Hiking Backpack Zone

Archive for the ‘Backpacking’ Category

Kuching is sharing pretty much the same festivals as other region of Malaysia, though you may still find some local festivals that only Sarawakian get to celebrates. All festivals and events in Kuching are as follow:

1. New Year’s Day (1 January)

Public Holiday through out the entire Malaysia, and the world; and Kuching has no different too.

2. Chinese New Year (January/February)

Chinese New Year is fall on 1st day of every lunar calendar year, that may fall on any days during January or February.

Google it for exact date for the certain year you would like to know, eg. “Chinese New Year 2010″. Travel to Kuching two weeks ahead of the Chinese New Year is the best time for you to see the locals getting ready for the Chinese New Year festival. People in Kuching is often busy shopping for Chinese New Year goods and goodies during this time. On the Eve of Chinese New Year, locals will do their final shopping before noon, and after 2pm usually the Kuching is much like a dead town. Shops shut, businesses ended, everyone is at home getting ready for their reunion meal. For anyone who is still in Kuching on this day, the only place you can have your dinner is probably the fast food restaurant for instance KFC or McDonald.

In the midnight once the clock strikes 12am, the entire city is like entering into a war, you will be amazed by the fireworks on the sky, and even firecrackers are everywhere. The whole event will last for about half an hour to an hour before you can get a good sleep. It’s illegal though to play with fireworks or firecrackers; however it isn’t been fully enforced in Sarawak. You will not get this if you are in the capital of Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur. Most businesses remain closed in Kuching from the first to the forth day of the festival, you still have to dine at the fast food restaurant during those days. However, cafe, pubs and bars are normally opened once the day turns dark.

3. Good Friday (March/April)

Nothing much special in Kuching during this day, it’s just a public holiday.

5. Labour Day (1 May)

Simply a public holiday. Business as normal for shopping malls and restaurants.

6. Wesak Day (May)

It may fall on any day during May be based upon which calendar year. For anyone who is at Kuching during this period, visit the Buddhist temples, in which the crowds are gathered on this special occasion.

7. Gawai Day (1 June)

This is the extremely important festival for the Dayak (indigenious people) in Sarawak, which celebrating the end of rice harvesting and welcomes the new planting season. Everyone in the longhouses in Sarawak will begin to celebrate the festival from the Eve of the Gawai day. On the Gawai day itself, that is 1 June, traditional rituals are held, dancing, plenty of local foods especially Bamboo rice and bamboo chicken. Should you be traveling in Kuching during this special event, you may take part in the Annah Rais Homestay program and experience the fun of the Gawai festival with the locals people. No walk-in traveler will be entertained during this day at most of the longhouses, except for pre-arranged tour from the tour company, and the invited guest by the local people.

For Annah Rais Longhouse, simply participate in the homestay program and you will get a chance to experience how the local people celebrate the festival at Annah Rais village.

8. Dragon Boat Festival (June)

As the name suggest, you will witness the dragon boats competition on this day through out most part of Malaysia. In Kuching, you may witness the dragon boat competition along the Sarawak River, at the Kuching Waterfront. Local Chinese will be making their own rice dumpling in this special occasion for their family. Most Chinese coffee shops in Kuching do selling them too, so you should try it!

9. Rainforest World Music Festival (July)

These are the infamous global event which will be held in Kuching every year. Rainforest World Music Festival brings together the planet renowned musicians around the globe and indigenous musicians from all parts of mythical land of Borneo to come to the same stage to perform for you.

Such event lasts for 3 days and will be held at Sarawak Cultural Village, next to Damai Puri Resort (formerly known as Damai Lagoon Resort), about 30 km from Kuching. For more information about Rainforest World Music Festival, kindly visit their official website at http://www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com.

Fairly often during this period of time, Kuching hotels occupancy rate are all time high and can be fully booked quite often, therefore you are advised to book early if you intend to attend to such global event.

Resort that within the walking distance to the Sarawak Cultural Village are Damai Puri Resort and Permai Rainforest Resort. Damai Holiday Inn Resort is also within a walking distance, nevertheless it takes you a longer walk, approximately ten to fifteen mins!

10. Mid Autumn Festival (August)

Also called Mooncake or Lantern Festival. Nothing much special accept eating mooncake (plenty of mooncakes, everywhere is selling it) and watching kids carrying lantern at each corner of the streets when the day turns dark. Novice photographer will really appreciate such occasion.

