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Get Your Adrenaline Racing with These Extreme Sports

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If you’re someone who wants a little bit more from a holiday than lounging around on a sunbed, then these heart-racing extreme sports are a fantastic way of adding some adrenaline to your travels.
From well-known activities like bungee jumping to the unusual delights of zorbing, there are so many extreme sports to experience in the world today. All that is required is an open mind set and a fair bit of courage for the chance to experience the outstanding, the heart-pounding and the mind blowing. This article will take you on a lightning tour of the very best in next-level activities as well as providing advice on the best places to try them.

Zorbing

What’s that I hear you ask? No, this isn’t an extra-terrestrial transport machine (unfortunately) but it is the next best thing, believe me. This is a home-grown extreme sport from New Zealand – which, as we will discover, is where many of such sports come from.

You may have heard it by its less exotic name of “sphering”, but this just doesn’t seem to do it justice for me. That’s because zorbing allows you to throw yourself down a long, rambling and often steep hill. So how does that work without a trip to A&E? Well, my fellow Zorbist, you placeyourself in a massive inflatable ball of course! One of the best places to try this exciting activity is in the spacious USA but the sport has become popular just about everywhere.

Bungee Jumping

This is another wacky Kiwi invention, popularised in numerous TV shows and films. Bungee jumping is the activity we all wish we could boast about and is accessible like never before. It really comes down to a matter of what you would like to see flash past you as you throw yourself off a sheer drop. Considering the options are huge, I have done the work for you; using my bungee optimation machine I calculate that the location in Victoria Falls, Zambia is without doubt the best jump to be had. Get ready to feel the rush of air and hear the thunder of water below as you plummet into the spectacle of one of Africa’s most beautiful feats of nature.

Zip-lining

You’ll probably do this as part of an eco-tour. It is the art of traversing an incline dangling from a cable by means of a pulley. If you’re after a scenic ride then try it out in Selvatura Park in Costa Rica. However, if you want the maximum thrill from zip-lining then there’s no better place than the Zip 2000 in Sun City, South Africa.

Be Prepared for Anything with Annual Multi-Trip Travel Insurance

For anyone interested in tackling one of these activities, finding a comprehensive travel insurance policy is strongly advised. If you’ve got multiple adventures to tick off your bucket list, I would recommendannual multi-trip travel insurance. It’s a great way to get all round cover for any other extreme sports you might be looking to take on that year. All in all, enjoy it and keep living for the moment!

Author Plate

Ethan Bailey is an experienced adventure traveller and insurance expert with the team at Let’s Go Insure. Ethan’s passion is to inspire his clients to go just that little bit further, deeper and higher on their travels and his expertise in providing the ideal insurance cover allows them to do just that. If you’re looking for the best annual multi-trip travel insurance Let’s Go works with the most experienced underwriters, intermediaries and insurers to offer a range of competitive insurance without compromising on cover.

Insurance and Driving Licences for Courier Workers

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Most responsible people who make a living from courier work will have a number of forms of insurance protection.
Some of those may be mandatory (such as third-party vehicle cover) but other components might be highly advisable for your own protection – such as carriage of goods cover and professional indemnity protection.

Yet it might be easier than you think to put that cover at risk.

A Basic Tenant of Insurance

It’s often missed that many insurance policies can become invalid (thereby offering little to no cover) under one of four general circumstances: • You failed to make a materially significant declaration at the time you took out the cover. This is sometimes called a ‘fraudulent application’. • You have not complied with the conditions of the policy (e.g. a mandatory requirement to notify the provider of a change in your circumstances). • The reason for your claim came as a result of your engagement in a criminal activity. • You are not in compliance with the laws relating to your activities.

The Reality

There are several circumstances that could leave you facing huge bills, without the support of your existing insurance policy. Take, for example, driving with an expired photo-id driving licence. If this is not renewed when required, several forms of your insurance cover could become null and void. So if your vehicle is later damaged in an expensive accident, your insurance may not cover you.

Another example might arise should you fail to declare a medical condition that had some impact on your capacity to drive. This could not only be an issue for your insurance cover but may also cause you problems from a legal point of view.

