Choosing a Luxury Cruise is as Easy as 1, 2, 3

I have travel on my mind for sure and I have always been in love with the ocean! Today's guest post talks about luxury cruises!!!

(Photo: https://goo.gl/hrS3SL)

There are many ways for you to experience luxury travel. Some people like to take to the skies in a private jet and spend some time on a hot tropical island. Others prefer a more nautical adventure and opt for a luxury cruise.

If you fancy going on a cruise, then you have a big decision to make. You must figure out which cruise is best for you, and the most luxurious! Here are some tips to help you make this choice:

Decide How Long You Want To Go For

If you want to go on a cruise, you have to think about time. How long do you want to go away for? Understandably, some people may be unable to go away for long periods. Maybe you have work commitments that restrict you to a week or two away? Or, you’ve got enough time in the world and can go for a month? The fact is, your decision is going to affect the cruises that you’re looking at. If you can only go away for a couple of weeks, then you won’t be able to journey too far. You’ll end up restricted to cruises that go to places within that timeframe. So, some of the big luxury cruises that take you around continents are out of the question.

But, if you can go away for a long time, then your options are wide open. You can choose a cruise that’s as short or long as you like. Personally, if you have the time to go away for a month, you may as well make the most of it. One of the best things about cruises is that they let you see so many cool places on the journey. I’d pick one that takes you around as many countries as possible, so you get more bang for your buck. Plus, the longer cruises tend to be on the most luxury cruise ships out there. So, you’ll have an extra element of class to your trip as well.

Check What Others Think

Before you spend lots of money on a luxury cruise, it pays to see what others think about it. To do this, you have a couple of options. Firstly, search for the cruise online and look at any reviews. If a cruise is good or bad, people generally let the world know. In fact, if it’s really bad, then everyone will be made aware of it. Remember, we’re talking about luxury cruises here, the best of the best. So, you imagine that all of them should be good, right? This means that if a cruise you’re looking at gets anything less than five-star reviews, you should shy away from it.

The second option you have is to look at some forums online. There are plenty of sites out there, like Bolsover Cruise Forum where people come together to share their views. Look for any posts about the cruises you’re considering, and see what people say. Typically, a forum is where you get the most detailed analysis. Plus, you can ask people what they think about a cruise and what they recommend you do while on it. All of this can help you make the right decision, and go on the best luxury cruise ever.

Find Out The Special Features Of The Cruise

Every cruise will have a few special features that set it apart from the rest. It’s your task to find out what features are on different cruises. Then, you can work out which one is best for you, and will provide the most entertainment. This depends a lot on personal preference. For example, someone that enjoys fine dining will want a cruise with loads of top-class restaurants. That’s the main feature they’ll be looking for above anyone else. People that want to be entertained and like going out at night will want a cruise with plenty of late-night entertainment. You can already see that certain cruises might suit certain people more than others.

Also, some cruises have special events on at different nights. Pay close attention and see if your cruise has any special parties or events during your trip. This could be what pushes one luxury cruise above the others. Of course, you have to look at other features too, like accommodation. Find out what the rooms are like on each cruise ship, and choose the best one. After all, you want to be comfortable during your stay. When you’re paying a lot of money for a luxury cruise, you want the basic and special features to be as good as possible.

By following this advice, you’ll soon find the best luxury cruise for your tastes!

Don't Limit Yourself: Accessing Websites When You're Traveling

Today's guest post hit home because (a) we are a family who loves to travel and (b) if I couldn't get on Facebook to share pictures from our cool travel, there would be wailing and gnashing of teeth in my hotel room and (c) if my husband and son couldn't get onto our streaming movie site to watch Daredevil ... see wailing and gnashing of teeth above (just kidding, babe!).

Image credit: pixabay

Life is busy, filled with work and activities you enjoy and family and friends you love. Everything you do, you try to do to the best of your ability; you work hard, and you take your downtime just as seriously. Even when you're simply watching your favorite television shows, listening to music, or enjoying social media sites, you want to relax with the specific activities you enjoy.

You can Find Anything on the Internet

You can find just about anything imaginable on the Internet. Having Internet coverage that continually gives you access to favorite websites is a major part of your entertainment plan every month. Some people bowl but, for you, having a good connection to the places on the web helps you relax.

This shouldn't change when you travel. Whether you are in the next town, across the country, or around the world, you want to be sure you are not limiting yourself in what websites you can access when traveling.

