i-Think Me Blog Just another creative weblog of Jules

Hertfordshire’s magnificent cathedral in St Albans which dominates the surrounding countryside is where England’s first recorded Christian martyr is buried.

It also has a fine museum that houses one of the best Roman collections in the country.

In Hertfordshire you can find many major cities of interest like Hertford itself, Watford and Welwyn Garden City which is not far from your St Albans City Tour.

This area was assigned a fortress constructed in Hertford under the rule of Edward the Elder in 913AD.

The name Hertford is derived from the Anglo Saxon heart ford which means deer crossing.

Hertford is located immediately to the north of Greater London and is therefore a part of South East England.

Despite the spread of built-up areas, much of the county is still given over to farming and agriculture.

Local rivers although small, do support developed local industries such as paper production at Nash Mills.

Alden ham is a village approximately 3 miles North-East of Watford, Hertfordshire and about 2 miles from Radlett town.

Many historic buildings are here like Alden Social Club and Wall Hall. Alden Social Club is a medieval hall built in 1500 a very fine example of red brick architecture.

Also situated in Hertfordshire is Wall Hall which is a magnificent gothic revival mansion with a castellated fa?e created in the early nineteen century for George Woodford Thelluson, a very prosperous city banker mentioned in Charles Dickens ‘A tale of two cities’.

Then you have Bridgewater Monument which is a tower on the Ashbridge estate, built in 1832. In around 1959 Ashbridge college was relaunched to provide management training and is now Ashbridge Business School.

The Hertfordshire and Middlesex Trust are responsible for protecting the land forms and natural habitat which is sometimes threatened by urban development.

At the northern end of the County are the Ivinghoe Hills - an outstanding area of chalk down land and dominated by the impressive Ivinghoe Beacon.

At Paradise Wildlife Park you can see an extensive range of animals like lions, tigers, zebra, monkeys and camels.

It also has many new attractions including the On Safari adventure golf, The Angkor reptile temple, tiger falls, gold panning, wonders of the rainforest, the wild west parrot show, battle of the robots and Children’s craft area. There are many indoor and outdoor activities for a great day with your family.

There are three themed adventure playgrounds, children rides, indoor soft play areas - don’t forget to bring socks as children can’t play without them and there are many modern attractions, so come and discover the fun !

The timber framed Grange, once the market hall, is Hertfordshire’s most carved building and a very rare example of the work of John Abel, the king’s carpenter.

Hertfordshire’s museum and art gallery is housed in a Victorian gothic building exhibiting publicly since 1874 with regularly constantly changing exhibitions.

Hertfordshire is a great place to live even if you don’t have a vehicle with great shopping arcades. The old town market is within walking distance from anywhere in town and London is only half an hour way by train.

There are many museums in Hertfordshire like the Ashwell Village Museum, Baldock Museum, Bishops Stortford Museum, Buntingford Heritage Centre, Bushey Museum, Cromer Windmill, Dacorum Heritage Centre, Datchworth Museum, De Havelland Aircraft Heritage Centre, Elsetree Heritage Centre, Elsetree Film and Television Heritage Group, Hertford Museum, British Schools Museum, Hitchin, Hitchin Museum and Art Gallery, Knebworth House, Letchworth Museum and Art Gallery, Lowewood Museum Hoddesdon, Mill Green Museum, Museum of St Albans, Museum of Technology, The Great War & WW II, Potters Bar Museum, Redbourn Museum, Royston & District Museum, St Albans Organ Theater, Scott’s Grotto Ware, Stevenage Museum, Three Rivers Museum Rickmansworth, Natural History Museum Tring, Watford Museum, Ware Museum, and Welwyn Roman Baths.

Hertfordshire, an inland UK County, is bound on the North West by Bedfordshire, and on the North by Cambridgeshire, in the East by Essex, in the South by Middlesex and London and in the South West by Buckinghamshire.

Its Eastern boundary, from the middle southward is traced by the rivers Stort and Lea.

A portion of the Chiltern Hills is in the North West and West and there are heights of 904 feet at Kensworth and 664 feet at Little Offley which of course command an extensive view of the surrounding area.

Hertfordshire farms range from 160 to 400 acres and are held either yearly or on leases of seven to fourteen years.

The farm grasslands are used more for hay than for pasturage and the orchards produce chiefly apples and cherries.

The cattle here are principally of the Suffolk, Hereford, Devon and Welsh breeds and the horses used for farm work are the Suffolk punches and a few Lincolns.

There are many tourist attractions in Hertfordshire, but first of all try Woodside Animal and Leisure Park. It is located in seven acres of beautiful English countryside in the quiet village of Woodside. This award winning farm offers a fun packed day with more animals and things to do than any other farm in the county. Everything in the park is signposted and all paths are concreted so families with pushchairs and wheelchairs don’t face a problem.

