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Making The Most Of Your Vacation's Location

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Rolled maps standing against a world map on the wall

For most people, getting the chance to leave work and enjoy some time on vacation is something which rarely comes to pass. With limited leave, funds, and time in the year, most people will struggle to do more than one. This makes it critical that you enjoy and can make the most out of the trip. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring the different ways to make the most of your vacation’s location.

Prior Research: Before you visit any other country, you should always be working hard to do plenty of research before you get there. Not only will this help you to understand the place, but it should also make it a little easier to make the most of it. Websites like TripAdvisor are perfect for this, as they can give you loads of different information about the places available. Along with this, a lot of people will want to make sure that they research the facilities close by, too. This will give you a good picture of the place before you go.

Plan Ahead: With an idea of what you have available in your vacation home, you can start to think about what you’ll be doing while away. Planning this out will not only make the whole process easier, but it will also help you to make the most of the time you have on holiday. Writing a basic list can be enough here, But, along with this, a lot of people will come up with a timetable to help them while moving around, as this will help to ensure that you’re always spending your time well.

Use The Rep: On most vacations, you will have a professional working around you to make sure that everything goes according to plan. In a lot of cases, this sort of person will know the area very well and will be able to give you some advice to make the most of it. Companies like G Adventures can be perfect for this. Whether they send you to a bar or on an adventure, these professionals have access to loads of different resources which can be incredibly helpful; you may even be able to find a good deal along the way.

Prepare To Spend: Finally, as the last area to think about, it’s time to consider the money you’re going to have to spend to be able to achieve these goals. In reality, this can be added to the costs of your vacation, as it is simply part of the process. Being willing to invest a little bit into your vacation can make it a lot better for you. Not only will you get to enjoy something nicer than usual, but you will also ensure you have the best chances of enjoying your trip.

Hopefully, this post will inspire you to start working harder on what you get from your holiday hotels. With just a little bit of research and background work, you can build a very good understanding of the place you’ll be visiting.

Careers Choices for Those That Love to Help Others

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Would you like to do some good in the world? That’s an admirable thought, but what type of careers are available to people that love to help others? Between healthcare careers, firefighting, keeping the peace or even creating products that benefit the elderly, almost anything can be changed or adapted to be beneficial to others. But as far as career choices go, here are some of the best ways to give back to society and make a living from it.


Nonprofit Project Director
If you want to do some good in the world on a large scale, starting up your own charity or nonprofit organisation can be a fantastic way to get yourself out there. Whether you want to contribute to ending world hunger or finding the cure for nasty diseases, a nonprofit organisation can have a number of different purposes. There are many challenges that come with starting up a charity and there are many complications involved when it comes to finances, taxes and legal matters. However, the feeling of helping not just a few people, but the entire world, is something that few careers could ever give you. If you’re passionate about something in the world, then creating your own nonprofit organisation to support it is one of the most fulfilling careers in the world.

Healthcare Careers
When it comes to helping others there’s nothing quite the same as saving the immediate life of someone in danger. Healthcare has hundreds of different career paths. Whether it’s becoming a software engineer to help empower doctors or becoming a surgeon, everyone has a different role in healthcare. Take a look at this article titled “How to Become a Surgical Nurse” if you want a great introduction into the world of healthcare and how someone becomes a surgical nurse. For other ideas, you could look at the technical side of healthcare such as becoming an engineer, a software developer, a network admin at a hospital or even a security guard for a healthcare centre. In short, there are many ways to offer a helping hand in healthcare and virtually any skill you have could assist someone’s life.


Research and Development
If working together with some of the world’s brightest minds to create new technologies sounds tempting, then a career in research and development is for you. It’s a career that utilises your creativity, where working in teams to come up with new ideas and efficient processes is the name of the game. It’s all about making things easier for the human race by developing new things and interesting technologies that can have applications that range from domestic cases to international purposes. A good example of this is the famous space pen. In the past, astronauts used writing instruments like pencils, but the graphite posed a hazard to space operations due to its combustible nature. As a result, a specialised space pen was created to work in zero gravity, vacuum and even extreme temperature situations. This just goes to show that research and development jobs are creative, varied and you’ll never know what you’ll be contributing towards for the betterment of mankind.

