The GypsyNesters

Asia is a majestic and enchanting continent that beckons and enthralls all those who travel in its lands. With so many countries encompassing this great continent, you may have the dilemma of where to begin your journey first. If you currently at a loss of ideas on where to go first, then it is highly suggested you try venturing somewhere in the southeast. Southeast Asia holds the right mix of tropical climate, warm and accommodating people and the breathtaking spots that will hypnotize you to come back over and over again. For those of you who are planning to go on a trip to Asia, going southeast will be a wonderful detour.

Myanmar

Starting from the topmost Southeast Asian country bordered by India and China, Myanmar is a good place to start your trip of exploration and learning. Famous tourist spots include Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the most famous pagodas in the world. Located in Yangon, the country’s largest city and former capital, the Shwedagon Pagoda is the symbol of pride and religious heritage for the people of Myanmar. This is just the beginning of your enchanting journey, where you’ll be inspired by culture chaser/travel blogger Dave Taylor’s tagline: I’m The Culture Chaser! Join me as I explore, value and learn about local cultures and their history all across Asia.

Laos

Going a bit lower in the map, in the southeast direction, you’ll be able to reach the country of Laos. This country prides itself with its Buddhist heritage, its famous temples and pristine natural tourist spots. Your journey to Laos is never complete without going to Luang Prabang. This ancient city still retains the glory of its temples and the Buddhist religious practices such as daily alms ceremony. Outside of this city lies other natural wonders to explore: Kuang Si Falls, Tad Sae Waterfalls, which has its own 1,000m zipline, Phou Si hill and Pak Ou or ‘Buddha’ Caves.

Vietnam

Going further east of Laos, you will find its next neighboring country, Vietnam. The country is known for its beaches, rivers and Buddhist temples. Vietnam also witnessed one of the bloodiest wars in its history, the Vietnam War. The Ho Chi Minh City Museum will help tourists understand the war that pitted the North and the South against each other, and the sacrifices made by both sides of the conflict. On a lighter note, nature trips are abound in this beautiful land. You can go boat riding on the Mekong Delta, go trekking in the highlands of Sa Pa or experience the Buddhist heritage in Hue.

Cambodia

Heading back to the southwest direction from Vietnam, you will find Cambodia. Cambodia houses the Angkor Wat, a massive stone temple complex built during the Khmer Empire, which is also a designated World Heritage Site. Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital city, also holds the ornate Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, the history rich National Museum, the chilling Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center among the many wonderful places and landmarks you’ll come across.

Thailand

Heading back west lies Thailand, a country where, history and modernization intertwine harmoniously. Bangkok’s bustling cityscape also holds the Grand Palace, the official residence of the royalties in Thailand. Also worth visiting are Wat Pho, which is home to the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand, Wat Arun, also known as the Temple of Dawn, and Wat Phra Kaew, which houses the Emerald Buddha. If the busy and hectic pace of life isn’t your thing, then Chiang Mai is the destination for you. This pleasant northern city shows the extensive influence of Buddhism across this country, as evident Chiang Mai Old City, where orange-robed monks greet you with a smile and sawadee ka. Chiang Mai also offers cultural festivals, night markets, majestic temples and nature trips to relax and captivate tourists.

There are many other countries in Asia that still await exploration. Don’t fret if you can’t go to all of the places at once. Going to these places is meant to be done over several days, to immerse in the rich culture and historical significance of each Asian destination. These are just five countries you can start your exciting and memorable Asian journeys. So explore enjoy and learn with every trip you take in Asia.

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If you are looking for your next big travel adventure, there is a country in the heart of Southern Africa that you simply can’t afford to miss. Botswana is a true treasure with incredible landscapes, mouthwatering food, and unforgettable safari opportunities. As you plan your next trip, here are six reasons why Botswana should be your next travel destination.

Tour the World’s Largest Salt Flat

 The Makgadikgadi Pan is one of a kind and well worth a visit when you travel to Botswana. This modern world wonder was once a monstrous lake, measuring larger than the country of Switzerland. The lake dried up thousands of years ago, leaving behind the largest salt flat in the world. The Makgadikgadi Pan is found in northeast Botswana and it’s a must-see destination on your next trip. The best time of year to visit is in November, when the rain starts to arrive. During the rainy season, you will see the start of Africa’s famous zebra migration, with more than 25,000 zebras traveling across the salt flat.

Stay at the Third Largest Inland Delta on Earth

 Botswana is also home to the Okavango Delta, a place abundant in wildlife, mazes of waterways, and scenic lagoons. Travelers can explore the Okavango Delta in a variety of ways. Choose from a boat ride on a traditional makoro or a view from the air in a hot air balloon or helicopter. You can even explore the Okavango Delta on horseback. This is a premier travel destination in Botswana, complete with a variety of lodges, campsites, and even “sleep-outs” for the adventure-seeking tourists.

Learn Survival Skills from the Bushmen

During your visit to Botswana, make sure to carve out time to explore camps where bushmen come to share their unique tribal lifestyle. The San Bushmen tribe near the Okavango Delta are perhaps the most fascinating. Their Khoisan language uses up to 48 consonant sounds that many describe as “clicking” noises. Some camps in Botswana allow travelers to meet bushmen and learn from them with lessons in survival, native animals, and plant life. For the lifelong learner, this makes a wonderful addition to your travels.

