Eco Holidays

posted by Catherine on Jan 29

Michel Thomas Language Series – The 8 Part Course For Beginners.

Format: 8 CDs

Style: This course is completly reliant on you listening to his voice and the efforts of his 2 students. He basis his teaching on ‘No Books, No Writing – Just Confidence In Hours’, so just sit back and listen your way to a new language.

Language: Latin/Roman Script – (My Language: Same)
Have I Tried This Language Before? – Yes, but I have only learnt basic phases – Michel promises to teach you how to use the language rather than just repeat it.

General Comments:
I love it! Seriously – it wasn’t the same old things as all the other language courses.

There was no ‘Hello my name is….’ or ‘I am from….’ or even ‘Where is the tourist office/train station/chemist’, infact we hardly learned any nouns at all.

So how can you learn a language without pages and pages of fruits, vegetables and furniture? With ease! These can all come later as Michel Thomas teaches you how to use verbs to express yourself.

Once you know a verb – you can use it to mean dozens of different things; and use these verbs alongside ‘it’, ‘that’ and ‘this’ and add in a ‘here’, ‘there’ and ‘tomorrow’ and you can say what ever you want.

If you only learn the nouns you can only ask the same question or state the same thing to use any number of nouns (for example ‘I like dogs/cats/cheese’ or ‘I want a sandwich/coffee/room’) whereas I can easily now say plenty of more interesting things like ‘I don’t like that’, ‘I don’t want to go there today’ and ‘Will you buy that for me tomorrow as I can’t buy it myself today’.

It really immerses you in the very heart of the language rather than skirting you around the edges. And although every single thing he said hasn’t stayed stuck in my mind and I get some of the verbs mixed up – I feel so much more confident about the language.

And it’s great to listen to other people trying to learn at the same time as you on the CD – almost like you are in a classroom. That way you can feel that you are doing as well as or even better than the students in the recording – or huff at yourself when you can’t remember the verbs and they say it for you! The number of times I said to myself ‘oh I knew it!’.

There were times when a whole section went over my head the first time, but then I just went back over that section again a second time and more of it slipped into place!

I have learnt so much more than I expected on this course as it is so different from the other approaches that I have reviewed on this site. You really have to try it for yourself.

So if you are bored of the ‘standard’ approach of ordering food and taking directions at the start of every language course; then maybe it is time you tried the Michel Thomas way!

Ease Of Use: 5/5

Result: Finished And Confident

Reason: Perfect Layout For Me

posted by Catherine on Dec 31

When booking your vaccinations – make sure you turn up on time!

Everyone needs to have their vaccinations for foreign travel – as it prevents expensive treatments and days or months or illness.  And of course, if you don’t catch these viruses or diseases – then you can’t pass them on to others at greater risk than yourself.

However, you will be amazed how many people don’t bother to turn up for their appointments – creating a delay in others receiving their boosters and protection.

Vaccinations:

Many vaccinations for travel need a certain amount of time to work in the body before you are 100% protected – so ideally you need to get these in advance of your travel – however, sometimes you just don’t get that much notice.

But what if when you went to book your appointment – they didn’t have any spaces?

Many appointments are left to run empty by people who fail to call ahead to cancel.  It only takes a second to do it – but multiplies up into a huge delay for all those people waiting afterwards.

I know my surgery only offer travel vaccinations 1 afternoon a week with only a handful of appointments each time – so around 15 in total for the month.

Your Jabs:

Now say you were travelling in a few weeks and were told that you had to wait 3 weeks for a space – even though unbeknown to you the first appointment tomorrow is going to be missed on purpose because the person had changed their mind and didn’t think it was important to call as they weren’t going to be charged for it anyway.

photo credit: Daniel Paquet

Of course the surgery can’t be expected to call you at a moments notice and offer the appointment to you instead – so you will have to wait until your appointment even though the nurse won’t be doing anything for that 15 minutes.

