Backpacking through Europe was one of the best experiences of my life. It was everything I had imagined and a life changing adventure, but it didn’t necessarily come cheaply. If you’re like me and dreamt about travelling Europe in style, then a month-long trip during peak European travel season might seem impossible. However, if you tone down the luxury a little, and plan it out a bit, than you can have just as much fun without spending the money.
While the flight might cost you, the rooms don’t have to. It’s all a matter of knowing where to look. There are great websites out there that will provide you with information on what different hostels, budget hotels and bed and breakfasts have to offer. Make sure you pay attention to location, cost and if they offer complimentary breakfast - bonus, one less meal you’ll have to pay for.
If you plan to see more than one country, make sure to consider all your options when travelling from place to place. While taking the Eurorail is a great way to see the landscape and, in my opinion, the best way to travel when seeing multiple countries, if you're only going between two or three, flying just might be cheaper. Make sure you pay attention to baggage costs and airport locations.
The best thing about Europe is that it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg to fall in love with it. The landscape, the architecture, the history and the culture are things that money just can’t buy. So just enjoy being there. It's the best budget tip I can give you, and it's worth a lot more than anything you could purchase.
I know this doesn't have much to do with my blog, however this is a good venue to get it out there. Please take two minutes to fill this out. You'll be doing me a great favour!
In the wake of the execution of John Allen Muhammad, I can't help but wonder for the umpteenth time, if the death penalty is really the right approach. I am not downplaying the horrible crimes he committed; instilling fear into an entire city is a crime against humanity. Still, state sanctioned murder doesn’t sit well with me, despite the severity of the crime. Essentially it's an eye for an eye and an eye for an eye is really just revenge. I didn't realize any country was founded on the concept of a vendetta or revenge, it seems juvenile and petty.
As a society, we are more advanced than that. We have been given the ability to think logically, to be rationale and most of all, to act with humility, honour and in a humane way. People standing outside cheering as someone goes to the executioner's chair sends shivers through my body. It makes me feel sick. And at the end of the day, how does that make us any better than them?
Remember the soldiers, remember the day, remember the moment it all went astray.
Remember the tears, remember the pain, remember so their deaths are not in vain.
So show them your pride, give thanks for their fight, and know that peace is everyone's right.
Remember those who perished in past battles but also give thanks to our soldiers over seas right now fighting for freedom and equality. Our thoughts are with you!
Oh Paris, the city of love! With romance in the air and plenty of wine to go around it is easy to miss out on everything else this beautiful city has to offer. Who would have thought that 10 days would not be enough time to take everything in? In reality, I believe that in order to really get a feel for somewhere new, you have to fully emerge yourself in the city and culture. However, if you're like me and want to see EVERYTHING but have commitments that don't allow you to spend months in one location, then putting together a schedule of sorts is the best way to do so.
Don't get me wrong, if you stick too closely to your schedule you miss out on the unexpected, those moments that really make your trip special and unique. On the day I planned to see the Notre Dame (Our Lady of Paris)I arrived around 11 am and was told that they church would not be opened until 11:30am. No big deal right? stick around for a half hour, take in the square, I was even able to find the exact spot that marks the centre of Paris!
It turns out that the day I chose to see the Notre Dame was the same day as the Feast of the Assumption! Because of my lack of planning, I had the opportunity to witness a religious ceremony at one of the most famous churches in the world! In other words, plan what you want to see, but don't live by it because if you do, you miss out on the little things that really make life worth living!
Paris is a wonderful city and I simply cannot do justice to it with one post. Up next what you should see and why!
Welcome to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games! For Canadians this is a very exciting time, after the Mel Lastman slip up of 2008, we’ve finally been chosen. Here is our chance to shine and show the world what we are all about. The west coast will host this year’s events and will give us a chance to show our pride in this great land.
Tourists from around the world will have the opportunity to witness the beauty of the B.C. mountains and the glimmer of the Pacific ocean, they will be able to view our heritage and multiculturalism and they will have the opportunity to experience our culturally diverse cuisine, thrilling nightlife and sex-trade workers.
Human Trafficking and the Olympics
For most people that last statement would be the last thing they would associate with the Olympics; after all the games are about uniting the world through friendly competition. But for some, the event is a business opportunity; that of human trafficking and sex tourism. The Olympics has had a history for fostering an environment for these opportunists, although I use this term loosely; Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 both showed an influx in human trafficking and they’re not the only ones.
Big events like the Olympics are breeding grounds for this illicit activity, the argument being that big money = prostitution. As much as we are aware of these problems there is always the belief that someone else will deal with it, or we feel removed from the issues at hand. Some people don’t even realize how wide-spread human trafficking and sexual exploitation is. The Issue of Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is an issue that effects everyone. Not necessarily directly, but it is an affront to our basic moral system and beliefs. It is modern day slavery ( and here I thought that slavery was abolished in 1862 and even earlier in the British empire). It is estimated that 700,000 to 4 million women and children are forcefully taken for the use of sexual trafficking, women and children who have no hope for freedom. That is 4 million more people than there should be. Many of these individuals are stolen from their homes at a very young age and forced to perform sexual favours under threats that their families will be hurt. Although there are some countries that are given more press when it comes to human trafficking and are considered to be high risk zones, this is a global problem and no country is immune to it. Nearly every country is involved in the web of trafficking activities, either as a country of origin, destination or transit. Countries of destination include Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, France, India, Canada, Japan, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
Canada and Human Trafficking
With the Olympics drawing nearer there is a real fear that human trafficking and sex tourism will be too easy to come by. Canada is not a new player on the field and unfortunately is well versed in the trade, underground of course. Although this is an issue that is faced by every province, Vancouver, with its easy access to the ocean as well as prime location for drug trafficking, is a very popular location for human trafficking. Come the Olympics, this problem might be doubled and this is something that we, as Canadians, can not stand for.
North America was built on the ideal that all people were created equal and should be free. We are not locked to the constrains of social decorum or status but are able to make our own way, and be who/what we want to be. That is something that we are very lucky for, luckier than many others in this world. Recently there has been a lot of press about legalizing prostitution in Canada. Could this put an end to human trafficking or will it just perpetuate the problem? I don’t have an answer to this, all I can say that maybe the legalization and control of prostitution will make it more difficult for traffickers to get these individuals in and out of the country. However, this still doesn’t solve the global problem. We have a responsibility to the greater community to bring awareness to this problem and we have plenty of avenues at out disposal to do so. Through Twitter, Facebook etc. we can get the word spread and have our voices heard. It’s time we make a stand and stop the exploitation of women and children. Let’s make this years Olympics all that it can be!
