Coping on a long haul flight
It’s a relief when your flight is booked, your accommodation is planned and your suitcase is packed. Nothing but happiness right? Well this depend how far your flying. Long haul flights can be difficult to cope with, but we’ve got some tips to help you get through it with out any problems.
You will want to have a little plan in place for wasting away a few hours of your flight, and we don’t mean working; staring at word processing documents and spreadsheets may burn up some of those hours, but it does not make them vanish. The best way to burn some time is to watch a TV series or some Hollywood blockbusters. Tow films later and you’ll be 4 hours into your flight. The more films the better we say. You may also want to consider a sleep aid. You can buy natural sleep aids like those including melatonin, or drugs such as Ambien. We recommend you try them before you buy them so you know how well they work. If you don’t like that idea just try to make sure you’re comfortable. Neck cushions are a nice buy, and another tip is to not dress for style, dress for comfort. Think comfy jogging bottoms rather than tight denim jeans.
Gap Years – From Australia to New Zealand
So you’ve got your Australian working holiday visa and you’ve spent the best part of the year there, but now you’re ready to head over to New Zealand. What do you need to make it into the country?
This depends on how long you’re planning to stay out there and whether you need to work whilst you’re out there. If you only want to spend a month or two travelling then no problem, a visitor visa for New Zealand is pleasantly easy to sort out if you’re a permanent UK resident. Just turn up at the airport in Christchurch, Auckland or Wellington and hand over your passport, and you’ll get a six-month visitor visa absolutely free! No forms, no hassle, no worries.
You can even extend the length of your stay in New Zealand to up to nine months by contacting the New Zealand Immigration services, but remember you won’t be able to work as this is just a tourist visa. To work and travel, you’ll need to apply for a 1 year or 2 year working holiday visa.
Preparing yourself for the flight back home
After a few months or even a year of travelling, it’s not too easy returning home. Of course you’ll miss your family members and friends, but knowing your returning to the land of the ordinary can be very daunting. Here are a few tips for those who want to come home with a smile rather than a frown.
Your life has changed for the better
Just because you’re returning home doesn’t mean your period of having fun is over. You’re a seasoned traveller and you may well be going away again soon. You’ll have a more positive outlook on life and a better understanding on the world and how it operates.
You stand out form the crowd
How many people from your school have been travelling. You haven’t shifted into routine life, you’ve stepped outside the bubble and you deserve credit for that.
You’ve got the travel bug
I bet after a few week of returning home you’ll want to travel again; you’ve got the bug. And you will. Statistics show that people who have had gap a gap year tend to follow up by travelling to other countries soon after.
Why you don’t have to do hostels in Thailand
I know a few people who have travelled Thailand, but just from my short time their I was quick to learn that you really don’t need to pay out for hostels. You do have to be pretty hard up for cash to pick a hostel over a hotel, even in the more remote parts of the country. As long as you save enough money for your time in the country, you can enjoy cheap but good quality accommodation. Some nice hotels cost as little as £5 per night, whilst a luxury apartment in Bangkok can cost around £20 and we’re talking 5 stars. When you’ve been made to pay over to the top prices in the UK from such a young age, you really can’t believe it when you get over to Thailand, and even though the prices have come up ever so slightly in recent years, it’s still an extremely cheap country to visit.
Australia to New Zealand
Many people go on a gap year to Australia, but the only problem with this huge country is that it’s pretty isolated. One of the next nearest places to go is New Zealand, and we highly recommend this striking scenic country to all gap year explorers. New Zealand has made a name for itself around the world as one of the prettiest places to visit. It’s no wonder popular movies were filmed there, including Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. A flight from western Australia to New Zealand is around 6 hours, and you’re looking at around 8-9 from Eastern Australia. If you’re heading over to America or South America, we highly recommend going to new Zealand first, it’s likely to be the best looking country you’ll visit, and we’re confident you’ll want to go back.