A final and classic scenario is when somebody starts to take on courier work using their own vehicle. It is important to be aware that, by operating your car or van for ‘hire or reward’, you could be automatically invalidating any personal cover you might have on the vehicle.

Keeping on top of things

In many cases where courier work insurance is accidentally invalidated, it arises because of a lack of awareness.

Some people are quite casual about renewing their driving licence and others assume it’s possible to start using their own vehicle for courier work without taking out specific commercial cover.

While it’s true that insurance can be complicated, there’s little excuse for making such errors. Most insurance providers are more than happy to answer questions and clarify where you may need to do things differently in order to keep your cover in place.

So, it’s important to be vigilant in periodically checking that all your documents are current and that nothing has changed since you initially completed the policy application forms.

If you’d like to rest easy at night knowing that you’re fully and safely covered for your courier work activities, it may be worth asking for a quick review with your insurance provider.

Norman Dulwich is a correspondent for Courier Exchange, the world’s largest neutral trading hub for same day courier work in the express freight exchange industry. Over 4,000 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading jobs and capacity in a safe ‘wholesale’ environment.

Booking the Right Hotel For Family Holiday Fun

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When planning a family holiday it is crucial that you book the right destination, the right hotel, the most convenient flights and the right family travel policy. You need to consider what it is that your kids enjoy doing and what will keep them occupied, while catering to your own holiday desires too. A great place to start is with the accommodation. As long as the hotel is spot on, you know you are on to a good thing, but booking a great family friendly hotel is not always easy.
Here are some considerations to take on board if you want to avoid making any decisions that you might regret later.

Don’t Always Go For a Hotel Out of the City

You can be forgiven for thinking that a hotel out of the city might be quieter and possibly even safer than one in the city centre, but think again. Family Travel Magazine suggests that a more central hotel is actually a better option if you have children with you. A city centre location means that all of the attractions are closer, and after a long day of sightseeing, when the children are tired, you only have a short journey back to your hotel. Being in the city centre also reduces the need for public transport, which can be an extra stress if you have a buggy with you.

Although hotels located outside of the crowded city centre might be deemed safer, this is not necessarily true. Sometimes, the more crowded a place, the safer you are. Regardless of location, however, as long as you have your family travel policy up to date, you can rest assured you are covered should anything untoward occur.

Staying central might be a little more expensive, but on the whole it will definitely work out more convenient.

Check Out Kids’ Dining Options

It is all very well booking a fabulous city centre hotel full of great amenities, but if there is no restaurant that will cater for your kids, then you could be in trouble. If kids are fed well they will be happy, and although many kids will eat adult meals, toddlers in particular can be forgiven for not wanting something from an à la carte menu.

Before you book, it is a good idea to ask the hotel what they can offer children or if they can suggest cafes or restaurants close by that have children’s menus. Some hotels have microwaves in the room, which is good news if you are travelling with very young ones.

Book a Family Room

Make sure you ask the hotel what they can offer in terms of room arrangements. Some hotels have adjacent rooms with an adjoining corridor, which is perfect for older, more independent children. Rooms separated by a door are better for parents with younger children, as the adults can maintain some privacy but still hear the little ones should there be an issue.

Don’t Forget About the Extras

Some hotels and resorts offer extras for families, so make sure that you are in the know. Ask about babysitting services, kids’ clubs, kids’ pools and other baby related items that will make your room safer for your toddlers and reduce the risk of you needing to use that family travel policy.

Washers and dryers are also worth asking about, as many hotels and resorts have these facilities, which reduce the worry about packing enough clothes. A shop on site is also a great benefit when you are on a family trip, just in case the little ones need a snack or extra bits and pieces.

Family holidays are the stuff of treasured memories, so remember to be organised, do your research before you go, and invest in a family travel policy for real peace of mind.

Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of InsureMore, an award-winning team of specialists in global single trip, annual and family travel policy insurance. Besides offering great deals on travel insurance, Patrick also collects and shares the best free travel competitions to help his clients get the most out of their holidays.

