My friends and I took a few second hand campervans around the States last summer, and I found out that I really liked it. After taking the mic out of it for years, I am actually basically American.

The USA is the largest economy in the world with the higest life standard rates. The American dream is all associated with the strong employability on the US market, the stable financial rates of income in every household and the peaceful and calm life people can enjoy. But all that this powerful and beautiful country has achieved is because of the many ethnic groups, the strong mutual understandings they share and their mutual acceptance and recognition as a nation, as a separate people.

When travelling around the US, a person can encounter so many different cultures that hardly is there someone who can remember all aspects of his travel and all the new things he has met while on the way.The reason is because the USA is composed by so many people with different traditions, religions and views that to include all that in an article would be impossible. Formed in the second half of the 18th century as a free and an independat country, the USA has become home for so many different ethnic groups -Africans, Europeans, the native tribes of North Americans, people from Asia and South America. This created the vast scope of social values and traditions that nowadays make the US such an attractive place to be.

Every state has its own alls, all subordinated to the Constitution -this creates the first major difference in the parts of the USA -the different legal rules that govern the social life of each state but all equal before the ultimate law of the Constitution which rules over the important issues of justice such as human rights, civil liberties and freedom. All other aspects of the US life can be observed aswell -the food of many cultures can be found, the believes of many ethnic groups can be observed, the rituals of hundreds of different peope can be recorded -all that makes the US the country with the most diverse cultural world the exporing of which is something every person on the globe would like to do.

Thailand or the “Land of Smiles” which was originally known as Siam is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. This country is bordered by Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. Very little is known about the early history of Thailand, but today the country has become very famous for its ancient archeological monuments and the “Thai Massage”.

The Thai Massage which is very popular all over the world is a style of massage therapy that blends the influences of various Asian medicines and the Buddhist philosophy, I normally try and go for one after a jog, there is nothing nicer then stripping off running clothes and having a full body induglence. For getting the full and real benefits of the “Thai Massage” a visit to the country should be considered. The massage is a blend of acupressure, yoga stretches and reflexology and combines both the Chinese medicine theory and also the Ayurveda, an ancient Indian system of medical science

A full Thai Massage may last more than two hours at a time as all the parts of your body are massaged and stretched. The meditative atmosphere and the body’s relaxed state are very soothing to the mind. As the Thai Massage combines both the physical and energetic healing of the body, this massage can benefit you in a number of ways.

This massage decreases the tension of your muscle and increases your flexibility and strength. The muscle tone is adjusted and your posture corrected. It also relieves the pain and nourishes the joints.

It helps you to reconnect your mind and body and allows balance of the emotions and clarity of the mind. The meditative aspect that you undergo boosts up your spirits and helps you to create a more positive view of life.

The massage allows correct energy flow and removes blockages of the energy. There is also proper functioning of the nervous system, increased vitality and improved circulation of the blood.

One should definitely visit Thailand, if only for the Thai massage!

The land in Kenya and East Africa is fraught with danger of the four-legged and two-legged kind, I remember going there right before I started my vet jobs London, and let me tell you, it kind of gave the impression that being face to face with animals was a bit scarier than I orginally thought. In order to explore the beautiful lands in this area of the world it is safer to stick to national parks. These parks offer safety guidelines, some offer tours and they almost all offer a place to sleep.

Aberdare National Park which is known for the most famous hotel in Kenya-Treetops. There are two other hotels available to stay at or you can rent a primitive campsite. If you’re looking to find buffaloes or elephants this is the park to explore. You might even be so lucky as to spot large forest hogs, black rhinos or even the rare black leopard.

Amboseli National Park is the second most famous park in Kenya. Having such a idyllic view of Mount Kilimanjaro is a definite perk. So are the elephants that have no fear of grazing out in the open. One of the few ecolodges in Kenya, Tortilia Camp is known for it’s almost all-inclusive packages. The other lodge in the area, Ok Tukai Lodge is luxurious and welcoming in it’s own right. In order to explore Ambroseli you must travel via 4-wheel-drive or an organized safari tour.

Hell’s Gate National Park is the sole park that officials will allow visitors to walk or bike the trails. This is extreme excitement with cliffs, gorges along with leopards and lions hiding nearby. For rock climbers the must see place to be is Fischer’s Tower.

These are just three of the six national parks located in Kenya. If this is your first time in Africa it would be best to view the wildlife on guided safaris. These parks allow the ultimate up-close and personal view of local wildlife without constant fear of danger. Explore without roughing it at the lodges located inside the national parks.