What if What You Want to Watch is Blocked?

Unfortunately, specific websites are blocked in some places. You may find yourself—at the end of a long day that you're ready to forget—unable to access the entertainment you were hoping to include in your evening plans.

Some websites that you may find yourself blocked from include:

• NFL Rewind: Sports fanatics who enjoy watching the NFL can watch games they might otherwise miss if they can pull up the site without any problems.
• Netflix: With a wide range of movies and TV shows, Netflix is a great source of entertainment and definitely one you want unblocked.
• Facebook: Let's face it, Facebook is a predominant force of social media and a way in which many people unwind and stay connected with people all over the world. Being unable to access this site could be a source of frustration rather than one of relaxation.
• iHeart Radio: Streaming music can be a great way to simply ease away the stresses of any day. iHeart Radio is a fine source for music you love, so not being able to access it because it is blocked would be irritating.

In these cases (and others), you should have a plan that will allow you to unblock blocked websites and give you the freedom to be entertained, as you deserve.  

What do You Look for in a Service that Unblocks?

When considering the best way to ensure access to blocked websites, things you should always look for in the service provider include:

• Connectivity to Unlimited Speed and Bandwidth
• Global reach
• Live Customer Support 24 Hours per day
• A Proven Track Record
• A Wide Range of Websites
• Accessibility from Multiple Devices

Keep these standards of excellence in mind as you prepare for your next round of travel, taking your favorite Internet sites with you wherever you go.

Freeing Up Time And Increasing Energy Levels To Allow You To Enjoy Life More

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Picture the scene. You wake up one morning and have one of the best days of your life. It begins early, ends late, and consists of loads of fun things that make you happy. This might be taking the kids to a theme park, or going to a spa with your girlfriends, for example. It would consist of all of your favorite food and drinks, and your favorite music would be playing the whole time too. When you looked back in the future, you’d say to yourself, ‘That was the best day of my life!’

Now ask yourself this. If that exact day happened tomorrow, what would be the things that would hold you back from enjoying yourself 100%?

There is a very large chance that you might answer with any of the following points, or even all of them.

“I’d be too tired doing all of that. The exhaustion would start to set in around 2 pm, and I’d be too wiped out to enjoy the evening!”

“To be honest, I’d spend the entire day thinking about all the housework and chores I wasn’t doing at home.”

Maybe you would even take it one step further, and can’t help considering the likelihood of it happening in the first place.

“It sounds fun, but it would never happen! I don’t have the money for those activities, and I wouldn’t get the time off work.”

Do any of these quotes sound like they could belong to you? If so, you’re not alone. Many busy moms (and dads) get so consumed by their current lives, anything different can seem too alien.

However, not all is lost. There are dozens of ways that you can both free up time and increase your own energy levels. Doing so means that you can enjoy your life more, as you should be doing.

Some of these methods will cost you money, while others will be free. But can you really put a price on time and having the energy to enjoy it fully? No!

The first thing you need to do is tackle the main time drains in your life. If this is cleaning the house, consider hiring the help of a company like DeluxeMaid. If this is providing healthy meals for your kids, looking into subscription services delivered to your door. If this is dropping your children at skill, set up a car-share scheme with locals whose kids go to the same school. You can see just from these three examples how there are solutions to pretty much all time drains. However, some of the things that are taking your time may be things you feel you cannot pass onto someone else. You may feel like you should shoulder the whole responsibility yourself. A prime example of this is caring for elderly loved ones or your parents. While you can still visit them weekly yourself, take some of the pressure and responsibility off yourself. You can do this by hiring professional home help.

As you can see, finding ways to pass on some of the responsibilities of life can be really effective. Getting back just a couple of hours each week means an extra two hours to chill and relax. Once you get this time back, however, make sure you use it for what it is supposed to be for. Using that free time to do an extra load of ironing is not the answer. Getting into bed with a favorite book, or watching a new movie on the sofa, is!

So, that’s some tackling of lack of free time dealt with. Let’s take a look at how you can increase your energy levels in general.

There are lots of obvious points we could make here. Eating less junk food means you can replace this with healthy items. These healthy things can act like batteries, that fuel you up and allow you to run properly. This is totally different to the effect that unhealthy foods can have. The chemicals, additives and excessive sugar and salt inside these things act like a poison. Getting more sleep is another obvious suggestion. And, as much as you may hate to admit it, exercise can be 100% responsible for an increase in energy also.  