Emergency Services
Emergency services usually consists of the police, firefighters and ambulances. When people are in dire need of help, they call upon emergency services to help them in their time of need. Whether you’re working as an ambulance driver or as a police officer, working in emergency services is fulfilling and it’s the kind of job that will put you in dangerous situations. As a result, it’s not a career for the faint of heart unless you take a more indirect role. This could be manning the call centre of an emergency services department or it could mean working as an engineer to maintain important vehicles like fire trucks. Everyone has a role to play when working in emergency services, and it’s the type of job where you’ll feel proud of your work.


Educational Careers
There’s a saying that if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; but if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. The same concept is why educational careers are so attractive to people that love to help others. Teaching careers can cover a wide range of circumstances. Whether you’re teaching kids how to read and write or if you’re teaching a class of students about neuroscience, there are hundreds of possibilities that can’t be explained in just a single paragraph. In addition, even niche skills have a market for educators. It could be something like teaching people how to play an instrument or educating others on how to cook. If you love to help others, then look into an educational career to spread your passion for your skills.

Social Working
People with vulnerabilities are more likely to become depressed and be subjected to difficult lives. If you want to give a helping hand to these people, then look into a career in social working. Unfortunate circumstances can make people vulnerable and society can often be unforgiving in their portrayal of these people. To change the stigma, social workers seek to provide assistance and benefits to these people in need so that they can live fulfilling lives free of criticism from their peers. Social work can include helping elderly individuals, those with mental instabilities and people with learning difficulties. It can also include people that are having trouble securing income and you may even be working with children that have been neglected or even abused. Social work is fulfilling because you end the day knowing that you’ve given assistance to people that need it in your society. Social work gets you up close and personal with the people you’re helping, so you’ll always get plenty of encouraging comments and positive feedback for doing a good job which is fantastic motivation.

These are just a few examples of career choices that involve helping others. It’s important to remember that almost any job involves helping others, but these career choices are a more direct way to assist others.

Christmas Gift Ideas For Older Women

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Buying Christmas gifts is a bit of a double edged sword. It’s amazing to watch your loved ones open a great gift that they absolutely love, but finding that gift in the first place can be a real headache. Online shopping has taken a bit of the stress out of it because it means you don’t always have to brave the shopping centres during Christmas when they’re full of huge crowds of people, all rushing around trying to find the perfect gift. But ordering online doesn’t mean that it’s easy. You still need to come up with a good idea year after year.


Men are typically the ones that people struggle to buy for. They’re difficult and they’ll never tell you what they want so they usually end up with socks or a jumper. But older women are often just as hard to find gifts for. In their later years, it gets more difficult to find something that they’ll actually want and mums are often left with rubbish gifts just like dads. If you’re stuck for gift ideas for the older women in your family, here are some great ideas.

Pets
Loneliness is a big problem amongst the older generation so why not use Christmas as an opportunity to solve it? Getting them a dog or a cat gives them a new friend to keep them company during the day when nobody else is around. A pet can also help them to keep active when they’re taking it on walks and playing with it etc. Keeping an active body and mind is increasingly important for the older generation so a pet is not only a great gift but it’s good for their health as well. However, don’t get them a pet if you don’t think that they’ll be able to cope with looking after it. It’s probably best that you don’t make this gift a surprise and you ask them whether they would like one before you buy it.

Clothes
Clothes are often seen as a bit of a copout but if you get it right, they still make a great Christmas gift. A nice knit top or sweater from somewhere like https://www.anthonysfla.com/collections/ruby-rd is perfect because they’re stylish, but not too young. Trying to go for something that you might wear isn’t going to work, your mum isn’t going to like it. When you’re getting clothes, don’t go for something practical because it doesn’t make a great gift. Get something stylish and fun instead.

