HELP WITH FEAR OF FLYING: Rescue Remedy

Many of us have a fear of flying and can get nervous or panicked before you get onto the plane.

I have always found Bach Flower Rescue Remedy drops to be great. The way the drops work is to help replace your negative emotional imbalances with positive ones instead.

The ingredients cover many 'emotional group types' and is a natural safe remedy, that uses herbs, medications and homeopathy.

This chart created by Dr.Bach will help you understand how the remedy can help what your feeling (i.e emotional group types).

EMOTIONAL GROUP:	FLOWER REMEDIES:
Generally despondent or in despair	Larch, Oak, Crab Apple, Star of Bethlehem, Willow, Elm, Pine, Sweet Chestnut, Mustard
A lack of interest in the world around you	Olive, White Chestnut, Wild Rose, Honeysuckle, Chestnut Bud, Clematis
Fearful	Mimulus, Red Chestnut, Cherry Plum, Rock Rose, Aspen
Uncertainty	Hornbeam, Gorse, Gentian, Scleranthus, Wild Oat, Cerato
Over-sensitive to others	Holly, Centaury, Agrimony, Walnut
Over-concern for others	Vine, Vervain, Beech, Chicory, Rock Water
Lonely	Heather, Impatiens, Water Violet

The remedy is great not just for fear of flying but useful to keep in your bag or pocket for any normal everyday events that might stress you out such as an exam, driving lesson/test, work worries etc.

TOP USA FINE DINING RESTAURANT: Trattoria Acqua

If you live or are passing through California, USA and fancy something a little different to your usual drive through places, steak houses etc, you could look at one of the lovely fine dining seafood restaurants La Jolla called Trattoria Acqua.

Based in the La Jolla area it serves up Authentic Italian Coastal Cuisine, and mouth watering foods like Mongolian pork chops, free range chicken and vegetarian options too.

The award winning restaurant lets you take in the breathtaking view of the Mediterranean sea and La Jolla Cove as you dine. Or you can dine outside in the pretty courtyard if you prefer.

The restaurant likes to pride itself on having a 'neighbourhood friendly menu' and 'friendly prices'.

You should have a look at the site to find out more, and maybe sign up to the newsletter to get money off coupons for the restaurant and hear of any upcoming events and special recipe notices.

THE DESERTED WILD WEST TOWN OF BODIE, CALIFORNIA, USA

Bodie was first discovered in 1859 when William Bodey discovered gold in the mines. After hearing these stories of wealth thousands of visitors would go there hoping to get wealthy.

In 1861 a mill was built with 20 miners. From here the town started to became a mining settlement and more and more people came in 1878. The town had a population of 5,000 to 7,000 by then and 10,000 by 1880. The mines made millions of dollars over the years.

Inside one of the houses

What is now known as a 'Ghost Town' Bodie was once a thriving place to live that boosted a mile long worth of 65 saloons, 2 banks, post office, jail, churches, 4 volunteer fire companies, brass band, rail road, it's own daily newspapers, and even it's own Chinatown that had hundreds of Chinese occupiers. It had it's fair share of wild west robberies and shootouts too.

There was also the buildings used for seedy activities like brothels, opium dens and gambling.

An empty saloon - notice how the beer bottles still sit on the bar and tables

By 1913 the Standard Consolidated Mine closed down as profits became very low.
A fire cut through the town in 1932 damaging the population count and the mining profits even more.

The last mine was closed down in 1942 by the War Production Board as it was considered as a non essential gold mine.

Gas Station
School

Some residents still remained even so, but then finally moved on when it was no longer practical to live there.

Once all the residents were gone Bodie was taken over and became a National Historic Landmark and listed as Authentic American Wild West Ghost Town in 1962.

One of the remaining churches

Years worth of decay has taken it's toll on Bodie, but a part of the town still exists with 170 buildings remaining, where tourists can walk through the streets and go inside the buildings.

What fascinates me is that at the time the town was deserted everything has been left in place as it was at the time like furniture, bar stock, abandoned cars etc.

The name Bodie originally came from the discoverer William Bodey . But a William died in a blizzard making a supply trip, so he never got to see the town named after him.

