Posts from — February 2007
Love on the Road
Traveling is a good chance for couples to find out whether seeing the world brings them closer, or leads them to book the next flight home, alone. Most of the time, travel makes it easier to identify and confront incompatibilities that might take years to surface at home. After vacation, couples get a chance to make a better decision regarding their relationship. Should they stay together or split? Are they soul mates, or just best mates.
Most couples often dream that two weeks in the sun on a Turkish beach will resolve all the problems, but they rarely do. They often say that they went on vacation because they wanted to find themselves. But the real questions couples should ask are: “Why are we going? What are we really getting away from? Is it work, or is it between us?” Some people aren’t always honest about this.
According to some experts, people should ask what their expectations of this trip are. What are they hoping for? How do they cope when things go wrong? They are the same expectations that one should go into a marriage. Often, all the problem things you left behind you are still there when you get back.
There’s a sense in which a trip around the world can act as a proxy form of relationship therapy, catalyzing the negative dynamics of a relationship into resolution. Some discover their partners to be different people when removed from their native context; others find it is they who have changed. The emotional terrain of a relationship can alter with every border crossed, like meeting the other’s parents or moving in together. Traveling has become another stringent test in the process of finding a partner.
More than anything traveling puts couples in a situation where they find out the substance of the relationship. Many people realize that they haven’t got what they want, and split up.
February 21, 2007 No Comments
Items to Take to the Tropics
Travelers who plan to visit developing or tropical countries should take a number of precautions. Do you know which items you should take with you on your travel? If you don’t then you might want to review the list below before you leave for your trip abroad.
· Obtain a brief summary of your medical history to take with you, including the results of abnormal tests or EKGs and a list of drug allergies
· Long-sleeved shirt, long pants, and a hat to wear whenever possible while outside, to prevent illnesses carried by insects
· Insect repellent containing DEET
· Flying-insect spray to help clear rooms of mosquitoes. The product should contain a pyrethroid insecticide; these insecticides quickly kill flying insects, including mosquitoes
· Lodine tablets and portable water filters to purify water if bottled water is not available
· Sun-block, sunglasses, and a hat for protection from harmful effects of UV sun rays
· Contact lens wearers should consider taking ocular antibiotics if traveling to remote countries
· Prescription medications make sure you have enough to last during your trip, as well as a copy of the prescription(s) or letter from your health-care provider on office stationery explaining that the medication has been prescribed for you
· Always carry medications in their original containers, in your carry-on luggage
· Be sure to bring along over-the-counter antidiarrheal medication and an antibiotic prescribed by your doctor to self-treat moderate to severe diarrhea
· Small portable water filters remove parasites and clear murky water without leaving the chemical taste. They are particularly beneficial for pregnant women and people who cannot take iodine. When purchasing a filter, the phrase “EPA Registration”; should be printed on the label, indicating that the Environmental Protection Agency has guaranteed its effectiveness
· Travelers might also consider buying an electric heating coil to boil and purify tap water. Plug adapters and voltage converters may be required
· Antifungal foot powder
· Travelers should remember to check what coverage their health insurance company offers for policyholders abroad. Medicare does not provide coverage outside the United States but other insurers offer limited coverage overseas. Individual supplementary health insurance policies should cost no more than a few dollars a day for international travelers
February 13, 2007 No Comments
China Travel Itinerary
China (Chinese Yuan = .129001 US)
How much money do you need when making a trip to China? Which places would you visit?…Presenting Asian Countries traveling series Part I, China.
If you have twelve days to visit China, how would you plan out your trip? And what could you estimate your expenses in China to be? Fortunately, a Chinese friend of mine, provides me with all the valuable information I need before making my trip.
Among the places my friend recommends are Beijing, Suzhou, Hangzou, and Shanghai. It has been known in China since ancient times.
“In heaven above there is paradise, on earth there is Suzhou and Hangzhou”
If you love to see and enjoy spectacular displays of nature, a visit to Shzhou and Hangzhou would be perfect. My friend says that both cities are often subjects of Chinese literature, because of their prodigious beauty. For a tourist, exploring China’s proud capital Beijing is mandatory. As capital for the past eight hundred years, you would be walking on the legendary great wall, enjoying real Chinese delicacies and marveling at its imperial treasuries.
Shanghai, the stylish metropolitan city, and China’s financial center will give you a different aspect of this country. You can enjoy the view of the flourishing city from one of the world’s tallest hotels; Oasis Skyway Garden Hotel. It stands at a height of seven hundred forty two feet and was built in 2006. Without visiting Beijing and Shanghai, one has not really seen China.
There is no need to hesitate. Pack your luggage, wave goodbye to your rusty place, and let’s get some fresh air.
Trip Expenditure ( Currency Calculation requried, Click this for Currency Converter)
Please, estimate your own expenditures based on Currency exchange rates in the above table. It is very important for someone like me. Materially poor, but very rich in spirit!!!
February 13, 2007 No Comments
Best Place to Lose Your Wallet
Accidents happen, but knowing our chances of seeing missing items returned has always been useful. Readers Digest magazine conducted a global experiment of sorts to investigate what would happen to our wallets if dropped in different areas of the globe.
What did they do? Readers Digest editors “accidentally” dropped over 1100 wallets filled with approximately 50$ in local currency, along with contact numbers and family pictures in big cities and small towns around the U.S, in Asia, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Latin America.
