G'day! I'm Chris. I left my home in rural Australia back in 2007 to pursue a life less ordinary.
I specialize in ambitious travel - bucket list worthy journeys such as the Great US Road Trip, the ultimate African safari, and following the length of the Silk Road.
While kennelling pets isn’t a bad idea when you’re heading off on holiday, long-term travel plans can make the logistics of owning a pet far more complicated. However, it doesn’t need to be; with a little forward planning you can keep your pet with you throughout your journey, allowing them to enjoy new places and people as much as you, and providing solo travellers with some much-needed companionship on long trips!
You’ll need to get your pet prepared for the journey – alongside the jabs, paperwork and all-important pet insurance there are a few things you can do at home to make sure they’re comfortable during long journeys. Whether you’re taking a cross-country journey by car, of flying out to far-away destinations, these tips should give you a good starting point!
By car
Travelling by car might seem like the easy option, but you still need to remain responsible for your pet’s safety. Here’s how to ensure your pet’s security during the drive:
– No hanging out the window. It’s adorable, but extremely dangerous for your pet!
– No sitting in the front seat. It’s a distraction, and if an airbag deploys they could end up getting hurt.
– Keep them secured. You can pick up a harness or a cage, depending on your dogs size, that will keep them from jumping around the car.
– Keep them comfortable. Luxury dog beds for cars will keep them safe, cosy, and high up enough for small dogs to see out the (closed) window – meaning no more car sickness!
– Get them ready. In the months leading up to your journey, practise getting them in and out of the car, taking them for drives, and giving them plenty of treats, so that they associate their new equipment with feeling happy and content.
By plane
While some airlines allow you to travel with small pets in the cabin, chances are you’ll be separated from your pet during the flight. Therefore, it’s important to make sure they’re relaxed and ready for what can otherwise be a stressful experience for animals.
– Make sure they have plenty of space. Pick up a crate that allows them room to sit, stand and lie down comfortably.
– Keep them comfortable. Line the crate with soft, absorbent padding; place favourite toys inside; and if you can attach a fan to the outside to increase airflow around the enclosure.
– Get them used to it. In the weeks leading up to the flight, use the crate much like a kennel – but don’t use it as a place to go as a punishment. Try feeding them or giving treats in the crate, to make them feel at home in it.
– Give them time to recover. If you can schedule a long layover between flights, do; it will give your pet a chance stretch and burn off any anxious energy.
– Know your dog! Some pets just won’t be happy with plane travel. Don’t ever ask them to do something they’re not prepared for – it’s your job to train them for this, so if it’s clear they’re not happy, find an alternative route or leave them at home until you can be sure they’re ready.
No matter how adrenaline pumping the adventures or how exotic the locations, there’s always a point when it’s time to pack up your things and head home. While some travelers head home for good after their adventures abroad, I’ve always had to content myself with brief spells on home soil before jetting out all over again.
It’s the sad side effect of this life we choose to lead that we’re going to miss important things. Over the past year I’ve missed the engagement parties of three close friends, the birth of a niece, and the deaths of both of my remaining grandparents. I’d have to make do with emailing a eulogy, Skyping on Christmas morning, and hoping that messages sent on Facebook or via WhatsApp have been sufficient to convey my sympathies or congratulations (depending on the occasion, obviously).
Best family portrait ever. Photo by Tony Grant.
When you’re exploring a new city, devouring a new favourite food, or checking off a bucket list item – it’s easy to feel like the sacrifice is worth it. But it’s when you’re away from upset family or celebrating friends that you realize the price you pay for choosing to live your life abroad. These bite sized chunks of family time (I’ve got three weeks this time around) have to make up for a year or more away from the people you love and if I’m being honest – every time I visit home after time abroad, the temptation to give up the footloose and fancy free existence of an expat rises just a little.
Have no fear though – I’m still a year or two away from deciding 40 hours a week, rent, and dealing with Australia’s awful internet is what I want in life.
The Plan
My contract in China has recently come to an end and though I’ve resigned for a second year, I did want the opportunity to catch up with family and friends before subjecting myself to another year of dirty air, dodgy Jiangsu province food, and bitterly cold winter. I love my life in Nanjing – as I’ve written about before – but China is definitely a different animal to living and teaching in South Korea. It’s a lot less Westerner friendly than my time in Gwangju or Busan.