Then you have a Mead Open Farm where the kids have a heap of play time, which results in more smiles, and they can meet and play with various types of animals.

Shaggy’s Play World over there has over 13000 sq feet of indoor play, which includes giant drop slides, zig-zag net climber and meet the new baby animals. This farm also has a Crazy Golf, Go karts, outdoor log play adventure and during the summer months Tractor and Trailer rides, there is so much to do.

The Leighton Buzzard Railway is not too far away for a Day Out and it is one very few narrow gauge light railway tracks to survive in England. It was built in 1919 to transport sand, and the line has carried a steam hauled passenger train service since 1968 and now houses the largest collection of narrow gauge locomotives in England.

The Clock Tower and the Eleanor Cross are located in the heart of St Albans the historic city. Behind the cross is the Clock Tower which is the only medieval example in the whole country. Guided tours can be arranged for parties of 10 or more.

For the first time visitor to Hertfordshire another thing not to be missed is a visit to Hatfield house. This Jacobean house was the home of the Marquess of Salisbury and was built in 1611.

It contains treasured famous portraits of, rear tapestries, fine furniture and armour. Within the gardens stands a wing of the Old Palace, childhood home of Elizabeth 1. It is the venue for Elizabethan banquets, weddings and private functions throughout the year.

The ground has 1000 acres of parkland open to the public with nature trails through woodlands, wildlife and waterfowl, picnic areas and children’s play area. The west gardens include the herb, knot and wilderness areas whilst the east gardens offer kitchen garden and formal ornamental flower gardens.

Whatever tickles your fancy from Zoos to Aquariums, Animals to Museums, Theme Parks, Parks and Gardens, Castles, Art Galleries, Monuments and Historical Buildings, Tourist Attractions are plentiful when you visit Hertfordshire.

Edinburgh is famous for being one of the cities which offer sumptuous feasts and drinks to both locals and tourists. The Edinburgh Festival is the time between July and September with full celebrations and feasts, yet all year round, great food and elegant dining places are available all through out the city. Tourists flock to this city of Scotland to experience a dining experience different and memorable. Edinburgh restaurants are numerous and are strategically located in the city and can accommodate different people with different tastes and preferences. Eating out in Edinburgh is considered to be one heavenly and fun experience as one can try the rich culture as proven in the different cuisines.

Private jet flights continue to increase its popularity due to the benefits it gives to its passengers. They don’t have to go through security checks, wait in line, have cramped cabins and lost luggage. They experience easier and more convenient ways of traveling by going to the right jet charter provider.

The US Heads of State, foreign diplomats and royalties, private families, and numerous fortune 500 companies always come back to New Flight Charters. This company has the largest quality selection of local private jets and aircraft charter. All their flights are operated only by FAA certified Air Carriers who exceed the strictest FAA safety, maintenance, and crew standards including documented inspections every 100 hours of flight.

When it comes to private jet charter industry, New Flight Charters takes on the lead. Their sales have grown to 137 percent in their past 3 years of operation. In the year 2007, the company had 1,600 customers flown to 312 airports and 14 countries. This is the reason why they also increased their charter jet availability and their staff.

If you intend to fly with New Flight Charters, you can get an instant quote right now. You can call them at 800-732-1653 or email them for you to get the best available charter aircraft. Visit their website now at www.newflightcharters.com.

The canary island chain is well known around the world for many things, including beaches, historical sites and hotels. Contact your travel agent for accommodations in Hotels in Tenerife or Hotels in Lanzarote or Majorca.

You are headed to the most beautiful vacation spots in the whole world and the Hotels in Majorca will not disappoint you. They are available in 5 star luxury if you so desire or budget accommodations if you like to backpack and backpack. But no matter what you are looking for you can find in Hotels in Majorca. When you stay there visit all the historic sites or do nothing at all and relax by the beach.

Hotels in Tenerife keep up their part of the bargain. You could stay in luxury and watch the beautiful sights or go around and visit all the sites of importance. On the island you will find landscapes which look like the ones on Mars or The Moon. It is a very healthy climate and Hotels in Tenerife could pack you something to keep you cool on your journey.

There is a feeling of anticipation when you check into Hotels in Lanzarote. It is a feeling of adventure that you have very rarely felt before. The hotels in Lanzarote take you into a time that stops when you check in, and do not want to end until you realize that it is over. There are plenty of places to visit if you are in an adventurous mood, and wish to travel.

Description : Although a safari in Africa is a great adventure, there are also some safety precautions that you should take before you go on your trip. Here are a few safety precautions that will make sure that your safari is safe and fun. Always listen to your guide, no matter what type of safari you are on. Never corner or feed wildlife, as this can produce unexpected reactions. Wear the appropriate clothing and make sure you have brought the right clothing for the right season.
Try to relax about the snakes and insects as these are important parts of the African ecosystem. Also, be aware of the political and social climate of the country you are going to visit so you can stay safe on your trip.