The wallets were left in telephone booths, in front of office buildings, car parks, restaurants, and even houses of worship.
Malaysia a 20 yr old fruit seller in Kajang, had the wallet returned to the owner.
Chiang Mai, Thailand a mother with two children in tow hastily stuffed the wallet into her baggy pants.
London, UK at the entrance to Fulham Palace, once the residence of the Bishops of London, a woman had her son jump out of the car and snatch the wallet off the street.
Few wallets dropped in Italy were returned, in Lausanne, Switzerland only two wallets were returned (one by an Albanian restaurant owner). In the Hague, of the wallets that were never seen again, one had been dropped before the international court of justice.
In Norway and Denmark every single wallet was returned.
The best place to lose your wallet in the U.S. was Seattle, Washington with a return rate totaling 9 out of 10.
In Canada, Toronto turned out to be the least honest location in the survey.
Reader’s Digest described their study as a real-life test of integrity, rather than a rigorous scientific study. They observed that often people who looked like they could use the money felt compelled to return it, while affluent people did not.
February 12, 2007 1 Comment
Vaccine Guide for World Regions
Read below for health tips when traveling abroad. Please consult your local doctor if you have questions or concerns about any of the information provided.
| Region | Recommended vaccinations | Required Vaccinations | Routine Vaccinations | Countries |
| East Africa | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B,Meningoccocal (meningitis), Rabies,Typhoid, yellow fever. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, measles, and a one-time dose of polio vaccine for adults. | A certificate of yellow fever vaccination may be required for entry into certain countries in Central Africa. | Before travel, be sure you and your children are up to date on all routine immunizations according to schedules approved by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP). See your doctor at least 4–6 weeks before your trip to allow time for shots to take effect. If it is less than 4 weeks before you leave, you should still see your doctor. It might not be too late to get your shots or medications as well as other information about how to protect yourself from illness and injury while traveling. |
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Brundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambiques, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Comoros, Seychelles, Mayotte, Mauritius, Madagascar, Reunion |
| Central Africa | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B,Meningoccocal (meningitis), Rabies,Typhoid, yellow fever. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, measles, and a one-time dose of polio vaccine for adults. | A certificate of yellow fever vaccination may be required for entry into certain countries in Central Africa. | Chad, Cameroon, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic of Congo(Zaire), Equatorial Guine, Gabon, Congo, Zambia, Angola | |
| North Africa | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B,Meningoccocal (meningitis), Rabies,Typhoid. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, measles, and a one-time dose of polio vaccine for adults. | None | Madeira Islands, Canary Islands, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Western Sahara | |
| Southern Africa | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B,Meningoccocal (meningitis), Rabies,Typhoid. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, measles, and a one-time dose of polio vaccine for adults. | None | Namibia, St Helena, Botswana, Republic of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland | |
| West Africa | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B,Meningoccocal (meningitis), Rabies,Typhoid, yellow fever. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, measles, and a one-time dose of polio vaccine for adults. | A certificate of yellow fever vaccination may be required for entry into certain countries in West Africa. | Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde Islands, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d’lvoire,Togo, Ghana, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe | |
| East Asia | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, Rabies,Typhoid. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, and measles. | None | Mongolia, China, North Korea, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao | |
| South Asia | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, Rabies,Typhoid. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, measles, and a one-time dose of polio vaccine for adults. | None | Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka | |
| Southeast Asia | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, Rabies,Typhoid. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, measles, and a one-time dose of polio vaccine for adults. | None | Burma, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, East Timur | |
| Australia&the South pacific | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, Rabies,Typhoid. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, measles. | None | Federal States of Micronesia, Papa New Guinea, Wake Island, Marshall Island, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Samoa Cook Islands,Tokelau, Fiji, Vanuatu, Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Pitcairn Islands, French Polynesia, | |
| Caribbean | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B,Meningoccocal (meningitis), Rabies,Typhoid, Yellow fever. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, and measles. | A certificate of yellow fever vaccination may be required for entry into certain countries. | The Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Antigua and Barbuda, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Haiti, Montserrat Martinique, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, St, Lucia, Barbados, Grenada | |
| Mexico and Central America | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B, Rabies,Typhoid, Yellow fever. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, measles. | A certificate of yellow fever vaccination may be required for entry into certain countries. | Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica. | |
| Western Europe | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, and measles. | None | Faeroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Azores, Gibraltar, Spain, Andorra, Monaco, Malta, Italy, Greece, San Marino, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Malta, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein | |
| Eastern Europe | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B, Rabies,Typhoid. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, measles. Outbreaks of diphtheria have been reported in states of the former Soviet Union. Travelers to these areas should be sure that their diphtheria immunization is up to date. | None | Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Russian Federation, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina | |
| Middle Eastern | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B, Rabies, Typhoid. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, measles. | None | Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates | |
| South America Temperate(Southern) | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis B,Meningoccocal (meningitis), Rabies,Typhoid, Yellow Fever. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, and measles. | A certificate of yellow fever vaccination may be required for entry into certain countries. | Easter Island(Chile), Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Falkland Islands, | |
| South America Tropics (Northern) | Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG). Hepatitis, Rabies,Typhoid, Yellow Fever. As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria, and measles. | A certificate of yellow fever vaccination may be required for entry into certain countries. | Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay. |
February 9, 2007 No Comments
Make your Money Go Further
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