professionals. These people could become important and useful contacts who may be able to give you important financial advice and tips, which could prove to be important at a later date.

Traveling should be an enjoyable experience. It can also be an excellent way to learn more about managing your finances and improving your financial management skills. You can do this by following the tips above.

What You Should Be Looking For In a Wooden Staff

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Regardless of what your ability is in terms of hiking and walking, a wooden staff is a great way in which you can make the effort that little bit less and ensure that you have some solid support as you are hiking. I actually bough a staff from Steve Sorensen Select Staffing recently and it has dramatically helped me during my ramblings.

I have actually found that I use the stick as much for walking as I do for poking, prodding or clearing space when I hike and it is an accessory which I really wished I had bought many years before hand. You don’t have to buy a staff of course, if you are particularly handy when it comes to woodworking then you could pick one up as you are on your travels and refine it to suit you.

However you go about getting your staff however, there are some certain things that you should be looking out for so that you get a staff which suits you and which serves its purpose.

Hand Comfort

You will always be using your hand to control the staff and so you should ensure that you get a staff which has the perfect spot to place your hand. In order to do this you should make sure that it feels comfortable to hold, that it has no pieces of wood or branch sticking out which will irritate or hurt you, and that you can support the weight of the staff with your hand.

Length

Getting the right length for your staff is not easy, a general rule of thumb is that it should stand around arms-length above your head so as to give you the best support. The best way of finding out which length works for you is to simply try out as many as possible until you get it just right.

Strength

Depending on what kind of hiking you plan on doing, you will need a staff that has the strength and durability to help you through your walks. Really you should be looking for a maple or oak staff as these are known to be not only durable and strong, but also very lightweight, the perfect combination for anyone who is looking at getting their hiking boots on.

Decoration

There is nothing to say that you can’t let your personality shine through with the staff that you have chosen and you should carefully look at the design and decoration of your staff before you buy. The staff that I purchase has the horn of a sheep at the top and it has a yellow stripe in the centre, whilst these look great for decoration they also ensure that people know which staff is mine when I hike in a group.

Make sure that you take your time when selecting a staff, getting it right is tough but when you do, you will have a great staff that could last you a lifetime.

How to Plan the Ultimate Camping Trip

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Leave the worries of everyday life behind by heading out into the great outdoors on a camping trip. There’s no better feeling than breathing in fresh air, building a fire from scratch and sleeping under the stars.

Not only will it allow you to disconnect from it all, but it provides an opportunity to make memories with friends and family. If you want to embrace a little bit of nature on your next holiday, read our top tips on how to plan the ultimate camping trip.

Pick the Perfect Camping Site

There are many different campsite types to choose from to suit different needs, and each will have advantages and disadvantages. Don’t pick the first campsite you find online and make an informed decision.

If you want to camp down in a secluded area, consider a primitive camping experience or a state/national park, where you can pitch a tent anywhere you like for a night or two. However, in most cases, you will need to buy a permit to do so. It will provide an opportunity to avoid the commercial campers and get in touch with your wild side.

While primitive camping might sound ideal, it can come with many challenges. For instance, you will have no access to a safe water source, so you will need to bring a water filter with you to stay hydrated. What’s more, you’ll have no access to a toilet or shower.

If you want to sleep under the stars but have creature comforts close by, consider a campsite that provides access to running water, electricity or restrooms. There may even be a car parking area, so you’re never too far away from your vehicle.

Plan Camping Meals in Advance

First-time campers often underestimate the importance of planning their meals in advance, only to realize their mistake once they have run out of food. To avoid a rumbling stomach, plan every meal and snack in advance, so you’ll bring the right ingredients with you to cook up a feast.

Camp cooking is all about creating healthy, delicious meals from filling ingredients, as they will keep hunger pangs at bay when enjoying a hiking trail. We recommend packing various spices and pre-sliced meat and vegetables in sandwich bags, which you can label for each day. Don’t forget to take ingredients to create some delicious s’mores, which you will love melting over the camp fire.

Create an Itinerary

Usually, there are several different outdoor activities to choose from near a campsite. For instance, you and your friends can walk along a hiking trail, enjoy a spot of fishing, go for a swim in a lake or enjoy a day of kayaking. Discuss the different activities with your camp mates to decide on the best activities to do. Once you have decided what you would like to do, create an itinerary so you can make enough time to enjoy all the options.

However, don’t plan too much or you may fail to make the most of the experience. Who knows, you might stumble upon a beautiful waterfall along a hiking trail or just need to make a pit stop for a bite to eat.

A Camping Checklist

On a hotel based holiday, you can visit a store or speak to the front desk if you have forgotten an essential item. Unfortunately, this will not be a possibility on a camping trip. To ensure you pack important items, we suggest creating a handy camping checklist to ensure you’re organized.

For instance, your camping checklist should include:

  • Tent
  • Sleeping bag
  • Water
  • Sneakers/hiking boots
  • Comfortable clothing
  • Small knife
  • Flashlight with extra batteries
  • Toilet paper
  • Matches
  • Sunscreen
  • A first aid kit
  • Toiletries
  • Plus more

Check the Weather

Check upcoming weather conditions before you head off on a camping trip to avoid any unexpected surprises. For instance, a sunny day could soon turn to a thunderstorm, and you may wish you’d have brought a waterproof jacket or coat.

Consider the Travel Time

It’s important to consider the distance of a camping site before you reserve a spot. The last thing you will want is to drive a long distance to a campsite or national park only to feel tired once you arrive. Lengthy travel times can make you feel tired and lethargic, and you might want to cancel any activities on your itinerary as a result. If you are heading off on a weekend camping trip, we recommend travelling no farther than three hours from home, or you may pay the price once you arrive.

Confirm Your Reservation

State parks are often popular with campers and spots can fill up in a flash. As there will be so many bookings to manage, it might be easy for an administrator to make a mistake. The worst thing that can happen is you drive all the way to a campsite to find there is no place for you or your tent. Always confirm your reservation with a phone call or email before your trip, so you don’t have a wasted journey that will disappoint both you and your camp buddies.

Safely Store Your Camping Equipment

If you plan to become a regular camper, don’t spend your days searching for much-needed camping supplies before your trip. Instead, place all your camping equipment in one spacious storage container, so everything is available to hand when you need the items and you can quickly access all of your gear when you decide to head off on an unexpected camping trip.

Conclusion

The key to a successful camping trip is organization. From planning meals, creating an itinerary and safely storing away your camping supplies, you can ensure you will be ready to have an unforgettable trip with your friends or family. Write a handy checklist of all the items you need, actions you need to perform and things you need to do once you arrive, and you can guarantee you’ll enjoy wonderful memories with your camp mates.