There is nothing I like better than a well planned and fun holiday. It can really re-energize mind and body. Unfortunately your dream holiday can cost a small fortune. This web page is all about having that great holiday without emptying out your piggy-bank.

To help you plan a frugal holiday we will look at some money saving tips, then we will consider some of the budget world-wide holiday locations.

European budget holiday ideas

Scotland
England is one of the most interesting destinations that you can visit. It has an epic medieval history. If you love castles, military history and beautiful cathedrals, this is the destination for you. Unfortunately England is also one of the most expensive destinations. Scotland is a great alternative, it has all of the same appeal as England, but at a much more reasonable cost. . Just don’t go in winter, Scotland’s winters are alarmingly cold.

Amsterdam
Amsterdam is famous for it’s legalized prostitution and weed. When in Amsterdam you should really check out the “coffee shops” and the red-light district, but Amsterdam’s appeal doesn’t end there. Amsterdam has a great nightlife, maybe the best in all of Europe so come ready to party all night long.

Also worth a look are the Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum.

South Africa
If you fancy an African safari, South Africa is the best option. It’s not quite as third world as the rest of Africa, so you don’t have to ruff it on a holiday trip there. Check out the internet for cheap holiday trips to South Africa.

Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City
Planning an Eastern holiday? You can’t beat Vietnam on price. I recommend renting a bicycle and peddling through the city. It really is culturally rich and beatiful city.

Some tips to keep your holiday costs down

1. If you are planning a simple or short trip, plan the trip yourself. Only use a travel agent if the trip is lengthy and complicated.
2. Go in the off-season, there are less tourists and everything is cheaper.
3. Comparison shop on the internet. Comparing the online offers will usually land you a better deal.
4. Look at packages, on EBay. Travel agents will frequently put packages that have been canceled on, on EBay. So, you can find some real cheap ones there.
5. Keep your long distance calls down. The rates for long distance calls in many countries are extremely high.
6. Go in a group. You can generally get bigger discounts, the more people you are.7. If you are going to rent a car, rent the smallest one practical for your trip. You will save both on petrol and rental fees.
8. Don’t rent your car at the airport. You will find much better rates outside .
9. Travel with a cooler loaded with food and drink. It will be cheaper and easier than stopping every now and again.

Above all remember you are out there to relax and enjoy yourself, hopefully with these tips you can do so without paying too much for the experience.

The skin of an infant, younger than 3 years, is very sensitive to the sun and chemicals in sunscreen. Adult sunscreen works with chemicals that sink into the skin, where they provide protection. The problem with this is that infants and babies tend to be allergic to the chemicals and when they aren’t these chemicals do not provide sufficient protection for your infant.

When you buy sunscreen you need to check the label, on the back, the active ingredient needs to be zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. These are natural ingredients that work by sitting on top of the baby’s skin, creating a layer of protection. Sunscreen made from these ingredients tend to be a bright colour, so you should easily be able to see whether you have missed any parts of the infant’s body.

If you have a toddler you know they tend to rub the sunscreen into their eyes. The type that is made from zinc oxide or titanium dioxide will not irritate the eyes of your toddler, as much as the adult product will.

The sunscreen or sunblock should also be water resistant with an SPF of 15 to 30, that provides broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection.

Here is a tip: If you are using a new sunscreen on your toddler, apply some to the under par of their arm, the night before you start using it. If a rash forms, you know that they are allergic to it.

When you buy sunblock, look for the ‘baby blanket’ or ‘blue lizard’ brands. They are the best established ones.

Avoiding blisters

Boots for hikers

The first thing is, don’t buy hiking boots online. You need to make sure that the boots are a good fit and you cannot do that online. The boots need to be a tight fit, but you must still be able to wiggle your toes inside them. When you walk there must be no pressure points on your feet from the boots. Also when you walk your heel must not move around inside the boot.

Socks for hikers

You need to buy some decent hiking socks, everyday socks tend to collect moisture, which then cause friction. Take care to keep your feet dry, at all times. Note that they make different socks for men and women. Swap your socks if they get wet.

Lubricants

If you know you are prone to blisters, consider applying a lubricant to the problem areas, before you go walking. Some people have had good results with petroleum jelly, they reapply it every 15 kilometers.

Treating blisters

Frequently you will feel discomfort in an area of your foot, before the blisters actually form. You should start treatment at this point.

Blister plasters

The blister plaster is the simplest and most effective treatment for blisters. What you want to do is to remove your boots and socks. Then dry them out and remove any sand from them. Dry and clean the blister. If the blister has burst apply disinfectant. If your blister is on an awkward spot, cut the plaster to the right size and place it over the blister.

After hike healing

If the blister is small, deep in the skin, filled with blood or has burst. Disinfect it and leave it alone. Otherwise pierce it with a disinfected needle and let it drain over night.

Hiking is one of my favourite pastimes. I particularly like long hikes, as that is the only real way to get away from civilization, these days. On long hikes I always find water to be a problem. On a trail it is just not worth drinking dodgy water. If you get diarrhea that far from help, you can get dehydrated quickly and then you are in real trouble. Fortunately there are some lightweight items that you can carry with to you to fix this problem.

There are 2 types of products to treat water, purification products and filtration products. Purification products are cheaper, but they won’t remove anything from the water. They only kill bacteria, viruses and parasites in the water. Filtration products will remove these organism from the water as well as any dirt, so if the only water available on your hike will be muddy, you need a filter.

Water purification products

Chlorine tablets vs. iodine tablets: The price of both tablets are low. The difference is that iodine is a much stronger chemical. This means that iodine kills more organisms better, but it is not for long term use. Specifically Giardia parasites are killed by Iodine so you need to check, before you hike in an area.

Chlorine Tablets: Chlorine is the same stuff they use to disinfect tap water. This little bottle contains 75 tablets each tablet can disinfect 1 liter of water. For the price it is a very cheap solution.

Iodine Tablets: This bottle has 75 tablets which purifies 50 litres of water.

Water filtration products:

Sweetwater Microfilter: This is a high quality filter. It works with a hand pump to help you get water from small sources like puddles. It weighs just 320g. You can filter 750 liters of water with one filtration cartridge.

Recently they also started selling steripens for water purification. These pens run on batteries and they use UV light to sterilize the water. They aren’t cheap, but they are very good at killing bacteria and they don’t use any chemicals to do so. I recommend the SteriPEN Journey LCD this comes with a filtration bottle, so you can filter and sterilize the water.