Well the summer is almost upon us and I know that everyone is looking forward to going on holiday. But where will you go? There are so many different choices, all of which have their own unique selling points. Will you head to the far East? Or travel down to the Mediterranean? You could stay in Britain of course, we have been promised a fantastic summer, but we have heard that before and been largely disappointed. Below are my top three sunny destinations for this year which might give you some inspiration.

3. Coming in at number three is Slovenia. Situated between Italy and Croatia, Slovenia enjoys a fantastic Mediterranean climate during the spring and summer months. There are some fantastic landscapes to enjoy including the wonderful Lake Bled and a couple of great cities. The capital city of Ljubljana is a nice place with some charming streets. There are some great bars and restaurants here that sell food and drink at very good prices. If you want a relaxing holiday in the sun without the invasion of tourists, then pick Slovenia.

2. South Africa comes in at number two. This entry might sound a little odd, but this year, the FIFA World Cup is coming to South Africa. Even if you don’t watch any games, the country will be gripped with a party fever that will be fantastic to be a part of. People from all over the world will be there and will provide so much colour and vibrancy. There are, of course, the nature reserves and national parks and safaris to see as well as great diving spots. South Africa also has one of the top cities of the world in Cape Town.

1. My number one destination this year is Spain. Spain offers so much to the traveller. Whether you are looking for a great night out or a relaxing getaway, Spain has it all. With some great medieval cities, there are plenty of sights to see and some great cultures to enjoy. As I discovered when I was teaching overseas; cheap drinks and food have always been a highlight of this fantastic country, as well as its weather. With everything Spain has to offer, there is rarely a need to go elsewhere.

There is a school of thought that says every single person in Germany can speak good English and that the majority of English people can’t speak any other language but their own (and due to poor secondary education jobs in this country, some can’t even speak that). And yes, if you’re going red then prepare to go even redder. I can see how people come to the conclusion of the latter—be honest: how many English friends do you have who can speak another language?—but the former–well, it simply isn’t true. How do I know this? Through that great thing called experience of course! I lived there for a while and let me tell you that the Germans aren’t as good as they are made out to be. While it’s undoubtedly true that a large proportion of the country can speak some English, it would be more accurate to say that there are quite a few people who don’t speak it at all. It depends, of course. I have been to parties where every person in the room could speak adequate English–but then, I have also worked in construction sites where nobody could. That’s the best way to learn German, by the way. If you want to know what the German word for “Danger!” is then stand under a dodgy roof: you’ll learn pretty damn quick.

It isn’t the Germans fault, of course. They never proclaimed to be the best at languages. (The best at languages are the Dutch, if you were wondering; on average, by the age of sixteen, all children can speak at least four languages fluently and get by in a few others.) It’s the fault of generations of English people frequenting the same tourist places—places where English has been rammed down the throats of the people: them needing to learn the language for the sake of their livelihoods, rather than through choice.

As you all know, Canada is one of my favourite places in the world and with the Olympics being held there I thought I should write a little something about hockey.

Well, we are one game in to the Winter Olympic hockey and what a game it was for Canada. An 8-0 thrashing of minnows, Norway. Norway, in fairness, did play quite well and subdued Canada for around one and a half periods. However, they could not contain them for long.

The biggest highlight from a the game has to be the chemistry of the Canadian forward lines. All the talk before the Olympics was of the Russian forward lines, with Ovechkin, Malkin, Datsyuk and company. I think now is the time to start talking about the power of the Canadian forward line.

We all knew before the tournament started that the San Jose forwards; Thornton, Heatley and Marleau were going to be on the same line. Why would coach Babcock split up one of the most devastating forward lines in the NHL? That line got on to the ice and did what we knew they could do.

The main issue was how the coach would manage the other lines. He decided to go with Crosby, Iginla and Nash to provide the goals on another line. This was perhaps his best decision. That line outperformed all others and looked truly devastating.

Crosby brings the flair and Nash brings the power whilst Iginla uses his positioning and veteran knowledge of the game to piece it all together. The result was outstanding. That line ran rings around the Norwegian defence and created a plethora of chances which led to Iginla scoring a hat-trick.

We all know how well the Canadian team can handle the puck, and to be honest, a lot of the other men’s teams can handle the puck just as well. It is their other traits, such as the ones described above that set them apart and, after just one game, make them look like massive gold medal prospects. As long as the two forward lines mentioned above keep firing, Canada should seal that gold medal.

Right before I go I just found this great employee blog talking abotu the enigin scam. If you have a moment, I recommend that you check it out!

