1. Driving Differences

For those who wish to rent a vehicle while in Crete, it is important to know the main driving differences. First of all, there is a speed limit. Second of all, there are often no posted signs anywhere that indicate what that speed limit is. Keeping up with traffic is your best bet, whether you’re in a small car or bigger caravan. Road work could pop up at any time and there might be bumps on the road. Bear all of this in mind when you decide to go for a drive.

Photo by Ricymar Photography

2. Strong Winds

If you are not careful while in Crete, you could lose items that you hold dear to their powerful winds. Some even say that cars that are parked too close to the sea have been blown into the waters and those who wish to head to the mountains to take photographs are especially susceptible to their whims. Whether or not that’s fully true, be careful when you step out to snap your pictures!

3. Plumbing Issues

Most people are accustomed to flushing their toilet paper whenever they use the restroom, but different rules apply when in Crete. The Greek plumbing system has not been constructed to handle mass amounts of waste, so visitors are often advised to put their waste paper in the bins that are provided. The newer toilets work normally, but remember to do as the sign says whenever you see one – failure to do so could result in a stoppage of your toilet and an unwanted visit from the remnants of past bathroom trips.

4. Pedestrian Pitfalls

Walking around Crete can be a blast, but tourists should beware of drivers at all times. There may be people driving who are not looking out for pedestrians and have very little patience for those who are in their way, so just strive to stay vigilant at all times. Pedestrian crossings might take a little longer to clear, but remain calm and enjoy your trip. Better safe than sorry!

First, featured photo by Oliver Clarke.

Not only that, but you can have quite a difficult time finding things that you normally rely on at home to help you take care of your health.

For them reasons, and the fact that there are so many ways for things to potentially go wrong, it’s a good idea to be well prepared before you go. That way you won’t end up like the folks who have their whole holiday spoiled by illness.

Study the place you’ll be going

While there’s a lot to be said for discovery and exploration, only a fool would go somewhere with no prior research at all. Knowing about the potential dangers you may face is a good first step to not having to face them, or at least being alert and ready when something comes up. A sensible place to start is the foreign travel advice website run by the UK government. It’s alphabetically indexed and lists all the major concerns you could face in each country.

Check out your hotel before you check in

Most hotels these days have been heavily reviewed by other travellers, so there’s really not much excuse not to find out as much as you can about the standards you can expect before you arrive. The sorts of things that should raise red flags include whether anyone mentioned that the hotel is located in a dangerous area, that it is difficult to find, it’s unclean, or that they serve bad food.

Find out the generic names of your medications

If you’re on any medications, find out what the generic names of them are, because many countries may not have your specific medication, but they may have a close equivalent. You should also check with your doctor to find out what substitutions are allowed. Get a letter from your doctor detailing what medications you need, in case you need to consult a foreign doctor while you’re away. For some destinations, it’s probably better not to import your medicines unless there’s no other choice, as you’ll typically have fewer problems if you purchase them after you’ve arrived.

Be a little careful about the foods you eat

It goes without saying that one of the best things about travelling is the variety of new and exotic foods you can sample. Having said that, in some destinations it can be sensible to not over-indulge on strange foods unless you know what’s in them, and how they were prepared.

Keep your eyes open

There are many dangers waiting for you as you go about your travels. Everything from falling down holes in the sidewalk to getting mugged is potentially a possibility. Maintaining a proper state of alertness will help you avoid becoming a victim. In general, staying safe and healthy while travelling is not difficult as long as you apply common sense.

Photo by Allen Sheffield. Edited for color and contrast.

Kids as old as seven or eight sometimes even have a bit of trouble using a PC, because in the last three years the notebooks and smartphones have taken the bigger part of the computer devices market. In the next 10 years, the technology may develop so fast that completely different devices may replace smartphones or laptops.

Young people have  started using computers in almost every sphere of their lives. In these days, you can do most things like sending mail or paying bills using the computer connected to the internet.

Kids use libraries in the schools much less than they used too. Now all resources are available on the school website and after log in student can download every book she needs in electronic format.

To arrange visit to a doctor, it is just a matter of sending mail. Kids are doing their homework using the Internet resources rather than reading books and trying to finds something useful there. Thanks to the Internet, the process of studying has dramatically changed from exploring, where students had to dig a lot in the books to get any information, to recreating style that is mostly about copying the same information by many people.

Pros and cons

There are both advantages and disadvantages that concern using the computers and Internet by the kids. The Internet can help teach the creativity and the awareness of the world as a whole. Of course it depends on which purposes drive the young people to use the Net. If it is all about the Facebook and Instagram, few benefits are going to be taken by the users.

But if the kid wants to extend the knowledge and is interested in the newest information from all over the world, the Net is the perfect place to do it. Young people are also able to develop their creativity on the computers. There hundreds of educational games that are useful at school subject like math, physics, geography or art. As we can see, the Internet can support various dimensions of children’s developing process.

