Going With the Flow

On April 17, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge, Travel Tips13 Comments

We have mentioned previously that we don’t always spend a ton of time planning for a trip and there are other times that we do. We had been going back and forth on where to go for our first big trip of the year and we couldn’t seem to make up our minds. Our initial plan was to go to Vietnam and Cambodia since we wanted to get into Asia, but the airline tickets were more than we were hoping to spend. Then we looked at going back to England as we could get a non-stop flight to London at a relatively reasonable price, but we were hoping to go someplace other than Europe, so we decided not to go there. We had also been tossing around the idea of going to Egypt and then 10 days ago we went ahead and booked our airline tickets. We then researched and found a tour company that had a good reputation and we just finalized our tour itinerary yesterday. In conjunction with that, we also booked our hotel stays and the tour company is taking care of reservations for our Nile River Cruise and flights from Cairo to Luxor and Aswan back to Cairo. Since we leave for Egypt in a little over two weeks from today, that means that it will be four weeks from the time that we decided on our trip until the day we leave for Egypt. Fortunately, we are getting e-Visas, so that wasn’t an issue as well and we could have gotten a tourist visa when we arrived at the airport, but we didn’t want to leave it to chance. Now we just have a few items to buy for our time in the desert heat and then we can relax and just look forward to our trip.

For this week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Free and Easy, we are sharing some photos of waterfalls. How comfortable would you be planning a trip to a foreign country that you have never visited before in less than four weeks from initiation to departure?

A Little Kindness Goes a Long Way

On April 10, 2018April 10, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge, Travel Tips6 Comments

Have you ever had a flight delayed or cancelled and had to go to the airline desk to see about getting on another flight? People can be so rude and angry with the staff at the desk who had nothing to do with what caused the issues with the flight. We see it almost every time we travel, someone is berating a poor attendant instead of treating them with respect and kindness. As if somehow, if they yell loud enough, their circumstances will suddenly change. We always try to be understanding and not take out frustrations on the employees or each other. It doesn’t mean that it is always easy, emotions can get the better of you, but you will be far happier and the people around you will be much happier if you keep your emotions in check. There have been more than a few times when there have been issues with our flight or hotel room and we have had to ask for assistance to get things fixed. On several of those occasions we have not only had our issue resolved, but they have even upgraded our seats or room. Granted, both us as well as the person helping us were pleasant with one another, so clearly it needs to be a two-way street. This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is about Kind and Caring, so here are a few photos to help put you in a calmer mood for the next time you have to deal with an unfortunate situation. 🙂

Traveling to New Places is Addictive

On April 3, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge, Travel Tips11 Comments

There are many reasons to travel from understanding different cultures, learning about history, seeing the natural beauty of the world, to many more. One of the more selfish reasons for traveling and going to new places around the world is that it just makes you feel good. Once you get over the stress of travel itself and actually are spending time in a new location, there is a sense of awe and enjoyment that can’t help but make you smile. When you smile, your body releases endorphins that make you feel good, which is why travel can become so addictive. In the same way that an adrenaline junky can’t get enough travel because of the endorphins that get released when doing risky activities, the same things occur to people who truly enjoy traveling.

When we look back at photographs of ourselves from our travels, there is no doubting as to whether it makes us happy. We usually have broad smiles on our faces and a general look of contentment. There is no doubt that we have conditioned ourselves to traveling and most definitely have the travel bug. Oddly enough, when we look at our selfies, which we don’t always take, it is almost as if we have the exact same poses and faces in every single one of them. Because we travel over the winter quite frequently, we also have the same coats and scarves on in many of them as well. Do you look the same in your travel photos or do you do random poses?