But we all know about these suggestions. However, there are so many things that can get in the way of doing your best in each of these areas every day. For starters, you may be too busy one day to make yourself a delicious salad. A fast food drive through may be the thing you need to grab for your lunch. A big deadline at work, a colicky baby or a poorly teenager might give you a sleepless night. And once again, a lack of time may mean that a 2-hour jog or gym session simply isn’t viable.

So, how can you increase your energy levels in other ways? One fantastic method for the darker, winter months is to invest in a SAD light. This mimics the same effect of natural sunlight, which we all lack when the sun doesn’t come out to play. Another minimal effort suggestion is to replace your unhealthy snack drawer with a healthy one. Throw out those potato chips and candy bars. Replace with boxes of nuts, dried fruit, and canned fruit. If you’re hungry and don’t have unhealthy items to hand, you’ll reach for the healthier ones instead. Going back to exercise for a minute, you can make really small changes to your daily routine. So don’t try and join a gym and go five times a week. Just walk to work one day per week. Take the stairs when you get there and be the one to offer to make a round of tea and coffee. Even just a touch more activity in your average day will build up over the week and start to make a difference.

As you can now see, there are ways you can free up your time and increase your energy levels. Why? Because that ‘best day of your life’ we talked about could be just around the corner. It could be next week or tomorrow! Be sure you’re as ready and raring for it as you can be!

What Are the Effects of a Bad Credit Score?

Today's guest post is about a topic dear to my heart: money. I am proud to say my hot financially smart husband and I have always paid our bills on time and so we both have amazing credit scores. I am teaching my daughters to make sure they marry a guy with a high credit score because, ladies, SECURITY IS SEXY! (and no, I was not always smart with money and there was a time in my young years when I was bouncing checks all over Kansas City, but that's a story for another day and I definitely learned from that!)

Anyway, a good credit score is what got me my dream vehicle. And a good credit score is what got us pre-approved to get our house in the country ... when it finally goes on the market and I'm hoping it's this one again and that it's a flipping STEAL!

Do whatever it takes to pay your bills on time, don't max out your credit cards and then pay them off a tiny bit at a time, don't buy more crap than you can pay for. And if you do, get yourself a second and third job and knock it out. Rant over.

Pic via Flickr

We are always being told how important it is to have a healthy credit score. But many of us don’t really understand why it is so important. If you didn’t know, your credit reports and score provide information on your financial history. This includes late repayments, applications for credit, and debts you may have. If there are too many negative factors, it can lower your score and prevent loan approvals. This can stop you from becoming a homeowner or keep you from being able to pay off your debts.

A bad credit score will affect not only your financial situation but could put areas in your personal life at risk too. If you’re not convinced that a credit score is something you should worry about, here are some negative effects you should read through.

Strain on your relationship

If you or your partner has a poor credit score, it can put a huge strain on your relationship. You might not be able to get approval for a mortgage which could mean you have to put your plans for children on hold. Or you might unintentionally lower their score by falling behind on payments on a joint loan or credit card. Your credit score might even prevent you from getting a phone contract which can stop you from communicating regularly. If you don’t attempt to boost your credit score, it’s likely your relationship will breakdown as a result. Talk to your partner openly about your score and work together to start improving it.

Pic via Pixabay

Difficulties renting a property

A bad credit score can prevent you from getting a mortgage to buy a home. But it can also stop you from renting a property too. It’s not uncommon for landlords to check the credit scores of new tenants. Those will poor scores will be considered a risk and less likely to pay their rent and bills on time. Understandably some landlords can be put off by this, and you may be limited to where you can live. If your current lease is coming to an end soon, you may need to contact fast credit repair services to see if they can assist you. Otherwise, you may find that your family has nowhere to go.

Higher interest rates

There are companies out there who pride themselves on offering loans to people with bad credit scores. While this may seem like an ideal solution, it doesn’t always work in your favor. Often these companies will offer loans with sky-high interest rates, meaning you have to pay a lot more than you initially borrowed. Many of them will have restrictions on how the money is spent and the timeline for repayment too. This is often why financial advisors will recommend against applying for a loan through these companies. If you aren’t able to abide by their terms or pay off the interest, your home and belongings could be at risk.

If you want to avoid these bad credit effects, check your score online and start improving your score if need be. Even though you may not need a loan now, you may in the future.