Spa Day


The older generation is generally not that bothered about having loads of new stuff for Christmas. They don’t need much and you don’t want to clutter up their house with loads of stuff that they’ll never use. It’s often better to get them an experience of some kind. A spa day is a wonderful gift for the older woman and it gives them a chance to get away from it all and relax for the day. Most spas offer gift vouchers of a certain value so they can choose all of their own treatments when they go. Getting two tickets is a great way for you to spend some quality time with them as well.

Books
Books are another gift that people tend to use as a safe option but the thing is, it’s probably more welcome that a lot of the stuff that’s advertised over Christmas. Older family members don’t want anything too over the top and if they like reading, a good book is something that you know they’ll actually get some use out of. If they’re into their reading and they’re fairly good with technology, why not get them a Kindle? The original versions are very simple to operate so they should get along fine with it.

Personalized Photo Gifts
When you get older you start to get a bit more perspective on the things that are most important in life. Older generations are more interested in memories with their families and friends than they are in money or stuff, that’s why personalized photo gifts are a great gift option for them. There are so many companies out there these days that will put your photos on almost anything, visit http://www.parents.com/fun/arts-crafts/photography/best-photo-gifts/ for a list of some of the best ones. You could always get some pillows or even marshmallows with photos of the family on but that’s a bit tacky. It’s much better to have a great photo album made up with nice binding and some great shots of the family together. They’ll be sure to love it.

Try one of these great ideas this year and you should be able to take the hassle out of buying gifts for older women.

Can't Live With Them, Can't Live Without Them... Cats!

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From the Russian Blue to the Ragdoll and from the Maine Coon to the humble moggy, cats remain the pet of choice for millions of people across the globe. Their docile nature, aloofness and cuteness mean that they can be the ideal pet. They will seduce you with their need for strokes, and they’ll lull you into a false sense of security when peacefully lying on their favorite blanket. Only when you’ve owned a cat for a couple of months, do you see the emergence of their true nature. A cat is an intelligent creature, and he or she knows it. Often your cat will take on a more sinister persona. They will spend their days sleeping, venturing outside and eating, all the while figuring out ways to annoy you merely for their own amusement.

Cats are incredible animals. They’ll look at you all doey eyed to get a quick chin rub in one instant, only to have enough and turn their back on you the next. The joy of these pets is their personalities and their cattitude. Take a look at how the wonderful species of cats can get under the skin of their owners but also why they wouldn’t have it any other way.




Food
If you’ve ever had a cat or know someone with a little moggy, you’ll understand the fussy nature of the species. A cat is picky and can smell a cheap knock off in a second. If your cat adores a popular brand of wet cat food and demolishes a bowlful within a minute of you placing it into his feeding area, he will soon sense if you’ve replaced his favourite meal with a cheaper alternative. It may look the same, smell the same and have the same ingredients in it, but he will know. Nothing gives him greater pleasure than turning his nose up at the stuff and walking away letting the wet food go dry, smelly and rancid. You might think that he’ll return when he’s hungry and that he has to eat, but you’d be wrong. He’d rather starve and make you feel guilty in the process. After a couple of weeks back on his favorite stuff, you’re thinking of buying it in bulk to save you some of your hard-earned cash. Don’t bother. Their fickle nature will dictate that as soon as you’ve bought a crate of the food, he’ll decide he no longer likes it and fancies a change.




Play
All day, every day, your cat might be one of those felines that loves nothing more than to sleep. They’ll find their favorite spot in the house and curl up to snore away, twitching as they dream of balls of wool and mice. Bliss. What’s a tad more problematic is your purr-fect pal’s innate need to wake up the moment your head hits the pillow. It’s nearly midnight, and you need your beauty sleep. Your moggy, on the other hand, is ready to launch himself up and down the stairs, leap onto the curtains and generally use your furniture and home as an assault course. All you can do is wait until your furry friend tires himself out.



