Ocean Safety 101: How to Stay Safe in The Water

by Lindsay Shapka in ,

I realized after taking my 20-something-year-old friend to swim in the ocean for the first time —  and she screamed, jumped and came running at me the moment she saw a miniature crab — that not everyone understands that the ocean is more than just a really big pool.

Not only is it full of living creatures, but the water itself is mysterious, unpredictable and can be really dangerous if you aren't smart when you are out in it. 

Here are a few ocean safety tips to keep you safe when hitting the beach (other then the obvious like wearing sunscreen and staying hydrated, of course).

Watch out for sleeper waves

These waves are the ones that crash further up on the beach than normal and can knock over small children, or people who don't have steady footing, and pull you out to sea. Be careful when walking near the water line along the beach.

When swimming be careful of rip currents

Rip currents are swift rivers of backwash that surge through the surf (the choppy, foamy or discoloured water near the shore). If you are caught in one, DO NOT swim against it. Swim parallel to the beach until you are free of the current, and then head for shore. 

Stay away from rocks, driftwood and piers

Like icebergs, it is hard to tell how big the rock is underneath the water until you have scraped your hands and knees on it. Unexpected currents and large waves can push you into these obstacles as well, causing a lot of damage.

Watch out for reefs

Reefs are pretty easy to spot, they are usually a dark shadow in otherwise clear or blue water. You can also spot them by the waves that usually break over them. Not only can you risk damaging the fragile ecosystem if you step, kick, or otherwise knock into a reef, but a scrape can cause a nasty infection. 

Stay alert for fish and other critters

Jellyfish are usually easy to spot, as are small crabs that are more afraid of you then you are of them. Shuffle your feet when entering the water if you are somewhere that has stingrays present, and never go in the water with open wounds — no need to tempt the sharks! 

When in doubt, ask a lifeguard

The lifeguards are aware of currents, tides, and any type of critters that might be present on the beach. If there are not lifeguards on the beach that you are headed to, do a bit of research ahead of time or, if nothing else, make a conscious decision to be alert and aware of your surroundings.

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Reads For The Road: A House In The Sky by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett

by Lindsay Shapka in , ,

I had heard that Amanda Lindhout's story A House In The Sky was a must-read (it has been hailed in Vogue, The Globe and Mail, Outside, The New York Times, and was a part of Oprah's Winter Reading List), but I was not prepared for the incredibly well written, shocking, heart-wrenching test of humanity that I would find within the book's pages. 

I don't know if it is because she is from a town only a few hours away from where I grew up, but the way that Amanda writes about travelling (especially travelling solo as a female) feels like she has put into words every unarticulated thought that I have had about my own journeys.

That is until she describes being kidnapped. 

“People would say to me all the time, “It must be so hard to travel by yourself as a woman.” But I was finding that it was easier. I was sure about it. If you smiled, if you showed people that you were happy to be there, you were met most often with warmth. The swindlers backed off easily. The tuk-tuk drivers and beggars eased up and became more human, maybe even a bit protective.”
— p 55 from "A House In The Sky" by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett

Yup, I said kidnapped.

While working as a struggling freelance journalist, Amanda and her friend Nigel made their way into Somalia. On a trip outside of the capital city to take photos at a refugee camp, they were both kidnapped by a rouge group of men who immediately demanded ransom from their parents and from their countries, neither of whom who had any money to pay. 

Kept hostage for OVER A YEAR, this is the story of what she went through, how she stayed alive through horrific abuse, how she managed to retain her humanity, and how she was saved.

A warning though, once you get started, you won't want to put it down.

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You Know You're A Traveller When...

by Lindsay Shapka in ,

There are people who travel and then there are people who TRAVEL. I'm talking to those of you that have been jumping on and off planes solo before you were legally allowed too, those that have stayed in a $2 bed, on the floor of an airport, and in one of the nicest hotels all in the same city... YOU know who you are. 

You know you're a diehard traveller when...

  • You don't need to get any immunizations before going on a trip because you have already had ALL of them (more than once).