With Heather unable to secure time off for a trip home with me, I had to make do with a short three week stint on Australian shores that I divided into:
A week in Ben Lomond & Glen Innes with my family
A week on the Sunshine Coast with the family
A weekend in Newcastle to see the Knights play and see some family
A week in Sydney catching up with old friends
Over the course of the three weeks I’d be aiming to eat as much awesome food as possible, fill the bag and a half of emptiness I brought along with me with food and touches of home, and savour the residual warmth of the Australian summer.
Coming Home
With work footing the bill for my flight, I opted to splash out a little extra cash on a trip home with Cathay Pacific. China Eastern and China Southern are essentially expensive torture, so the opportunity for in-flight entertainment and edible food was one I couldn’t pass up.
Before leaving China I took some time familiarizing myself with the process of sending money abroad in China. After spending a few months paying off my credit card, I had no desire to run up a huge bill of beers and food in Oz when I could avoid it. The secret to international money transfers in China? Persistence. The number of banks who told me it wasn’t possible to wire money home was just insane. I had a friend who had to try over six banks before one told him it was possible.
Just your run of the mill quiet country town
After spending the Easter weekend with my girlfriend, it was time to fly home. A two hour flight to Hong Kong, a five hour layover, and then nine hours of in-flight entertainment goodness and Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series before I was touching down on a bright and sunny Sydney day.
My first order of business was to grab a local SIM card: Optus offered a $40, 21 day unlimited data/texts/calls plan that hit the spot. That ought to work nicely with the shiny new (?) iPhone 3GS I’d ordered. I couldn’t stomach the LG Optimus for another day.
A quick train ride into town and it was time for my first meal on Australian soil. What would it be? A steak cooked to perfection? A fantastic Sydney pub meal? Fish & chips? A good old fashioned meat pie?
Nah, I settled for Chinese.
Before you shout me down as a Philistine, remember one important fact: the Chinese food we eat in the west is Cantonese, whereas I’ve lived in northern China for a year. Northern Chinese food is a tad spicier and a tad more bland in flavour than the rich flavours we’ve come to expect from beef & black bean, spring rolls, and sweet & sour pork.
David and Jenny are very happy to see me home, apparently
Alas, the place we went served northern Chinese food. Worse? The bastards gave me food poisoning.
But at the time I didn’t know the agonizing cramps and explosive…ahem…. well, you know, that awaited me in the future. It was simply good to be back with good friends in a city I’d called home for over two years.
My day in Sydney was a laid back one of good food, catching up with old friends, getting to know my mate’s bride-to-be, and then a 5.30am dash to to the airport for my flight to Armidale.
Actually Coming Home
While Sydney is always going to feel like my adult home, it doesn’t hold the place in my heart that Ben Lomond and its surrounds do. This is the area in which I changed from a ridiculously shameless kid to a shy teenager and back into a slightly less shameless young adult. This is the region in which I had first kisses and made lifelong friendships and discovered my loves of sport, geekery, and travel.
Stepping out of the plane at Armidale airport truly felt like coming home. The clean air, the first signs of colour in the leaves, and the smiling faces of my Dad and my brother announced that I was well and truly home.
It’s funny how little small towns change in the time we’re away. Armidale and Ben Lomond remained largely as I remembered them. Sure, my folks had put an extension on their house and I spotted one or two new storefronts in Armidale, but things felt much as I remembered them.
It’s night particularly exciting or glamorous, but I love home.
With my food poisoning starting to rear its ugly head, my first day at home wasn’t all I’d hoped it would be. Mum pulled out all the stops in cooking a few of my favourite foods (pizza scones and lasagna), I handed out gifts from my year abroad, and I chatted with my siblings. I got to meet my adorable niece for the first time and I had a quiet moment wandering the grounds of my family’s property just savouring the quiet. Quiet is something I don’t think I’ve experienced much of over the past year.
Meeting my gorgeous niece for the first timeMum hard at work making one of my all time favourites: pizza scones!
It’s funny how a year that featured three Chinese provinces and visits to Thailand, Cambodia, and the United States lay stretched out behind me – but I was just so bloody excited to stare up at the countless stars that dot the night sky in Ben Lomond. There’s a sort of magic that exists only in and around the places we grew up, and the opportunity to experience that was enough to make the cramps and frequent dashes to the bathroom seem like minor annoyances.
What’s Next?
I’m on my third day at home and I’m pleased to say I’ve done precious little. I’m making a guest appearance in my brothers’ indoor volleyball team tonight and we’re heading to Armidale tomorrow, but there’s been a whole lot of not much going on. I’ve helped my youngest brother do an assignment on aboriginal history, slept in, played with my shiny new(?) phone, and spent a lot of time just listening to my parents and my siblings talk about the year that’s gone by.