He’s A Contradiction
Cats are weird. There are no two ways about it. Your feline may spend the day doing everything to get away from you. You might fancy a cuddle with your pal, only for him to squirm and writhe every time you try to pick him up for some attention. On this particular day, he might not be interested in chin rubs, back strokes or head massages. He’s aloof, and that’s all there is to it. However, the second you head for a shower, and he’s scratching at your door frame like you’ve abandoned him forever. The wailing meows, the whimpers and the purring pull at your heartstrings. You leap out of the shower still with shampoo in your hair and open the door only to see your moggy sat staring at you. You reach down to pet him, only for him to turn his face in disgust at the human being he sees before him. Humiliated, you venture back into the shower, only for your feline to begin the scratching again. He can’t live with you and he can’t live without you. He needs to know you love him and that you’re there.



A Poorly Cat
If your cat ever gets a little under the weather, it’s often vital that they take their medicine. Attempting to catch them, however, is easier said than done. You could attempt to crush their tablet and disguise it in some of their favorite food, but they know. They just know. After a single lick of their grub, they turn to stare at you with a look that says you should’ve known better. If it’s time for the all-important de-fleaing, it pays to invest in some of the PetAction spot-ons. With a mere squeeze of a pipette onto the back of your little feline’s neck, he’s flea free for another month, and he doesn’t even realize it. You can feel like you have the upper hand, if only for a fleeting moment.




Affection
The affection that you receive from your cat can be lovely. He might sit on your lap for an hour as you watch TV, nuzzle your neck as he sits behind you on the sofa or roll onto his back as you give him some belly rubs. It’s the morning affection that is less endearing. If you ever let your cat sleep with you in your bedroom, you know the annoyance that is the kneading by your cat’s paws on your legs, chest and head. You open your eyes to see your cat millimetres away from your face, eyes squinting, waiting for you to get up. When you finally venture out of your cosy bed, your cat has decided that he’s also had enough and is more than happy without your company. But you’re up. He’s succeeded.

There is nothing better than owning a cat. They are a joy to have around, they are aloof, and they are hilarious. If you don’t mind an affectionate little critter with a mind of his own, a cat is the pet for you.

Filter Your Life To Regain Happiness

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Happiness is such a selective term - it means different thing s to each person, however, many would agree that the amount of spam that happens in day to day life causes anything but happiness. And we’re not just talking junk emails or fliers being handed out on the street. But anything in life that is unnecessary happens in large amounts and you could happily live without.


There is much out there that is completely within your control to change, but many don’t because it might not seem to be the norm, or it risks offending someone. But at the end of the day, your happiness and wellbeing are more important. Yes, you should be considerate of other people’s feelings, but you need to put yourself first now and again. And one of those times would be in filtering the spam in your life, to weed out the unnecessary rubbish and to just be happy.


Mail
Starting with the obvious - we all get junk mail. Promotional offers are flooding our inboxes, or doorsteps and our faces as we walk down the street. Adverts are thrown at us from every angle, and internet cookies are designed to pick just the right ads to send your way. But where it’s supposed to be more streamlined, it does feel like there’s more than ever.


Cracking this is easy. With your email, you need to either set aside an afternoon to unsubscribe from promotional emails you probably unwittingly signed up for when internet shopping. Or set up a new account for all the important stuff, and leave the old one for all the promo stuff. While you’re at it, apply an ad-blocker like Adblock for Google Chrome. Your physical mail can, believe it or not, be filtered too if you want. Sites like physicaladdress.com allow you to redirect your mail to their drop box, where the envelope is scanned and sent to you virtually. If you want the interior scanned to, then you can request it. But it just means that you can go and pick up the important stuff as it arrives, and not have to deal with the spam.