Are kids safe in the Net?

The chance to spend nice time and learn something through the Internet is one thing, the second is how to do it and be safe at the same time. There are many relatively obvious threats that are lurking in the Web like spyware and computer viruses. Those things can directly influence the computer devices whereas there are also some threats connected straight to the users, especially the kids.Vulgar content websites like pornographic or containing brutal videos may very badly influence the kids psyche.

To avoid problems with Internet safety, parents should think about protecting their children. This can can be done by proper education and implementing specialist software. Software that’s effective usually means parental controls and antivirus programs. Education should be started when children are very young. They should be totally aware of how the computer and Internet work.

If you are interested in topic of parental control and protecting computer users, please visit www.pcwebcontrol.com.

PCWebControl is professional monitoring software that allows taking control over the user activity by monitoring the computer traffic, blocking the undesired websites and filtering the email box.

Make Friends

If you miss your friends at home, make new friends! You can have new adventures, make memories that you can share with your old friends, and you will fill a void (if only for a little bit) that being away from your friends has left.

Join Clubs

If you aren’t the kind that makes friends easily, try to join some clubs or other organizations that will allow you to meet people with like interests. This will also expand your knowledge and take up some of the free time that you would otherwise have and probably spend missing your friends.

Facetime

You can learn to Facetime (its free on iPhone devices) or video chat with your friends and family back home. This will allow you the actually see your loved ones as you talk to them, which can help eliminate some of that loneliness that a simple phone call cannot alleviate. Use VOIP calling to help cut costs.

Photo by Beverley Goodwin on Flickr

Bring Photos

Whether you keep them on an electronic device or you actually have them printed out where you can hang them in your room, bring photographs of those you love with you. This will keep them close to you when you feel lonely and miss them.

Call Home Often

Hearing a familiar voice can do wonders to make homesickness go away. Call your loved ones at least once a week (even more, now that you can use a great WiFi calling app  to make calling affordable!) so that you catch up with them and tell them about the wonderful things you have learned and done. This will also keep you enthusiastic about the things you are doing with your studies overseas so that you can continue to share fun stories and make memories that you can share with those you care about when you return home.

Photo by Prasad Kholkute on Flickr

Bring Something Sentimental With You

Don’t just bring pictures with you. Do you have a favorite stuffed animal or a favorite piece of jewelry? Bring it with you so that you can feel connected to those you care about most even when you’re far from them.

Buy Things for Your Loved Ones

For some people, remembering their loved ones by buying them gifts of new and fun things they find in their adventures helps them feel better about being away from their friends and family. If you see something your mother or father will love, pick it up and send it home to them. They will appreciate getting things from you and you will feel better about being away from them.

When most people first start on their journey, they focus on the obvious positives like embracing a different culture, seeing the sights and meeting new people.

But whether you’re studying overseas, retiring abroad or just planning an extended vacation, there are a lot of challenges you’ll have to face as well. Expats and long term vacationers often talk about how homesickness and culture shock can be much more difficult than they’d ever imagined.

Then throw money into the mix and you’ve got some huge headaches. With that in mind, here are some ideas to help make managing money when you’re overseas just that much easier.

Cash is King

Pick up some cash in the local currency before you travel. That way, you’ll hit the ground in your new country with some peace of mind. It’s always possible that there won’t be an ATM in the airport, and there’s always a chance that your bank card won’t work in a bank machine in a foreign country.

Travelex Australia is a great place to start, as they offer cash in almost any currency you can imagine, and you can pick up your cash in store or at the airport. There’s no limit on the amount of currency you can take out of Australia, but you must declare any amount over 10,000 in Australian currency or a foreign currency equivalent.

Tips: You can find Travelex stores at many travel agents, CBD locations, and suburban and key tourist areas, and they have offices in most major airports in Australia.

Moving Money Around

If you’re spending a significant amount of time abroad you’ll likely have two bank accounts: one at home and one abroad. Getting money between the two accounts can be tricky, so it’s helpful to know a few things to look for in a good company that handles money transfers.

1. Look for a company that will let you make regular payments. Setting up regular payments can save you a lot of time, rather than having to set up the same payment every month.
2. Find a company that will let you look at the exchange rate up front and lock in that specific rate.
3. Make sure you can do all of your transfers online. Waiting in a bank, especially in a country where you may not speak the language fluently, can waste endless hours.
4. Try to make sure that your money transfer company offers 24 hour support. You may be in a completely different time zone when you need help, so it’s almost essential not to have to wait on the office hours of someone halfway across the world.

Do you have any tips for managing your money when you’re overseas? We’d love to hear them.

Photo by Martin Howard on Flickr.