See Large Herds of Elephants

In northern Botswana, make a visit to Chobe National Park. This is the most popular safari destination in the country thanks to an abundance of wildlife across the area. During time in the park, you are likely to see baboons, hippos, giraffe, warthogs, zebra, impala, and more. Perhaps the most popular animal is the elephant and this park is home to thousands. In fact, there are most elephants in Chobe National Park than anywhere else in Africa, with an estimated 70,000 elephants calling this area home. You can often spot elephants playing in the waterways, grazing on native flora, or playing on the flats.

Taste the Native Cuisine

No trip to Botswana would be complete without a culinary tour. Some of the most popular dishes you can sample include goat meat stew, pap, morongo, and braai meat. However, nothing will compare to the Seswaa, a traditional Botswanan dish that contains shredded beef. Seswaa is prepared for important occasions among native people, including holidays, funerals, and weddings. It’s a true delicacy, known as one of the best culinary fares in all of Africa!

Take a Safari to See Africa in a New Way

No trip to Africa would be complete without a safari, and a trip to Botswana is no exception. Your safari will be the highlight of your trip, whether you choose to do a safari in the Okavango Delta or the Chobe National Park. Botswana offers a variety of safari options. You can do your tour in a 4×4 vehicle, which is the most traditional option. You can take a boat safari, that offers a slower pace as you float through the winding lagoons and waterways. The makoro boats are always a fun choice and allow you to experience Botswana’s landscapes in the same way that natives do. Of course, there are also more exotic options like a hot air balloon ride, or a safari on horseback or on a bicycle.

You can even explore the bush on foot, as long as you have an experienced guide to lead you. This is a popular option in the Kalahari region. Bush walks will be a favorite for those who want to see a more detailed look at native flora and the traditions of the Botswana people.

Botswana is truly one of Africa’s best treasures. If you are looking for a destination to add to your bucket list, none compares to the adventure you will find in Botswana. Whether you choose to experience a romantic getaway in a lodge or a rustic campout under the stars, there is something for everyone in this beautiful African country.

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‘Mother tongue’ is described as one’s ‘native language’ – the ‘language one grew up with’ and is ‘spoken by one’s ancestors’. However, there is an increasing number of people that are growing up without learning their mother tongue. This is largely because individuals move to another country, which they now consider to be their home, i.e. an adopted country. Nonetheless, irrespective of where your path may lead you, it’s always advisable to study your mother tongue. Why? Let’s find out…

Communication

There is only one place to begin and this is with the various communication benefits that are associated with studying your mother tongue, even in an adopted country. It is likely you will want to visit your country of origin in the future and knowing the language will undoubtedly help. Moreover, learning your mother tongue can help you to maintain a good relationship with certain family members, especially grandparents. You will be able to broaden your interpersonal relationship network.

Identity

Learning your mother tongue is an important way of identifying with your culture. Many individuals who neglect their mother tongue later admit that they regret doing so, as they feel distant from the place they are from. Speaking your native language will allow you to explore your place of origin further, your historical roots and cultural traditions. It will make you proud of where you are from, which everyone should be.

Opportunities

Children who learn their mother tongue will benefit from a greater scope of opportunities in the future. Being multi-lingual is highly sought after nowadays. They will automatically have an advantage over others and will be able to pursue a career as an interpreter, translator or something similar if they so wish. It also helps if you’re taking a school counselling masters online, an accounting degree, or anything else, as you open up the door to more employment options. Moreover, it will make it easier for your child to pick up other languages in the future. The more languages you learn, the more enriched you become.

When you carefully consider each point that has been expanded on in this post, you aptly see why it is important to study your mother tongue in your adopted country. There are lots of benefits to be gained by doing so. Not only will it make you proud of where you are from and ensure you have a strong identity, but you will be able to develop interpersonal relationships and you will benefit from greater opportunities in the future as well.

There are various different ways parents can help to make sure that their children do not lose their mother tongue. Firstly, you can teach them at home – speak to them in their mother tongue and give them various writing and reading activities. Aside from this, explore whether there are other families in the local community that are from the same place as you. You can then meet these families and encourage play groups between the children where they speak in their mother tongue. And of course, if possible, visit your home country – this will help enormously.

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When you decide it’s time to take some time off and go on a vacation, you usually take your time to plan everything so when the time comes to enjoy, you actually have the time necessary to really soak in the pleasure of visiting a new place. But sometimes, you end up in an unpredictable situation where you need to travel tomorrow either for business purposes or simply because a great opportunity showed up along the way.

In those cases, you’re likely to spend more money than usual on a hotel since you don’t have the time to do proper research. Fortunately, there are apps that can help you get the best hotel at a great price without compromising on the location or the quality. To help you out, we decided to research great apps for last-minute bookings.

Our research brought us to a useful top 10 list that has apps for quick and snappy search where it shouldn’t take you more than half an hour to find something you like.