Social Media
When it comes to social media accounts, we’re all prone to clicking the accept button on friend and follow requests, but that just fills your feed with the life of somebody you have never met and never have the desire to meet. Do this enough, and your real friends are lost in the menagerie of stranger’s selfies. Go through your lists and get rid of the people you don’t know, and say goodbye to those people you’ve added because you met in a line once five years ago.


By setting your accounts to private, you can weed through your followers easier, because they won’t be able to see anything on your account until you have given them permission. These people are more likely to be friends, and not just following you because you look hot in your bikini photos leftover from your trip to Cyprus.


The Power Of Developmental Purpose

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We all know that to live a life well, we must keep close some form of purpose to our hearts. This means finding what you truly desire, and chipping away that goal. This can often last and sustain you for years. The art of heading towards something you truly desire will orient you, and this is especially important in a world where over comfort, being sheltered and scared of the political chaos are all things you can feel in one fell swoop.


However, finding a purpose is only 10% of the process. Working towards it will make the bulk of your time. We’d argue that a purpose that can develop as you achieve minor goals towards it is the best option. This is something students understand. The pursuit of a bachelor's degree could blossom into a much more suitable accredited online mba, pushing you towards success even further.


To use a further example, do you hope to be a phenomenal author one day? Well, first of all, why not try to read at least two books a week? Can you do that? Stephen King once argued that in order to get on his level of plot creation and writing success, you must read at least five hours a day.


This sounds like an insane amount of time to the average working person, but that’s often the price of success. After you have improved your reading schedule, could you begin practising your technique by writing very small stories? You see the power of developmental purpose from this perspective, but we’d like to explore it further:


Developmental Purpose Connects You With People

Developing your purpose will always put you in connection with people you should be around. People who are on the same wavelength as you. We’re going to run with the writing example here, because it can be the best to frame understandably. A budding writer might be interested in joining a writers group, attending conventions, or simply heading to book signings.


This can help you greet people in a similar situation to you, and by both of your efforts and mutual inspiration, you might arrive at an end product better than you might have pulled off yourself. Plus, meeting friends who have a similar approach to goal setting will be those of solid integrity. People are simply better and more connected when they’re inspired, and happy that their dreams are being realized.


Developmental Purpose Is Flexible

The interesting thing about purpose is that it’s never the same upon arrival as when you planned it out. This is because the art of training yourself will open you up to new avenues, and more suitable horizons. This can motivate someone who might be struggling to stick to their original goal, as no goal is set in concrete. If you find during your efforts writing novels that your real strength lies in poetry, then you have found a skill previously untapped due to your efforts in a similar field. The flexibility of individual purpose is just so because it’s yours, and nobody elses. This is a great way to anchor yourself in your self-respect, which can benefit you life-long.


With these purposeful insights, you’re much more likely to enjoy



Lace Up Those Sneakers And Kick Start Your Health

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So, you want to improve your health and the time is now to get that done. There’s a bubble of excitement within you and it’s time for a fresh start, a new you and a new outlook on life. When your day to day life is lacking in healthy behaviour, you can feel sluggish, depressed and lethargic about even the smallest of activities. There’s nothing worse than waking up and feeling low from the moment the day begins, and if you aren’t active or being healthy in your eating habits, it’s very likely that you are feeling just that: low.


Googling around for gyms near you is only a part of the process when it comes to displaying healthy behaviour. Signing up for the gym is one thing, feeling motivated and excited enough to attend at all is quite another. You have to think about the bigger picture, the food you consume, the drinks you are sinking on a weekly basis and even your mental health. How do you feel about you? How do you feel about the way you eat and how much exercise that you do? These questions need answers and if you can’t manage to answer them, then you can expect that you won’t be able to adjust your thinking to lead a healthier, more satisfying life.