There is, unfortunately, no way that the receptionist on the day you called, leave all your details out for the different receptionist working tomorrow morning with a note to say that if anyone doesn’t turn up to call you immediately as you are only working around the corner.

Needless to say, even if you were available at short notice there is no way that ‘notes’ can be left around the surgery ‘just incase’ something happens. 

I mean if they took a note for you – they would have to do it for everyone – and as you can imagine, if everyone thinks that they are a priority the reception would be covered in notes and they would need a whole other receptionist just to be in charge of sorting out all these notes and then calling them all up as and when!

Best Prevention:

Obviously, keeping you jabs up to date in the first place is a great way to prevent these last minute worries – but please be considerate when you are the one unable to get to your appointment.

Just because you are in no hurry to get things done yourself – it doesn’t mean that there isn’t someone else working to a tight schedule at the same time and who could really appreciate you making a decision either way.

Think about when someone who isn’t in a rush to get home stops right in the middle of the shop doorway to check their receipt – even though you are rushing about on your lunch break and haven’t got a moment to spare!

You might not think that all your everyday decisions can be so important to other people you don’t even know – but they are.

So think ahead, and you are helping out a lot of other people without even trying!

posted by Catherine on Jul 3

How much paper is wasted while you are off on your vacation?

When you think of your trip away – I bet you don’t really think about it’s impact on the paper industry?

What I mean by this is that it isn’t just the tickets and the passport that are the only important tree-based items you need to worry about. For example do you think about your insurance documents or bank statements?

I thought not.

What Have My Statements Got To Do With Anything?
Well, while you are off on holiday, I don’t think you are going to be opening your post. Am I right? So why have you bank statements sent to your home? And why print out loads of mini statements from cash points around the world if you can check your bank account details online – from almost anywhere?

If you were traveling for a long time – like 4 weeks or more, why not make sure that everything was set up with your bank to check everything online. You can transfer money between your own accounts or you can pay off bills or credit cards from other accounts – all without a single piece of paper changing hands or getting folded up in your diary or rucksack.

And if you think online banking isn’t ‘safe’ – how secure so you think bits of paper are floating about your bag that you leave on top of buses or in your empty room while you are out exploring?

And, if you start using a ‘top-up credit card’ – where all the money is on it already – you don’t need statements printed out on headed paper – as you only have a certain amount on it in the first place. And, if it gets lost, you know that there is a maximum to your loss rather than the dread of some thief buying a Lear Jet with it!

What Else Can I Reduce?
Your Junk Mail can be stopped! If you are away on vacation – or whether you just want less junk mail anyhow – can stop all unsolicited mail! Think of the trees you could be saving – and the ink and energy and transport, etc.

You rarely need junk mail when you are at home anyway – but a build-up of junk mail out of your mail-box while you are away could also encourage thieves to investigate further! So get it cancelled! Apparently, the average American gets almost 560 pieces of junk mail delivered to them every year! This totals to about 100 million trees being used every 12 months just to produce the 4.5 million tons of pizza and diet pill flyers that clutter our mailboxes!

To help out here with normal mail – you can get your mail company to re-direct your mail to an alternative address for a short period of time or they may be able to store it for you until you return. That way, nothing sensitive will be sitting out there while you are away. For longer trips you can redirect your mail for up to 2 years to an alternative address at home or abroad.

You can also put a hold on most magazine subscriptions while you are away – therefore not returning home to a whole pile of out-of-date news – but having all those ‘missed’ newsletters or magazines added on to the the end of your current subscription. Also setting up any renewals by direct debit or in advance can save on all those company reminders letters being sent out for nothing.

Anything Else Here?
There are probably a whole host of other things relating to boring paperwork that you can plan better for while you are away – like not losing important documents that will need to be replaced or buying guidebooks you forget to take with you!

