Green Holidays

Welcome back after several weeks - and are you ready for some more great tips to help you stay safe on-line!

Don’t Use Auto-save Tools While Travelling.
The number of times I went onto a computer abroad to find other users still logged in to things like Facebook and Hotmail was amazing!  Although these still require passwords for ordinary people to get in – other users can be a bit more creative at getting details.

And many sites will automatically bring up your logged in home page if you type in the URL again after not logging out.  My laptop remembers them all unless I log out or actually shut down the computer. 

Makes my day a lot easier – but it could spell disaster if you weren’t the only one logging in.  How many Internet cafes restart their computers between users?  I bet it is virtually none! 

Next time you hop on to a shared computer – go to the pc’s history and pull up some of the sites the last user went to and see if they left any of them ‘open’.  Then you can see for yourself how easy it is.

So, make sure you always click ‘log out’ and wait for it to show the log in screen again – checking that your details are not in there!

Not everyone does it by mistake though – a lady using a computer before me had unbelievably left her email inbox open – and on the screen for all to see!  Can you imagine the damage an open email account full of account confirmation details and passwords could have?  What about access to all those friends addresses and contact numbers that could have been used by a stranger!

Streams of Spam are almost certain to follow!

I think some people get so used to leaving these details on their own or friends computers that they just don’t think of all the dangers out there.  Even if you think you are the only one using the hotels computer – it doesn’t matter.  These are your personal details and you could be exploited.  Even if it’s only your email, they could check all the other sites you had been to that day and add things together – or, of course, just email your friends and ask them!

Delete Your Cookies And Your Internet History – Every Time.
If you were using Internet Explorer, you will be able to clear your history of sites visited and also clear your cookies (small files automatically saved on a pc, which can identify your personal details and what you did on the pc).

It’s very easy to clear these – and worth remembering.  And it means that whoever uses the computer after you (that day, week or month even) won’t be able to find out which sites you visited and any transactions of personal information you needed for that.

To do so: select Tools, then Internet Options, then click the Delete Cookies and Clear History buttons before pressing OK.

It may well take a few minutes to do this as it will be deleting not only your details, but also the hundreds of details before that no-one else bothered to clear.  It would be wise to start this about 5 minutes before your ‘paid’ time runs out to make sure it is done before you run out of minutes! 

If you are staying in the same location, it might be wise to then return to this same computer so that you know that you are safe every time rather than risking a different pc each visit!

Avoid Using Unsecured, Unencrypted Wi-Fi.
Using encrypted Wi-Fi isn’t the main concern here as this is generally very safe – but don’t assume all Wi-Fi is safe!  If you end up using unsecured, unencrypted Wi-Fi, you could leave yourself open to invasion.

Accessing the Internet via an unencrypted Wi-Fi hot-spot in a small cafe or hostel may well allow all your personal details to ’hang around’ that connected location.  It is here that anyone with knowledge of such things could access it!  Frightening stuff to think that someone can see what you did on your computer or laptop on their own screen just across the room from you! 

Basically anyone, with this kind of thing in mind, could be sitting near you – or even across the street – depending on the strength of the signal – accessing your laptop through theirs and ’seeing’ the pages that you visit.  They may even see the user-names and passwords which you type in.  They could also infect your laptop with a virus and access your accounts while you are in them yourself!

Take Care!

So, lets get straight back to it………

6) Keep It Clean:
You can easily buy multi-purpose eco friendly detergents for washing clothes and dishes – and yourself AND without polluting local waterways.  However, differing materials can have very different requirements.

Certain materials are much easier to keep clean or to remove odors from – so make sure you talk to your outdoor specialists to find the best options for your adventure and needs!  Also, make sure you talk to the locals where you are staying as they know all the conditions and – as we found out in Costa Rica – $1 wellington boots were 10 times better than $100 walking boots!

7) And Yourself:
Depending on the conditions where you are staying – and the temperature of local rivers and lakes – you can invest in a smart solar shower.  You just fill up the bag, hoist up onto a post and allow to warm in the sun.  Then simply let out the water when you are ready!

Make sure that you are sensitive to the area though and try to use the smallest amount of toiletries necessary and/or use bio-degradable shower gels and shampoos!  And don’t forget that what you are washing off can also cause damage – so limit the perfumes and hair products too!