Top 10 Last-Minute Booking Apps

In order to help you even further, we decided to pick our personal top 3 picks and share helpful information about each one.

Last Minute Travel

One of the first apps we tried out is Last Minute Travel. As the name would suggest, the app is all about quickly finding hotels when you’re really running short on time. The thing we ended up liking the most is the intuitive search that makes it really easy to get results in just a few seconds. Also, the interface is user-friendly and you get almost all the information you need on a single screen so you don’t have to tap each specific offer to check if it’s something that’s for you. Since the app operates in almost all countries around the world, you also don’t have to worry about if your destination might lack places you can find. Finally, they also have a loyalty program that’s actually useful and you can save even more money by using the app.

The only thing we don’t like is a somewhat lack of actual last-minute offers. You’ll likely to save money and find what you want, but when it comes to highly specific offers that some other services have, this one seems to fall short on special offers that could save even more money for the user.

Hotels.com

Hotels.com is a highly popular app in itself and there are solid reasons for that. Since it covers pretty much any corner of the world, you can sure you’ll end up with extra money in your pocket after making reservations. But what really sets this app apart is many deals you can easily stumble upon just by turning the app on. Also, if no matter your time limit, you are really picky about the place where you want to stay, the app has tons of great filters so you can really narrow down what you’re looking for. No matter if you’re going for a last-minute family vacation or an unexpected business trip, you can find rooms for any occasion fairly easy without worrying you’ll overpay.

This one also has a loyalty program, but we noticed they make sure to keep some things under the rug. Although you can get a free room by gathering points (which is fantastic), you do have to take the offer in the following year. Otherwise, the special offer might run out without you wondering. This can result in an unpleasant surprise when you finally want to take the offer and you realize because a year passed it’s no longer eligible.

Expedia

This is another well-known booking apps and compared to the above 2, this one is the best if you need a reliable app with a great money-saving loyalty program. It was easy to find a place to stay no matter if it was for 2 months in advance or for the following weekend. Thus, you can be sure you’ll find a roof over your head and a comfy bed no matter the time-shortage you might have. But the strongest point of Expedia is definitely its loyalty program that actually will create the feeling you’re saving money instead of being just a cheap way to lure customers.

The only thing user might have to be careful with is how they use their points. For us, once you used them and you want to change your mind it might be too late since it’s likely you won’t get those points back. It’s nothing alarming, but just be sure when you decide to use your hard-earned points, you know you’ll definitely make use of them.

Conclusion

Hopefully, our humble list of 3 apps will make it easier for you to find a place to stay no matter what part of the world you’re visiting. Even more, importantly, hopefully, it will save you money so you can spend it on better things like buying souvenirs or even saving for future trips.

Thanks for reading and if you have any similar apps you feel like we missed out on, feel free to let us know. Happy travels!

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So you traveled to another country, rented an apartment, moved the stuff you need and settled in. You then went out to lunch, or to discover the city, or worse, had to run down in the middle of the night for whatever reason… and got locked out of the apartment. What a nightmare.

Getting locked out of your place is one of the worst situations anyone can be in; you may have left the lights or the stove on, the windows open, or left a child alone in the house. Adding to that being in a new city where you don’t know anyone – nerve wracking! Luckily, Singapore is an extremely safe place to be, and there are things you can do to handle the situation quickly and securely.

Don’t Panic

The first and most important thing to do in this situation is to not panic. Panicking usually leads to regrettable decisions like breaking the door or crashing a window to be able to get in quickly. These solutions may sound fast and convenient at the moment, but will later cost you a significant amount of cash for repairs, let alone possible personal injuries. Breathe, count to ten, and think carefully.

Contact Your Landlord or Leasing Office

If you got locked out during the working hours of your landlord or leasing office, you just might be lucky enough as they should be able to provide you with another copy of the key. If this, however, took place at night, and you needed the help of a locksmith to get back into the apartment, it would still be wise to report the incident so that maybe in the future the owners would be prepared with emergency keys at a neighbor’s house or a nearby location.

Call a Locksmith

This is probably the best option to go for, considering that it’s not too late in the night! In some countries, like Singapore, for example, there are Singapore locksmith expert services that work 24/7, which is extremely convenient. The safest and quickest way to get back into the apartment is through contacting someone who has the professional expertise to safely unlock the door without damage, injuries, or compromise of the property. This is why keeping the contacts of a nearby 24/7 locksmith service is a great cautionary measure for emergencies like this.

Moving Forward

Now that you’ve gone through the experience of locking yourself out of an apartment, some measures can be taken to stop this from happening again. Start off by creating a routine for yourself before leaving the house, counting your necessary “going out” items, and always make your keys the first item to count. Additionally, think about installing a key holder right next to the door so they’re right there in front of you every time you’re about to go out – this will make them hard to forget.

It Could Happen to Anyone

Pretty much everyone got locked out of an apartment at least once in their lives, so take it easy. It’s one of those classic situations that should never be solved in a frenzy of panic. That said, always remember to count your items as you’re about to go out the door; always keep the number of a locksmith saved in your phone; and don’t be too hard on yourself, it happens to everyone!

We are happy to present this collaborative post to offer valuable information to our readers.