Sleep Easy with Girls Travel Club!

We all need our beauty sleep but sometimes sleep doesn't come as easily as we'd like it... Here at GTC we favour natural remedies and practical solutions that will help you on your way to a peaceful and well deserved slumber.

Tisserand ethically harvested lavender oil 9ml is essential; brilliant for insomnia and rumoured be one of the best ways of helping naturally prevent and treat jetlag. Smudge a couple of drops on your pillow at night and add a few drops to a warm bath to aid relaxation and sleep.

Make (and drink!) a cup of camomile tea, then throw a couple of camomile teabags into a warm bath. Lie in the water and be soothed by the calming scent and essential relaxing properties of the camomile, whilst placing the damp teabags over your eyes to soothe them.

Lavender oil is also just the perfect treatment for many of life's little knocks and bruises. A natural antiseptic, it's wonderful for burns; soak the burn (having run it under a tap for at least ten minutes) in a bowlful of water with a few drops of lavender oil to supposedly prevent scarring.

Use it on insect bites to prevent itching and infection or on spots to make them disappear faster. The scent of lavender is also apparently repellent to insects, so dab some on at dawn/dusk! Add a few drops to a cup of cool water and sponge over sunburn to soothe and relieve pain.

GTC also stocks the bestselling Quiet Zone earplugs (£6.99). These earplugs are invaluable for long flights or journeys, or even if your partner has a heavy cold and is snoring more than normal! Also very useful for noisy hotels or if you have to share a hostel dorm.

The Jet Rest luxury eyemask (£9.99) isn’t your average eyemask but instead a very reasonably priced luxury model. Normal travel eye masks tend to press down on the eyelids making it hard to sleep, while the straps tend to be elastic and non-adjustable, leading to the dreaded “hair-bulge” effect! Our blackout sleep eyemask has a contoured body, allowing you to blink and thus feel like you’re actually relaxing in the dark, rather than desperately trying to snatch a few minutes nap in a crowded plane or coach.

The straps are fully adjustable to ensure complete comfort (and it even comes in its own little carrying case) and your eye makeup won't get smudged. GTC says “This is by far the best of all the travel/sleeping eyemasks we have tested. Perfect for planes, it also allows you to have a good night’s sleep if your partner wants to read in bed, or if you’re staying in a crowded hostel dorm or chalet. It’s even been recommended to us as invaluable for those mornings when one is slightly worse for wear from all that après-ski!"

GTC also have a large range of high quality sleeping bags, eyemasks, accessories and many other natural remedies in their online boutique specialising in female travel and health accessories. Perfect for the female traveller and perfect for gifts! Come and visit us at http://www.girlstravelclub.co.uk/

Christmas Shoebox update

We've just been sent an email from Lisa, who, on behalf of the Mustard Seed appeal, collects childrens' toys and gifts and parcels them up ready to go to kids in orphanages or who are living in poverty in Romania and other Baltic states.

"Hi Becci, here are some photos of the shoeboxes and boxes before they were collected," she says. "Thank you once again for your help, it's very much appreciated. Without you we couldn't have helped so many people!"

Below is a picture of her hallway, just before the parcels were collected. She says she and her mum "did 40 shoeboxes for the Mustard seed, plus 25 bigger boxes for them as well. We also did 40 shoeboxes for the Rotary club, 55 bigger boxes,and 6 family boxes too!"

Congratulations from everyone at GTC to Lisa and her Mum for all their hard work; we were delighted to support you and look forward to doing so again in 2010!

Top tips for surviving cold weather at home and abroad

"There is no such thing as bad weather," goes the old Scandinavian saying, "just bad clothing," so here are a few hints and tips to keep you warm when you are out and about in the most chilly of conditions.

Many thin layers are more effective than one thick one. Long-johns aren't glamorous but they will keep you warm; if you don't have any then a pair of warm tights is just as effective (there are lots of builders who secretly swear by thick woolly ones in midwinter!).

Eat spicy foods. Chilli, ginger and garlic all stimulate a sweat response and keep the body's circulation working beautifully. Keep a little ziplock bag of crystallised ginger in your pocket to nibble on when you are out on a walk or on the piste to add a little heat. A cup of Indonesian-style ginger tea will not only warm you up, but help fend off colds as well; simply add an inch of smashed ginger root and a teaspoon of honey to a cup of steaming hot black tea.

Mittens are warmer than gloves as the air trapped between your fingers will add extra insulation. Yes, you might look like a four-year old but at least you won't get frostbite... and don't forget a hat either! A huge amount of bodyheat is lost through the top of the head, so wearing a hat in bed as well as in the day will keep you warm.

If possible have a hot shower or bath to warm you up, then apply a thick layer of body oil or lotion to act as an extra insulation layer.

Eat! Have a hot carbohydrate meal that will burn energy slowly and keep drinking hot fluids to keep hydrated and energised. Caffeine speeds up the body's circulation thus making you feel warmer. Avoid alcohol though (shame!), as it causes blood vessels to dilate, thus bring more blood up to the skin's surface where it will just cool quicker.

