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The world is simply full of adventure holiday options. For many intrepid travellers an adventure holiday is defined by the destination visited or the type of activity to be enjoyed. The type of overseas adventures travel that is available varies greatly from country to country and includes everything from trekking to ancient cities in South America to cycling across beautiful mountains and valleys in Europe.

For the ultimate in overseas adventures travel head off the beaten track and try your hand at biking in Guatemala, scuba diving in Belize, white water rafting in Costa Rica or take a 4×4 safari in Angola. Or stay closer to home with walking holidays in Corsica, cycling in the Dordogne Valley, camping in France or horse riding in Spain.

Aside from traditional overseas adventures travel opportunities, you may also like to try your hand at something new. These can include anything such as cooking classes in Italy, cruises to see wildlife in Antarctica, learning traditional dances in Spain and even taking a sky diving course in Spain!  Read more...

What do you know about your state? Have you been to all of its state parks or any national parks that are in your state? Have you been to the museums and other attractions in your town or other towns in your state? I bet you haven’t–because I haven’t either!

Maybe it’s time to explore your own “neighborhood.” You don’t have to reserve a plane ticket well in advance, although you may want to call about reserving any hotel rooms that you might be needing.

And, exploring your state will actually help your kids when they study your state’s history. Most states have some kind of tourist phone line with information as well as websites to tell what attractions are in your backyard.

Go off-season. Virginia Beach is really nice in October. It’s quiet and the hotel rooms are cheaper. The ocean is still just as beautiful, only it’s harder to get a sunburn. The beaches are quiet and you can take a stroll or build a sand castle just as well as you can in July.  Read more...

My alarm went off at 6:30 am, managed to get out of my warm bed at 7:00. It was another beautiful, but cold, winter morning here (well actually the last day of fall), not a cloud in the sky. I left the house at 8:30 and didn’t even have to go back for anything that I had forgotten. Lately I have been hiking in my favorite canyon a lot, it starts uphill in the sun, climbs to a pass, and then goes down into the canyon. I start out with shorts and a T-shirt and usually am hot within five minutes, but not today. Today my plan was to hike up to a volcanic crater called Huambo, which is just above Cotahuasi. The crater is kind of horseshoe shaped, with the open side facing Cotahuasi. The highest part on the rim of the crater looked like the point on a crown, which of course was my goal. I started hiking along the base of Mt. Huiñao, which unfortunately was blocking the sun. I was freezing the first 20 minutes, even with a steady climb, until I finally got into the sunlight. After 30 minutes, I passed through a small village where the trail followed the road going through the village.

Right outside of the village I took what I thought was the continuation of the trail but it didn’t seem as wide as I remembered it from about a year ago when I had last hiked here. Finally after about the fifth time of rock hopping and wall climbing to avoid the water (many trails here double as irrigation ditches, especially in the morning) I realized that I was on the wrong trail. I later found the correct trail, which branched off the road up a few minutes farther than this one. However this trail followed along the other side of a small canyon, until they both met up again at Cachana so it worked out well, especially as I prefer small winding trails. I hadn’t been on either trail past Cachana before so asked a woman where the trail was “to up there” and pointed up to the crater near the rim of Cotahuasi Canyon. She pointed out a small path, about a foot wide and said that was a good trail that went all the way up. It started just past the local school.  Read more...

I was going to visit Barcelona, Spain in February and meet up with relatives who had stayed there before. They had previously stayed at a reasonably priced hotel in the centre of the city.

I tried to find out more information on the Internet, but unfortunately they did not have their own website and was listed on one of those sites that you could add your own comments and photos to. The photos of the room (taken by a previous guest) did not too exciting so I searched the Internet for alternatives. Hotel prices in Barcelona appear to be fairly high, even in February so being resident in England and knowing that Bed and Breakfast accommodation in the UK and Ireland and the Chambre d’hôtes (equivalent) are good value tried searching for Bed and Breakfast accommodation in Barcelona.

I soon found a place that was in the city centre, had en suite accommodation and called itself “A comfortable, quiet and modern Bed and Breakfast in the most central place of Barcelona”.  Read more...

One of the things I love about living in the Atlanta area is that you can go from the city to the country in 30 minutes; from the city to the mountains in under two hours and from the city to the Georgia coast in under 4 hours. This swing in natural environment provides a wonderful selection of romantic bed and breakfasts locations for your romantic getaway. The following four romantic bed and breakfasts recommendations will inspire your love and put the zing in any relationship.

The Inn at Serenbe
Located just half an hour south of Atlanta Hartsfield Airport is 65,000 acres of rolling woods, farmlands, streams and trails called the Chattahoochee Hill Country. Nestled in the midst of this nature wonderland is the Inn at Serenbe, a rustic getaway that is perfect for romance.

The Serenbe Inn occupies a century old, clapboard farmhouse decorated with rustic chic. Additional guest accommodations include, The Guest House, a restored 1930′s horsebarn that has been converted into a three-bedroom, four bath guest house. Other cottages with unique features and varying amenities are also available for rent.  Read more...

We had been thinking about going to Berlin for a few years and with the twentieth anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down later this year decided we must make a booking.

We had seen a comment in Simon Calder’s travel page in The Independent on Saturday about flying there and decided to fly to Tegel that is the closer of the two to the city centre. This meant flying with British Airways and using the new Terminal 5 at London Heathrow.

Our flight was due to go out 8.45 on a Thursday morning in mid February. Fortunately the heavy snow that covered a fair part of the south east of England had now gone, however snow was forecast for Berlin.

We checked in online and were dropped off at terminal 5; we immediately joined a fairly long queue for BA’s “Fast Bag drop off”. This modern airport appears to have a very slow system whereby you queue for a long time as we did, you are looking out then for the next available check in person who does not process modern technology like they do in banks and many department stores – a system of a number appearing so you go to that check in desk. No, instead there is a helper who comes and goes and either the check in person waves to that BA employee or to the next person looking for a free check in assistant.  Read more...

It is estimated that almost one in every four American people claim some kind of Irish roots. This is an amazing statistic given that the entire population of Ireland is just over five million people. During the famine times in Ireland in the mid 18th century literally over one million people starved to death while another million people fled to the four corners of the globe. America was the preferred destination of choice but the route was a treacherous and perilous one for those brave enough to take it.

A whole new industry has now sprung up in Ireland with thousands of Irish Americans tracing their family roots every year. Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy being but two famous Irish American names. Genealogy has become big business in Ireland in the past decade with dozens of companies only too happy to assist eager clients trace their family origins. Family crest names and family tree charts are the most common items sought after.  Read more...