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A. Helping Travellers help Local Organisations: Travellers have the potential to bring much-needed supplies to underfunded non-profit organisations around the world, but usually they don’t learn about those needs until it’s too late to pack for them. StuffYourRucksack hopes to solve that problem by showing travellers--before they leave on their trips—how they could help out in a particular region.
The site was recently founded by BBC presenter Kate Humble, who recognized how often travellers end up thinking, ‘If only I had known!” She explains: “How many times have you been travelling and visited a school or community or local charity that you would love to help? The school needs books, or a map or pencils; an orphanage needs children's clothes or toys. All things that, if only you'd known, you could've stuffed in your rucksack. But once you get home you forget, or you've lost the address, or worry that whatever you send will be stolen before it even gets there.”
The concept is simple: local organisations around the globe can visit the site to register what they need, as can travellers who have been there and discovered the need first-hand. Travellers planning a trip can then search to see what they can bring along to help. There are no fees to be paid on either side, and a feedback section of the site allows for the exchange of tips and advice.
StuffYourRucksack is still in the process of getting off the ground, so there are no listings yet for many countries. One look at the listings that are there, though, shows how easy it could be to help. An Indian school for street children, for example, needs children’s clothing. An educational charity in Tanzania needs pencils and used mobile phones. Nice example of a grassroots initiative using the internet to help small-scale aid find its way around the world. Website: www.stuffyourrucksack.com
B. Sightseeing on the Run: Rome provides running tours in multiple languages. Sight Jogging offers visitors to Rome a selection of 14 different routes to choose from, led by experienced trainers who hail from a variety of countries and speak many different languages.
One popular route is a 6.2-mile tour culminating at St. Peter's Basilica, for example; another is 5.2-mile jaunt to the Villa Borghese. All routes are rated for duration, difficulty level and types of attractions covered ("artistic and historical," for example), and guides can tailor the route and pace to the runners' ages and fitness level.
Sight Jogging lends heart-rate monitors to all runners at no extra charge, and baby strollers and bikes are also available for those who'd rather not run.
Prices range from EUR 70 for one person up to EUR 140 for four. In this era of health-consciousness and multitasking, it's no surprise that running tours are catching on. Website: www.sightjogging.it
C. TreeTop Adventure Parks: If you've ever longed to swing from the trees like the Tarzan and Jane, then Go Ape, a UK-based park, first launched in 2002 and since expanded to 16 locations throughout Britain, is for you.
Each of Go Ape's award-winning high forest adventure parks is essentially a network of rope bridges, trapezes and zip slides that stretches for roughly a mile through the tree canopy.
Visitors can climb trees, slide across high wires, crawl through tunnels, cross rope bridges, swing on Tarzan swings and walk over planks before zipping down to the ground again. All users are fitted with a climbing harness and given instruction before undertaking the course, which takes approximately 2.5 to 3 hours to complete.
Entry is GBP 25 for adults and GBP for children 17 and under; the minimum age is 10.
In Lyon, France, City Aventure operates two parks that also offer a variety of high-forest adventures. Attractions include rope bridges and Tarzan swings, along with the Tyro X-speed at Ste. Foy, a giant Tyrolean traverse 110 metres long that visitors can use to zip throughout the 4-hectare park. The courses take between 1 and 2 hours to complete. Both parks are built with environmental preservation in mind, including fastening systems that do not interfere with the trees' normal growth.
Adrenalin Forest in Christchurch, New Zealand, spans more than 1km with 4 pathways between 1.5 and 17 meters off the ground. Visitors to the park, which launched last year, negotiate a series of rope bridges, Tarzan swings and flying foxes from platforms constructed in the tree canopy.
Last but not least, Thailand's Tree Top Adventure Park, set in the forest of Koh Chang, also offers an assortment of rope bridges, Tarzan swings and giant zip lines.
In this age of eco-awareness and experience-seeking, high-forest adventure parks like these offer travellers a way to satisfy both primal desires and gain some status skills to boot. Website: www.goape.co.uk — www.cityaventure.com — www.adrenalin-forest.co.nz —www.ekohchang.com
D. Light Therapy for Weary Travellers: Anyone who's ever travelled knows that it can be hell, particularly when long layovers and multiple time zones are involved. Thanks to the Aéroports de Paris, however, those travelling through the City of Lights can now experience light therapy to recharge their stamina during a trip.
Light therapy, or exposure to full-spectrum light mimicking sunlight, has been found to be beneficial for both jet lag and the "winter blues," or seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
Making the most of both purposes, the Paris-Orly and Paris-Charles de Gaulle airports offered travellers complimentary light therapy sessions during the 2007 holiday travel season. Large, igloo-shaped stations in select airport terminals were equipped with specialized therapeutic lamps from Philips Energy Light, along with relaxation chairs and calming music; massages were also available. "Express" sessions, meanwhile, were available from roving light therapists elsewhere in the airports. Website: www.aeroportsdeparis.fr
E. Downloadable Shopping Maps: Visitors to Sydney who want the scoop on where all of the best boutiques, cafes and galleries are need only point their browsers to Urban Walkabout to download attractive, pocket-sized walking maps in PDF form, complete with a detailed listing of shops and other attractions—for free.
Maps are clean and concise and include information on buses, trains and other public transit. What's more, customers can take advantage of special offers, such as discounts at certain establishments, just by showing their guides.
The Urban Walkabout Sydney Shopping Guides are published twice a year. Versions are currently available for five areas—Bondi, Double Bay + Potts Point, Paddington + Woollahra, Surry Hills + Darlinghurst, and the Sydney Central Business District.
In addition to downloading them from the web, customers can pick up copies from every retail establishment listed on the website and in hotel lobbies, tourist information booths and visitor centres. In addition to the guides, there also is a wealth of information on the Urban Walkabout website, including a listing of special offers and events.
While city maps and shopping guides obviously are nothing new, Urban Walkabout wins points for simplicity, aesthetics and accessibility, providing an upscale alternative to tacky, ad-plastered city maps that are handed out near tourist hotspots.
Letting customers do the printing keeps costs low, and allows data to be continuously updated. Website: www.urbanwalkabout.com
The above news is sourced from Springwise.com
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