Things not even related to your actual trip can also help to make your vacation even more eco frindly – reducing your impact on the environment even further.

posted by Catherine on Jan 17

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Many travel writers now agree on what should be your benchmarks for selecting an ‘eco’ holiday and I have selected some of the easier to achieve targets and briefly discuss them below.

Eco-Holidays are not just about the environment anymore, they involve the whole community: all ages, all communities and all encompassing.

Gone are the days when you were praised for not washing your towels every day or seen as eccentric for volunteering abroad, these trips are becoming more and more popular – and people want to make sure that they are doing their best to support the places that they visit.

After all – we only visit the places we think are worth visiting – so why destroy them?

Listed below are 4 key areas that your eco holidays should score well on, and below there is advice relating to each one that you can easily achieve without too much effort on your part.

A) It should be fair.
This means that you are not just going somewhere for your own gains regardless of anything else, and your choice of accommodation of transport aren’t damaging either. You and your hosts are aware of their impact on that environment and you have taken this into account.

B) It should be community-centred.
By thinking about your impact on the communities in your destination, you are considering how your actions could affect their lives and or their future. Make sure that your hosts are thinking along the same lines.

C) It should be sustainable.
Ideally, your hotel/host/tour company should not be depleting or degrading their environment to the extent that future generations cannot enjoy it as you did yourself, or by destroying it completely.

D) Decisions should be ecologically sensible.
Your resort/hotel/host/tourguides decisions should offer the most logical choice for the destinations ecology. For example, offering a shower instead of a bath or offering travel by horse instead of 4-wheel drive!

Here are some simple steps to help you achieve these goals when travelling.

A) Take your vacation in your own country.
If you stay at home you are reducing your impact on the entire planet by not adding carbon emmissions to the already toxic skies or seas. You are also not likely to affect any communities other than the 1st world destination you live in, and that is better able to deal with your ecological demands and the waste that you generate.

B) Try to find different, less popular destinations.
By offering other destinations your tourist dollar, you are helping smaller communities to prosper. Many local people cannot get a store or hostel in the busiest locations as the rents are too high or they are dominated by foreign companies (like Cancun). By staying in these towns you can make a real difference to local communities and people’s lives.

C) Avoid travelling in sensitive areas without a guide.
If you wander into a nature reserve alone, for a start you may not see hardly any wildlife at all, but more worryingly, you will not necessarily know the correct paths and walkways. You may think it’s ‘ok’ to take that short cut through the trees, or to wade across that shallow pool – but you could be damaging the very environment you came to see. What if you make a ‘noticable path’ where you shouldn’t have and more people mistakenly follow it? Within months damage may be noticable and habitats destroyed.

D) Check that the food you eat is locally produced.
If you feast on US brand named food the whole time you are travelling – what are you offering to local farmers? By buying locally grown produce and locally made products you are feeding that money straight back in to the destinations economy. And who needs Hersheys chocolate bars anyway when there is so much tropical food to chose from?

Obviously these are only a few of the tips that you can take to make sure that you find yourself the most suitable eco holidays. And, there are many other things to consider when choosing your vacation, but this just covers a few basics for you.

posted by Catherine on Dec 4

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Hello and welcome to this new, fantastic blog about eco holidays and adventures. It will fill your hearts with joy at the wonders of eco living and traveling.

Not only can you now take your eco holidays in style, but you can also take them on whichever continent you wish and at a reasonable price. And we are here to help.

This blog hopes to cover all the greatest eco destinations, the most exciting eco adventures, tips on finding the best eco holidays for you, and advice on planning and extending your adventures wherever you are and whatever you are doing!

Choices include underwater adventures, cultural community-living, wildlife-friendly safaris, reclusive rain-forest lodges, snow-covered mountain retreats or even just a great weekend away in your nearest National Park.

So, from here on in, there is nothing but great holiday ideas, tips for responsible tourism, helpful contacts and facts, facts, and more facts!

Enjoy.

TravelCat