Home exchange remains popular

In these troubled financial times, home exchange schemes remain a popular choice amongst holiday makers looking for a way to get a great holiday for a bargain. This type of holiday would not suit everyone, but if your home is in a good location and in a good state of repair, then signing up with a home exchange scheme could be very beneficial.
'Invented City' home exchange scheme is one such service provider who have just announced that they have 1000 homes in the UK waiting to exchange with other home-owners, and over 2000 homes worldwide in places as diverse as Italy, Netherlands, Spain and USA amongst others. Currently 'Invented City' are offering a two year membership for the cost of one.
Home exchanges offer many advantages over conventional holidays, such as the fact that you will usually be staying in a community rather than in holiday accommodation. Of course the other side of the deal is that you have to open your home to 'strangers', but they are hardly going to trash your house if you are staying in theirs...

Monarch employees could walk out

A ballot has been set for July for Monarch employees to decide whether to strike, a strike that could have a serious impact on British holiday makers and an already tightly squeezed holiday industry..
Monarch employees are happy to defer a payrise until next year, but are asking for a lump sum payment, cabin crew are also looking for an extra allowance in line with pilots. Unions say that the requests are reasonable and take into account the difficult time that the travel industry is facing in the current economic climate.
Thousands of UK holiday-makers could be left stranded at airports across the country, including Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Luton and Dublin if the 600 staff vote for industrial action.
Monarch maintain that currently, the company cannot possibly consider extra outlay on employees, but talks continue to attempt to avert what could prove to be a crippling strike taking place. Management state: "Monarch senior management continues to work with the cabin crew trade union to resolve this matter as quickly as possible in the interests of its customers and all other employees."

Let's get the tent out...

At this time of year our thoughts turn to the great outdoors as the weather starts to look like camping is more of a realistic option and less of a pursuit for madmen...
Now it is a well established fact in my mind that US clothing manufacturers make some of the best outdoor gear available, and have made several purchases from US manufacturers in the past. One of the elite outdoor clothing sites I have come across is the 'LA Police Gear' site which has every possible item you could need along with quite a lot that you wouldn't.. for instance, you probably shouldn't be considering the Blackhawk Holsters if you are a UK citizen as taking a hand-gun on a camping trip would be considered a little extreme in Britain.. However, this accentuates the fact that LA Police Gear is a serious site with some serious bits of kit on offer, prices are keen are there are always some great bargains to be had.

Least Popular Traveling Companions

Thanks once more to Essential Travel for a new report into the people we don't want to sit next to on a flight to our chosen holiday destination - Answers vary from those who don't want their personal space invaded by overweight travelers to those who would prefer not to sit next to their own family members - one respondent answering:‘I would pay not to sit next to my 15 year old daughter’.
The feelings against more portly travelers appear to run fairly high with over 40% of the respondents (out of 1000) citing 'Overweight Individuals' as the least desirable traveling companion - To be fair teenage offspring, or more accurately 'family' were only identified as a problem by 2% which translates as 20 out of the 1000 interviewed.
A good number (17%) identified 'babies' as undesirables whilst surprisingly 'smelly' (7%) was pipped by 'chatterbox' (8%) - Please note that surprisingly and smelly are not part of the same phrase... to be 'surprisingly smelly' indeed puts a whole new spin on simply being smelly...
Politicians and bankers were given an easy ride and identified as being slightly less desirable than your own family members and a honeymooning couple.

This survey will no doubt be welcomed by those airlines who are planning to introduce a 'fat tax' for those who find it difficult to fit into a single seat adequate for most other travelers. RyanAir is one of those who is considering this approach. There is some confusion as to how exactly this charge will be made as weight alone may not constitute an invasion of personal space, and any charge is almost sure to be challenged under discrimination laws. Some US airlines are already charging very obese passengers who spill over into neighbouring seats for a second seat in some cases. United Airlines said it would make additional charges for travellers whose size made them "infringe on another guest's seat".

Travelling in Wales

I have posted about the 'ColinsWales' site before when it was hosted on a free site - I have noticed that a number of free site services have been withdrawn lately which will have prompted some people to dump their sites whilst the more adventurous ones have gone on to create a new site on a new domain. I am pleased to report that ColinsWales is part of the latter group and a new revamped Wales Tourism site has been launched. This site features detailed descriptions of seven major South Wales beaches, a Welsh History section, some stunning photography and even a fascinating narrative about Colin's childhood experiences. If you are planning to visit Wales, then visit: http://www.colinswalestourism.co.uk/ there are lots of ideas about places to visit including an indication of opening times and admission prices. This is an informative site, yet written from a uniquely personal perspective - well worth a visit even if you just want to find out a bit more about Wales.

Hawaii Activities

I spoke to someone today who's spouse was taking part in a conference...in Hawaii! No surprise in finding out that this particular conference is very well attended as surely Hawaii figures highly in the league tables of favourite fantasy holiday locations.
Hawaii conjures up images of island holidays at their very best with beautiful beaches, wonderful facilities and one of the best places in the world to do a spot of surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving or fishing.
There are plenty of Hawaii Activities to take part in, and some wonderful scenery and weather which makes any trip to these Islands, the vacation of a lifetime.
Hawaii is made up of a collection of separate islands, each of which offers different activities. As well as the activities mentioned above you can do everything from helicopter flights, surfing, biking, whale watching, kayaking, and even take a close look at some volcanoes in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park if you are so inclined.
No wonder this is such a popular location for holidays as well as 'working' events, particularly as to counter the full program of available activities comes some of the most beautiful and relaxing surroundings that you could hope to encounter anywhere on earth.

Going away with friends

Whilst taking a holiday with friends always seems like it might be a nice idea, there are some pit-falls that you should be aware of if you are considering holidaying with others.
www.essentialtravel.co.uk have carried out a customer survey which has given some surprising results, not least of which is their finding that 1 out of 10 friendships end after joint holidays. Not only that, but 25% of people 'felt differently' about their friends having spent time at close quarters with them... (and I suspect that they don't mean in a good way).

Amongst the most disagreeable traits of friends on holiday are conflicts caused by holiday romance, disagreements over money and splitting bills, clash of interests and the altered behaviour that we revert to when outside of the 'normal constraints' of home life.

However holidaying with friends can be a success, many groups prove this to be true year after year and EssentialTravel has 10 tips to make your holiday with friends a success (or at least limit the damage...).