The GypsyNesters

2020 has certainly started off in a way that’s grabbing a lot of attention. From civil unrest to world-wide pandemics, it’s only natural that a lot of us are looking at the idea of travel with a lot of skepticism. However, a lot of countries are starting to loosen restrictions, and this might soon include opening to tourists as well. But how do you ensure you stay healthy and safe while traveling the world in such uncertain times?

Pack everything you need to travel safely

Even if some people may doubt the seriousness of the pandemic that has been spreading across the globe for months, now, it’s still unwise to act as if there’s nothing to be concerned about. The risk if you are wrong is too great. As such, be sure to pack your hygiene essentials when traveling and to use them liberally. This includes face masks, hand sanitizer, and sanitizing wipes.

Always check in advance

If you are planning travel of any kind, then be sure to check to see if there are any travel restrictions you need to abide by. There are sites on the net making it easy to stay travel updated. Countries and states each have their own rules, including restrictions on who may travel, to where, and for what purpose. Even as these restrictions lighten in one place, they may remain strict in another. You don’t want to plan a trip to a place that isn’t as open to travel as you thought it might be.

Control your own environment as best as possible

When you’re traveling, exercising any caution regarding accommodations and travel providers is only natural. If you feel like hotels and public transport are hotbeds of risk, then there’s nothing wrong with planning a trip that allows you to remain the master/mistress of your own surroundings. For instance, you might want to plan for a road trip, bringing an RV with you so that you don’t have to rely on others for transport or accommodation. Be sure to regularly sanitize things you have to touch, such as the steering wheel, door, and countertops even if no-one but you are inside, however.

Check that the services you rely on are being safe

If you are going to be relying on travel service providers to meet your needs, however, then you need to make sure you’re choosing the right ones. Airlines and hotels are going to be working to follow best practices to ensure the safety of travelers and staff, alike. As such, when you’re choosing a hotel, be sure to choose one that is putting in the effort of maintaining social distancing protocols, offering extra training for staff on hygiene and deep cleaning, and providing hygiene methods to guests, such as offering face masks and sanitizers in each and every room.

Simply put, it’s best to keep exercising caution as best as possible. Stay up-to-date on the latest but follow your own judgment. If you feel that you shouldn’t risk it, then don’t.

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Prague is one of the most popular destinations in Europe for tourists looking for a city break. Of the 20 million tourists that head to Czechia every year, 8 million visit the country’s capital. With so many people, it’s easy to understand that these visitors have different tastes, needs, and budgets, meaning businesses in Prague have created a range of hotels to cater for them all.

From the cheap and cheerful to the luxury, and from ultra-modern to communist-inspired decor, there really is something for everyone.

Sir Toby’s Hostel

Hostels aren’t for everyone, some people hate the idea of sharing a room with others, while some enjoy the sense of community and relish the opportunity to meet others from around the world.

Sir Toby’s Hostel is a great option as it has a very rustic feel that is very different to many hostels. The iron beds and dark wood furniture will make you feel like you’re in a period drama.

There are even private rooms available, giving you a good balance of communal living and personal space.

Hilton Prague

You can never go wrong with a Hilton because you know what you’re getting regardless of where you stay. While they don’t always have the same charm and character as a locally run establishment, there’s a lot to be said for arriving in a foreign country and at least knowing you’ll be sleeping on a comfy bed that night.

Hilton Prague looks very modern from the outside with its glass facade. Inside, the decor is grand, with white marble lining the vast lobby area. Rooms are modern, clean and pack in all the facilities you expect.

The rooftop terrace gives you fantastic views over the city, while the onsite spa, pool and fitness suite will leave you feeling refreshed. There are five bars and restaurants in the hotel, giving you a mix of dining options including plenty of local specialities.

The Hilton Prague is also home to the Casino Atrium, the venue for the Prague round of the PokerStars European Poker Tour. The casino has a wide selection of table games, including roulette, blackjack and pontoon. Players can also enjoy a range of slots games and a large poker room where Texas Hold’em is played.

Hotel International

For people who are interested in the history and architecture of 20th century Eastern Europe, Hotel International is a great way to live it. From the outside, it’s concrete exterior has hints of Brutalist and Stalinist architecture but with its own unique twist. It shares many similar features to the Seven Sisters in Moscow and the Palace of Culture in Warsaw, which you’ll notice immediately if you’ve visited those cities.

Inside, the hotel has been well maintained but the decor remains faithful to the original styling it had when it first opened in 1956. This means high ceilings, lots of marble, and dark woods. Some of the rooms feel more modern though, following a recent refurbishment program.

Although the decor may feel a little Soviet, the facilities are modern with free WiFi, modern bathrooms and plenty of plug sockets in each room.

Four Seasons Hotel Prague

For a more upmarket feel, the five-star Four Seasons Hotel Prague offers spectacular views over the river from the heart of the Old Town. From one of the hotel’s river-view rooms, you can admire the red roofs and famous landmarks like Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge without having to navigate through an onslaught of other tourists.

