Category: Travel

Oslo, Norway Travel Guide

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The beautiful city of Oslo is located on the Aker River in the southeast of Norway. Apart from being the country’s cultural heart and capital, Oslo is also Norway’s gateway to natural beauty. Saltwater runs deep in this city’s veins. Recently, the dock areas that launched many adventures have been revamped as an entertainment hub. Here are the top must-see attractions in Oslo, Norway.

The Aker Brygge District

Amidst centuries of history, you will find many fashionable restaurants and cafes. The Aker Brygge district is a great place you can mingle with the locals. This historic area is lined with boutique shops and yachts.

Bygdoy Museum

To journey deeper into this city’s rich history, take a short ferry to the Bygdoy Museum. You can also see a display of an 800 year old ship at the Viking Ship Museum. It was believed by many that these warriors are one of the greatest seafarers to ever live.

Fram Museum

Learn how the crews of polar expeditions were able to survive one of the most dangerous and coldest places on earth at the Fram Museum. Walk through Fram’s interior, it is not only the strongest wooden ship ever built, but it was designed to withstand the ice flows crushing pressure.

Kon-Tiki Museum

The Kon-Tiki Museum is a tribute to an adventure that inspired and captivated the world. In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl a Norwegian adventurer sailed on a balsa raft from Peru to Polynesia.

Norsk Folkemuseum

Another museum in this historic city is the Norsk Folkemuseum. It is an open-air museum with over 140 historic buildings and a wide range of artifacts from this country’s past. Enjoy demonstrations of traditional dancing and folk music and experience what life was like on farms of this area.

Nobel Peace Center

The Nobel Peace Center is a place where pioneers in the world of peace achievements are showcased. This award is usually presented in the City Hall, one of the most beautiful and famous buildings of Oslo. Just a stroll away is another of Oslo’s premier buildings – Opera House. This building resembles a glacier and its gently sloping roof is a perfect place to enjoy a panoramic view.

Royal Palace

Norway is home to one of the World’s oldest monarchies and its Royal Palace at the city’s center is their official residence. Enjoy the palace beautiful park particularly in the summer when the sun does not set until after 11 pm.

Thief Island

Another great place to explore in Oslo is Thief Island. It is a land with a history of pioneering and innovation that is showing the world how to do urban renewal. It was once a prison but today a dynamic area full of outstanding public art, modern restaurants, and art galleries.

Regardless of where you wander in this modern city, Oslo is a city full of adventure, flavor, and character.

4 Wonderful Places to Spend Christmas

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Christmas is the best time of the year, and easily, everybody’s favorite. Christmas time brings magic and it makes people more open to giving and loving. Each family has different ways of celebrating this wondrous season, the more traditional ones spend it at home with loved ones but since people are now more open to traveling, what best time to travel than the holiday season. Aside from bigger bonuses people receive, most moms and dads get time off from work for the Holiday break, thus more family time. Friends of mine who run a company that does epoxy floor coating, takes the opportunity to get away in winter for vacation and have really inspired this article. Read through the 4 most wonderful places to spend Christmas with your family and loved ones.

Finland
White Christmas is what we always see in greeting cards and if you want to have that same backdrop for your yearly family photo, head fast to Finland and experience white Christmas with a chance of spotting Santa Claus. This place is the hometown of our favorite big-bellied red-wearing Santa Claus and their forest is home to numerous reindeer. They have a Santa Claus Village that will surely leave a smile to everyone who visits. A trip to this place in the Arctic Circle will also give you a bonus by a chance of seeing the elusive Northern Lights.

Bethlehem
What be a more fitting place to celebrate Christmas than the place where Jesus Christ was born. With all the festivities all around, people sometimes forget the true reason why we celebrate Christmas and going to the birthplace of Jesus would be a good reminder for everyone. Church services and processions are held within Manger Square and at Christmas Eve a midnight service at St. Catherine’s Church is held and people from all walks of life, come to hear the mass.