Not everybody shamelessly shares their life on the internet, so it’s been necessary to play a bit of catch-up.
We head up to the Sunshine Coast together on Sunday. Eleven of us descending on beach-side apartments for a week of sun, board games, and whatever other mischief we can get up to. I can’t wait.
Coming Home for Good
As I approach the big 3-0, I think it’s inevitable that I start to ask myself a few questions. When will this lifestyle of teaching ESL abroad and taking life easy lose its lustre? When will the desire to be close to family and the familiar overwhelm my desire to have as much fun as humanly possible? When will a wife and kids and a career feel like the right choice for me?
My nephew giving me the eye. No respect!
I’m not yet ready to surrender the freedoms my lifestyle affords me, but the temptation is definitely growing. As I see more and more friends find the loves of their lives and settle down, I do wonder when that urge to start a family will hit me. I miss a great deal from home. From little comforts like the food or the footy or weekends at the beach to the bigger things like the birth of nieces & nephews, the deaths of family members, or the triumphs of those I love – the reasons to come home build up every year.
I’m not there yet, but every visit home gives me fuel for that eventual return to a less adventurous life. But who knows? Maybe it’s keeping these visits home bite sized that makes them so precious? Whose to say I wouldn’t be crawling up the walls after two or three or four months without an adventure and some new faces?
Who knows. All I know is that, for now, I’m happy to be home and I’m happy to know home will always be here for me to come back to. In the meantime, I’ve still got places to see and bucket list items to check off.
Your Say
How do you feel when you get home after a long time abroad?
It’s hard to believe that in the two years since I first put together my Top 10 Places I Want to Visit, I’ve only managed to hit a single one of them (Thailand). In my defense, I was not on the road at all for most of 2011 – and 2012 saw me taking in the United States for a second time and seeing more of China than I ever expected (or necessarily wanted).
Still, it was interesting to read back over the list and realize that there are some on there now that I don’t have the same burning desire to visit anymore. On the flip side, there are those that I still want to see desperately.
So, with my return to Australia just weeks away and my feet itchier than they’ve been in a long time, I thought I’d readdress the list.
Honourable Mentions
Those just missing the cut would be the Netherlands, Turkey, Romania, Russia, Peru, Germany, Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea. Hell, you could pretty much open up an atlas and point to any country not named the United States, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Thailand, or Cambodia (the places I’ve been but would totally go to again).
But there must be a list…
#10 – Croatia
Cheap, beautiful, and laden with stunning architecture – Croatia remains something of a hidden gem when it comes to European tourism. But word of the stunning former Yugoslavian territory is spreading fast, and the awesomeness of Game of Thrones using a number of Croatian locations to represent places such as King’s Landing and Qarth is only further emphasizing the place’s appeal.
Croatia just screams ‘medieval city’, doesn’t it? Photo by Sandro Mancuso.
For me, it’s all about natural beauty – and Croatia has that in spades. Crystal clear waters, national parks, and stunning gothic architecture? Yes, please.
#9 – Canada
The Great White North was the subject of a recent article about why you should visit Canada and that one only touched on the surface of Canada’s appeal. Its many national parks are a real lure for me, but it’s the opportunity to see the northern lights and experience Arctic terrain that really draw me to the country.
Add to that the sheer number of good friends I have in Canada and the nation’s reputation for being safe and friendly and you’ve got the recipe for the kind of place CWB would love to go. Not needing to learn another language is a plus too.
#8 – Iceland
Another Game of Thrones inclusion, the land beyond The Wall is overflowing with natural beauty that’ll moiston even the driest pair of man-panties. Glaciers? Check. Waterfalls? Check. Geysers? Check. It’s like New Zealand in Europe, and with a whole lot more history to add to the bargain.
Glaciers and geysers and tundra, oh my! Photo by bsmethers
There’s also more famed locations such as the Blue Lagoon Spa and the hip & happening city of Reykjavik – although 170,000 people might not constitute a city to some.
#7 – Great Britain
After writing a string of articles on Great Britain, the country has rocketed up in my estimations. While my previous perception of the place was perhaps tainted by the dire weather and the fact ‘whinging’ and ‘Englishman’ go hand in hand in the Aussie vernacular, I’ve lately become increasingly aware of the appeal of the seat of the Commonwealth.