One of life’s many paradoxes is our constant desire to gain maximum control over our ‘operating environment’, despite the knowledge that so many aspects of daily life remain beyond our influence. Result being, we spend considerable time, money and effort attempting to get everything just right before taking ‘the plunge’.

In the military, as I recall, this was referred to as the ‘Ready - Aim - Fire’ principle, whereas many human endeavors are, in fact, better suited to the more appropriate method of ‘Ready - Fire - Aim’! And it seems to me that preparing for a fulltime life on the road is a fine example of this latter approach. After all, there are so many unique skills and practical techniques involved, it’s reasonable to expect that much of what we need to know cannot be learned sitting at home. As they say, one learns to ride a bike by riding a bike.

Accordingly, while there is a raft of personal preparations to get squared away, there is much about serious ‘bumming around’ that simply evolves as each day rolls by. By way of illustration, out there on the road you’ll find that few if any long-term, committed nomads have identical travelling outfits, nor do each follow precisely the same routines as when they first set out on the road. (One question I love to ask the old hands is: ‘If you were starting out again, is there anything you’d do differently?’)

So, if you dream of taking up the wandering life, though you may be unsure as to what you need or how you might travel, I suspect the Buddha would simply say: ‘Follow your heart. Our time in this life is limited.’

Nevertheless, it still behoves all good RV nomads – and intending nomads – to place considerable emphasis on getting their outfit right, and then equipping themselves for a long and trouble-free life on wheels. (Nothing much wrong with hedging your bets by building up an abundance of good karma!)

Of greater importance than travel hardware, though, is your nomadic ’software’: YOU, ie, your personal mix of attitude, personal preparations, and strategies for living on the road rather than simply travelling on the road. Because most often, it’s the mental / psychological pressures rather than equipment failures that result in wannabe nomads scurrying back to suburbia.

In short, although you do need to look carefully at equipment and hardware, right up front during your preparation and planning phase you and your team must get absolutely clear on what lies ahead. To put it bluntly, you are heading toward a substantial culture shock!

That’s right: shock. After all, if you’ve spent the past thirty or fifty years wallowing in the comforts and relative boredom of modern western society, taking a giant step ‘backward’ into a lifestyle positioned somewhere between ‘upper third world’ and ‘new-age fringe-dweller’, you have a mixed bag of challenges ahead. Heading onto the road fulltime, with some dewy-eyed notion that you’re embarking on a romantic adventure, is asking for trouble. Not necessarily trouble of the ‘money can fix it’ variety (though there are sure to be a few of those), more of a ‘what the hell are we doing here’ personal confrontation.

The first attribute, then, which serious nomads should add to their psychological toolbox is mental tenacity, sufficient to accept, meet and live with all the interpersonal / societal negatives that we drifters bump up against along the way. Get ready, for example, to have humanity’s contempt directed toward you. Not every day, perhaps, but from time to time you will sense it, subtle though it may be. If not fully committed to the lifestyle, if you don’t feel the Zen – some ‘higher purpose’ in the whole thing – those jibes may slowly erode and ultimately destroy your self-esteem. Next stop: Suburbia.

The best defence against pressures of this sort is to find some deeper reason for becoming a fulltime RV traveller. Perhaps a hobby, a ‘calling’, some sort of mobile money-earner, or even a personal Holy Grail – anything that provides you with the ‘justification’ for such a ‘bohemian lifestyle’, while at the same time adding purpose and depth to your days and your travels.

Examples might include fossicking, fruit picking, writing, wineries, historic sites, bird watching, visiting bush pubs, searching for inner truth, or here in Oz, that good old standby, ’seeing Australia’.

Having said that, however, there are countless fellow nomads out there who are happy – even proud – to thumb their noses at designer bias and opinion, and just ‘do it’. You have to decide for yourself which approach fits best, so that any necessary lifestyle preparations, by way of training and equipment, are included as you ramp up to ‘Departure Day’.

Of course, identifying and building a ‘purpose’ is only one small part of your learning curve. To move from a fully supported, fixed, urban existence, to a high level of mobile independence, requires a certain amount of training, learning and research. Fortunately, independence is a skill and as such it can be learned. Moreover, this wandering nomad thing has been going on since mankind first walked upright, so you’ll find an endless variety of sources from which to learn.

You could, for instance, study pioneering lifestyles and how the early settlers tackled their daily challenges; or perhaps delve into the nitty-gritty of the ’survivalist’ and ‘homesteading’ movements. Other fertile fields of gypsy techniques can be found amongst the lives of explorers, and Earth’s ‘real’ nomads, such as the Australian Aborigines, American Indians, hoboes and swaggies. Within their lives and their stories you’ll find many similarities – and many of the answers to the day-to-day trials of self-reliance.