11. Malaysia’s National Day (31 August)

It’s a nation public holiday, and in Kuching, it’s celebrated each year, check out at Central Padang at Kuching.

12. Hungry Ghosts Month (August/September)

It is believed by the Chinese that within the 7th month of lunar calendar, ghosts are returned to the earth for feasting. In Kuching, take a look at this “hungry ghost event” that is held next to the old central post office. It’s always filled with crowd.

13. Christmas Day (25 Dec)

It is also another important event for the Christian in Kuching. However, special events’ arrangement mostly limited to each individual church only. Clubbers also gathered at certain pubs for counting down during eve of Christmas. Nothing much special in Kuching, better spend your time in Singapore’s Orchard Road I guess, should you happen to travel in this region!

That’s about all the festivals and events in Kuching. So plan your vacation wisely. Wish you have a wonderful trip soon.

For more information about tips and hints to travel to Kuching, visit Lester’s Kuching Travel Guide website. Also take a look at Annah Rais Longhouse Adventure website for more information about the homestay program offered by the local villager.

Kuching is sharing virtually a similar festivals as other part of Malaysia, nonetheless you may still find some local festivals that only Sarawakian get to celebrates. All festivals and events in Kuching are as follow:

1. New Year’s Day (1 January)

Public Holiday through out the whole Malaysia, and the world; and Kuching has no exception too.

2. Chinese New Year (January/February)

Chinese New Year is fall on 1st day of every lunar calendar year, which will fall on any days during January or February.

Google it for exact date of the certain year you wish to know, eg. “Chinese New Year 2010″. Travel to Kuching two weeks before the Chinese New Year is the greatest time for you to see the locals preparing for the Chinese New Year festival. People in Kuching is often busy shopping for Chinese New Year goods and goodies during this time. On the Eve of Chinese New Year, locals will do their final shopping before noon, and after 2pm usually the Kuching is much like a dead town. Shops closed, businesses stopped, folks are in the home getting ready for their reunion dinner. If you are still in Kuching on this day, the only place you can have your dinner is probably the fast food restaurant for example KFC or McDonald.

In the midnight once the clock strikes 12am, the whole city is much like entering into a war, you may be dazzled by the fireworks on the sky, and also firecrackers are everywhere. The whole of the celebration can last for around half an hour to an hour before you can get a good sleep. It’s illegal though to play with fireworks or firecrackers; however it is not been fully enforced in Sarawak. You can’t get this if you’re in the capital of Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur. Most businesses remain closed in Kuching from the first to the forth day of the festival, you’ve still got to dine at the fast food restaurant during those days. However, cafe, pubs and bars are normally opened once the day turns dark.

3. Good Friday (March/April)

Nothing much special in Kuching during this day, it’s just a public holiday.

5. Labour Day (1 May)

Simply a public holiday. Business as usual for shopping malls and restaurants.

6. Wesak Day (May)

It will fall on any day during May depend on which calendar year. If you’re at Kuching during this period, pay a visit to the Buddhist temples, the place that the crowds are gathered on this special day.

7. Gawai Day (1 June)

This is the extremely important festival for the Dayak (indigenious people) in Sarawak, which celebrating the finish of rice harvesting and welcomes the new planting season. Everyone in the longhouses in Sarawak will begin to celebrate the festival from the Eve of the Gawai day. On the Gawai day itself, which is 1 June, traditional rituals are held, dancing, plenty of local foods especially Bamboo rice and bamboo chicken. In case you are traveling in Kuching during this special occasion, you possibly can participate in the Annah Rais Homestay program and experience the fun of the Gawai festival together with the locals people. No walk-in traveler will be entertained during this day at most of the longhouses, except for pre-arranged tour from the tour company, or the invited guest from the local people.

For Annah Rais Longhouse, simply participate in the homestay program and that you will get a chance to experience how the local people celebrate the festival at Annah Rais village.

8. Dragon Boat Festival (June)

As the name suggest, you can witness the dragon boats competition on this day through out most part of Malaysia. In Kuching, you may witness the dragon boat competition along the Sarawak River, at the Kuching Waterfront. Local Chinese will be making their own rice dumpling in this special occasion for their family. Most Chinese coffee houses in Kuching do selling them too, so you should try it!

9. Rainforest World Music Festival (July)

These are the popular worldwide event that’ll be held in Kuching every year. Rainforest World Music Festival brings together the planet famous musicians around the globe and indigenous musicians from all parts of mythical land of Borneo to come to the same stage to perform for you.