A D&D, World of WarCraft, and Magic the Gathering playing geek such as myself is bound to have an appreciation for castles, dark forests, foggy highlands, and cobblestone streets. Then there’s the presence of the English Premier League (and English Super League for the rugby league nut in me), the appeal of exploring London, the beauty of the Lakes District, the quirky cultural differences between the four members of Great Britain, and about a thousand other things.
I’m lucky enough to have been asked to be groomsman at the wedding of one of my best friends next year, so I’ll finally get the chance to experience the UK while also getting to proudly watch an old friend walk down the aisle. Double whammy of awesomeness!
#6 – Japan
I recently wrote about my first impressions of Japan, but my three day visit to Fukuoka hardly did justice to the ancient and culturally diverse country that is Japan. Looking past the 20th century atrocities that have stained Japan’s reputation is a country where its ancient history has somehow adapted superbly with 21st century technology to create this dizzying and charming country.
Mount Fuji might be the most recognizable mountain the world. Photo by matsunuma
Cosplay girls, video games, high tech gadgets, and the serenity of ancient sites and natural wonders? It’s enough to give me multiple nerdgasms. There’s also the chance to add Hiroshima to my dark tourism list (currently made up of Nanjing’s Massacre Memorial and the Cambodian double of Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields), dine on some of my favourite cusine, and finally make use of the year eight course in Japanese I was forced to take.
#5 – Egypt
What world traveler doesn’t want to someday experience the ancient wonder of the Pyramids, the Sphinx, Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings in person? I daresay most of us can remember looking at photos as kids and wanting to someday see them for ourselves.
I’ve written about things to do in Egypt in the past, so I won’t rehash it all here. Suffice to say, I won’t consider my travels complete until I’ve been to Egypt.
#4 – Brazil
While it’s looking increasingly less likely that my beloved Socceroos will be gracing Rio for the 2014 World Cup, the appeal of someday visiting Brazil has not been at all lessened for me. The Amazon and Iguazu Falls check the ‘natural beauty’ box, but let’s face it – Brazil’s biggest lures are beaches and beautiful women. Oh, and churassco is pretty fucking amazing as well. To someday experience the Carnivale and add ‘South American girl’ to my continental list of sexual conquests (leaving Asia – the place I’ve been the longest) would be pretty rad if you ask me.
Brazilian girls. Don’t mind if I do… Photo by sabrebiade
#3 – Italy
The highest placed European nation on my list slips back two places to occupy third, but Italy is still very much in my sights. There’s a whole bunch of Roman empire history, the presence of the Vatican (technically its own country), the natural beauty, and a whole bunch of other stuff – but Italy’s real draw for me? The food.
If I ever do make it to Italy, it’ll be at the end of a six month long diet. I’ll need to be at my slimmest so that I don’t come out looking like a sweaty mafioso type.
#2 – South Africa
I was lucky enough to have a lengthy chat with a South African native during my recent visit to Thailand, and if South Africa hadn’t already been on my list before the chat – it definitely would have been afterwards. While there are the obvious safety concerns in certain regions, I’d chance it for an opportunity to see some of my favourite animals in the wild. South Africa’s national parks and beaches are a real draw, and I’m lucky enough to have a handful of friends (and an ex) in the country to crash on the couches of.
It’s The Lion King in real life. What’s not to like? Photo by SomewhereOutside.
South Africa also has something of a friendly rivalry with Australia through the cricket and the rugby and, let’s be honest, that Afrikaans accent does it for me every time.
#1 – India
And your new #1 is India. Recent controversies aside, there’s just so much to see in India that it will take a big chunk of time to do it justice. From the beaches of Goa to the dizzying heights of Darjeeling and from the crowded slums to the desert majesty of Rajasthan – India offers so many destinations that you’re taking multiple trips whenever you visit.
Indian food has long been a big favourite of mine, the Taj Mahal is on my bucket list, and I’ve heard nothing but good things from friends who have traveled the subcontinent. And the cricket fan in me would absolutely love to attend a match and see what true cricketing passion is all about.
What’s your list?
There’s my new and up to date top ten, but what is yours? Did I leave any of that surprise you? Or are any of my inclusions a little strange in your eyes?
What continent gets the most votes for you? Europe comes in at first with a healthy four spots on my list, so I’m glad sites like Go With Oh are around to help me find cheap accommodation across the continent.