Dinner Time:
Depending on the length of your stay away, you may need to cook food.  Obviously the more ready-to-eat food you can carry in the better so you don’t use any excess resources in the open, but when you do need heat – then a portable stove is the best.

You can use it anywhere without the worry of setting fire to brush or nearby vegetation – and you don’t need to collect up natural resources to burn.  Even dead wood and fallen branches are part of the eco-system and many animals depend on them, so take your own fuel!

9) Waterproof Power:
Make sure that you take water-proof matches with you so that when you need light or a flame you are almost 100% guaranteed of it!

Normal matches or even your lighter can stop working if it gets wet or broken – and of course the gas in your lighter won’t last for ever.  Whereas these matches are coated in wax that you scratch off to light.  So as long as you don’t lose them……

10) Extra Lighting:
If you need extra light around the camp overnight or while you are eating or relaxing, then why not take solar-powered lamps with you.

Lightweight versions or these are available in many stores and you would just leave them in the sun while there was daylight, and switch them on after dusk.  No need to worry about wasting candles, watching a fire or pumping your dynamo torch through the evening!

Just sit back and relax!

Obviously, once you get in the habit of these things – you might find that you can save energy back home by doing exactly the same thing – although you’ll have a lovely comfy bed to end up in!

How would you cope without cold drinks and your cell phone in the jungle?

There are times when we will be travelling to places where there isn’t any electricity and depending on how long you will be without this ubiquitous power, there are things you can do to keep things a little bit ‘normal’.

So whether you are camping for 1 night or roughing it for 2 weeks, here are some great tips to help make everything seem better!

1) Cold Drinks:
Now after trekking through mountains or even spending the night out in the open – nothing is more pleasing than a cold, fresh drink – but where will you find on in the jungle or in a remote village?

There could be one in your own bag – a thermos flask.  Normally thought of as something to keep coffee warm – these delightful caddies can also keep things ice cold!

We recently brought a small thermos that keeps things ice cold for up to 24 hours – thats long enough for a fresh morning drink wherever you wake up – and it really works.  Nothing tastes better than cold water when you are parched!

2) Facial Hair
Take a wet shave razor rather than an electric one where ever you travel.  Not only will you save electricity wherever you go – but when the power isn’t quite up to scratch you need not fear.

Alternatively, give up with the whole shaving thing and grow a beard!  Not only will you save the effort of carrying around all the associated toiletries and things – you could better spend that time seeing the sights rather than hunched over in front of tiny mirror and bowl of cold water!

3) Dabble With Dynamo’s
There are loads of products now that are dynamo driven rather than battery powered – making your journey lighter and more eco friendly.

Just a few pumps of the handle and my little dynamo torch will always shine – no worrying about it running out of power when there are noises in the bushes!

And a few winds of my neat little dynamo radio and I can listen to the local news and weather or just some relaxing local music when I am all alone!

4) Let The Sun Shine:
It isn’t only the power of your hands that can generate free power – the sun can too.  Even if the weather isn’t hot the sun can still work for you.

Chargers are available in all sorts of sizes and for all manner of electrical goods.  So whether you are taking your cell or your laptop – as long as you have the right attachments – you can charge them up while you laze about by a beach or you can even do it while walking with backpack mounted panels!

5) And For What’s Left:
There may well still be a few things that cannot be adapted for lower power inputs or don’t have compatible adaptors – so they still need batteries.  But that is just fine.

There are plenty of solar powered battery chargers out there, so buy the best strength rechargable batteries and get going!  (NB: Not all batteries are the same I recently found out and some are so feeble that you barely get any use out of them before they need charging again – so ask a retailer before buying).

Join me for more green holiday tips in Part 2 in a few days……

How can a country do so well in some things and so bad in others?

We all know from our own experiences that we are better at some aspects of green living, but not so hot on others. 

For example, recycling, reusing and reducing everything, having your own allotment and not having kids may well earn you massive green brownie points – but then you can easily talk yourself into that sunshine break in the Caribbean!

So, how do countries make those choices?

I was recently reading about Malta in the Mediterranean Sea in southern Europe and I was very pleased with their green credentials.

They have several de-salination parks and have done so for decades.  They have a natural shortage of water being so hot and so small that they also don’t really have gardens either – so that they don’t have to waste resources watering them.