 


When you make a plan to behave in a healthier manner, you need to think small. Of course, you’ll have a goal and a reason to continue in a healthier lifestyle, but you also need to think of the smaller, more manageable targets. Setting yourself smaller goals is the only way you will be able to succeed. If you have a mountain to climb, you think of each stopping point on the way – a healthy lifestyle is the same thing. You need to celebrate the small changes that you manage to make so that you can keep focused on the bigger goal ahead. Buy yourself brand new sneakers when you’ve spent a month attending the gym regularly. Buy yourself new workout clothes or a new juicer when you hit the next goal. Making a list of rewards is like being back in the classroom: the better you do, the better the reward!

 

The positive effects of exercising and eating well impact not just your weight and your body, but your mind. The better you feel about yourself, the better you think about other situations. You can find clarity in a mind that has been well nourished, and you can find yourself thinking clearly about situations that have otherwise seemed stressful. Living a healthier life also affects the people around you, as they will notice that you are a more energetic, positive person and that will reflect positively on you.


Your health is something that should always be at the forefront of your mind, no matter your age. Lacing up those sneakers and going for a run around the block isn’t going to be an easy thing to start with, but the more you push yourself, the better you get. Make it better!

Natural Fixes For Problem Skin

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Confidence. It’s a word that nearly every woman uses to describe anyone but herself. To be confident, you have to be secure within yourself. You have to believe in yourself. When you’re at work or with your friends, it’s likely that you feel envious of those who come across as confident and together, when actually most people are totally faking it and just as insecure and worrisome as you are. But, what makes someone confident? Is it the clothes that they wear? Is it the security of their bank account? Is it a sheer rejection of anything that resembles conformity, so that they can be happy with exactly who they are? It’s likely a huge mix of all of those things. It’s often far easier to focus on flaws than it is to focus on what makes you beautiful, which is why confidence is such an issue among women.


If someone was to ask you what part of your life you would like to work on, it’s more likely that you will answer with a weakness to be fixed, a flaw to be smoothed or a failing to be strengthened. When you spend your time focusing on the flaws about you, you point out your insecurity. It’s inbuilt within us to prioritise our weaknesses and faults over our strengths. We measure our growth by whether we have managed to fix the problems about ourselves. Sometimes, these problems are personality based and other times, these are physical issues that we hone in on and pick at. We spend so much time on the weaknesses that we have, that we leave very little time for our strengths. Our flaws are focused on from a very young age. At school, we are told where we need to do better. We are told where improvements should be made to make us work harder and do more. Bullies on the playground pick on us for the hairstyles we have, the skin that develops through puberty and even the clothes we wear. So, it makes sense that we have it ingrained that our flaws need more work than our strengths.


The problem here, is that once you have it in your head that there is a problem, you grip onto it. Your confidence about the hair colour you once loved, your freckles on your skin or your clothes gets slowly diminished due to the words of others. The good news? You can get that confidence back. You can learn to focus on your positives and not your negatives. You can learn how to embrace the changes in your body as you grow, and you can put some effort into making yourself look good, which in turn makes you feel good. The better you feel, the more you own it. It doesn’t help that wherever you look on magazines and social media, there are flawless looking women with perfectly shiny hair and skin so smooth that it looks as if there are no pores. Shall we let you in on a secret? These women aren’t real. Sure, they look it. Their photographs were taken, weren’t they? But then photoshop was applied. Makeup was applied. If you strip back the women you envy for the perfect skin and amazing hair, you’ll find someone with just as much difficulty with their skin as anyone. You’ll find they have struggles balancing greasy skin with a dry, dull pallor.



Our skin is deeply linked to our outward perception of beautiful. We rush to cover up blemishes, freckles and spots as if the whole world could end because of a spot on the chin. We rely on our skin looking good for us to feel confident, and these statistics show that there are women who believe that their skin issues hold them back from living life to the absolute fullest. It makes sense in a world of high-tech cameras and SnapChat filters. We are taught every single day to hide our flaws and aim for constant perfection. Everyone should be standing up and saying, ‘who cares?’. Who cares if we have freckles? Who cares if we have spots during our time of the month? Who cares if we blush when we show our emotions? We don’t need to cover up every single perceived flaw. However, it is understandable that some people out there are utterly crippled by the idea that they have to put down the war paint and stop masking their flaws. Flaws define a lot of people, which is a sad reality.


