Have you ever thought about hiring a vehicle on one of your holidays? How about hiring a van? How about hiring a camper-van? It may sound a bit odd but if you like travelling and seeing different sights on a holiday, how about taking a big trip in a camper-van with the family?

The one thing about holidays is that the accommodation costs more than the actual journey, now if you think about it, that is quite silly, I find hotel’s to be overly expensive for what they offer.

But you would be renting your own portable hotel! To travel wherever you like, to be able to get around the countryside without having to search for somewhere to stay, is that not luxury?I’ve had several fantastic holidays with rented campers, my family absolutely love them, it gives us the freedom to go wherever we want without being held down by our accommodation.

I mean you don’t even have to rent or use vehicle hire if you want to save money in the long run, you could buy yourself a camper-van or a camper-van conversion if your planning on multiple holidays like this, you would definitely save money, that’s for sure.

Some of the campervan conversions I have seen are actually very nice, these are vans that have been converted to campers with a kitchen and great upholsery, I was actually looking to purchase one for myself from this website. I can see myself and my family taking a lovely trip away in something like this!

Bit of a different one today folks! I came across some interesting information about the Gulf of Aden, hardly a travel destination by any means but you better watch out if you’re taking a cruise or your boat past there!

You’re probably unaware that pirates still ride the seven seas today! Well, not your run of the mill, peg legged, rum swigging, one eyed, hat wearing scallywag, I’m talking about Somali pirates. These are the chaps that go around trying to board cargo ships forcefully with guns and usually end up in hour long firefights trying to gain access and steal a vessel.

The last decade had seen a rising trend in the number of ships stolen and attacks taking place but over the last 2 years it has been on the decline. The reason for the decline is that security measures have been stepped up onboard vessels and maritime security officers onboard the majority of these ships can send Samali pirates fleeing with their tails between their legs.

This could be a visious circle though as with the stepped up security the pirate attacks are lessening.

2012 only 5 ships were captured compared to 2011 when 25 were taken and 27 in 2010. With less pirates attacking security may be stepped down, which could lead to more successful vessel thefts.

If your interested in joining the fight against Somali pirates, why not head to http://www.crossdeck.co.uk where you will be able to find training courses and access to jobs within maritime security.

Are you one of those people that needs to be wearing something new when you go on holiday? I know I am. I never really used to care about it, but with my girlfriend it has become a holiday ritual.

There’s just something about wearing a fresh set of threads that can really enhance the holiday mood and experience.

We’re planning on going away in a couple of weeks actually. She has already got her eyes on the Sandwich Clothes Sale at the Pink Rooster, and I don’t blame her!

So drop me some comments if you’re the same!

A Holiday With A Difference Do you have any friends that are looking to lose weight after Christmas? I know I am, After a week of feasting on tasty food and snacks and drinking too much, my willpower to try and lose weight has subsided. Months before Christmas I had started eating healthily and exercising I actually reached an impressive goal of losing 2 stone. But I just knew that once December hit I would likely be in the boat of putting half of that back on again.

Winter is a terrible time for exercise, I like to do mine outdoors and the cold weather definitely puts me off. I enjoyed taking long bike rides when the sun was out and the warm weather was hitting me , now I have to face months of cold and rain. An alternative that may help you could be taking a trip to one of these new fangled health resorts. Some are fully fledged fat camps, some are yoga retreats or even detox retreats.

If you could get your friends to come along for a holiday away in one of these facilities, you may find losing weight to be a lot easier than before. Willpower is a huge aspect to whether or not you can maintain weight loss, one problem is that once you have succeeded in losing weight, keeping that weight off could be difficult unless you make sure you keep up the work. Falling behind in exercise might make you put on all of that weight again without you even realizing.

Taking a trip away is always a nice prospect, but where do you go? What do you do? Everyone is different, some people like one thing whilst others will like another and this is something that defines how we live our lives. A lot of people like to go away for holidays in boiling hot countries and get themselves a nice brown suntan, others like to just have nice getaway to a Bude B&B or other small and cosy hotel just for a cheap holiday.

Neither of these people are wrong, taste is subjective and I could have fun on either one of these holidays, I would definitely not turn it down. I’ve been to various places around England and found you can generally have a great time, fun is not limited to foreign countries and the only real difference is the climate and culture. England has a great history and you can find some fantastic ruins of castles and other interesting structures, Britain’s rich history is one of the reasons I enjoy taking some of my holidays in this country.

I will be going abroad later this year and really look forward to it, but some people just aren’t into that kind of thing.

Following on from my last post, I thought i’d talk about Somerset a bit more. I’ve lived here for several years so I like to say I know a bit about the place. Somerset is my Jewel of the South West and a fantastic location to take a holiday or day out.

The Land of the Summer People in old English times is full of sun-swept meadows so you can enjoy the weather and sights. Somerset, originally known as Somerton due to the allure of the place at that certain time of year.

The Quantock Hills close to Bridgewater are fantastic, these beautiful hills stretch out toward the Bristol Channel. You can see wales across the channel. The Quantock Hills lovely wooded areas and land filled with rich variants of animals and plants.

There’s also a great place to stay at the foot of the Quantocks, The Carew Arms. The Carew Arms is a grade 3 listed building due to it being so old. It has quite a lot of it’s original features still in tact and many of them remain untouched in case of damaging its historic heritage.

No only does Somerset have a lovely countryside, there are many seaside locations to visit aswell! You have Weston super Mare and the Grand Pier to visit, where you can swim in the nice brown sea. If your looking for medieval villages or castles, come on down to somerset!

Although I am a fan of the hot weather, holidays don’t have to only be abroad. The United Kingdom has its beauty too, from luscious countryside to historical buildings and ruins, If you’re after a country with an exciting history then you’re living in the right place! Nearly every town in the UK has a rich history and where better to start than London. London has a whole host of historic buildings to visit. The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Jewel tower, St Pauls Cathedral and Eltham Palace to name a few. If your into historic cities, this is one you can’t miss.

Another great place to visit is the southwest of England, here the beautiful countryside will blow you away. Not only do they have a great deal of fantastic scenery they also have some great historic buildings too. There are some lovely locations and buildings, like The Carew Arms for instance, with its original bar and flagstone floor intact this grade one listed building is a centrepiece at the foot of the Quantocks.

There are so many other places that I could mention but I think it would be to your benefit to do a bit of research.

So travel is one of my fondest hobbies, that and watersports of course! And what better way to have a great time is to combine them both!

Hitting the surf is always something I will never turn down, but as we head closer and closer to winter, there’s no way in hell I’ll be getting near the sea, especially the English sea, I’ll catch hypothermia!

So one can only dream of taking a nice relaxing break to Australia, Look at it, Its begging for me to jump in!