The Maltese people build on every square inch of ground so that no land is wasted – and they build small and dark properties in tiny thin streets to maximise the shade and shadow around their properties.  This means that they don’t have to cool themselves with energy-sapping air conditioning.

Their tiny windows stop the sun from heating their houses back up the following morning (unlike all the tourist flats that have great big sliding windows to let in as much sun and heat as possible – well, the air con will cool it down afterwards!).

Their public transport – old buses – runs a regular cheap service so car use can be reduced, and they recycle almost everything.

And, as the evening arrives, everyone files out onto the streets and promenades and parks to mix with friends which keeps community spirit high (no one is going to grafitti, drop litter or cause damage to the areas their family and friends visit every day!).  It also, as a result, reduces energy consumption indoors as nobody is watching TV and leaving their lights on!

Sounds great for an eco destination?

Until you put everything else together, like how to get there.  Most people will fly there as it is still about an hour or so from it’s nearest neighbour Sicily.  Even overland commuters need to get to the very toe of Italy, before boating to Sicily, then crossing most of the island to get the ferry to Malta.  Other boat crossings are available – but if you are thinking of a cruise ship – you may as well fly for all the eco credentials they have!

They are also building all the time, building upwards and outwards.  Recent developments all along the main Strand in Sleima – right to the very end.  All hi-rise apartments for more and more tourists. 

The whole region is just one great big dust cloud.  All the parked cars are covered with a layer of dust – as well as some of the stray cats!  Just in 1 photo of the skyline there were about 10 different cranes at work!

The regular buses are all old though, and the fumes that come ballooning out of the exhausts are not always a pretty site!

And lets not even go into detail about the wildlife offences that this country is often remembered for.

I could go on, but I only wanted to touch on the fact that many countries are touting how well they are doing in green tourism and development – and many of the things they achieve are to be rewarded and applauded – but it cannot be at the loss of other standard requirements – like peace and quiet!

So, whenever you are sizing up one destination against the other, don’t just look at what you know is good – maybe make a comparison list of the things that are bad as well, and think about those.

For example would you be more annoyed if someone shot dead 500 endangered birds than if they crammed 500 more holiday apartments on the coast?  Would you rather a country reduced their water consumption or decreased the number of buses they use?

Interesting discussions.

Now is the time to get packing and set of on your grown-up gap year!

Due to the current financial climate in many countries at the moment – this seems to be the perfect time to ask your boss for some time off!

It is normally quite tricky to get your company to agree to a holiday longer than 2 weeks – but with many companies tightening their belts and looking at redundancies and pay cuts now is the perfect time to offer your services!

How Can I Help My Company?
Well, if you think about it, your company is probably thinking on ways to save money. This may include reducing staff hours, offering early retirement, reducing expenditure on stationary and staff services like cafeterias etc.

Basically they need to cut back on as much as possible to keep running at an acceptable level. This is where your salary comes in to action.

You could save your company your salary every day you are not at work.

They could save $1000’s on just you alone – say you were earning $200 per day – that would be a minimum saving to your company of over $6000 a month

So if you were to take just 3 months off – that is over $18,000 saved – plus all other work paid contributions that your company pay on your behalf. You will also be saving them a whole host of other costs that are usually not thought about.

These include the cost of cleaning your office; toiletries and water you would use if still at the office and all the stationary and electricity you use on a daily basis that isn’t strictly work related.

Places like the cafeteria will still be working while you are gone, but if catering for less staff they too can reduce their expenses by ordering and preparing cold drinks and hot food. Same goes for car park maintenance and general cleaning contracts.

It all adds up.

They May Even Offer You Longer!
It could be that your company haven’t thought of this as a way of saving money and so you could be the first to offer up the suggestion to your bosses and get the credit!

Usually, companies will do anything to keep their staff for as long as possible as it is very hard to get reliable staff back when this bad patch is over! So letting you have time off knowing that you will be back in X months could really help them out – and may even help to keep your company running!

You may be brave enough to ask for just 3 months off – but if your company are thinking of stalling all new acquisitions or reducing big projects until the new financial year for example – then they may well offer you a longer ‘break’ so you are off until they need you.

You won’t find out until you ask – and it could be the best move you ever made!