For some reason the name was change from Bodey to Body, a few other names then finally Bodie as we know it today. The new variation of Bodie was named after a painter who lived in a town nearby.

1800's PETERSBURG FACTORY TRANSFORMED INTO CHARACTER PROPERTIES

An old 1800's Sewage Luggage Factory has recently been converted into beautiful Petersburg VA condomiums and townhouses.

This quaint neighbourhood in Virginia, USA is renowned for it's History and art, and the new development called High Street lofts Petersburg va gives you a modern style living, but they are still in keeping with the character of old buildings.

If you love peaceful surroundings where you can visit galleries, look around antique stores and stop by for a bite at the local coffee shop or restaurant then Petersburg va rental properties could be for you.

Plus you are not too for away from the main Richmond route if you need to commute.

There are ten 3 storey houses available that have been made from the Luggage Factory offices and light and spacious condominiums.

You can rent the properties or do a 'rent to buy' scheme if you prefer. Visit the site for more information.

SMALLEST CAR IN THE WORLD

It is one thing to make tiny cars, but i think this car is a bit too small when it gets to the point you have to actually bend your neck and head to get in and drive! How could you drive like that?

Perry Watkins from the United Kingdom created his car based on the Children's cartoon Postman Pats van ride.

The car is 39 inches high 26 inches in wide and 51 inches long. The engine that has been used is one you usually find on Lawn mowers.

Surprisingly the car is legal to drive on the road, and is taxed too!

Perry found a disused Postman Pat children's ride (example above) on Ebay and used the body of that to make the start of his creation, and disassembled and added parts as he went along.

Perry currently holds the record for the Smallest Car in the world, and beat the previous holder's car by a half!

AMAZING BUS STOPS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Ventura, California

We see bus stops as being pretty plain and boring. Made just for the purpose intended really, but some designers felt bus stops good be jazzed up a little bit and came up with these cool creations.

Here a several of the best ones from all over the world, and make pretty good tourist attractions for photo opportunities i'm sure!

Ishaya, Japan

Brisbane, Australia

Soviet

Dubai

London, United Kingdom

Which bus stop is your favourite?

WHOLESALE PRICE HOLIDAY SUPPLIER: Sundance

I always like to get a holiday as cheap as i can, but i don't want to end up on a package holiday where the site is still being built. We have all heard those stories i'm sure!

So with my sceptical hat on i had a browse around the Internet and came across Sundance Vacations

Sundance offer holiday's at wholesale prices. This made me think that's great, but what's the catch?

On further research i found that the way it works is the company will buy vacations in bulk, then in turn pass these savings onto you and me - the traveler.

Sundance as a company and it's partners own or lease the accommodation you can find on the site, so you don't end up paying any travel agents retail costs.

Founded in 1991 Sundance have won several awards and is part of the Better Business Bureau.

There are some nice resorts you can check out on the site direct, which all have full details and a slide show of pictures to browse through.

This as well as being able to visit their personal blog, newsroom and subscribing to their feed, Facebook and Twitter pages.

Whether your into skiing, golf or just love to lazy in the sun, there are resort breaks to suit all tastes.

ABANDONED MINING CITY: Hashima, Japan

There are hundreds of abandoned Japanese islands, but this island called Hashima seems to be one of the most interesting.

It used to be a highly populated coal and mining city - The highest in the word in fact with it's narrow streets and buildings that kept being built.

But then when Petrol replaced coal in the 1960's there was no longer a huge demand. The mine was closed in 1974 and the city was shut down.

The island also known as the empty and bare 'Ghost Island' remained closed for over 20 years, but a part of it was re-opened in April 2009 and safe tourist paths were created.

Most of the buildings are still standing, but as you can imagine over the years of not being maintained they have deteriorated and some have collapsed even. Although some of the exterior walls that had collapsed were restored with concrete.

If the whole of the island was open to the public it would be at a massive expensive to make the buildings and walking areas safe for people to pass through.

This is such a shame but i still find the history of it all fascinating.