  • Unless you are going trekking in the Amazon, you ignore the traveller health clinic's warning to take Malaria pills because you have tried them before and have decided that the hot flashes, vivid dreams, and flu-like symptoms aren't worth it. You pack mosquito spray instead.

  • You have more visas in your passport than in your wallet.

  • You always have mini shampoos, lotions, and toothpaste in your medicine cabinet just in case.

  • Every time you make a large purchase at home, you compare it to how many nights you could spend in Rome, or how far you could travel by RyanAir in Europe. (With the price of my rent per month, I could live, eat, travel, shop, and party in Thailand for a month... sigh.)

  • You know where all the plug-ins near comfortable chairs are located in all of the biggest airports (and chuckle as you walk by the suckers who are sitting on the floor to charge their computers.)

  • You lust over luggage.

  • Ever time you buy something new, you picture yourself wearing it on the streets of Paris.

  • When you've committed to a trip, it is all you can think about, talk about and shop for — even if it is still six months away.

  • Your walls are covered in maps and your bookshelf is overflowing with travel books.

  • Most of your friends on Facebook are from other countries — as are most of your photos.

  • You relate more to the question "Where have you been?" than "What do you do?"

  • You always have duct tape and a swiss army knife close by

  • You look forward to eating airplane food

Got any more? Share them in the comments section below! 

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Travel Tales: Alone In Rome On My First Trip Abroad (Or, How I Awoke My Inner Traveller)

by Lindsay Shapka in ,

In January of 2004, I found myself alone in a hotel in Rome — my very first time alone in a foreign country. 

I was about to start a semester of university in Cortona, Italy and did not know a single soul who was going to be attending school with me. Not only was it my first time travelling alone, but it was my first time travelling in a country where few people spoke my language.

There were no smartphones, few students had laptops, wifi was not an option, my camera used film (no seeing what your photos looked like until you developed them!), and social media sites didn't exist. If I wanted contact with home, I had to buy a phone card and hope that the call would connect. And if someone from home wanted to contact me? They couldn't. 

This is the story of my first few days alone in Rome — taken from my journal and my memories — that have helped empower and shape my travels ever since. 

DAY 1 — I'm a huge wimp

It is six in the morning and the clouds are turning pink outside my window. I can just barely see the moon through the mist.

This is probably going to be the only view I see today.

I am terrified to leave my room. 

My hands are shaky and I can't stop crying. It would be easier if I could have a good, all-out sob and be done with it, but instead my tears are silent ones that steadily pour from the corners of my eyes.

I am scared and ashamed of it. 

Four floors above the foreign streets, all I can see is rooftops. Eerie, lonely rooftops with weathervanes standing out against the rising sun. There is no sign of life at this level and no sound of it either. 

My only consolation is the television that I have kept on all night turned to the only English station that I can find — a never-ending loop of BBC news. 

My room is a shoebox, not large enough for Italian leather boots though, more fit for bargain children's shoes. The door opens into my tiny bed, a closet, and a desk. The bathroom is almost bigger then the room, but it is clean and has a window with a nice view of, well... rooftops.

What was I thinking?!

I have never been outside of my country alone before and here I am on an entirely different continent, alone in a strange hotel!

On top of the emotional goodbyes I made to family and friends just a few hours ago, I have lost and found both my bag and passport already, which, now that i think about it, may be part of the reason for the shaking. 

DAY 2 — Feeling brave(ish)

This morning I am determined to leave the hotel.

I wake up early, shower and go up to the breakfast room on the eighth floor. The continental breakfast looks more like dessert — platters heaped with pastries and strong black coffee bolster my confidence (or at least give me a much needed energy boost).

About thirty minutes later, taking a deep breath, I take my first step out of the hotel and into the cobblestone streets of Rome. It is sunny and surprisingly warm for a January day which helps life my mood almost immediately.

I am walking along a street that borders the ancient city wall and am so busy looking at the map and trying to figure out where I am that it is there before I can prepare myself for it — the Colosseum.