Such event can last for 3 days and will be held at Sarawak Cultural Village, next to Damai Puri Resort (formerly known as Damai Lagoon Resort), about 30 km from Kuching. To learn more about Rainforest World Music Festival, kindly visit their official website at http://www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com.

Usually during this period of time, Kuching hotels occupancy rate are all time high and may be fully booked quite often, therefore you are advised to book early if you’re going to attend to such global event.

Resort that within the walking distance to the Sarawak Cultural Village are Damai Puri Resort and Permai Rainforest Resort. Damai Holiday Inn Resort is also within a walking distance, nonetheless it takes you a longer walk, approximately 10 to 15 mins!

10. Mid Autumn Festival (August)

Also called Mooncake or Lantern Festival. Nothing much special accept eating mooncake (lots of mooncakes, everywhere is selling it) and watching kids carrying lantern at every corner of the streets when the day turns dark. Amateur photographer will really appreciate such occasion.

11. Malaysia’s National Day (31 August)

It’s a nation public holiday, and in Kuching, it’s celebrated each year, check out at Central Padang at Kuching.

12. Hungry Ghosts Month (August/September)

It is believed by the Chinese that within the 7th month of lunar calendar, ghosts are returned to the earth for feasting. In Kuching, check out this “hungry ghost event” that is held next to the old central post office. It’s always filled with crowd.

13. Christmas Day (25 Dec)

It’s also another significant event for the Christian in Kuching. However, special events’ arrangement mostly limited to each individual church only. Clubbers also gathered at certain pubs for counting down during eve of Christmas. Nothing much special in Kuching, better spend your time in Singapore’s Orchard Road I suppose, should you happen to travel in this region!

That’s about all the festivals and events in Kuching. So plan your trip wisely. Wish you have a wonderful vacation soon.

Visit Lester Sim’s Kuching Travel Guide for much more insights advice about traveling in Kuching. Also stop by his friend’s longhouse homestay website - Annah Rais Longhouse Adventure, if you prefer to experience the local Bidayuh tribe’s traditional way of living.

This is a beginner’s lesson on backpacking for dummies. Backpacking is an exciting adventure if you can handle some rough moments. However, if you are not completely ready, it might end up causing a lot of anger and discomfort.

Lesson 01 on backpacking for dummies is the definition of backpacking. It is a blend of hiking and camping in one trip. The length of these trips will vary. The enjoyable part about backpacking is, you can walk at your own pace, and take as long as you wish. It’s up to you to make the trip enjoyable.

Lesson #2: The backpack - The focus needs to be on comfort and strength when selecting a backpack. Your backpack should hold everything you need for your trip and feel comfortable, too. Support the backpack with your shoulders and walk back and forth in the shop. This will help you feel if the bag is good or not.

After that there is a lesson on clothing and footwear for Backpacking for Dummies. It is imperative to bring clothes that are comfortable. On the other hand, if you are visiting formal or religious venues, be sure to take proper clothing. This illustrates the importance of planning. Once you have set your schedule well, you will be able to plan your clothing well, too. One thing that Backpacking for Dummies highly recommends is a good, comfortable pair of hiking shoes. For much of your backpacking trip, you will be walking. That is why you need a quality pair of shoes that are “dependable”. Bring a pair of flip-flops, in addition to your hiking shoes, just in case you need them.

Money is also important to bring along, and it’s also mentioned in backpacking for dummies. Carry the correct amount and a little extra with you all of the time. Staying a step ahead of problems through cautious planning is always rewarding.

Lastly, following are few suggestions for the beginner backpacker. Be sure that you are in shape; you can’t make the trip if your body isn’t ready. Remember to bring your medications with you if you need to take them daily. Hopefully, backpacking for dummies has effectively taught you about your basic needs while planning to go backpacking. I hope that you have a great time! Happy backpacking!

Read more about Hiking and Camping at www.getoutdoorfit.com

Freeze dried food is typically not on most homeowner’s grocery lists. However, it is a really great option for families who want quick prep, nutritious foods. They are also perfect for the family survival kit because they have incredibly long shelf lives. They have many perks for families and you can buy freeze dried food storage meals on a budget.

Today’s freeze dried food storage taste delicious. Cutting edge flash freezing processes are the main reason for this. This preservation process literally leaves the food in a type of “suspended animation.” When the food is reconstituted it comes back to life with all of its original freshness. With just a little water and a few minutes you can have gourmet meals for the whole family.