When I was traveling in the UK recently, I decided to visit my boyfriend’s sister and her husband, both of whom live in Nuremberg, Germany, a city not too far from Frankfurt. As an Australian, I’m used to traveling ridiculous distances to get anywhere at all—even to get out of the country can take several hours, and a flight to the UK takes close to a day. So, having checked out the distance to Germany, I was pretty impressed to see that I could fly there in 90 minutes. And, I was even more impressed when I started browsing through the various discount airlines that service the UK. RyanAir had some amazingly cheap flights, so I decided to go with them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite sure what I’d got myself into. First, I had to take a bus from Oxford to Stansted airport, which is a fairly substantial trip in and of itself. Given that my flight left at something like 5am, I stayed overnight at the airport. Ah, comfortable sleeping. When my flight finally started boarding, I realized that there were no allocated seats—which I suppose is why everyone had been pushing and shoving in front of each other. To make matters worse, my flight didn’t actually arrive in Frankfurt. It went somewhere called Frankfurt Hahn, which is apparently a decommissioned military base that’s several hours away from Frankfurt. Oops. My poor boyfriend’s sister and her husband had to get up at a ridiculous hour in order to get to this airport, and I felt horribly guilty. I’d also booked a flight out of Germany to Venice, but when I realized that this would mean that I’d somehow have to get back to Frankfurt Hahn, I cancelled my flight. Well, cancelled’s not the right word, since RyanAir doesn’t allow cancellations or refunds. Rather, I gave RyanAir some more of my money, and paid for a train fare as well. All in all, I’m not sure I’d bother again! More amazing update everyone, Bevealy just got a job with a company that sells the infamous Fannie Pack, how great is that job for a traveller, I expect freebies!

Many of us think of a “Cross Channel Ferry” as leaving from Dover and arriving in Calais and it’s main purpose is to do the shopping somewhere where the choice is slightly different and it is cheaper - specifically for he booze.

Several years ago I discovered, though I was far from the first, the delightful french harbour town of Honfleur. The best way to get there is from Portsmouth on the Le Havre ferry. It is then a twenty minute or so drive across the enormously impressive bridge that spans The Seine.

The focal point of the beautiful little town is it’s old fishing harbour. Although there is still some trawler activity the port has now been turned over mostly to pleasure craft and the surrounding buildings house a plethora of bars, restaurants, art galleries and craft shops. The old harbour is an almost perfect rectangle, with a bridge over the sea entrance, so you can walk all the way around it.

The people watching is of the highest quality. I understand that many Parisiens flock to this area, which is on the easten edge of Normandy, so the couples promenading are extremely stylish. The restaurants serve the most fabulous sea food, gorgeous moules frites and succulent crab are the stars.

After lunch, if you can tare yourself away, head up to the narrow streets behind the harbour. These are full of more craft and art shops and an especially interesting kitchen wares shop where you can buy some “different” gadgets - useful for getting something interesting for the difficult aunt! A little shopping then, for an aperitif back by the water and either making your way to your hotel or back across the mighty bridge and home.

Just about everyone has heard of survey websites on the internet; but are they actually worth doing? There are plenty to choose from but a lot of people are (understandably) wary of giving away their personal details and opinions for the sake of a few quid.

Well, like anything else, you need to find out which sites are reputable. There are several very well-known ones that are safe to deal with such as; YouGov, Panel Base and Song People. However, from personal experience, I would strongly recommend Toluna. Out of the survey sites that I have used I would certainly say that it is the best.

I am just about to claim my second voucher for twelve pounds in a matter of seven weeks. Okay, you couldn’t actually turn it into a high-flying career, but at the same time, it is a handy bit of pocket money. If you don’t mind filling out a survey or two every couple of days then it is all extra dosh, isn’t it?

But Toluna is not just about being able to make money. You get some really interesting questions asked by other members and you can also post your own. There are different categories of topics to choose from, so if you fancied answering questions on music you can just go straight to that section.

Toluna is a great website and it is a lot more interesting than any others I have seen. The whole thing actually has quite a strong sense of community. If you want to join one of the survey sites then Toluna is worth serious consideration.

I couldn’t sleep last night and decided to go skulking round the web for something to keep me preoccupied, turns out the House Forum is not only a brilliant way to waste time but also fairly diverting…

This blog is spot on when it says how obsessed we are with time.

The last time that I was ill I did exactly the same thing that is mentioned on here; I lay on the sofa thinking about how much time I was wasting and all of the jobs that I could/should be getting done. We seem to have a natural ability to beat ourselves up for relaxing when rest is actually the most important thing of all.

It is all to do with being in tune with our bodies. If we feel unwell then we need time to get better.

A friend of mine gave me a really good tip for procrastination. Buy a book on it, and then everytime you feel yourself about to put something off, say to yourself ‘if I don’t do this now then I have to read that awful book cover to cover’. Unfortunately I already had to read the awful book because I broke my promise, but I always have a really boring one waiting, this month it is a book on diesel storage!