All posts by Katica Maric

Katica Maric is just an ordinary mother of two beautiful angels and a passionate traveler. She is also a person who likes to write about her adventures and share a good thing with others.
Travel Tips

5 Vacation Destinations that Support a Healthy Lifestyle

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The healthy lifestyle has already started turning into a dominant pattern for the modern human being. At the helm of this ship is fitness, an integral part of paying tribute to our physical and spiritual selves. In 2016, in the US alone, 20.9% of the population engaged in sports/exercise on a daily basis! That’s a whole lot of people leading healthy lifestyles.

Even the most active of people, however, consider vacation “break time”; or at least they used to. The trend of an active vacation is growing and an increasing number of destinations now feature fitness as a concept. In this entry, we will feature top fitness travel destinations.

Koh Samui, Thailand

Fitness means more than good looks – it stretches across the psychological, the physical and the social aspects of our culture. The Absolute Sanctuary Fitness offers balance between the three, featuring programs that will help you improve your fitness levels, while providing mind clarity.

The goals are set in accordance with your fitness aims and your fitness assessment. The activities that are included are everything from weight training and cardio exercises, to beach boot camp, Pilates and even Muay Thai kick boxing lessons. These sessions are balanced with yoga classes that feature Hot flow and Yin yoga, as well as the Ashtanga.

Towards the end of the day, you can relax with a back, neck, shoulder or a Thai massage.

Monchique, Portugal

Even though a growing number of people are looking to get into fitness as a road towards a better lifestyle, many of us are approaching this with weight loss in mind. The Longevity wellness retreat, located in the mountains of Monchique in Portugal, is an excellent way to lose weight on your vacation.

The experts here will start you off with an extremely personalized program that targets everything from weight loss to other physical, emotional and mental imbalances. The feature program focuses on teaching the participants how one’s attitude and emotional state can influence the weight loss success – something not enough people pay attention to.

This program features a variety of activities, ranging from Pilates and yoga to hiking. After you’ve completed the Longevity wellness program, you’ll feel relaxed and energized, in addition to a couple of pounds lighter.

El Albir Beach, Spain

In the neighboring Spain, near the gorgeous El Albir beach lies the world’s leading medical spa, the SHA Wellness Clinic. The entire concept, when it comes to food, is based on an ancient macrobiotic diet that roots back to the era of Hippocrates, when it was widely believed that a simple and balanced diet is the road towards a long and healthy life.

Although it revolves around the concept of a balanced diet, the SHA Wellness Clinic includes a weekly activity and exercise schedule that features hiking and yoga.

Melbourne, Australia

The Restart Health Escapes organizes both individual and corporate retreats that feature full room and board, healthy fresh meals, a thorough health and fitness assessment, beachside yoga, but also everything ranging from language lessons and spa treatments to cooking classes and personal lifestyle counseling. To top it off, activities such as kayaking through caves and Muay Thai kick boxing lessons are included, so you better come prepared with quality and durable gym equipment in order to feel as comfortable as possible.

Crete, Greece

Food and physical activity are pillars of physical health and the Wild fitness Food+Fit retreat brings the two together in the best possible way. The 10-day “vacation” includes outdoor movement activities that range from running to jumping and climbing, followed by food workshops that go into detail as to where a particular food is grown, how to prepare it properly and what effect it has on our bodies.

The retreat is located at Milia, a village that features refurbished farm buildings, set in the White Mountains National Park. Health, inspiration and breathtaking sights are to be expected here.

These five locations feature excellent health and fitness programs that will help you stay or even get fit on your vacation. The road towards spiritual peace is paved with fitness, healthy eating habits and a good mental balance.

Destinations, Sport and Adventure, Travel Tips

Best Family Cycling Routes in the World

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Best Family Cycling Routes in the World

If you’re looking for a new and exciting way to have a family adventure and see the world, then consider cycling. It’s an activity that’s great for the whole family, it’s not too fast nor too slow, it’s cheap and good for fitness and health, so it’s not a surprise more and more people choose bikes to travel with. If you want to join the trend, here’s where you can start from.

Otago Central Rail Trail, New Zealand

This popular 150-kilometre trail will take you through right back in time through the once-crowded goldfields of Otago, New Zealand. Central Rail Trail connects Clyde and Middlemarch while passing through many valleys and little hills. This trail is perfect for all levels of cyclists because it never gets steep, but it still offers amazing views and beautiful nature. Even if this is a short ride, you can still stretch it, thanks to the abundance of pubs and B&Bs you’ll want to check out.

Confederation Trail, Canada

This island is just perfect for cyclists, so much that a long time ago, all motor vehicles were even banned from the island. Prince Edward Island is flat, rich in produce and food and blessed with beautiful nature such as its red cliffs around Basin Head and sand dunes in PEI National Park. So, if you don’t have enough time to check out all 470 kilometres of the trail, make sure to check out those beautiful cliffs and dunes. PEI also has some high-quality food you taste, so don’t miss out.

San Juan Island, USA/Canada

Right between Vancouver and Seattle is San Juan Island, called by many “cycling perfection”. These islands are perfect for families of all kinds because each island can be toured in a day, the weather is nice, it’s relatively flat, and there are ample ferry connections between each island. This archipelago is contained from over 100 islands, but most cyclists choose San Jan, Orcas or Lopez.