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Tips for Moving with Small Children

Today's guest post really hits home since we are looking for a new home currently! Our next-door neighbors just moved a couple of states away with seven very young children and I thought of them as I read this piece.

Tips for Moving with Small Children

Any move, whether cross country or across the street, can be tough for adults but for small children, it’s often daunting. Leaving the home they’ve grown up in, the local park they’ve spent many long summer days playing in, and the neighborhood kids they’ve grown so attached to just might be the first major change in their young lives. As the parent, you can make the transition seamless and exciting for your young ones with just a little extra love and care in this potentially scary and anxious time for a child. Follow these tips to make moving a fun family adventure:

Get the Kids Excited with a Special Family Meeting

Showing your kids your own enthusiasm, even if you’re not excited for a move, can make a big difference in how they respond. Plan a special, fun way to announce your exciting news. Consider having a family meeting over pizza, ice cream, or your children’s favorite treat, to help make the day they find out they’re moving a happy memory. Let them know why you’re moving, whether it’s for a new job, job promotion, or to be closer to family, but be prepared to listen to your children’s concerns and provide them positive reassurance and honest answers.

Research Your New Neighborhood

Get the kids excited about their new home by researching your new neighborhood. Find out where the nearest park is, the local library, and fun places, like ice cream shops. Nowadays with a smartphone, there are tons of free apps that can help you settle into your new neighborhood. The app called KidScore ranks locations on a 0-100 scale, and the ranking is solely based on how kid-friendly the places are. This app ranks restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores, dentists and activities and attractions.  Introduce your kids to their new neighborhood by showing them the best parks, their new school, and other fun things to do.

Involve the Kids in Picking Your New Home

If you’re renting, use tools like ForRent to take a virtual tour of potential homes with your children online. Online tools are great for busy parents. After all, you can look for apartments in Houston without leaving your couch in Seattle, or getting your kids dressed. Tour your top choices and let your children share their favorite things about each place, or what they don’t like, to find the perfect place to call home. Giving your children some say in picking the place they’ll call home will help give them a sense of ownership and excitement about the moving process. 

Play Tourist in Your New City

There’s no better way to get to know a new city then by playing tourist and kids will love the feeling of being on vacation in their new hometown. Plan an outing with them around the area. Buy a guidebook or search websites, like Thrillist or Yelp, to look for fun activities, places, and restaurants to take the family.

Organize a Moving Sale

Get kids involved in the moving process by planning a moving sale, whether in your yard or through an online listing site. Let children be involved in what they want to keep, sell, or donate to help them feel some level of control in what can be a chaotic time. It can be hard for children to part with old toys so don’t shy away from a little incentive. Reward children by letting them buy new toys or decorations for their new room with the money they make at the moving sale.

Make Plans for their New Room

Make moving exciting by making plans for your children’s new room together. Let kids figure out where they want to move furniture and display their favorite toys or knick-knacks. If you’re buying them new furniture or bedding, let them help pick out the new items.

Pack a Few Favorite Toys and Activities in a Special Bag

Let your children have a special bag to keep some of their most favorite toys or activities in during the move. Keeping their favorite doll, blanket, truck, or books close and easily accessible will help them feel more secure in this transitory time as well as keep them entertained on moving day. It will also give them something to play with before you’ve unpacked all the big boxes in your new home.

Find Something Familiar

Anyone can get homesick when they make a big move, especially young children. Finding the familiar can help make kids (and adults) feel more at home. Try to recreate some of your children’s favorite activities, like going to the park or library, to help children understand that they can still enjoy the things they loved about their old home in a new place. Making connections with people in your new community can also help children, and adults, feel more comfortable and at ease in their new home. For a start, you can look up your new city’s parks and recreation department online to learn more about community groups, city events, and family programs offered in your new area. 

Say Goodbye to Favorite Places

Leaving the only neighborhood or city a child has lived in can be difficult for all involved. Talk to your children about their favorite places and plan a few days to take them to spend some time with the special places they’ll miss.

Say Goodbye to Your Old Home

Last but not least, say goodbye to your old home with your children. Take time to walk in each room and outside of the house, saying goodbye with your children as you walk along. Make a point to say a special goodbye to your children’s favorite places and things at your old home, like their bedroom, backyard, or a favorite tree. These things have life to a young child and saying goodbye can help them have closure.   

Involving children in the process and making them feel their voice matters can help make a big, sometimes scary, transition into something fun and exciting. With these tips your kids will be feeling at home in your new place in no time!