Zwartsluis Travel Guide

Whenever I undertake a journey to a particular country I always want to know all about the surroundings, it’s history, it’s culture, which cities to visit, which hikes to undertake, et cetera. In advance to the journey I do browse over the internet to get certain information and read travel books just to make sure I won’t miss out on anything.

Once I am travelling I like to talk to the local people about their own country, their own region and those conversations will retrieve lots of extra information about some beautiful spots to visit, the ultimate restaurant or sometimes a particular area to avoid.

Ever since I have had myr own personal travel site and this one at Virtual Tourist I like not only to undertake the journey, but also write about it for everyone to enjoy. Just to make sure I won’t forget the details of the journey I write is all down in a diary. I have given the dairy the name “Diary of a madman” and it contains all the information I have gathered. I like to make the diary more beautiful to glue in some pictures out of folders and also the entrance tickets to museums, National Parks, bus tickets, et cetera.

This way I am able to tell all our friends about my travels. For Virtual Tourist I can reproduce all the information for (hopefully) solid tips with lots of good details that will help you in your travels. Besides that it’s always fun to read about a journey I took for example 7 or 8 years ago and read about what I exactly did and how I experienced it. I also have managed to keep in touch with the local people I talked to and do nourish these contacts. Especially at the travelogue section of each location you can see some pages out of the Diary of a madman. Yes, I know, it's written in Dutch, but you'll have an impression on how it looks. And maybe you can tell us how you remember all the information for your tips. Enjoy!

Are you nervous about taking your baby or child on a plane trip? You aren't alone, most parents are nervous about it. We have moved with Iris and Sam Tarragona Corfu by plane this holiday and drove some distances by car on the island itself and we learned a few things that hopefully will help you.

General:
Bring books, old favourite toys and new surprise toys. Do remember that balls are not a good idea as they can end up anywhere! Our best buys were definitely books, especially sticker books are great! They can peel the stickers off, are glossy, have thick pages to turn easy, have bright colours and come in endless subjects. They're a nice break from the other books your child might be tired of, too. Put aside fears of setting poor eating habits, and bring on the snacks! We told Iris: “Welcome to the world of boredom eating."

Plane:
If your child is big ask for earplugs as soon as you board the aircraft. Make use of them for take-off then save them for landing as the crew may not have any fresh ones left by then. Also let them eat candies, this helps the kids tremendously if they don't know how to pop their ears.

Car:
Toy bars meant for stroller use are a big help in the car, as they often feature toys plus a snack cup, and are big and easy for you to grab from the front seat for refills. During the car trip it’s always a good idea to play a game and sing some songs. It sounds rather easy, but it does work!

Finally:
We only have one last statement! Just do it! Don’t be afraid that it might go wrong. We have learned this, because we have been travelling with Iris from the beginning. She was only 6 weeks young when we had our first short vacation and stayed in a hotel. Iris has been used to it rather fast and (maybe because of it) has always been an easy kid to get along with.

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, the catchy title of the 1992 bestseller by John Gray, succinctly expresses an ancient dilemma. What--if anything--do men's and women's brains do differently?

The general statement that men and women respond and behave differently under the same circumstances is true; For example, from the crib, male babies tend to be more aggressive and females more passive. As adults, in spatial operations, men have the edge in such skills as negotiating a maze, reading a map, and quickly discriminating between right and left. Men also perform better than women when asked to visualize an object and imagine rotating it. On the other hand, women tend to perform better than men when asked to look at objects of different shapes, sizes, and colors, and then to group them in some order.

This still doesn't explian why a woman turns the map all around when I'm asking for the road to travel, while I like the map at one point so I can better visualize our position. Help!

Luggage and bags: * Map and guidebook.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: * Hiking boots;
* Shorts with many pockets;
* Sunglasses;
* Fleece type jacket.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: * Lip balm;
* Band-aids.

Photo Equipment: * Camera and lots of films!
* Filter;
* Extra batteries;
* Lens 210 mm.

Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: None ... :-)

Favorite thing: Let’s make no secret of it. We both like a nice cold glass of beer. Being at our travel pace is always a challenge to find a beer we like, which reflects our taste of having a beer. At Hoogeveen (and this probably counts for our entire home country) it was rather difficult. We found out that there are a few local beers, only known in the particular area. But anyway nothing really special, which was a bit of a disappointment. Therefore we buy the same beer as we would drink back home, Grolsch! LOL

Grolsch Brewery (Grolsche Bierbrouwerij) is a Dutch brewery founded in 1615 by Willem Neerfeldt in Groenlo (Grolle). The beer from Groenlo gradually became better known in the surroundings of Groenlo. Through the years the demand for Grolsch beer shifted from a local to national and eventually international level. It is a bit bitter and has a pale colour. You can taste the hop flavour, and has a alcohol content of 5 percent. You should try it!