Australia
If white Christmas is not your thing, or you just want to experience Christmas time wearing a bikini and sunbathing on a beach, then book a flight to Australia. It is the exact opposite of the northern hemisphere’s picturesque Christmas backdrop, because in Australia, it is just pure sun, sun, sun. Bondi Beach is a place for people or travelers away from their families who wants to experience the Christmas party on the sand. Christmas lights in Sydney, will also leave you in awe.

Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s holiday festivities are likened to that of New York and for Asians who can’t afford to go to the Big Apple just yet, this is the closest they can be to experiencing the NYC Christmas feels. Lights display, Christmas markets, holiday concerts and picturesque skyline will give you a modern Christmas vibe. A dinner cruise in the Victoria Harbor at night with give you the best view of Symphony of Lights where Hong Kong’s skyscrapers are filled with dancing neon lights.

Top 3 Things That You Need To Pack When Traveling Alone

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When it comes to packing for a solo trip, it is actually not much different than packing for a trip with a group of friends. For example, if you and your friends always use packing cubes when traveling together, feel free to use them during your solo trip as well. Can’t travel without your favorite book, no matter who you are with? Well, we are more than happy to let you know that you can take it on your solo trip as well! However, there are some certain concerns that become much more pressing when you are traveling alone. This is especially true when you are worried about your personal safety. That being said, if you don’t have anyone to watch your back during the trip, you will definitely want to take a few extra precautions – just in case something goes wrong, you know? With this in mind, here are some things that you need to pack when traveling alone!

Door Stopper
It is no secret that things like deadbolts and other security features vary heavily from hotel to hotel. With that said, you should at least consider bringing your own door stopper with you. A good door stopper has the ability to add an extra layer of protection to your hotel room’s door, and that is always a good thing. This is especially true if you are going to be staying at a hotel where doors open to the outside, or at some sort of a budget property that has weird locks.

Inexpensive Wedding Band
Wearing an inexpensive wedding band can actually help deter unwanted attention. And don’t worry, you don’t have to wait for your wedding to start wearing one of these things. Even a simple band will attract less attention, and if it somehow ends up getting lost or stolen, it won’t be a big loss for you. You can get a plain stainless steel band for less than $10, and titanium bands are not too expensive either.

First Aid Kit
There is absolutely no doubt that a first aid kit is one of the most important items that you need to pack for your solo trips. Every single traveler have a first aid kit in their travel backpack at all times. You never know what might happen to you, right? You can either create your own first aid kit, or you can get one from your local store.

Santorini Travel Guide – The Best Things to Do, See, and Eat

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When you think of the Greek islands, Santorini is most likely the first place that will come to mind and that’s no surprise considering it’s one of the most beautiful and romantic islands in the Aegean Sea. This was the first stop for friends of mine who own a Calgary Massage clinic when they recently visited Greece. So today I’m sharing my travel tips on what to do, see, and eat in Santorini, Greece. To get there, you can take a quick flight from Athens or board the high-speed ferry. If you’re planning to hop around to the other islands, the ferry is definitely more cost efficient. By boat, it’s about a five-hour trip from Athens and two and a half hours from the kiddos.

One of Santorini’s major features is its caldera; a crater formed by a nearby volcano long ago. Two of the islands major towns are located along the caldera: the capital Fira and the most northern town of Oia. Both have plenty of options for places to stay but Oia is a little quieter than Fira since it’s far away from where the cruise ships dock and much more romantic.

Oia
The Moody Bay is a quiet little Oasis located 300 steps below Oia. Here you’ll find fishermen network, boat tours for hire, and a few tavernas with some of the freshest seafood you’ll ever have. You can sit down at Athena where the catch of the day is always changing to hand-pick the local fish.

If you are looking for those iconic blue domed churches, head down the Main Street just past the high-end jewelry stores; follow an alley toward the water and you will see one of the most iconic shots in all of Santorini. For something a little more different but definitely memorable swing by the kissing fish spa for a 10 or 20-minute fish pedicure. These little guys don’t have teeth but they help exfoliate your skin and leave your feet feeling super soft – totally weird but strangely so satisfying.

