The Globetrotters eNewsletter Start a Branch of Globetrotters
Sunday, April 27th, 2003If any Globetrotters member would like to start a branch,
whether it is in Aberdeen or Zanzibar, please see our FAQ or contact Iona
Hill, the Branch Liaison Officer via our Website at
Archive for April, 2003
Globetrotters Travel Award
Sunday, April 27th, 2003Under 30? A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in
a £1,000 travel award?
Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each
year for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested?
Then see our
legacy page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for
a totally independent travel trip and we’ll take a look at it. Get those
plans in!!
What Counts As A Visit
Sunday, April 27th, 2003Kevin from the UK wrote in to say: “I think it depends
also on whether you need a visa to actually set foot in a country e.g.
when I came back through Saudi last Xmas, there were lots of people in
transit from India, but you cannot get out of Jeddah airport without a
Saudi visa. Whereas Changi airport in Singapore actually gives you a
free city tour if time allows between connecting flights. So you will
in my book have visited Singapore, even if it is only for 4 hours”.
Any more comments, anyone? E-mail to the
Why Yoga is Like Travelling
Sunday, April 27th, 2003Some thoughts by Padmassana, likening travel to yoga –
or the other way round!
He says: “When you travel you are thinking about
what you are seeing, where you are going to stay, how you are going to
get there, the people you are with. You are absorbed in where you are
at that moment in time, not thinking about the past or far into the future.
In yoga you are thinking about the practice, the breath, the foot positions
and the bandhas. As with travelling, you have so much to think about,
you are absorbed in that moment.
In both yoga and travel, you are enjoying being where you
are at that time and the clarity of mind and general happiness; you leave
behind all the daily worries. I think that yoga has become a substitute
for travel for me, for the 48 weeks a year when I am at home”.
You can contact Padmassana by sending an email to
Mediterranean Bookings Down
Sunday, April 27th, 2003The tourism industry has been heavily hit by the current
conflict in Iraq. Holidaymakers are avoiding Turkey and Cyprus and indeed,
the most of the Mediterranean. Muslim countries, such as Egypt and Turkey,
or those that have suffered recent terrorist attacks, such as Kenya, are
the worst affected.
Destinations as far away from the war zone as Spain are
also suffering. It looks like family bookings are the hardest hit, with
six out of ten who went abroad last summer not yet having booked for this
year.
People who are travelling appear to be shortening their
holidays. The number of fortnight breaks booked in the UK for this year
has fallen by half while the number of one week stays is down by only
20 per cent. Travel Trade Gazette deputy editor Ian Taylor said: ‘It
is clear Easter is likely to be poor by industry standards and family
bookings probably won’t come back in large numbers until a ceasefire.
You can contact Padmassana at
Hadrian.s Wall Path to open
Sunday, April 27th, 2003For the first time this spring, visitors will be able to
walk the full length of what was the northernmost frontier of the Roman
Empire. Opening May 23, the 81-mile Hadrian’s Wall Path – one of
13 long-distance National Trails – is a signposted route from Wallsend
(Newcastle upon Tyne) in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west, via
the city of Carlisle.
Though ideal for a week-long walking holiday, 40 short
walks have also been created for those with less time or energy.
Farmhouse and bed-and-breakfast accommodation is available
near the trail. Tel: 01434 602 505 for more info or take a look at:
Source: britainexpress.com
Algeria Missing Tourists
Sunday, April 27th, 2003If you are planning to travel to the Sahara in Southern
Algeria, you may want to re-think your plans. 8 Austrian tourists have
just gone missing, bringing the number of foreign travellers who have
disappeared in the region since mid February to 29: 16 Germans (in several
different groups), 4 Swiss and 1 Dutch national have all gone missing
in the desert since mid-February. All were travelling by motorbike or
car and most disappeared between the towns of Ouargla and the towns of
Illizi and Djanet in the far south of Algeria. Smugglers and drug traffickers
are known to haunt the area around southern Algeria, near the borders
with Niger and Libya, and there are fears the tourists may have been kidnapped.
Austria has also issued a travel warning for the country, urging all its
citizens to leave the country or contact its embassy in the country.
UK Wine Week
Sunday, April 27th, 2003Vineyard tours and wine tasting are planned to mark English
Wine Week this spring (May 24 – June 1). There are 379 vineyards
and 115 wineries all over the country and English Wine Producers aims
to promote wider interest in them. For more information, please see
UK’s Longest Coastal Trail marks 25 years
Sunday, April 27th, 2003Britain’s longest national walking trail, from Minehead
in Somerset to South Haven Point near Poole in Dorset, will celebrate
its 25th anniversary this year.
The 630-mile South West Coast Path takes in steep, ‘hog’s
back’ cliffs rising to 800 feet, fishing harbours, pretty villages and
unspoilt countryside.
There will be a wide variety of events between April and
October, including guided walks, talks and displays of works by local
artists, writers, musicians and other performers who have been inspired
by the path. For more information, see
Source:
The End of Concorde
Sunday, April 27th, 2003British Airways and Air France have both announced that
Concorde will be grounded permanently as from the end of November 2003.
Passenger demand has fallen significantly since the Concorde crash near
Paris in 2000. BA justified their decision by saying that maintenance
costs have become too high for them to continue the service and the global
downturn in demand for all forms of premium travel in the airline industry.
France said “the deterioration of business results from the transatlantic
service”, the aircraft’s only scheduled route.