Travel

A really good friend of mine has asked me to accompany him on a trip to see the wonders of Egypt next year, which sounds like a fantastic trip, but is more than just a tourist trap, it is also a spiritual holiday to experience local mysticism.

I've always been wanting to visit Egypt, and I guess I'm lucky to be given the chance to go with a friend, and we'll both feel more comfortable traveling with like minded people without the pressures of having to be discreet about our lifestyle choices, at least not when we're away from public gaze.

A gay travel holiday is of course the obvious answer, and it certainly isn't a new innovation, a tour bus of gay men was shown in the Diane Lane film "Under a Tuscan Sun", although I thought the stereotype of the soft feminine gay man was taken a bit far.

The Egypt trip is scheduled for May 2010, giving me plenty of time to budget, and I hope, to get to know Spirit Journeys, the company that organizes the tours. Part of the attraction for this tour, and I guess the company, is the emphasis on getting to know local customs on a spiritual or metaphysical level, I mean indigenous people often have a deeper understanding of the universe, and I can't think of a better way to get to know the ancient Egyptians.

If my writing business continues the way it is going at present, then a trip to Peru to experience the ancient Mayan society and see Machu Picchu might very well be on the cards for the following year. A gay spiritual holiday in the Andes sounds perfect, good company, good vibes, and I suppose a great holiday.

Back in the 1980s I stayed in a hotel of Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach for a couple of nights while holidaying in Florida, which was one of the highlights of my trip, now I wish I could go back.

Now before you think I've gone mad, I mention this because a few days ago I had the mixed fortune to watch a film set on location in Florida's Palm Beach, I say mixed because the film "The Prince and the Pauper" is aimed at a much younger audience, but it did give me the chance to see how wonderful the city skyline looks now.

My memory of the area is that it is a playground for the rich and famous and West Palm Beach travel is a growing industry with Carnival in June, and one of the world's best known independent film festivals, both based in the county.

Florida's east coast is probably more famous for Miami, but anyone choosing to visit, or even invest in property there should probably give Palm Beach a look before making a decision given that it is only a little over an hour away from Miami, but without the big city problems.

The Palm Beach County property appraiser should be your first stop if you're interested in the general housing, apartment, or acreage property market, especially now since purchase values may have decreased but property taxes are unlikely to have done.

West Palm Beach is a small city compared with it's southern neighbor, and I believe more appealing for that, and is part of Florida's famous Gold Coast where the sun always shines, and the city boardwalk is safe for families and retirees.

Here are some of the best Palm Beach hotels for your next holiday in the sun.

You have to see this one large, go ahead, click on the image. Now remember I'm not a professional photographer, and I'm using a small ultra compact digital camera which is only 8 megapixels, but I must say I was pretty delighted with this photo.

The sky itself is very grainy, but look at the moon! This was taken last night on our patio about 15-20 minutes after the sunset. Quite spectacular isn't it. And I love the silhouette of the lamp post and the grape vine behind it.
Hope you like it too!

Travelling as much as we do it's critical to have good travel insurance for those times when you least expect something to go wrong and then it does.

It's funny, everytime we go somewhere or do something that seems a bit risky we take all the precautions we can, and of course nothing happens. Conversely when we expect everything to go perfectly something always comes up to throw a spanner in the works. Read More

When we first started our travels from Australia to Europe we had no idea how things were going to work out for us and luckily nothing bad has happened to us, although we have been within a few kilometers of some bad stuff like riots, bombings etc.

As a traveller we tend to think that since we're on holiday that the rest of the world must be on holiday as well, but the reality is that bad things still happen, except being a traveller you might actually be closer to it.

We were lucky before we started our journey that part of the plan was to visit Sri Lanka which is a country enduring a brutal civil war so our travel agent advised us to get the very best insurance we could afford. We're glad we did because the airport was bombed the morning we were supposed to leave which delayed our flight from Colombo by nearly 12 hours.

Not that much of a big deal since we didn't have connecting flights but it's the sort of thing that can happen to anyone and you could be out of pocket by many hundreds or even thousands of dollars if you need to pay for new flights and hotel stays, and that's not including the cost of medical treatment if you happen to be unlucky.

Travel Insurance Direct is one of those companies all Ozzies should talk to before leaving the safety of Australia. They're a direct insurer underwritten by Allianz so no middle men and being part of Mondial Assistance can provide emergency evacuation back to Australia (or New Zealand) at short notice.

We were lucky and didn't need our cover, but it certainly made a huge difference to our peace of mind when we were in places that aren't like back home.

What is the world coming to, is the story in UK's The Sun newspaper, the one entitled "Brits Holiday from Helmut" just more cr@p to get sales, or does it indicate a growing trend within the EU for little colonies of people who live and holiday in small communities where they speak their own language and never mix with the locals or each other?

Let me tell you what the situation is. Some idiot Brit bought a package holiday in the Greek island of Kos and was dismayed to find he was completely surrounded by German people, so much so he and his family couldn't participate in any activities, and the hotel TV channels were all in German. So what did this idiot do, he sued his travel agent for misrepresenting his holiday.

Of course the story would be picked up by "The Sun", those guardians of all things British, protectors of the peasant way of life, and with such a racist and inflammatory headline wouldn't you expect the Germans to get their noses out of joint as well? Well they did, and yesterday's Bild carried an equally provocative (although much funnier) response entitled " Zu viele Deutsche im Hotel – Brite kriegt Schadenersatz!"

The Sun ran with photos of this hapless Brit and his family in Kos and frankly their reporting was pretty boring, really just trying to stir emotion in their continual let's bash the Germans and the EU tone, whereas Bild really went to town on their response using a picture of a couple of ugly Brit lobsters baking on the beach whilst contrasting it with a super sexy German girl wearing a German flag bikini and hat and waving the German flag.

Bild's story pretty much sums up my attitude, if you want a holiday, go anywhere so long as the Brits avoid the place. In fact they go so far as to advise German football fans to go ahead and book their championship holiday with complete satisfaction it will mostly be Tommy-free since none of the Brit football teams made it. LOL.

This story brings up a very interesting fact that within the EU people are choosing to live and holiday in other countries but within their own language groupings which I find really sad. The last time I was in Greece I had to carry a phrasebook so I could communicate in Greek with the locals. Living in Germany I needed to speak German, in France I had to speak French, in Spain we have to speak Spanish, and heaven help any foreigner who tries to speak German or French in the UK!

I realise that learning another language is actually impossible for the Brits, the few who do manage to master another language also tend to be the better Brits who leave the country, but why should anyone, Brit or German, expect their holiday within the EU to be exclusively in their language?

Surely a holiday should be as much about seeing something different that you can't get at home as much as having a great time as well? Am I being silly, should I just accept this as another example of peasants being catered to by their capitalist overlord whilst also keeping them in a perpetual state of modern serfdom? Am I really that unique because I choose to live by full immersion in another country and learn the language?

Lastly, my final word on the matter. I am disgusted with the BBC whose editors chose to cover this story with the headline "German tabloid mocks UK tourists". Whatever happened to BBC impartiality and quality reporting?