Fira
When in Fira, you can take a donkey ride up from the port to the old town, it better to use this means because the way down is a bit slippery. There is a cable car that costs 5 Euros and takes 3 minutes if you want a faster alternative.

Other Attractions
Another must visit is Santo winery – the vine and the views are incredible. You can arrange for a full tour of the facility in advance. You can also visit the Santorini Brewing Company which is the only brewery on the island. It’s a small no-frills kind of place but they provide free tastings of their famous red and yellow donkey beers as well as some of their seasonal offerings.

If there’s one thing you need to see in Santorini, it’s the island’s famous sunset. You can probably catch it wherever you are on the island but there’s just something so magical about watching the Sun disappear behind the cliffs of Oia. It’s so good people line up one to two hours before the sun even starts to set and applauds once it finally disappears beyond the horizon.

The Art of Slow Travel

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Have you ever been in a situation where you came home from a vacation feeling very exhausted from your trip? If you have been in a such situation before, you are definitely not the only one. One of the main reasons why things like this happen is because many travelers live fast-paced lives, and that fast pace only continues while they are on the road as they rush from one city to another. However, people have come up with a certain movement that has quietly emerged as a solution to a tourist burnout, and that movement is simply called the slow travel. We are now going to give you a brief explanation of what slow travel is all about, okay?

Try to imagine what living in a small French cottage would feel like? You are buying fresh vegetables every single morning, you are drinking coffee with your loved ones on a nice French sidewalk terrace, and you are taking day trips to neighboring villages on a regular basis. Sounds very interesting, doesn’t it? Well, that’s what slow travel is all about! When it comes to slow travel, the focus is not as much on manic sightseeing than it is on exploring your surroundings at a relaxed pace. As you can see, solo travel provides you with an opportunity to experience new cultures and explore new places in a way that is not just less stressful for you, but easier on both the environment and your wallet as well.

The Benefits of Slow Travel
When you are traveling at a slow pace, you get to form a stronger connection to the place that you are exploring, and that is always a good thing. Also, when you are traveling at this pace, you don’t need to worry about visiting every single tourist attraction that is in your guidebook. One of the biggest advantages of slow travel is that it is actually easier on the environment than just about any other type of travel out there. And on top of that, slow travel is often easier on your wallet as well.

Experiencing a New Culture
While it is true that the pace of slow travel is usually – well – slow, getting up close and personal with a new culture is actually a pretty hard task to accomplish. It is definitely not as easy as exploring the major tourist sites. You also need to be prepared to take on language barriers and cultural differences.

3 Solo Travel Tips That Will Transform Your Solo Travel Adventures

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When it comes to traveling the world, it is one of the most amazing things that you could ever do, whether you do it alone or with your loved ones. However, it is very important to note that solo travel is not just another type of travel – solo travel is an art in its own right. Did you know that solo travel is actually a skill? Well, now you do! That being said, solo travel is a skill that you should be honing on a constant basis if you want to get the very best out of your travel experiences, especially when you are traveling abroad. With this in mind, solo travel has the ability to teach you a lot about yourself. It also has the ability to teach you a lot about the world that you live in. We strongly recommend solo travel to anybody and everybody – whether you are 18 or 60 years old, male or female, introvert or extrovert. And now, here are five solo travel tips that will transform your solo travel adventures!

 

Look At the People

Regardless of where you want to go or for how long you want to stay there, one of the very first things that you should do once you get to your destination is go to a busy area, order a cup of your favorite tea, and just watch people do their thing. This will help you learn more about the culture of a place that you are visiting more than your guidebook ever could. And once you’ve done that, you should try to use what you’ve learnt to shape how you interact with the people that you meet along the way. Also, this is a great way to make new friends.

Put On a Happy Face

One of the most attractive accessories that you could ever have is a big smile on your face. Generally speaking, people love to see a happy face, so try to use that to your advantage. Smiles are always friendly and inviting, and the best thing about them is that they can be translated and understood in any language.

 

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Try to get out of your comfort zone a bit more often. It will either be a good time or a good story, so you’ve got nothing to lose here. Go on an adventure, accept the challenge, and remember that it’s all about you!