Hot water bottles aren't just for bedtime. Keep one securely tucked in the front of your clothing and you'll soon feel warmer... if you don't have one, fill a couple of plastic bottles with warm (not boiling) tap water and make sure the lid is securely fastened. Place in the end of your bed ten minutes before you retire for the night and your bed will feel a much more friendly place to be!
If you have cooked a hot meal in the oven, put a couple of bricks in to warm up as well. Wrap them in clean newspaper before putting them at the foot of your bed; not only will they provide heat for hours, they will keep the bed from getting damp in less well heated rooms. You can then leave the oven door open to spread a little more heat around the home or chalet!

Keep toasty warm during the long cold winter nights with a pair of knitted travel slippers (6.95) or one of GTC's bestselling mini hot water bottles. With a knitted cover and a cute heart design in either red or cream they are the perfect bedtime companion at just £6.99!

If you are able to venture of your house and jump in the car it's always wise to be prepared for getting stuck in the snow or even just a long delay in the cold. Here's a useful list of things to keep in your car as a survival kit, all available on the Girls Travel Club website.

Pop a Lifesystems emergency thermal blanket in the boot of your car. For only £2.99 this blanket will reflect over 80% of radiated body heat and keep you nice and warm in any weather.

Sometimes, a nice cup of tea is the best solution to an emergency. With a car kettle (18.99) you can rest assured that you can make a lovely warm drink wherever you are. It comes with two cups so just pop a few teabags in the glove box and you're ready to go!

A handwarmer is the perfect remedy after a morning of making snowmen! An adorable miniature version of GTC's classic Heart Warmer Hottie, the tiny knitted roll-neck cover contains a re-usable hot pack. Just snap the disc to activate; it will keep hands warm and cosy for hours for only £4.99.

Batteries not included! Our Design Go wind up torch (9.99) means that you can wind it up and have light anytime. It's very compact and has 3 LED functions and a cord so you can wear it round your wrist.

A GTC tried and tested tip for staying warm is to wear many layers of thin clothing rather than just a thick sweater. Tilley's Women's Coolmax Extreme Travel Tank Top (£15.75, available in black & white), will fit snugly under your winter warms and keep you nice and toasty.

Let it snow!

Gosh, it has been a chilly week here at GTC Towers. Below are a couple of pics of the front of the cabin, so you can see just how cold it has been... and yes, we had a two day powercut as well. My 18 month old was not happy about the lack of CBeebies but we kept warm by keeping the logburner roaring, and thanks to our obsession with camping equipment we had so many camping cookers and wind-up lanterns that we could have fed an army.

Thanks to all the lovely guys from EDF and Southern Electric who worked so hard to get our village back online again! Mind you, two days without a laptop, Blackberry or phone was quite liberating and we enjoyed our candlelit evenings so much we have decided to have a weekly word game tournament in the near darkness.

Right, it's snowing again so I'm off to put out more birdfood for our resident doves; keep warm!

A trip to visit Santa

Ever thought of taking the kids to visit Father Christmas at his home?? That's exactly what Kate Lavender did, and she kindly sent us this review of her trip. Happy Christmas!!

http://www.savalen.no/

We flew into Oslo and then rented a minibus as we were a party of eight and it made sense but you can take a bus or a train up to the resort. The flight is 2 hours but the transfer is 5 hours – which sounds long but the advantage is that even the most cynical child believes we have travelled far enough to find Santa.

The resort is delightfully simple. There is a variety of accommodation on offer – anything from hotel rooms to apartments of varying sizes – we stayed in one, which easily accommodated the eight of us. It was warm and comfortable without being over the top. Best of all it was on “ Santa Street” with his own house just down the road. The whole resort is quite compact so small children don’t find it exhausting to get around.

We went dogsledding. That was amazing – we helped get the very excited dogs into harnesses. The dogs are used to doing 6-day races covering 1000kms so this little 4k route was nothing for them – however they did have some fairly heavy people to pull! We ended up doing two laps, each having a go at driving, and it was brilliant – they could go at quite a speed and there were quite a few bumps, which left us all screaming with laughter.

One of the things the resort had was a sort of skate sledge so someone could sit on it, someone could stand behind holding onto the handle and skate the sledge along as needed. The boys loved that and always wanted to go “skating”!

You can do a skiing – there is a lovely nursery slope with a carpet lift and beginners mingles with sledgers quite happily. It is a great way for young children to get a taste of skiing, as it is all very low key and unpressurised unlike the Alps.

We also did a moonlit sleigh ride pulled by horses. It was really magical as we all snuggled under blankets and watched the stars as we glided across the snow. There were lots of stars too as there is of course no light pollution to get in the way. The horses were adorable with thick, curly coats – and so strong – there was no change of pace as they started to pull us up some pretty steep hills!