What has prompted me to write an entry about a three day trip to Japan I took over four years ago now? My brief visit to Fukuoka on a Korean visa run wasn’t exactly eventful. Hell, save for a half day spent amidst the beauty of Sumiyoshi temple at the heart of the city – it was little more than Family Mart bought junk food and entirely too much time in a PC room.
I spotted this video on YouTube the other day and it reminded me why Japan continues to rocket up the ladder in my estimation when it comes to places I’d love to visit.
Watching this made me think of how my first visit went and how much more I could have done with my time. It also got me thinking about what I’d like to do when I do eventually visit Japan. I’ll have an entry on that in a few days time.
In the meantime, I hope you’ll indulge me as I revisit my brief trip to Fukuoka way back in 2009.
Flashback
February 2009 and a younger, more naive Aussie on the Road steps from the Busan to Fukuoka ferry and into the fading light of afternoon. Japan becomes the third country I’ve visited as I hand over my passport, collect my backpack, and make my way out into a largely abandoned car-park to find a bus.
Two days ago I’d been blissfully unaware that I’d be making a whirlwind tour to Japan. I’d been doodling at my desk in the office when my boss had strode in and informed me I’d need to do a visa run or be deported. At least he’d had the decency to tell me he’d pay for the trip.
And so it was that I’d taken a 5am bus to Busan (four hours from Gwangju) and then the three hour fast ferry from Busan across to Fukuoka. In the days before I’d owned a smart phone, I’d had to make do with printing off a small novel’s worth of directions and advice for doing a visa run.
It was my first time traveling alone and I’ll freely admit that I was just a wee bit frightened.
Getting Around
My first challenge was in finding the correct bus to take to get me to the hotel I’d booked. While the idea of leaping onto public transport in a foreign country sounds like a fun little adventure to me these days, 2009 Chris was more than a little nervous he’d end up in the hands of the Yakuza or stumble into the countless haunted houses that Japanese horror had informed me of the existence of.
The price chart on a bus in Fukuoka
Disaster didn’t strike, and I soon found myself on a bus. Rather than paying as I got in, I instead collected a ticket and watched an overhead board. I’d need to pay the amount indicated up there when I got off. It mustn’t have been a particularly popular route, as I found myself largely alone save for the company of my girlfriend’s kindle.
Finding a Bed
My next challenge after figuring out Japanese money and paying for my trip was finding my hotel. Thankfully, I’d had the foresight to print out a map.
Unfortunately, I’m hopeless at reading maps. I ended up wandering up and down a covered walking street for a good half an hour before I spotted the grandly named ‘Hakata Riverside Hotel’ tucked away between a few nondescript shops. Checking in took me up to a modest room complete with insanely small bathroom, comfortable bed, and coin operated TV.
The walk to the Hakata Riverside. A confusing array of sights, smells, and sounds.Complete with coin operated TV for your viewing… *ahem*… pleasure
Being both male and curious, I may or may not have inserted a few Yen to watch ten minutes of grainy Japanese porn. More than enough time.
Finding Food
With my belongings safely ensconced in my room and nowhere to be until I headed to the Korean embassy the next day, I ventured out in search of food and something to do. Daydreams of freshly made sushi were soon abandoned as I discovered a street of overpriced eateries without so much as a mention of Japan’s signature dish.
I made do with greasy fast food outside a large arcade that I was too scared to enter. Oh 2009 Chris, you sucked so hard.
Traditional Japanese cuisine? Hardly.
I did manage to muster some bravery for exploration, at least. Fukuoka by night proved one of the prettier experiences I’ve had in a city. With its canals reflecting the lights of skyscrapers and traffic and a sea breeze blowing over the city, I was reminded of how much cleaner Japan felt than Korea.
One of the many canals in Fukuoka. How adventurous.
Finding a ‘Night Life’
If I wasn’t brave enough to enter a brightly lit arcade, you know I wasn’t brave enough to venture out into a bar or club in search of expats. No, 2009 Chris opted to split his time between reading Glen Cook’s hard-boiled fantasy detective series, Garrett PI; and finding a PC room in which to spend a few hours on Skype with his girlfriend.
A remarkably novel PC room setup. I spent entirely too many hours here.
Seriously, 2009 Chris, you’ve got a lot to answer for.
A Photographic Interlude
While the bulk of my time was (somewhat sadly) spent alternating between a dark PC room, reading in my hotel room, and running back and forth between the hotel & my embassy handing in paperwork and then collecting it – I did manage to do something the slightest bit cultural.
