Enjoy your holiday without compromising your health.

There’s still a good chunk of summer left for holidaying around Australia, but as you pack your bags, remember that a change in environment and routine can impact your health. With some preparation and smart practices, you can enjoy your summer travels while keeping health issues at bay. Make the most of your summer adventure with these tips.

Be prepared

Before you travel, do some research into your destination. Know what health risks might be present and how to avoid them. Make sure you’re up-to-date on vaccinations and fill any prescriptions so you have a supply of any medications you need to take with you. It’s also good to pack a basic first-aid kit. Finally, look into the healthcare services available at your destination should you need them.

Keep up your hydration

Hydration is important during the hot summer months, especially when travelling on planes or spending large periods of time in air-conditioning. Be prepared by carrying a water bottle with you at all times and sipping throughout the day. If you don’t like the taste of plain water, opt for coconut water or add a slice of lemon or lime, herbs or berries to your bottle.

Eat light and right

Enjoying local cuisine is part of the travel experience, but choosing your meals wisely can help avoid digestive discomfort and foodborne illnesses, and help cool your body temperature.

Where possible, opt for fresh dishes that are cooked to order. Avoid complex carbs and red meat, which take longer to digest when your body temp is up, as well as oily foods and spicy dishes. Instead, look to fresh fruit and salads, particularly those with a high water content like leafy greens, cucumber, watermelon, mango and pineapple.

Practise sun safety

The sun’s UV rating is strongest during the summer months, so where possible, try to plan indoor activities – hello, day spa! – when they’re at their highest (usually between 11am and 3pm. You can use the BOM or SunSmart app to check them each morning.

When you do head outdoors, remember the five Ss – Slip on some lightweight, long-sleeved clothing, Slop on some broad-spectrum sunscreen, Slap on a hat, Slide on some sunglasses and Seek shade.

Listen to Your Body

While it’s great to have an itinerary, it’s also important to allow some flexibility so you can listen to your body and take moments to cool down when you need them. Don’t push yourself to tick off that bucket-list hike or go ahead with that beach picnic if you’re feeling the effects of the heat. Remember, everyone’s tolerance to temperature varies, so what works for others may not work for you.

Utilise online medical services

Even with all this preparation, there might be times when you require medical advice while travelling. That’s where technology comes in handy.

By following these tips, you’ll be all set for a safe and stress-free summer adventure.

If you find yourself dreaming of sunshine, sand and sparkling pools, it may be time to start looking forward to your next vacation getaway. Get a jumpstart on building excitement for the journey ahead by beginning preparations early, which offers many benefits, including better rates and more time to research your options.

Start exploring ideas for a fun-filled trip with these tips from the travel experts at Funjet, which specializes in providing travelers with vacation packages to hundreds of destinations around the world:

Plan Ahead

Booking your vacation well in advance allows you to take advantage of the best deals at the most popular hotels and hottest travel dates. In addition, by being flexible with travel dates, families can save hundreds of dollars. Moving travel dates by a day or two can result in major savings, often even more than the discounts you can get on last-minute trips.

Research Dream Destinations

Deciding where you want to go is the first step, but with a literal world of possibilities, it can be difficult to narrow down your choices. One place you can find inspiration is by exploring the top travel destinations others are choosing. For example, the top 10 travel destinations booked with Funjet in 2023 include numerous international destinations. Las Vegas is the only U.S. city to make the top 10 list. Mexico is especially popular, with Cancun, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta and San Jose Del Cabo. Others include Belize City, Belize; Liberia, Costa Rica; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Panama City, Panama; and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

Consider All-Inclusive Options

Whether you prefer adults-only or family-friendly, luxury or budget-friendly, there’s a diverse range of all-inclusive resorts to choose from. All-inclusives are known for their convenience and value. They offer hassle-free experiences with meals, drinks and often activities included. While many resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean islands are all-inclusive, be aware that smaller islands like Antigua may feature European plan-style hotels, where meals and drinks are not included.

An all-inclusive package usually encompasses a variety of activities and amenities curated to offer an enjoyable and cost-effective vacation. Within these packages, guests often have the opportunity to access amenities such as swimming pools, engage in sports activities, participate in fitness classes and other entertaining experiences.

Anticipate Extra Expenses

While all-inclusive resorts make tropical getaways stress-free and economical, it’s customary to express appreciation for exceptional service with tips. Resorts typically don’t require tipping, but guests commonly tip as a gesture of gratitude. When deciding to tip, families should consider modest amounts, like $1-5 per meal per person, and be mindful of different service levels as well as the convenience of using local currency. Having cash on hand makes it easier to tip as needed and ensure you have extra for souvenirs and other purchases.