Then there was a trip to Santa’s house. It was amazing. We saw the toy-making machine where he takes wood from Christmas trees, turns that into toy dough, which in turn becomes toys that are painted and wrapped. Brilliant. He wrote your names in the good book and asked you what you wanted.

The resort had a lovely spa complex including a gorgeous pool – in the day time it looks over the lake (which was frozen) and at night they turn on “star effect” lights to create a very mellow atmosphere – there is even a pool bar.

The hotel is very nice and food is good. There are no real shops in resort so we bought supplies in the nearest town but you could have all your meals in the hotel and not bother.

Overall this was a fantastic way to see Santa and the boys (aged 5 and three quarters) enjoyed every single minute, as did we.

Highlights of Syria and the Lebanon, by Janet Syder

Fancy something a bit more exotic than a week in Majorca? Follow the advice of GTC customer Janet Syder, and take a trip to Syria and the Lebanon!


Baalbek, Lebanon. The most fantastic Roman ruin in the Middle East (my opinion!). Suggest you stay the night there in Baalbek. Treat yourself and stay at The Palmyra Hotel. Its wonderfully old world and you wouldn't believe who else had stayed in the hotel before you. If you can, stay in the new annex, just 30 meters down the road. The hotel is opposite the ruins and if you are lucky enough that the night you are there the lights are on the ruins (they have power cuts so lights are not always on) its just beautiful. The huge majority of tour groups visit the site as a day trip from Beirut, so the site gets busy from about 10.30am - 2.30pm then its lovely and quiet again and you can virtually have it to yourself until 5-6pm when it closes for the day.

Aleppo Citadel, Syria (below). I love Aleppo, its a wonderful city and the citadel is still so complete and to think its built on a natural hill is amazing. Stay in the Ramses Hotel, its within easy walking distance of the Citadel and over the road from the famous Baron Hotel (where you have to go for a sundowner). Suggest you eat at the Qasr Al Wali the food is unbelievably good, you will be truly wowed. From Aleppo visit the Dead City of Serjilla and St Simeons.

Palmyra, Syria. (3rd photo) Take a torch. Walk up the Arab Castle for sunrise over the site. The walk is not as far as it looks but the view is awesome. Suggest you eat in the Garden type restaurant opposite the Museum (can't remember what its called, but its outdoors). The staff are really, really helpful and can help with bus timetables etc. The food is what you would expect in Syria, fantastic, fresh and addictive. Loads to see in Palmyra, but would suggest all the obvious sites but also the Tomb of the Brothers as its so different from the other funerary temples.

Damascus, Syria. The photo below is of the Street Called Straight in Damascus. Its been a trading street since the Biblical times. Its bussling, you can buy anything and the atmosphere has to be soaked up, take your time. Make sure you have an ice cream from the famous ice cream shop in the covered part of the street (can't remember what its called, but its always stuffed full of people in the evenings, you can't miss it). Stay in the City Hotel, its a great location for the Museum which is an absolute must, it brings all the other sights in Syria to life as it has most of their best finds. Try to go in the afternoon as most tour groups tend to go in the morning. The City Hotel is also a fantastic location for the Tourist Souq. I think the Tourist Souq actually has the best range of jewellery, scarves and handicrafts if you are buying gifts and the prices are excellent too. Its well worth a look even if you arent buying. The silver prices are honest as they weigh everything (to be honest, we never felt like we were being ripped off with prices even in the main souq). Eat in the Jabri House restaurant. Again, fantastic food, the best mezze, fresh, plentiful and really tasty.

Joy and Joff cycling the Americas

Remember Joy and Joff, the lovely couple who are cycling the Americas in aid of a charity supporting those with Duchennes syndrome? Well, here is their latest update! Happy Christmas to both of them from everyone here at GTC :O)

This is to let you know that it is now 7 months since we left home, and whilst we have not cycled 7000 miles yet, we thought we should remind you of our progress.....So: we have cycled 6601 miles and some of the significant numbers in the last month are listed below:-

430 miles sailed across the Sea of Cortez85 degree water temp!
55 foot sailing boat called Sea Dream has become the next mode of travel!
48 hrs of food poisoning.
41 children in the orphanage we have been helping at.
39 miniature T shirts ironed by Joff at the Orphanage in 2 hrs.
36 hrs of feeling sea sick.
17 nights spent in the same bed.
14 Dolphins swam on the bow of the yacht for 30 mins.Wow!
12am - The start of Joff's night watch!
9 Spanish lessons.... 'sin embargo, nosotros hablamos un poco Espanol.....'
7 hrs time difference with the UK.
4 foot waves have been fantastic for boogie boarding!
32 inch long bright orange and green Iguana seen on the footpath in 'the village'
1 scorpion seen at close quarters.....
100's seen squashed on the road!....and 100's of tarantulas on the road - also squashed.

and still NO punctures!

Photos of all our experiences can be seen at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/cycletheamericas/
and our lastest stories at :http://www.cycletheamericas.org/blog/?page_id=230
enjoy the run up to Christmas....much love
JOY and JOFF