Many families use freeze dried food storage in their family survival kits. In addition to this, many other families actually buy freeze dried meals and eat them on a daily basis. Kids love to help prepare freeze dried meals because they are super easy to make and because it is like magic watching the food come back to life. Parents think it’s a great choice because eating freeze dried meals regularly is an easy way to provide the entire family with a well balanced and nutritious diet.

The flash freezing process preserves each meal’s original flavors and nutritional value. It also preserves the texture and aroma of the original meal. Virtually none of the food’s qualities are lost when compared to the original meal. During the preservation process, the meal is cooked to perfection and then immediately flash frozen. Up to 98 percent of the water content is removed from the meal. This is what keeps it from spoiling. You get a top quality product because the meal is flash frozen at its peek.

The next time you need to come up with a grocery list, check out some top food storage companies online first. With all of the perks it has to offer you may never go back to regular food again.

Learn more about top food storage companies. Stop by Tom H. Ronson’s site where you can find out all about premier food storage and what it can do for you.

Preserved food is the perfect option for disaster preparedness, families that need quick-prep meals, and people who love to go backpacking. Just about any food can be preserved. With a little water you can have your choice of meats, vegetables, fruits, and even entire meals.

There are two main food preservation processes: freeze drying and dehydrating. Outside of the fact that one process yields food that is more pricey, many people do not know the difference between the two. The next time you’re shopping for preserved food, consider the following.

Freeze Dried Food

This type of food storage is highly popular. It is often purchased by families who keep a constant supply of food storage. Some freeze dried foods can actually last up to 30 years without spoiling. These are the top three ways freeze dried foods differ from dehydrated food:

Taste — Freeze dried food storage is known to taste much better. It is created using a flash freeze process that leaves meals in suspended animation. When reconstituted, the meals have their same flavors, aromas, and textures.

Nutritional Content — The flash freeze process used to create freeze dried meals always helps the food keep its same nutritional content, unlike dehydrating which diminishes nutritional value. This is another reason why freeze dried food storage is so popular.

Cost — Because freeze dried food taste better, is more nutritious, and uses a more complicated preservation process, the food is more costly.

Dehydrated Food

This type of food storage is also popular because it is less expensive, and because it can actually be done at home with a dehydrator. This process uses heat (air drying, sun drying, etc.) to remove most of the food’s water content. These are the top three ways that dehydrated food differs from freeze dried food:

Cost — Dehydrating is a simple process that uses less expensive equipment, and if you dehydrate food at home it is even more affordable.

Space — Dehydrated food is more compact and lightweight than freeze dried food, which means that it is a better space saving option.

Taste — Dehydrated food storage is known to be a bit less flavorful than freeze dried food. Many times it also has a chewy texture. However, dehydrated foods like sun dried tomatoes are often used in regular, every day cooking because they yield rich flavors when cooked for long periods of time. But for emergency preparedness and quick-prep purposes, you will not get such a robust flavor.

Looking to find the best deal on premier food storage, then visit www.TomorrowsHarvest.com to find the best advice on food storage for you.

categories: food, food storage, parenting, cooking, recipes

What do you call the creative use of natural things to provide for your survival? Bushcraft survival. The phrase has been made popular by TV survivalist Ray Mears and Les Hiddins (The bush Tucker Man). It involves using natural cordage, bushcraft knives, building natural shelters, eating wild edible plants, starting fires without matches or cigarette lighters, and obtaining and purifying water in primitive situations. Although early American mountain men and the Indians were masters of these skills, they have been pretty much forgotten these days.

But is there a practical use for these skills today? It turns out that interest is growing in bushcraft survival especially among outdoor enthusiasts such as backpackers, climbers and hunters. A variety of situations can arise in which it could mean the difference between life and death to know some basic wilderness survival skills.

However, in the new age of man made disaster scenarios, especially related to terrorism, these skills are not only useful for everyone, but they could mean the difference for an individual’s or even family’s ability to survive a catastrophic event.

There are a variety of ways to learn these skills, from books and videos. While many videos are available on youtube, there are also websites devoted to the development of bushcraft survival skills. But really, the bottom line is to try out the various techniques yourself after reading about them or watching them demonstrated in a video. It’s one thing to know about them, and quite another to know, by experience, how to do them. With practice, you can become very proficient in the art.

One of the best ways to learn Bushcraft survival is by doing it together as a family. Children enjoy developing these skills plus, it helps them to become more confident in problem solving using only what is at hand - a skill that could really pay off later in life. That’s all for now. We’ll have more to say later about specific survival skills and equipment that could make all the difference. See you then.

