Travelling is addictive and healthy

The travel drug is addictive, but not necessarily bad like other drugs. It helps many people get out of a rut by. The fear of the unknown or the fear of flying holds some people back. 

Travel has long been the only available to the rich, but in this age of budget airlines and Couchsurfing, it is now available to all.

The main thing that prevents most people from travelling more is TIME and making it your priority, so I say do it while you are young and have time. We are all given exactly the same amount of time in each day, it is up to us how we use it -- our choice. I personally believe everyone should travel and your first passport should be free.

I am a big fan of Erasmus and although I haven’t done it myself, I did my own thing and went to the US, I think this should be more available in other countries

It would create a better society and help more people experience travel. This would also create a culture that is more accepting of others from completely different countries. If I have friends all over the world why would I be racist or intolerant of others? If I travelled more, I would probably realise that we humans have a lot in common no matter where we are born or raised. 

Travel Poem - The Difference between Travel Secrets and Nomadic Wisdom

Living on the edge is still taking up space,

I am enticed no longer by the rat race.

Accomplish your dreams before it’s too late,

Seize the opportunity do not idly wait.

Like a lonely satellite I did wander,

Perceiving places and people to ponder.

Belief in ideas is timeless and essential

To learn, grow and realise ones potential.

 

Simplicity will be the traveller’s goal supreme,

When you lug your life and are living the dream,

Less beats more like a man can only lug so much,

I love relationships so let’s stay in touch.

To truly enjoy living life to the max,

It’s vital to chillax and stop bleeding tax.

Title does not define – I serve while I can,

I live the truth and am a slave to no man.

Where I have gone is greater than an aged address,

And better than belongings I possess.

You can go on without money and have fun,

But expire the second your time equals none.

Forever remember what you have been taught,

Pity no one that perishes for lack of thought.

Enjoy existing no envy no regret,

This is travel wisdom from nomads I met.

The High Line Park New York City Video Blog

The newly opened High Line Park which still has sections under construction is a great place to visit in NYC. 

The Park is built on an elevated train line that used to be used by the meat packing district of New York. The train line lay abandoned and was due for removal when someone had the idea of turning it into a park. The long thin route of a train line makes an ideal walkway, and when it is completed it will be a very long walk through the west side of Manhattan.

The park is a great vantage point for looking out across the city as it lies above street level. There is some very nice wooden furniture on which to soak up the rays or just watch the crowds of people walking by.

The park weaves it way through buildings and gives a glimpse into offices, apartments and the famous Standard Hotel which bridges it - great for watching or being watched. It doesn’t get more touristy than this folks.

Enjoy the video blog, I wasn’t sure whether to edit it and add music and change the voice over, or to leave it as the raw footage that it currently is so let me know what you think.

Advanced Guide to Flying Ryanair

If you have never flown Ryanair, then this isn’t for you yet, you need to read this first.

How soon do you have to get to the airport before your Ryanair flight departs?

Most airlines close the check-in desks 30 minutes before the flight is scheduled to depart, and this is sometimes done automatically by the computer system, so even if your friend works at the check-in, they couldn’t get you on the flight.

As you have already printed your boarding pass you just need to get to the departure gate between 30 minutes and 10 minutes before the flight is scheduled to leave. If you have flown this route before and regularly get the last flight you will know these are the ones that tend to be delayed if any flights that day are. The first flight of the day is normally on time and as the day goes on the chances of delay increase in my experience. 

It depends on your risk appetite whether you get to the gate 30 minutes or 10 minutes before your scheduled flight departure. You don't get a medal for this and if you get it wrong, you miss your flight, although it does add an extra excitement factor to flying. 

I would hope you know how long it takes to get to the gate from security otherwise you are out of your league right now even contemplating this. Maybe someone can make an application for how long it takes to walk from passing security to arrive at the gate for some airports if you are a regular traveller? 

Can you Afford NOT to Travel?

I have been called a jet setter, globe trotter, professional tourist, international playboy and other not so nice terms. Most people who don't travel as much as me ask if I have won the lottery, which shows how some people think it costs lots of money to travel. Wrong! 

I always get asked: How can you travel so much?

Photo: Francis Shenstone

I actually spend less money by travelling, let me explain. I lived and worked in London, one of the most expensive cities in the world, on the flipside one of the cities where you can earn the highest salary compared to other places in the world. To use this to my advantage I worked in London for 3 years in a variety of office jobs, and earned a decent salary.

The most important thing is not how much you earn -- it’s what you save that matters.
You can earn £300k a year, but if you spend £500k you will be £200k in debt. However if you avoid debt, or pay it off, and save some money each month, you can soon accumulate savings and be far richer than the idiot Director earning £300k.

I could have had a one bedroom apartment in London, but chose to rent a room in a shared house, as I enjoyed the company, and preferred to save my money for other things - like travelling.

Keeping in Touch While Travelling

Going away for a short period like a week isn’t enough time to miss friends and family if you are busy, but when you are going away for a year, planning on how to keep in touch with loved ones is an important consideration.

With the age of the internet and Facebook this has got considerably easier. Emails and Facebook updates are an easy way to keep the ones you love back home updated on your life. Skype is also a wondrous God send, especially with free WiFi spots popping up all over like Starbucks and McDonalds.

Smart phones with WiFi capabilities like the iPhone mean you don’t even need to lug your laptop around anymore to get online!  

I take a phone with me for putting another SIM card in from the local country I am visiting if I am going to be there for longer than 2 weeks. 

It helps to stay in touch with people you meet on your travels. You just need an unlocked phone for this that takes a SIM card and works on the required bands for where you are traveling.