FAMILY FRIENDLY MICHIGAN VACATIONS

It's getting to that time now where i need to start thinking about booking a family vacation.

Without much knowledge of where the best places to go are, i wasn't sure where would be a decent place for the things we like to do, as we are a very active family.

Then i saw that you can get some good family vacations in Michigan . On looking into it further i was impressed by the amount of hotels and restaurants that were based in the area.

We really like to do plenty of activities and go to theatres, festivals, annual shows and sport events etc, and this city seems to be quite popular for these things.

Film stars Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon and Ellen Page were recent visitors to the Ann Arbor Area in Michigan when they were filming the movie whip it.

This intrigued me even more to find it a great Vacation Michigan holiday base to stay for a week or two - maybe more who knows!

I certainly will be looking into and considering this further for our vacation this year.

I would love to hear from anyone that has been to Michigan themselves, and tell me what your thoughts and recommendations would be.

EUROPES DIRTIEST HOTEL: Grosvenor, Blackpool

This Blackpool hotel has been named and shamed as the dirtiest hotel in Europe.

The decision was made by voters who had stayed at the hotel, and could leave reviews via website Trip Advisor.

After it was speculated about in the media i decided to take a look at the reviews myself.

One of the hotel rooms ceilings (picture taken by someone who stayed at the hotel)

Ratings were as low as 1 out of 5 and peoples comments and concerns were flooded with remarks like dirty rooms, unsafe electricity outlets and wiring, furniture falling apart, filthy windows, heating permanently on, noise pollution, unfriendly staff and alot more!

There were that many bad reviews, where a massive 31 out of 38 rated the hotel as terrible.

Dirty Windows (picture taken by someone who stayed at the hotel)

The hotel didn't seem to be doing itself any favours by having the numbers of the room written in biro on the doors, dated decor, stained mattresses and furniture that was falling apart.

Hotel owner Chirag Khajura who charges £25pp per night for his rooms, has tried to defend the bad reports by saying 'I wouldn't say this is a perfect hotel. We have issues. I have only had it 6 months and there are many improvements to make'

He then went on to say that the Trip Advisor reviews were malicious .

Unsafe Sockets (picture taken by someone who stayed at the hotel)

My questions are how is this hotel still in operation if it has received so many bad ratings? I am very surprised a health and safety inspector hasn't stepped in by now. Maybe they have by the time i have wrote this hopefully!

From the pictures shown here in the post taken by people who have stayed there, it leaves alot to be desired.

A representation of one of the hotels bedrooms on the Grosvenor Hotel website

FUNNY SUPERHERO TO YOUR VACATION RESCUE!

If there was a way to getting people to notice your product with some humour thrown in, the
vacation rental Superhero Unitard is one of them!

The vacation rental commercial definitely makes you think about how we would usually organize and plan for a holiday.

Do you usually book a room for instance? Yet for a reasonable price you could rent out an actual home instead from Vacation Rental.org

I think we could all do with the crazy Unitard Superhero - who funnily enough does makes alot of sense, warning us about our holiday mistakes about to happen!

I know i would rather holiday in an actual home than a small room. How about you?

SAFE PET TRAVEL: Dog Booster Car Seat

When taking your dog with you on a car journey, alot of us probably forget that our animals should have the same safety measures that we have, and not just sit freely on the seats.

This Sovit Standard Dog Booster Seat easily straps onto a car seat, and is positioned high enough so your dog can still see out the window.

You can fit it in a front or rear seat if you prefer. It will hold a dog up to 20 pounds in weight, so it's suitable for small dogs like in the picture really.

The removable sheepskin interior is padded so your dog can feel comfortable.

It's just like a portable pet bed but alot safer!

SAFE STORAGE WHILST TRAVELLING

If your thinking of going travelling for while, you may feel uneasy about leaving all your belongings in an empty house that may attract squatters or burglars even.

If your from the area of Minnesota, you could try a storage Minneapolis service called Smart Box.

At their facility there are different sized temperature controlled containers, where you can store your items there for however long you like.

Once you have packed everything up, Smart Box will collect from your home and take to their Storage st paul center, or you can have it delivered to another address if you prefer.