Unplug and Unwind

Although most travelers believe it’s essential to stay connected, it’s a good idea to limit screen time so you can make the most of your vacation. Schedule a specific time, preferably in the morning, to address emails and online tasks then enjoy a worry-free rest of the day. While phones are often used to capture photos and videos or look up information about nearby attractions, putting away the screens means you’ll be able to enjoy the scenery, connect with loved ones and have a truly rejuvenating experience.

From reducing plastic and paper usage to supporting the local economy and doing business with credible organisations, we bring you 10 essential travel tips that help the people and places you travel to

Being a traveller in today’s world demands that we contribute positively to the destinations we are visiting. Gone are the days when people could feign ignorance about their impact on the living world. With the advent of the technological age and social media, all of us can educate ourselves on how best to serve the communities and beings in the places we visit, lessen the negative impacts of tourism, such as littering, and try our best to be conscientious citizens of planet Earth.

Here are 10 helpful ways for tourists to travel responsibly and lightly on the only home we have.

Use Jute Bags And Turn Down Plastic Ones

Jute bags are helpful to the planet as they reduce the burgeoning amount of plastic in the natural world. While littering is a serious threat, plastic materials take centuries to breakdown into microplastics, the latter of which has even been found in human placentas and whose impact on our health is currently being studied.

Use Public Transport

This tip is not limited to the confines of a city alone. For instance, Europe’s rail network connects cities within and across broders. Enjoy a train ride and slow down to appreciate the landscapes flicking past you. Use metros, trams, and buses or learn to carpool for longer distances.

If You Need To Drive, Go Electric, Hybrid Or Use Alternative Fuels

While electric vehicles may not be perfect, using them eliminates the tailpipe emissions found in petrol and diesel cars. Plan ahead by noting charging stations on your route. Hybrid vehicles are often cheaper and a good option for budget travellers. Biofuels, green hydrogen and even compressed natural gas (CNG) are worthy alternatives that help lower carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide levels.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle And Repurpose Plastic

The first step to cutting down on plastic use is by reducing the amount you buy, such as by carrying reusable water bottles and bags. If you do buy plastic items, try to get as much out of them as possible. This will also reduce your plastic consumption. Recycling plastic prevents littering and land pollution. Finally, repurposing is similar to reusing an item, except that the product is used to fulfil another goal. For instance, plastic grocery bags can double as trash can liners or to pack pet waste in.

Avoid Printing Tickets

QR codes, email and custom apps mean our phones now permit us entry into cinemas, airports, restaurants, hotels and events. Do not print tickets if you don’t have to and travel with an electronic ticket. This helps save paper and is beneficial for the planet.

Cycle Away

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 made many cities around the world expand their cycling routes as people realised the importance of being healthy and active. Opting to cycle instead of driving saves energy consumption and is also pollution-free.

Team Up With NGOs

Non-governmetal organisations have taken measures to inform the masses about the consequences of pollution, and also come up with campaigns to curb the same. Volunteering for NGOs helps travellers understand local issues and the effective methods required to prevent pollution. Plus, it’s a lot of fun to make a contribution that helps to protect the planet.

Support The Local Economy

Living in homestays, eating local food and hiring local guides are some of the best ways to give back to the local economy of the places you are visiting. Ditch mass-produced souvenirs and buy indigenous or locally-made handicrafts. This also applies to buying produce that is grown in and around the area you’re visiting.

Extend Your Stay

As much as possible, stay in one place for a long period of time to truly soak in the experience of living there. You’ll discover out-of-the-way businesses, meet people and have interesting conversations, and understand the local ecology and way of life that a short trip packed with attractions just does not allow for. Slow travel is the best way to get the most out of travelling to a place.

Respect The Living World And Do Business With Trusted Actors

If you’re booking a safari or engaging in any form of wildlife tourism, do your research to find companies, organisations and people that actually care for the animals, planets and communities in the area. Alas, a lot of organisations are jumping on the climate bandwagon and hoping to make a quick buck out of people’s well-intentioned goals of travelling sustainably. Respecting natural places means keeping to marked trails, not feeding wildlife or approaching them and carrying your litter with you until you get to a proper disposal facility.