Another early stage of your nomadic apprenticeship ought to be setting out on the road for increasing periods of time to field test a few ideas for yourself. Certainly, short holidays will seem nothing more than ‘junk food’ to the true nomad, but to become independent and resourceful to any useful degree you do need to get out and practice the skills and techniques involved. It’s an endless process of reading, thinking, trial and error, and practice – all of which develop both experience and confidence.

During this process you will also be ‘easing’ yourself into the life of a nomad. You might start by hiring a caravan or motorhome to ‘try it on for size’. Meanwhile, your first taste of overnight independence might be in a national park or state forest. And essential skills like camping, bush cooking, first aid, map reading, vehicle maintenance, and 12-volt power should start to play an ever-expanding role. Because the truth is, no matter which way you dress it up, moving from a house to a ‘box on wheels’ is likely to involve a significant step down from your current living standards so it’s sure to be stressful. Baby steps are the best way to go.

Mind you, any knowledge, skill or piece of kit that eventually enables you to replace or supplement all those amenities and utilities enjoyed at home (or those of a tourist park) serve to increase independence. It pays, therefore, to start by asking yourself how you might satisfy – or better, reduce – your lifelong reliance on daily necessities such as power, lighting, water, refrigeration, toilet, shower, etc.

By the way, at the risk of jumping about here I should point out that, among all the skills that should or could be learned, those that offer potential to become sources of income on the road are doubly valuable. If you become adept at, say, mechanical repairs, baking bread, article writing, cutting hair, sewing, or basic carpentry, you can, potentially, use these skills to top-up finances along the way. In other words, concentrate your time and effort on skills that either make or save money.

At this point, you may be forming the impression that being a nomad requires a certain level of mental toughness. Well, you’re darned right it does! But it’s more an attitudinal toughness than physical. And it will come over you quietly, as a by-product of all this learning.

Another example of attitudinal toughness lies in the comparative level of ‘roughing it’ that each of us is prepared to accept. If decisions regarding comfort and convenience aren’t discussed and mutually agreed with partner or group, troubled waters lie ahead! Get together with your team members and talk about the standard of lifestyle that suits your goals, your commitment, and your budget. Once settled, subsequent preparations – in terms of skills development and finances – can be directed along this chosen path. Keep in mind, however, we all tend to choose our own personal (and slightly different) path, so remain true to your own aspirations, values and needs (not to mention your limitations!), rather than being swayed by friends or experienced nomads.

On that point regarding other team members: Sure, there may be only one other, but whatever the number, they each have a different view of what ‘nomadism’ entails, secretly influenced by their own levels of ‘mental toughness’. Ignore them at your peril! There is always room for compromise.

Not only do travel companions harbour various (possibly unspoken) fears and uncertainty about minor annoyances such as dust, heat, flies, remote and lonely campsites, creepy-crawlies, and bush toilets, each also has his or her own ‘dependencies’ and comfort zones to dismantle, such as friends, relatives, television, social activities, family memorabilia, and an array of home luxuries. All the cards must be turned face-up on the table before detailed preparations and financial commitment get too far advanced.

Besides, no matter what the quality or degree of your preparation and planning, difficulties WILL occur; problems come along regardless of where we are or how we live. Even so, chances are better than good that – accidents aside – most ‘road’ problems are easier to fix than those of suburbia – depending, of course, on all of the above.

Yes, the Zen here is mental toughness: Being prepared to take measured risk, then being ready to cope with and rectify problems as they arise. Trust your judgment and abilities, particularly your natural ability to learn, to gain experience and to get better, day-by-day, in all that you do.

Interestingly enough, none of this stuff is age-dependant. Nor is it dollar-dependent. Provided we stick to reality and practicality, while steering clear of fantasy and dreaming, any of us can learn to become a ’smart’ nomad within the parameters of our limitations, plans and goals.

On the other hand, there are a number of hidden traps that you won’t find mentioned in the ‘positive’ press about RV lifestyles. For example, if you (or any member of your party) has a strong craving for any of our modern-day ills – like alcohol, drugs, sex, television soapies, Internet, telephones, gambling, etc. – now’s the time to start the ‘weaning off’ process. Otherwise your nomadic life may be voluntarily but prematurely cut short. Here again, gradual change is best, so allow plenty of time.

There is no doubt, a change as significant as fulltime bumming around requires loads of focused preparation. Indeed, across a planning horizon of less than two years I would think it unlikely that you could resolve, or even consider, all that you should. On the other hand, this long period of preparation and planning is part of the fun: the anticipation leading to excitement, the trips that lead to skill and confidence, and the experience levels that lead to safety. Allow sufficient quality time to enjoy and absorb this evolutionary process.

Remember: over-planning is far better than no planning, but be sure to incorporate sufficient flexibility to accommodate the new ideas, diversions, and changes that inevitably arise.