I don't know why, but I can't hold back my emotions and without warning I burst into tears. It suddenly hits me how real the world is and I get a sense of how real I am for being a part of it. This incredible part of history is not on a slide or in a textbook, but directly in front of me.

I sink down on a pile of old stones in a park across the street from the massive monument and just look at it for awhile while I let the tears run down my face. 

Slowly coming back to reality, I take a few pictures (and a few deep breaths). The true blue sky is the perfect backdrop and the morning sun is carving deep shadows into the ancient stone and revealing secrets that can only be seen at that certain time of day. It is early on a Sunday morning, and there is hardly a soul in sight.

I cross the street, walk right up to it and touch it.

I touched it!

The rock is rough. Worn from battles, wars, erosion, the subway cars that pass below it, the smart-cars that pass beside it, and the millions of us that reach out and touch it in our need to confirm that it is really there. 

In a trance, hardly breathing, I walk around the outside of this incredible piece of history, letting my fingers create an invisible trail on its ancient surface. 

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

The sun is shining on the facade of the Trevi Fountain, but where I sit is in shade. The once pure white marble seems to glow in all the right places, while the deep cuts in the statues are in perfect shadow. The water is loud, blocking out the noise of the modern world as it falls majestically over the strategically carved and well worn caverns.

It is perfect.

I could not have asked for a better day. I have spent the last few hours wandering from the Colosseum to the Roman Forum, through twisting winding streets to the Pantheon and finally to this famous fountain. 

Though it is one of the most popular tourist sites in Rome, there are only a handful of people milling around on this January day. Some are posing for photos while others are throwing coins over their shoulders into the clear water to ensure their return. Like me, some are just sitting and observing while pigeons mill around our feet and men try to sell us useless trinkets. 

An image projected on a screen in art class is nothing compared to the experience of the real thing... nothing. 

For the first time since boarding the plane back home, I feel quiet, calm... relaxed. 

Ahhhh Roma...

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

As my new bible, Lonely Planet Italy, predicted, I am drawn to the windows along the streets as much as I am to the historic monuments. Seriously, a girl with a shoe fetish should NOT be allowed to walk alone in Rome! I have managed to stay out of the stores today, but it is only my first day out — with so much delightful temptation (and no one to stop me) my plan to save money isn't going to last long. 

Other then realizing that travelling alone is not as scary as I thought, I have also discovered that in order to eat I will have to learn a few more phrases in Italian.

I figured out the hard way that I need to know more than "Ciao" in order to get a sandwich...

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Travel Quotes: Sometimes You Just Need A Little Inspiration

by Lindsay Shapka in , ,

“Never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never fail to be polite and never outstay your welcome. Keep your mind open and suck in every experience. And if it hurts you know what? It’s probably worth it.”
—Richard from the movie The Beach

"People travel to far away places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home"
—Dagobert D. Runes

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step"
—Lao Tzu

“I feel about travel the way a happy new mother feels about her impossible, colicky, newborn baby — I just don’t care what it puts me through. Because I adore it. Because it’s mine. Because it looks exactly like me. It can barf all over me if it wants to — I just don’t care.”
— Elizabeth Gilbert, from Eat.Pray.Love

"Not all those who wander are lost" 
—J.R.R. Tolkien

"Travel is glamorous only in retrospect" 
—Paul Theroux

"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable" 
—Cesar Cruz

"To awaken alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world” 
—Freya Stark

"A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving"
—Lao Tzu

“The boy knew a lot of people in the city. That was what made traveling appeal to him — he always made new friends, and he didn’t need to spend all of his time with them [to keep them]”
—from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho 

"Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen" 
—Benjamin Disraeli

"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art."
—Andy Warhol

"If at some point you don't ask yourself 'What have I gotten myself into?' then you're not doing it right" 
—Roland Gau

“Twenty years from now you will more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
—Mark Twain

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22 Quirky, Unique, and Wonderful Things To Love About Thailand

by Lindsay Shapka in , ,

There are so many reasons to love Thailand — many more than the 22 listed here — but these are some of my most favorite things about the Thai culture, and should give you some insight into why so many people make this country their vacation destination!

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