Month: September 2017

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We all know the stereotype, and we often have a friend just like it. We’re talking about the undergraduate who takes a gap year before they head into the trenches of their academic pursuit of achievement. The friend who only talks about how interesting and perceptively challenging their foray abroad was. For those who haven’t taken a gap year, or an extended holiday before their academic career begins or continues, this might seem annoying or frankly unnecessary to talk about all the time. However, there are always two ways to look at something, and in this case the excitement of the person who has experienced the new adventure is arguably truer.

Life is only understood by those who challenge their comfort zones well. If you’ve been raised in a relatively sheltered environment, such as a loving family home which you haven’t gone outside the borders of to an interesting degree, then taking one of these holidays could be just the ticket you need. You could take a profoundly cultural holiday, such as walking the Spanish Camino De Santiago to experience the integrity and belief of those taking a pilgrimage to monasteries in centuries past, sampling the local culture and food the entire way. You could find Hong Kong North Point hotel best rates and spend your time meeting giant panda’s or traveling up to the famous peak overlooking the city.

Still not convinced? Here’s what you could be experiencing:

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Travelling Challenges Your Worldview

It’s very easy to form your identity without truly knowing about the environment around you, let alone the world around you. No matter what country you hail from, you are in the foremost and final analysis a citizen of Earth. Understanding how separate cultures work and what the cultural attitudes are can be found in textbooks or in forum posts, but the only way you’ll truly KNOW is to experience it yourself.

This gives you the opportunity to see the aspects of a city which are less easy to digest through words and must be seen in person. Doing so will expand your understanding of how societies can interconnect, and it’ll inform your traveling bug to expand your knowledge in future. Who knows, you may find the place you hope to live one day after your career is established.

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Traveling Can Be Cheap

There’s no reason why traveling should cost you over the odds. There are many ways to overcome intense costs and explore cultures on the cheap. Your ability to acquire a passport and tickets are costs which aren’t negotiable, but how you travel and rest in a country is subject to simply finding the best deal. For student travelers, hostels are always the best method of saving money. Backpacking can save you the costs of traveling heavy. If you really need to and if the country you’re in allows, finding a part time job at the location you’re at can sustain your travel costs while you explore the environment. There’s arguably no better way to understand a people than to work with them, so long as you make sure the language barrier is overcome through study of its basics.

Over time, you will build a wealth of instinctual understanding which will inform your future trips, and vice versa. As the travel bug bites you, you will have formed a hobby before University which has genuinely made you a better and more worldly person. So what are you waiting for?

Many people prefer to travel without too much gear. They like to pack lightly so they can travel around wherever they choose, and it helps to keep them focused on the experience and not their smartphone or tablet. However, a smartphone (if used properly) can enhance almost any holiday, and here are just a couple of reasons why.

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Record Your Memories

One of the biggest reasons for taking a smartphone with you on holiday is to help you record memories. Smartphone cameras are surprisingly good nowadays and even cheap phones have decent capabilities when it comes to snapping shots and even recording videos. You can do a lot with the photos and videos you record. For instance, you could use a postcard app to turn your pictures into digital postcards to send to all your friends. It’s a great way of showing them what you’re up to, and it’s a creative way of using the photos that you’ve taken. If you travel often then look for a phone with a fantastic camera to bolster the quality of all your shots. You don’t need an expensive camera, but it does help to have a high-quality camera if you want to record your memories in higher quality.

Keep in Touch

Smartphones are fantastic devices for connectivity. They allow you to keep in touch when you’re abroad, and thanks to generous smartphone plans that many carriers are rolling out, it’s now cheaper than ever to keep in touch with friends and family back home while you’re out travelling. All you need is a WiFi connection which can be achieved in most hotels and hostels. If you’re travelling around and meeting lots of people, then it’s not rude to ask them if you can temporarily use their internet connection either. Some countries have pretty good 3G and 4G connections as well, but it’s recommended that you get in touch with local carriers and possibly swap your sim for better deals.

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Never Get Lost

One of the best things about smartphones is their ability to use GPS. Most countries in the world have support for things like Google Maps, so if you have a smartphone with you there’s no excuse for getting lost unless you’re travelling to these locations. However, almost every country has their own mapping tools, so don’t be afraid to ask locals for advice or even download maps to your phone instead of using your phone connection.

Be Adventurous

Life should be filled with adventure, and it’s our smartphones that help us become a lot braver when we’re visiting a foreign country. In addition to these wonderful ways that a smartphone can improve our holidays, we have to give an honourable mention to translation services. Google’s own translator app has the ability to translate directly from photographs that you take, which is indispensable if you’re travelling in unfamiliar territory. It goes without saying that a smartphone can enhance practically every holiday you go on, so don’t be afraid to invest in a good one and lots of protective gear (such as a case) to keep it safe.

Traveling is, without doubt, one of the most fun, enriching experiences that a person can have. But it’s not all a box of chocolates. While most people love the idea of exploring the world, many are held back by fear, and nervousness that something might go wrong once they’re out into the big, bad world. Though the world is a much kinder, safer place than most people realize, that doesn’t mean that people’s nerves aren’t legitimate. Below, we take a look at five ways you can minimize the nerves and focus on having an awesome trip.

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Know Your Destination

Knowledge is power, so they say, and this is true of traveling. Unless you’re going to some far flung destination not explored by man, there will be pages and pages of online resources that’ll tell you all the important information you need to know before you travel. Most cities are super safe, but everywhere has areas that should be avoided. If you read up on all the safe zones to stay in, you won’t have to worry about wandering into the wrong neighborhood.

Be Prepared

It’s easier to forget all the hypothetical things that could go wrong if you’re too busy thinking of all the fun stuff you’re going to do! Before a trip, make a plan of all the things you want to see and do while you’re there. You’ll also have a more relaxed state of mind if you know you’ll be covered in case something goes wrong. Before you travel, make sure you get travel insurance from a site like GoBear.com, and also find out where the major police stations and hospitals in your destination are. You can’t always stop bad things from happening, but if you’re sufficiently prepared, then you’ll be able to reduce the impact those things have.  

Keep The Essentials Safe

Ultimately, most of what you’re traveling with doesn’t really matter. Losing a material item might dampen your trip, but it won’t ruin it. What will ruin your trip is if you lose your passport, all your money, and your phone. If it’s these things that are causing you to lose sleep, then do your mind a favor by leaving them somewhere safe. You don’t need to carry all your cash and passport around with you; leave them in the hotel safe, only taking what you need for that day.

Hire a Guide

If you don’t feel comfortable navigating a city you’ve never been in before, then why not hire a guide? They’ll be full of insider information that’ll make your trip even more special than if you’d done it all on your own, and they’ll also ensure that you’re kept safe.

Embrace the Mistakes

Finally, remember that travel is an opportunity to grow. If you make a mistake or something goes wrong, don’t see it as a sign that you should not have traveled: embrace it. We can learn a lot from our errors if we choose to. In any case, you’re sure to have much more good moments than bad ones when you travel!