To find great resources onBushcraft Survival and read more of Griz Garzo’s articles, visit http://www.bushcraftsurvival.net.

To travel the world as a family is the dream of many - but the financial aspect of such a journey makes it seem an unreachable dream. We have found it is very affordable to travel together as a family on our bicycles.

Although I can tell you how much we spend as we cycle from Alaska to Argentina, that won’t necessarily be how much you will spend. Thinking about how much a long-term family tour costs is a lot like thinking about how much a house or car will cost.

One family will be perfectly happy in a small house in a small town in North Dakota for $30,000. Another family requires a million-dollar mansion in Manhattan. So - how much does a house cost? Anywhere from very little to a whole lot!

Or we could think about this in terms of cars. The last time I bought a car, it was a small, used Saturn that served me well. It got me to work and my children to school. I carried groceries home in the trunk. I paid $5000 for it. Another family might requite a brand new SUV that costs $50,000.

That’s how it is with travel. How much does it cost? It depends on how you travel and what your needs are. If you demand 5-star luxury resorts, your journey will be expensive. If you are content in old, run-down, Ma & Pa hostels, it won’t be nearly that much. Carry a stove and cook your own meals or eat in restaurants all the time? Buy a bunch of souvenirs or take only (digital) photos?

Taking all this into consideration, I will provide a breakdown of our expenses as we travel the length of the Americas on our bicycles. Remember that we ride our bikes, so have virtually no mass transit expenses other than the occasional bus when we decide to ditch the bikes for a little while. We spend most of our time in small villages that are not tourist destinations and do not have the tourist amenities you may be used to.

Our general budget for day-to-day living for the four of us runs about $1500/month. That figure does not include occasional, one-time costs like bike parts, flights, or replacement clothing when ours wears out. Nor does it include health insurance premiums.

Housing

Nearly half of our daily expenses goes for housing. In North America we almost always camped - many of those nights we camped in the wild where we didn’t pay at all. If we were near a campground, we stayed there. They typically cost around $20/night. In some small towns we managed to find cheap Ma & Pa hotels. In large cities, we sought out hosts through warmshowers.com

As we entered into Central America, we changed gears with respect to housing. We found it was simply too hot to comfortably sleep in our tent, so we started finding hotels. Even so, we rarely paid more than about $25/night. We found the extra expense was worth it for a good night’s sleep.

Overall, we find we spend around $600/month on housing.

Food

The other major expense we have is food. We have found it simply isn’t worth skimping on food - we are demanding a lot from our bodies and must feed them well in order for them to perform.

For the first part of our journey through North America, we rarely ate in restaurants. We visited grocery stores every day and stocked up there. We ate sandwiches or cooked on our little camp stove. We spent around $20/day for food throughout Canada and the USA.

As we’ve moved south, we’ve changed strategy many times depending on where we are and what the situation is. Our general plan is to eat in restaurants if the four of us can eat a good meal for $10 or less. That has almost nearly been the case from Mexico south. The meals tend to be quite large, so we find eating one meal/day in a restaurant with numerous snacks the rest of the day is perfect.

Miscellaneous Expenses

After paying for food and housing, we have around $300/month left over for miscellaneous expenses. This could be used for entrance fees for museums, for a movie, or to splurge at a nice restaurant. We tend to spend very little in the villages, and then we splurge when we get to major cities (chocolate cake, anyone?).

We spend, for the family, around $1500 per month for typical day-to-day expenses. We live comfortably and don’t feel we are scrimping and saving at all. We seek out nice hotels (but don’t even consider 5-star places!), we eat a lot of good food, and we see the sights in the areas we pass through. We find we spend far less while traveling than we did while living in Boise, Idaho. We enjoy our lives on the road!

Will you spend the same? That is a question only you can answer. I hope this gives you an idea of how much an extended family bike tour can cost - and that it is very doable to live large on very little!

If you thinking about taking off for extended family holiday, check out Nancy’s website for suggestions on planning your own family trip.

Travelling and vacation should be a time of fun, not one that will tire you out as well as stressful. Packing correctly for a travel can save you from potential headache and problems, as well as only packing what is essential can save you a lot of energy while on the road.

The best practice of packing is to make sure that you have already given thought to it and have planned ahead. It is always great to keep a list of things you need to bring along with you on a notepad, so that you do not forget to bring the essential items such as toothbrush that sometimes might not be so easily available wherever you are going!