The inauspicious Korean embassy in Fukuoka
It was on my bus ride back from the embassy that I got chatting with a local businessman. Ten or so years my senior, he proudly boasted about the many reasons he loved Japan and particularly his city.
“There is a temple near here, actually,” he informed me as we wound our way through the city, “You should visit it”.
With little else to do, I hastily thanked the man and hopped off the bus to check out Sumiyoshi. To find such an island of serenity and natural beauty in the heart of a bustling city was easily the highlight of the trip. As I wandered sun-dappled paths that lay beneath leafy green boughs, I was touched by the utter calm that washed over me.
The city noise gave way to the solemn chiming of a gong, the rustling of trees, and the gentle murmur of fellow tourists. I whipped out my trusty point and shoots and snapped a few pictures. Enjoy!
A tranquil pond at the entrance to SumiyoshiThe red arches contrast wonderfully with the natural green of the treesA twisted tree in the courtyardFresh water trickles into a trough within the temple wallsA monk enters a garishly coloured shrine
First Impressions
Oh yeah, I promised you some first impressions! Let’s see…
I was struck by just how much cleaner Japan was than Korea. The mounds of garbage cooking in the sun that give Korea a very particular odor were gone!
You can get food delivered to your PC room! There’s even menus by the PCs.
The standard of English spoken was fantastic. I had no trouble at all getting around even when I managed to get hopelessly lost and took a train to nowhere.
No sign of sushi, karaoke bars, or Japanese schoolgirls giggling on street corners. Much to my chagrin.
Even in Japan, they blur the best parts of porn.
Okay, so I did find sushi of a kind…
The most lasting impression I took from my visit to Japan was that it was a country I sorely needed to revisit. I can’t believe it’s been four years (two of them living within a short flight of Japan) and I’ve not even dipped my toes back into the water yet.
If that video above doesn’t have you thinking that Japan warrants a visit, I don’t know what will. Hell, maybe my upcoming May vacation…
Your Say
Ever been to Japan? What did you like or dislike? Where should a first time traveler go to really experience Japanese culture?
Or have you ever had a transcendental moment of tranquility at the heart of a city’s hustle and bustle?
Whether it’s ghosts, vampires, werewolves or witches, the supernatural in some form or other always seems to be in fashion thanks to various movie industry offerings. For the ghost-seekers out there, perhaps a trip to a haunted hotel would be the perfect way to turn supernatural movies into real life!
The US has no shortage of haunted hotels, with one of the most famous being the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in LA. The hotel comes with a whole heap of history – and ghosties!
The hotel is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of Marilyn Monroe, where guests and staff have claimed to have seen her peering out of the mirror in her favourite room. A man in black is also said to haunt the room in which the inaugural Academy Awards were held. Voices have been heard in empty hallways, cold spots appear, and various items get lost and are moved around.
Another Hollywood-themed offering is The Stanley in Colorado, famous for being the inspiration for Stephen King’s book and Stanley Kubrick’s film “The Shining”. The Stanley is home to a number of ghosts, including the hotel’s builder and owner. Children have been heard playing at night, and a homeless woman who died in the hotel has been seen wandering the hotel stage.
Over in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, they have more than just a haunted hotel – they have a haunted town! Ghosts have been known to wander the town, but one of their favourite places to visit is the Crescent Hotel.
Formerly a cancer hospital in the 1930s, the hotel has spectre nurses wheeling corpses around on guerneys, while the ghost of a former surgeon and a lady in white both float around the place. However, only guests with iron stomachs should stay in room 218. The room is said to be haunted by a builder of the hotel who fell to his death, who apparently reaches for guests out of the mirror and screams in terror above their bed.
Up in Canada, the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel has a much more helpful resident spirit. A former bellhop, the ghost has been known to lead guests to their rooms, even carrying their luggage at times – but never hanging around for a tip!
Guests looking for less of a spooky and more of a kooky hotel can find a wide range of themed hotels around the world. The Ice Hotel in Sweden, made up of over 6000 square feet of ice and snow, is the largest ice hotel in the world. Guests can enjoy an average temperature of -6°C, and after sleeping on a bed of ice, can thaw out in the morning with a sauna.
Or why not try an underwater adventure? At Poseidon Undersea Resorts in Fiji, guests can sleep in a water-tight pod 40 feet below the waves and gaze at fish as they swim past their bed, while over in Sweden, guests at Utter Inn can sleep on their own underwater island!
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