Sometimes, the issues aren’t just about confidence. The skin on your face is a reflection of your overall health. A face that is glowing, beautiful and balanced in colour is often the result of proper care and hydration. You also can have beautifully glowing skin simply by eating a diet rich in nutrients. Skin that is covered in blackheads, pimples, and acne is often a sign of an imbalance in hormones, bad nutrition and stress. If your skin resembles that description, then it’s no wonder you feel insecure. Your face is on display for all to see, and you want your face to look glowing and healthy – it promotes confidence, doesn’t it? When you look good, you feel good, right?



The good news is that you don’t have to live with problem skin. You can look up where to buy Lifecell skin care cream to fix the issues that you are plagued with, you can speak to the doctor about your skin and get a fix on prescription, or you can go natural. Everyone’s skin is different, so the treatment that you use for your particular skin type won’t be the same as the friends you have or the people you know. There are a lot of ways to correct a problem that is bringing you down, and that’s why we’ve put together these natural ways to fix problem skin.


Gentle Cleansing.

Never, ever pick at spots. It can be tempting to squeeze them, to break them and to scratch them, but once you do that, you encourage scarring. Getting rid of the most stubborn pimples can be difficult, but it starts with a thorough – and gentle – cleansing of the skin. Make up your own honey face wash, which you can find here. The honey in the mix soothes the skin, the coconut oil fights fungus that breeds on the surface of the skin and tea tree oil is there purely for invigorating tired skin cells. Never scrub at your face. Gently wash and rinse before patting dry. Cleanse too much and you can risk an overproduction of the skins oils, which can make you greasier than planned!


Gentle Toning.

Most people aren’t quite sure what toning can do for their skin. Well, it’s an important step in the whole of the skincare routine that can remove residues left on the skin’s surface. Apple cider vinegar is a perfect natural toner for your skin, as it has enzymes that kill various bacteria which is the biggest cause of acne.



Healing Masks.

There are so many amazing recipes for healing skin masks out there that hydrate your skin. These recipes here are fantastic, natural recipes for looking after your skin and making it healthy again. They’re also an amazing pamper treat, so that when you have come home from a long day at work you can rest and relax while feeling you’re in a spa. There’s nothing that does more for your confidence than looking after yourself, and a healing skin mask does just that.


Sun Coverage

You’ve seen them – the people that bask in the sunshine and end up with skin like old leather. Sun damage is one of the biggest causes and using natural sunscreens, staying out of the sun and keeping your skin covered as much as possible in hot weather is important. These recipes for natural sunscreens are better for your skin than the commercial ones, as those other ones are packed with chemicals which can be irritating to your skin.


Essential Oils

Suffering from acne or repetitive spots can be debilitating to your confidence, especially as it can leave your skin looking scarred. The sooner you begin treating the scars, the better off you will be over time to get the best results. Coconut oil, lavender oil and tea tree oil are all best for reducing the appearance of acne related scars.


Acne and spots often go away on their own, but it’s understandable that you would want to do everything you can to reduce the appearance of spots on the skin. Always talk to your doctor first as acne is a skin condition is difficult to combat on your own in extreme cases. Try not to rely on the appearance of your skin to boost your level of confidence. Confidence is what every woman wants to feel and when you have confidence, you can learn to put down the makeup and filters and own your skin – problems and all.





8 Great Careers That Involve Working With Animals

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It’s around this time that we’re all looking towards a new year, and (potentially) a new career. If you feel overworked, under stimulated and under appreciated in your current job you’re most likely perusing the job siteswith a view to choosing a new job or even a new career for 2018. This is a common and admirable goal, but it’s important that you go into a job search for the right reasons and with appropriate expectations. You may need to take time out to retrain or even pursue a new qualification, either through campus based learning or through a more flexible online qualification. You may have to start at an entry level position and work your way up to reach your dream job. Nonetheless, it’s better to be standing at the bottom of a ladder you actually want to climb than to be stuck half way up one that you don’t.