Even with all of this technology, sometimes a postcard can be more appreciated by loved ones than all the modern technology options we can come up with.

Writing a Blog is another good way to let people know you are still alive and what you are up to. For which Blog to choose see this.

Who Not Where

If there is one thing I have learned from travelling it is the following: What matters is not where you go, but who you are with that makes an enjoyable experience.

I have been in New York City on my own and felt miserable, yet I have been in Habrough, England (The village I grew up in with a population of 650) and had some of the best times of my life with my friends and family there.

Habrough - Photo: Matty Cruddas

Habrough has a shop, a train station, a pub and two hotels – not a lot happening. People look out the window when they hear a car drive past!

Oh and the silence at night is absolute. It is very weird going back after living in London and New York with that constant background noise you get in big cities! People are what make life fun :)

Top 5 Free iPhone Travel Apps

So you are going somewhere and you have an iPhone... but do you have these cool FREE travel apps? For those iPhone devotees out there, in order of coolness:

1. Wi-Fi Finder

Using Wi-Fi instead of Edge and 3G is often your best option when you're abroad. Wi-Fi finder has a directory of over 280,000 Wi-Fi access points in 140 countries worldwide, so you can always stay connected without getting raped by high roaming data charges.

The Best Urban Beach in Europe

San Sebastian, also called Donostia in local dialect of the Basque country, in Spain is hands down the best urban beach I have ever seen or heard about. The city’s main beach is called La Concha. 

The City has two main beaches, one which is great for learning to surf as it has good waves, and the other is more sheltered by an island in the bay. I taught a friend to surf here, and she is now eternally grateful that I pushed her to come and surf with me. 

San Sebastian - Photo: Francis Shenstone

San Sebastian holds an annual surf competition which I had the pleasure of catching while I was there. The city also has great food, especially the famed “pinchos” bars – tapas.

Being a beach lover I can say that this isn’t the best beach in Spain, but it is the best Urban Beach not only in Spain but all of Europe.

The city is located just over the border from France on the North Coast of Spain, so the water can be a bit chilly. San Sebastian also has a good train station with connections all over Spain, France and Europe in general.

The Best City in Spain - Valencia

Madrid and Barcelona are very popular with tourists, but a slightly less known big city is Valencia – the third largest city in Spain.

The size is just right, not overwhelming, but still enough to do with a good nightlife due to its large student population. Being on the coast it also has a great beach, and being further South than Madrid and Barcelona has a better climate!

If that wasn’t enough it has a great balance of old and new with the amazing city of arts and sciences designed by the internationally renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, currently building the Chicago Spire (which will be the tallest building in North America) and the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York City.

Let’s just say he is my favourite architect in the world after visiting Valencia. 

City of Arts and Sciences - Photo: Francis Shenstone

My favourite thing to do in Valencia was rent a bike for the day and cycle down what used to be the old river bed of the city and is now a park filled with sports fields and the incredible architecture of the City of Arts and Sciences.

You can normally gauge the beauty of a city spot by the amount of wedding pictures you see being taken their on a Saturday in the summer. I saw five wedding parties just outside one building; the “city” has six distinct and wonderful structures, so imagine how beautiful it is. Then to top it off, you can ride to the end of the river and reach the sea and more importantly the beach! 

Best Museum in the World

I have visited some of the ‘best’ museums around the world, but the one that stood out far above the rest would have to be The California Academy of Arts and Sciences located in San Francisco.

Imagine an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum and 4 storey rainforest all located in one of the most ecologically advanced buildings in the world. It is huge, has the only albino alligator in the world and best of all has free admission on the third Wednesday of each month! 

Butterfly in the Rainforest of the California Science Academy - Photo: Francis Shenstone

Someone told me about the third Wednesday of the month free admission, so this is when I went and spent all afternoon there, yet I didn’t even get to see the planetarium as I ran out of time!

Admission normally costs $30 for adults, and I would pay to go see it if you aren’t in San Francisco for the third Wednesday of the month. Here is the website.

Even if you don’t normally visit museums, this is a must see if you go to San Francisco.

Idiot’s Guide to Flying Ryanair in 10 Steps

Most people have heard of Ryanair, some for good reasons, others for bad. Having flown with them over 40 times and more than 20 in the last six months alone, I am an avid fan and can attribute much of my travels to the low prices of flights on Ryanair.

How can Ryanair run a profitable airline if they charge 1p a flight?  

I used to get asked questions like this. Ryanair has to pass the same safety standards that all the other European airlines have to pass, so they don’t save money by skimping on safety.

1. First of all Ryanair's target market is not your grandma who doesn’t have a computer or internet. You have to buy your ticket online and then do the online check in and print your boarding pass to avoid extra fees, so you at least need a grandchild who can do this for you.

Ryanair Charity Calendar April - Nicola

2. The Ryanair website is easy enough to use for someone who knows their way around the internet enough to find my blog. The difference is when you go to buy a flight you need to be aware of what options are pre-selected for you and actually read what you are agreeing to.

3. Ryanair charges for paying with anything other than a Prepaid Mastercard. So if you are thinking of flying with Ryanair a few times it is worth getting a Prepaid Mastercard, or like I did, finding a friend who has one and asking if you can borrow it :) The charge is £5 pounds per person each leg of your journey so for a return flight that is £10 extra.

I flew to Venice from London for £8.02. A penny each way for the flight and £8 for the credit card charge a couple of years ago. This was back when I was still an amateur traveller, I don’t pay the extra credit card charges anymore.