The next time you are traveling in a new city or one you don’t know very well I can’t tell you rewarding it will be for you to talk to the local cab drivers. Not only will these ambassadors and spokesmen of their city drive you around to whatever destination you choose, but so too do they hold the keys of knowledge and wisdom that every visitor or novice can use. First off, most cabbies know where to go and what to avoid. They see the trends in the people they are picking up and dropping off and they often know what’s hot and what’s not.
Also, cab drivers often will know what neighborhoods you might want to avoid due to rowdy college kids, crime, lousy restaurants, etc. These same cabbies, when not dispensing knowledge about food or nightlife, are also bastions of information about historical sites and other local spots of interest and culture. With that being said, I hope that the next time you have to travel to a city you aren’t the most familiar with – be it Boston, Chicago, Spokane, or London – do yourself a favor and put down your travel guide just long enough to talk to the man driving you from the airport or to your hotel; chances are he will have the book beat every time.
I get asked a lot of questions regarding the spy pen and its legal uses. One of the questions that has been brought up a lot in recent emails, is the legal use of spy pens aboard. Many people wish to take these types of devices on their holidays to capture events, people don’t want to take a bulky video camera with them so are resorting to more compact recording devices like the spy pen.
There is no clear-cut answer for this question, if your visiting parts of the US or the Common Wealth generally the use of your spy pen wont cause any trouble. Laws over Asia and some areas of Africa however as far stricter and will land you a very lengthy jail term if its use is discovered. For us to provide a complete would take months to complete, so our advice to you is to phone ahead to your destination and make the enquiries.
Charlotte has one of America’s most vibrant downtown areas with multiple attractions, entertainment venues and business centers. But also in the heart of this vibrant, southern city are multiple sports venues and teams.
The NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats play home games from late October through mid-April at the Time Warner Cable Arena. Tickets for the Bobcats range anywhere from $25 to well above $500 and provide an exciting, high-speed sports experience.
If you are more into football, the Carolina Panther play at least eight home games a year in downtown Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. Officially, single game tickets for home Panthers games range from $51to $90, but expect to pay much more for good seats during the season.
If you’re into sports, and have a trip coming up to Charlotte soon, there is much fun to be had. Many Charlotte resorts cater specifically to sports fans and will lower rates with proof of ticket purchase. Enjoy one of the best sports cities in America and have fun in Charlotte, North Carolina.
I have been all over this world, and most of the places I have visited I spent countless hours walking up and down city streets, down alleyways, past youthful buildings next to their fine old counterparts. One of the best walks I have ever done in my life was in the north of Spain.
The wall called Camino de Santiago. It is a holy pilgrimage in its origins, not that I am religious, which starts at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains, travels along a well-worn path through the Basque country and into Santiago de Compostella. It is one of the most fascinating things I have done, and I met some of the most fascinating and charming people but I will ever meet. The achievement for me when I finished that walk was very spiritual, more than religious, life-changing. As walking holidays in Spain go, this couldn’t be beaten.
I travel a lot for business, too much probably but that is a different story. One of the things that I like is to be able to carry my valuables in a backpack. The backpack is easy to carry around leaving my hands free to do other things. A backpack is also the perfect way to carry a laptop or notebook computer. There are even backpacks that have wheels on the bottom and extension handles for easy mobility if they get too heavy to carry for long. These can be great for long runs between terminals at large airports.
There are other options that get close to backpacks; luggage with wheels, some tote bags, large hand bags, etc. For my money, the backpack is a great all around travel companion.
If you like your nature untamed then come and explore the wild countryside of the Languedoc Roussillon in France. With the Pyrenees to the south of the region and the Black mountains to the north there are plenty of options for the adventurous. What you might not realise however is that there is plenty of beauty to take in if you fancy a more sedate experience. As well as rugged landscapes there are also a number of well tended and exotic gardens here.
The Jardin aux Plantes de La Bouichere in the town of Limoux is just one example. Situated about half an hour from the famous city of Carcassonne this private garden is run by M and Mme Gerber who have been lovingly tending this two hectare site for the last twenty five years. With over two thousand plants you can be sure to be surprised and impressed by at least something!