Guests can even take a private tour on the river in the hotel’s own private boat. This can be booked at reception. Alternatively, you can sample delicious Japanese-fusion food from the rooftop restaurant. There’s also a swimming pool and spa to leave you feeling refreshed.

The Four Seasons Hotel Prague has 10 different classes of room, starting at the entry-level Modern King Room to the most luxurious Baroque King Suite. The latter includes a separate dressing room, two bathrooms, and marble flooring.

If you rent a car and are planning to park your car at the Four Seasons, you’ll need to have deep pockets since it starts at €55 per day.

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Editing is an excellent way of enhancing the photos you have captured. It is as necessary as the way you compose them. Neither is it rocket science nor is it so simple to understand. You have to give time to it and follow some rules of color grading that can fill beautiful sensations in your pictures. So, make it simple and stupid.

After doing the photography tour, you have to modify your image. It is also known as post-processing. You have to adjust colors, brightness level, contrast, and many more in your photos. In the basic concepts, you learn how to level and crop your photo correctly. At the advanced level, you have to learn some complicated things like recovering the shadow and spotlight info. Understanding the editing process of the pictures can be overwhelming for you, but following some simple steps can lead to a perfect and straightforward edit of your shots. These tips for editing your travel photos are given below:

Editing tips

1. Crop your pictures

Cropping travel photos is straightforward. The crop tool in your editing software allows you to change the dimensions and side ratio or simple aspect ratio of your picture. For example, through this tool, you can change the image from rectangular form to square form. The leading cause you’d need to crop is for publishing in several side ratios. You can remove any additional points from the photos by cropping it in a right manner. There are many types of cropping like square cropping, round cropping, rectangular, and free crop. It is the most basic and essential tool in the whole process of editing. If you used all other tools and didn’t do editing, it is useless.

2. Level Your Travel clicks

Balancing the camera to get a level photo is also very important. If your click is not level, it can cause significant trouble during editing. Unbalance occurred when you didn’t use the gimble or tripod during photography. It can distort the horizontal and vertical lines of the picture and ultimately annoy. It will be best to degree your picture if the horizontal or vertical line is not balanced. People often forget this rule and took photographs without any helping tool, which causes trouble for them in the end. But it is not a point of difficulty because leveling it is also very simple.

In some best software like Adobe lightroom, leveling is a part of the crop software, and you can level your clicks by merely rotating them on the axis. There is also an automatic helper tool that helps you to get the alignment right. It is quite a simple process and can take only a few seconds, leading to a more visually pleasing picture.

3. Vignetting Your Photos

Vignetting is the art of making different elements of the picture darker or brighter than other items to make the topic of the film clear.

Some software limits your vignette only to the corners. However, when you are using professional software like Snapseed and Lightroom, you can lighten or darken the selective areas of your interest. This software will not limit you to the corner. Vignetting is suitable for portrait photos, and you can dominate the place you need to make the topic of the picture.

4. Changing Shadows and Highlights

Sometimes you find yourself being darker or brighter than you wish. The more shaded areas in a picture are called shadows, and more lighted regions are known as highlights.

You can make yourself brighter and adjust the light of the shot by maintaining the brightness of the shadows and highlight areas particularly. It is possible by using shadows and highlight tools in the editor you are using. You can adjust them by using Adobe lightroom or snapseed.

This adjustment is beneficial in a variety of situations to maintain the picture. You can bring down the light of overexposed areas and can enhance the shadows. But remember, increasing the highlights or shadows above the limit can damage your shot, and it will look unnatural or purple.

5. Adjusting the Contrast

Contrast is simply a distinction between the brighter and darkish elements of the picture. Increasing the contrast can enhance the visible influence that makes the distinct boundaries between the lighter and darker areas. Through this tool, you can make the elements of the picture more visible. In most shots, you need to enhance the distinction to get the specified impact, usually not more than +20.

6. Adjusting the Colors

Color adjustment is one of the most important and a few confusing steps in this process. You can modify picture colors in the way you want. You can either increase the warmth (how blue or yellow it seems) or alter the hue and saturation of particular elements inside a picture.

“Saturation” is the best and quickest tool to adjust the coloring in your picture. You can either increase the color intensity or desaturate an image, finally leading to a black-and-white image with no coloration. Coloring your photos is an excellent technique to impart fresh feelings, but oversaturated photographs look slightly unnatural. Desaturated photographs look very efficient because, naturally, black-and-white is a superb alternative for all types of conditions. Find a reliable free Lightroom download link, install the program, and use it for adjusting colors in a quick way.

7. Blemish correction

Blemish correction that is also known as image healing, is used to remove any unnecessary thing you don’t need to be in it. This tool can help eliminate this element. This thing can be an inconvenient pimple on somebody’s face. You can easily remove it without image distortion.

These are the top seven editing tips for your travel photography. These can help you create a pleasant sensation of the image without distorting the image.

Author Bio:

Joseph Mak is the founder, and CEO of Unusual Expedition. He has traveled more than 40 countries and guided nearly 100 tours as a travel photographer, imparting his knowledge and skills to his proteges.