Lopez is the tamest of the three, while Orcas is perfect for more seasoned cyclists (but it offers amazing views). If you still choose Orcas, make sure to keep both eyes open for orcas as you paddle along the coast. Your kids are going to love those beautiful predators. Also, accommodation on the islands is plentiful, so you can stay a couple of days and enjoy your time together.

Isle of Wight, England

The Isle of Wight is known as one of the most bike-friendly places in Britain and is also included in Lonely Planet’s 10 best cycling destinations. It has many scenic towns, narrow lanes, and white cliffs, and you can see all that while paddling a route that’s barely over 100 km long. It makes a perfect 2-day journey for biker families.

Murray to the Mountains, Victoria, Australia

This gentle trail of only 83 km will give you a great insight into Victoria’s High Country. It can be cycled in a day, but you better stretch it out for at least two, because there’s so much to see and taste there. The route passes many cellars, hotels, and restaurants you shouldn’t miss. If you’re a family that has very little or no cycling experience, then be free to start with this trail. You’re not going to need much, just some solid bikes, helmets and some Shimano mtb shoes, and soon you’ll be ready for some more challenging adventures.

Arusha Trail, Tanzania

If you want to experience a true adventure and travel a bit further from home, then why not visit Africa for a cool safari trip. When you get bored of sitting in a jeep, you can take a bike ride through the lush landscape of Arusha just in the foothills of Kilimanjaro. Saying that the views are beautiful is an understatement, and you can see many interesting villages, coffee plantations, cow markets and chat with friendly locals. You and your kids will remember this for the rest of your lives.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Vietnam is widely famous for being a cycling country. Its also a stunningly beautiful country with many different cycling routes you can take to enjoy a perfect, relaxing vacation while taking in all the natural splendors along the way. Whether its urban centers like Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi, or the beautiful outlands and the Mekong Delta, Vietnam will surely leave a great impression on almost everyone.

As you can see, you don’t have to be a pro cyclist to have a paddling adventure with your family. Take as many stops as you need to get rest, refresh with some local drinks and food, and take in all the beautiful scenery our planet has to offer. You’ll be itching to have another adventure as soon as you get home.

Travel Tips

How to Turn a Family Vacation into Something Unforgettable

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Children are notorious for their short attention spans. It’s, therefore, an incredible feat to keep them engaged throughout the family vacation, let alone excited. In order to achieve this, many parents bend over backward to introduce various activities into their daily schedule while they are on a holiday.

The problem is – many parents don’t know where to start and it can be a true Sisyphean effort to keep the children involved. The trick is not to engage in something that is only fun for you, but you have to take into consideration your kids’ wishes, needs, and abilities. In order to make this entire ordeal significantly easier, here is how to turn a family vacation into something unforgettable.

Nature calls

No matter where you decide to go on a vacation, you’ll never be that far from nature. For one, you and your significant other will get a chance to enjoy beautiful landscapes and some healthy recreation.

On the other hand, your children are bound to have a blast. Youngsters tend to respond really well to open spaces of untouched nature since they see it as a perfect playground with endless potential. If you can spend an entire day out in the wilderness during the vacation, make sure you grab this opportunity. Naturally, it would be ideal if you get a chance to do this every day.

Use the opportunities

If you are gone for a summer vacation, it’s expected that you’ll spend every day at the beach. This, as it has been established in the previous paragraph, is a godsend for your children. However, the beach or the national park isn’t supposed to be a playground exclusively reserved for the youngsters and it shouldn’t be.

Your involvement is equally important, so use the opportunities the terrain gives you to engage in fun activities with your children. Activities that lead to bonding can include anything from building a sandcastle on the beach to creating a “secret base” out of sticks and stones in the nearby forest. The key thing is to convince your children that you are just as invested in all of this as they are.

Add some diversity

Likewise, having a Groundhog Day vacation becomes tedious to anyone, let alone children. Try to add some diversity every now and then. You can dedicate an entire day to the trip to local historical towns or museums. These can turn into truly inspiring educational experiences for children. By immersing them into the culture of the region, you might tap into previously undiscovered intellectual potentials in your children and broaden their horizons.

A shopping day is a satisfying activity for an entire family. Most of the popular tourist destinations have a shopping district with a lot of interesting activities. The spree can get even more whacky on wheels if you mount one of the specialized Anderson shopper bicycle trolleys, carrying all the luggage throughout the narrow city streets will be a breeze.

As far as accommodations go

A plain hotel room or several separate hotel rooms for that matter are not the best choices for a family with children. Most of the large-scale accommodations of this kind have family-friendly perks like babysitting services, adjoining rooms etc., but it might be much better to find private accommodations in town.

This can provide you with a perfect opportunity to kick back and relax and have a backyard where children can run and play is always a welcome addition. A kitchen in which your family can create their own meals and adapt them to personal needs of each child is an invaluable asset.

There is so much you can discover about your children on a vacation filled with unforgettable activities. They are unbelievable sponges when it comes to external stimuli, and when they are faced with completely new environments and fresh activities, they are bound to enjoy the experience as much as you will. Just don’t forget to get completely involved and enjoy your little adventure.