I’m not a big fan of the French gite or holiday rental option when it come to taking a vacation. I think if there’s a big group of you or if you have a large family I can definitely see the appeal. Indeed in those instances I think it also makes complete economic sense because splitting the rent for a weeks holiday rental will be a lot cheaper than hotel or B&B accommodation.
However when there’s just two of you I’ve found it less than satisfactory. I’ve stayed sef catering accommodation in the Languedoc and on both occasions been disappointed. Once the place we stayed in was just too big for two people and we felt like we were rattling around in the place. Most gites tend to cater for four or more perople which makes sense for the rental owners. The second time the place wasn’t as good as it looked in the photos and by then it’s too late and there’s not really anyone to complain to. Of course maybe I’m just too fussy!
Lomamatka ei ole kunnon loma ellei se suuntaudu etelään. Matkalla voi hankkia mukavasti rusketusta tai tuliaisia, mutta ne eivät ole mitään ellei niitä saa kokea juuri etelään sijoittuvassa lomassa. Jos haluaa halvalle lomalle, voi mennä vaikka vain Tallinaan asti tai siitä vielä vähän matkan päähän Riikaan. Siellä voi jo tuntea olevansa etelässä ja hiekkarannat ja aurinko tuntuvat aivan erilaiselta kuin kotona pohjoisessa. Samalla kun vierailet näissä maissa ja kohteissa voit säästää huomattavasti matkakustannuksissa. Oman auton tuominen näihin maihin on verrattaen helpompaa kuin esimerkiksi välimeren maihin, joihin auton ajaminen kestää monia päiviä ja tuhansia kilometrejä ajamista. Aiva ei tarvitse mennä tämän kauemmaksi, jotta voi tuntea lomailevansa etelässä. Kannattaa kuitenkin varautua etukäteen ja tarkistaa auton vakuutukset ja varsinkin se mitä kaikkea oma vakuutus korvaa, jos sen vie näihin maihin tai ulkomaille ylipäätänsä. Aina vakuutusehdot eivät ole samat ulkomailla kuin Suomessa ja niihin voi liittyä erityisehtoja. Jos olet kalunnut jo kaikki suosituimmat matkakohteet läpi, niin näihin lähinaapureihin voi olla ihan hyvä jo tutstua ja tehdä onnistunut matka etelään.
After spending several years living in Alaska, one thing that I’ve definitely learned about is how to protect yourself against bear attack. More than one friend of mine has actually had to face down a charging grizzly, and their experience tells them something that university and government studies have now confirmed: that bear spray is much more effective in detering a bear attack than firearms are.
This might seem surprising at first. Why would the equivilant of mace be more effective than a .45? One thing to realize is that a bear’s sense of smell is something close to a billion times more sensitive than a human’s. Most experts agree that if the wind is heading the right direction, then a bear can smell blood from 20 miles away, and bears have caught the scent of a human up to 14 hours after the person left the trail.
So if pepper spray or mace can level a human being, imagine how much bear spray (which is FAR more potent than the human equivalent) is going to hurt. Tests showed that literally 98% of the time bear spray that was properly used stopped a charge cold. Guns on the other hand, sometimes they killed the bear, sometimes they deterred the attack, and about a quarter of the time the attacking bear actually became more aggressive.
Many experienced Alaskans in the bush carry both guns and bear spray. Bear pepper spray is the best deterrent out there to stop a bear attack, so why rely on anything else?
I was just thinking about summer, and daydreaming about going to the beach. Then I remembered seeing the harbor seals in the Merrimac River this winter. They show up from time to time there. You can see them laying around on the rocks out on the water. The day I was lucky enough to see them, my girlfriend and I were just enjoying a Saturday joy ride.
We had decided to ride over to the coast and just happened to end up at Salisbury Beach Massachusetts. We went into the state reservation, which ends where the Merrimac River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. It als0 discovered there is no fee to get into the park in the winter. You just drive right in, as the entry building where you normally have to stop at to pay is all boarded up. Anyway the end of the last parking lot is less than a hundred yards from the river. You could see the seals from the edge of the parking lot. We had not know they would be there or that they even could be found in the river. We both thought it was neat that we got to see them, especially since we felt like it was pretty random that we ended up at the park that day.