While it is critical to pack enough stuff, you also want to make sure you have the correct type of luggage for your needs! If you do plan on going on more road trips and back packing trips, rather than a luxurious one, then no doubt getting a back pack is more practical than having a suitcase, as it is easier to carry around as well as saving you time and energy trying to move your bag around.

If you’re going with conventional suitcases, make sure you choose one that allows you to move it around easier, one of the best luggage is the ones that have a sturdy handle at the top that allows you to pull. There are also suitcases with 4 wheels, which is easier to maneuver as compared to a 2 wheels one.

If you’re going to be travelling with a lot of clothes, one easy way to fit them all in it is to roll them up instead of folding them in the traditional method. Rolled up clothing can reduce the amount of room it occupied in a bag, it also does not wrinkle as much as it would have when folded traditionally.

If you’re going away on to a country where you might get a lot of sun, do not forget to bring your lotion, sun screen and your sunglasses! Another thing you want to make sure is that the colors of your clothes are easy to match, as you do not get a lot of chance to visit the laundry while travelling! Darker colors are generally easier to match than brighter and vibrant colors, therefore do make sure you have some darker tops in your luggage.

Finally, do take the time to double, or even triple check them because it would do you no harm at all! Cross check with the list you have prepared earlier before you even head out of the door!

Spending time at home with your family and friends while watching your favorite movies is one of the best experience and bonding you can get! Find out how to get the best wireless surround sound speakersand read home theater review here!

The East Coast between Melbourne and Cairns is a great place to start backpacking Australia.

Your itinerary for backpacking around Australia will probably be dictated by one thing… time. Which is due to the huge size of the continent, you simply can’t see the whole place in two weeks. You might manage to see all of the highlights, but will spend a lot of your time looking out the window of a bus, train or plane.

There are lots of flights to Australia, and if you shop around and are flexible with dates, you can often find some surprisingly cheap deals. Flying from South East Asia can also be a cheap option (remember the flight from Bali to Perth is about four hours).

Why not start your Australian exploits in Sydney, which has the country’s biggest airport and is very well prepared for backpackers. It’s worth thinking about how long you are thinking to stay in Australia, and the time of year you will be arriving. Flying in to Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth will generally cost the same as flying to Sydney so, if you’re starting your trip in January, why not think about flying in to Perth and travelling along the south coast while it’s hot in the summer, and doing Sydney and the East Coast after this.

Australia is a wonderful place and consequently it is no surprise that it’s incredibly well set up for all the backpacker could want from a trip.

If you have the time - do try and get ‘Outback’, maybe you can find a few deserted beaches and get a sense of the other side to the ‘ backpacking Australia ‘ coin.

Looking to find the best information on backpacking, then visit www.backpacking-world.com to find the best advice for backpacking Australia

When travelling the world, it’s important you take the right phone with you. After reviewing the market I have discovered that the Blackberry Curve is the best option and that it beats all other phones hands down.

Here are a few key features which might sell it to you:

1. Worldwide Coverage - I don’t know how the technology behind this works so I won’t go into too much detail. All I know is that the Blackberry Curve is a ‘quad band’ mobile phone which means that it will work in every country around the world. It doesn’t matter if your in Mexico or Malta, you can be sure to get signal regardless.

3. Wi-Fi Connector - The Blackberry Curve makes it very easy for users to access WiFi at the click of a button. WiFi hotspots are springing up all over the world even in remote places and with a Blackberry you can take full advantage of them. You no longer need to find a expensive internet cafe to send emails to friends and family, you can do it from your phone where ever you are as long as you are in a WiFi hotspot.

3. GPS and BlackBerry Maps - There is no excuse for getting lost with built in GPS. You simply enter the name of place you want to go to or its area code and your Blackberry will point you in the right direction. It’s reassuring to know that you won’t get lost and find yourself in danger.

4. Digital camera and video camera - The Blackberry Curve is equipped with an above average digital camera for still images and video recording. The quality is so good that you won’t need to take a separate camera which is one less thing you have to carry and charge up on your trip. It’s far better for instance than the digital camera on the iphone.

5. Music Player - There is also a built in music player which will play all your MP3 and MP4 files. The sound quality is surprisingly good, particularly if you invest in a additional pair of headphones.

There are still plenty of other features that I haven’t discussed. If your thinking of going on a long trip I’d highly recommend you take one with you, it’s a decision you won’t regret.

Looking to find the best deal on unlocking a blackberry curve, then visit www.unlockdata.co.uk to find the best advice on unlock mobiles for you.