Finding your right Franchise Match

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At Astreem, we meet people from all walks of life seeking business opportunities either to start a new career, become one’s own boss, flexible work hours or just simply a change of lifestyle. With so many franchise opportunities out there, how do you know which franchise works for you? How do you, as a brand new franchisee, know what type of franchise suits best for your investment quantums, previous experience, future earning expectations as well lifestyle choices?
Franchise offering aside, some fundamental questions to ask yourself are: 1) What do you love to do? 2) What Skills and experience do you have? 3) What are you willing to risk, and possibly lose? 4) What are you willing to sacrifice to make your new venture succeed? 5) How much can you make? 6) Do you like the franchisor? ——————————————————————————————————

1) Do what you love. Once you choose a franchise, be prepared to make an all-out commitment to its success, including long hours and sleepless nights. That’s where passion comes in. Granted, starting your own franchise business is about making money, but given a choice, where would you rather spend your time: doing something you love, or slogging it out day after day at just-another job?

2) What is the nature of skills gained in your past experience? Your skills and experience are a key factor in determining the best brand for you. Are you a hands-on person, a doer? Or are you a manager who prefers to delegate? Do you like to work alone or with others as part of a team? Are you prepared to be a leader, telling others what to do and making all the major decisions every day? Can you handle the responsibility of meeting a payroll, of having others depend on you each week so they can pay their bills?

3) Consider the Risks and the Potentials. For the most part, many first time franchisees invest a large part of the life savings in to a franchise. As such, failure is not an option. Yet, time and time again, franchisees who take on new opportunities do not budget sufficiently to give them sufficient breathing space to build their franchises from the time they are fledgling business units to the time the outlet is able to offer them healthy returns on their investment. A healthy rule of thumb is to ensure the franchisee budgets an additional 6month worth of budgeted cash-flow.

Being prepared offers 2 things, a prepared mind and offers the franchisees planned resources to handle any unforeseen issues that may crop up in the course of managing a business.

4) What are you willing to sacrifice to be a successful franchisee? With every industry, a different set of requirements come into play. There are no right or wrong answers. Only what works for you. If you like people and want a simple product, a retail franchise may work. If you want weekends and evenings for your family or yourself, consider a business-to-business brand, so you can work closer to 5 days a week instead of 7 day weeks. If you want to be directly engaged with end consumers, believe that there is nothing like the daily demands of satisfying food cravings, then a F&B franchise that engages you 24/7 may be just for you.

These are trade-offs that sometimes are required to fulfill the higher calling to to be your own boss. Ask yourself if your desire to be independent drives them is sufficient to carry you through doubt and fear.

5) How much can you make? This often depends on the nature of the franchise you select, however, a large part of it also depends on how much you are willing and able to invest. I also determines whether you need to invest in a single unit franchise, Multiple unit or even and area or a master franchise for a given territory.

So how much are you able–and willing–to spend (and risk) to own the franchise can range from as little as $50,000 to about $500,000 for single unit franchises and often more than 200k for area or master franchise rights to ensure there is sufficient capital to finance the operational set up the franchise needs. For most first-time franchisees, the investment quantum required and know how necessary of an area franchise may be out of reach. To start your journey as a franchisee, it is advisable to get your feet wet fist by way of a single unit franchise, making your way towards multiple unit franchise ownership.

As a Franchisee, you pay for the right to use the franchisor’s brand name and more importantly, its operating system. Most franchisees feel that at the end of the day, they pay a price to buy the rights to be a part of a brand and a logo. The royalty they pay is about the know how and sales it can bring them.

6) Do you like the Franchisor? Finally, if you are going to be signing a 5 or 10 year franchise agreement, whether for a single or multiple unit, area or master franchisor make sure you like the people you are going to work with. Ensure that your vision and goals are aligned with your prospective Franchisors. Make sure that they have proper operating systems you can work with to ensure your success.

About Astreem Astreem Consulting Pte Ltd is a business consultancy firm, established on the 31st of August 2005, dedicated to building Strong Franchise Organisations by providing quality business solutions in Franchise Development, Business Matching, and Franchise Systems Management.