You may have probably heard the expression, ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.’ Although that is true, your smartphone can enhance your photography skills with its features and options. A smartphone is the best handy device there is to capture high-quality photos of untouched natural wonders. Let us know how low light and motion pictures can be a challenge for smartphones, and how simple features and tricks can seriously upgrade your smartphone photography.

Here are a few smartphone travel photography tips. Have a look!

Smartphone-specific Tips

1. Clean the lens

First things first, start from scratch. Clean the lens or wipe it with a thin cloth. Because the smartphone is kept in pockets or a handbag, the smartphone tends to collect a lot of dust. Though it sounds naive, many forget to wipe the lens. A moment missed is a moment wasted. So, clean the lens and click the best picture you can.

2. Focus

To get more creative control, tap the screen. It consequently takes the phone off auto mode. When you have control over the image, you can focus on and choose accurate colours.

3. Use the screen

Once you focus on the image, you can swipe up/down or left/right to adjust and control the brightness. These staple features are found on all the iPhones and Android smartphones.

4. Use the volume button

If taking a candid picture is your forte, then you can use the volume minus button on your phone to take some sneaky photos of the streets, without alarming people. Use the volume button and operate your smartphone camera in stealth mode.

5. Use the burst mode

Burst mode is one of the most used features on a smartphone. Use the shutter button to capture a motion picture. Once you do that, you will have many good photos to choose from.

6. Capture in the panoramic mode

We all love a picture displaying landscape with clouds, mountains, green meadows, and rivers. It is made possible thanks to the new-age feature called panoramic mode. It lets you squeeze in a 360 degree into one photo.

7. Invest in a good lens

If you feel the camera on your phone is not good enough to take the required pictures, you can purchase a few wide lenses with excellent optics. These are apt for indoor pictures where you can fit more into the frame.

8. Blur the background

Most of the smartphones have photo feature modes such as ‘Live Focus,’ ‘Portrait’ mode, or ‘Near Far.’ It lets you blur the background and focus more on the details that have to be highlighted. It is a simple but useful feature.

9. Avoid flash

Yes! Do not use flash. Flash creates a bright spot and shadow with an uncontrollable burst of light. Instead, use a torch or a LED light, it gives you a better display of the image to click pictures.

10. Stabilise your smartphone

The most common mistake we make is to shake the phone while taking a picture. Though it an innocent mistake, it can be avoided. Use a tripod if you want a high-quality photo. You can use a timer or your earpiece to control the photo feature without disturbing the ongoing process.

11. Carry a portable battery

When multiple camera features are used on smartphones, its battery gradually tends to die out. A simple USB cable can be connected from the Portable battery to the phone. Alternatively, you can switch to aeroplane mode to conserve battery.

Travel-specific Tips

12. Safety comes first

To take good pictures, many lose grip on their senses. The priority has to be your safety. Nothing is worth putting your life at risk. Photography involves a range of threats. It can be natural hazards, weather conditions, tripping, vehicles, dehydration, etc. If you feel it is too much to handle, then take a break.

13. Try unique angles

Travelling provides you with an opportunity to see the world in a whole new way. It can be the vibe of the place or the culture. Instead of taking a mundane picture, try different angles to highlight the details.

14. Take candid pictures

Candid pictures create a sense of uniqueness. The more candid the pictures, the more you would feel connected to the location. Random pictures help you grow as an amateur photographer.

15. Use portrait mode for street pictures

Images are at its best when taken at eye level or from slightly above. Try using portrait mode when you want to take pictures of people on the streets.

16. Visit at an odd time

Visit the tourists’ destination at an unusual time. Avoid visiting at the peak time because tourists can ruin your postcard moment. It sure depends on what you need in the image; people do add some value to the location. But again, it is up to you.

17. Observe and copy

If you want to experiment, observe how other people are taking pictures and add some interesting perspective to the image.

18. Stroll a bit before you pull out your smartphone

Photos can be satisfying, but sometimes it takes away life out of the location. It is good to observe and experience the place around you before you start clicking pictures. It provides you with a sense of purpose and a unique perspective on photographic opportunities.

19. Look for reflections

Nothing beats a reflection of a high monument or a tree on the surface of the water. You can use mirrors and car windows too. It will add a better and new perspective to your pictures.

20. Avoid filters

A real image adds more grace and uniqueness to the location. The more the filters are used, the more you would diminish the authenticity.

21. Choose the right time to shoot

Consider the time of the day that may be the best for you to capture a particular location. It is always recommended to shoot in the afternoon as there would an abundance of sunlight, which would help you capture the best moments.