Though many move careers with a view to attaining a better salary, you should not go into a career change with only money in mind. After all, that’s likely how you would up dismal and disillusioned in your current position. Though a competitive salary is a noble goal, a sense of purpose and job satisfaction are actually far more conducive to quality of life. A generous salary is rarely adequate compensation for a job you find yourself hating. Of course the factors that comprise job satisfaction are very much at the discretion of the individual, but if you have always kept pets and have a love of animals, you may find that few careers are as rewarding or life affirming than working with them. Here we’ll look at some of the best and most rewarding jobs that involve working with animals. While I may include jobs that require some extensive training, I’ll try to keep it realistic. It’s unlikely that many readers will have the time or money spare to be able to train to be a veterinary surgeon.


Why work with animals?


Working with animals has, in any capacity, some inherent benefits for your mental and physical health. Jobs involving animal care, while they may have some administrative elements, are inherently kinaesthetic and require a good deal of activity. Jobs where you’re regularly moving and active (especially when this takes place outdoors) tend to keep a steady stream of endorphins coming into the brain, keeping you feeling energized and positive. Moreover, jobs where you’re regularly active and moving help you to avoid the intrinsic health hazards that come with sitting at a desk in front of a screen for 8-10 hours a day. Sitting for long periods on a daily basis can not only impede digestive function but increase your risk of serious diseases from heart disease to diabetes.


All that aside, working with animals has some proven therapeutic benefits that aid job satisfaction and general mental health. If your job involves routinely petting, grooming or stroking animals this act is proven to reduce stress, reduce cortisol levels and regulate blood pressure. Animals provide companionship and watching their behaviors as species and idiosyncrasies as individuals is an incredibly satisfying activity.


Having established the benefits, let’s look at some of the best jobs that involve working with animals…


Veterinary assistant
If you’re looking for an entry level position that will give you real experience of working with animals before you dedicate yourself to a particular specialism, a job as a veterinary assistant could be an ideal starting point. You will fulfil a wide range of administrative duties as well as pitching in to assist veterinarians and veterinary nurses as the need arises. You’ll also deal with pet owners, making appointments and often being an initial point of contact so great interpersonal and organizational skills are a must.




Dog trainer

If you’ve kept dogs all your life and have a great rapport with your canine compatriots, becoming a dog trainer may be a rewarding career for you. Dog training is a fairly broad church and once you have a grounding and a working knowledge of canine behavior you can go into a range of specialisms from police dog training to show dog training to canine rehabilitation. You could even run your own training school if you have entrepreneurial ambitions. If you find canine behavior fascinating, have creative problem solving skills and have a whole lot of patience this may well be the career for you.


Pet adoption counsellor

If you’re a double threat and have not only a rapport with animals but with people too, you may be tailor made for a career as a pet adoption counsellor. Here you will take specific case studies of animals who have been put up for adoption. You’ll familiarize yourself with their circumstances, their behaviors and their specific needs and use this information to help them to find the right owners. You’ll also have to vet prospective owners so you’ll need to have a shrewd and keen inquisitive mind as well as having excellent interpersonal instincts. If you have a perceptive and analytical mind this may be your dream career.


Entomologist

When you were a small kid, did you peer at insects in fascination while your friends shrank away? Have you always had a healthy respect for bugs and the many and varied roles they play in the greater ecology? Little bugs make a big difference to the environment and if you have the time to study a masters degree, the world of entomology is a broad discipline that can lead to a wide and varied range of careers. You’ll likely work with farmers, botanists and horticulturalists so an open minded approach to other disciplines is a must but your knowledge and expertise can be used to solve a range of environmental issues. You could even become a forensic entomologist and use insect behavior to help solve crimes. It doesn’t get much more rewarding than that!


Animal wrangler

If you can’t resist the allure of Hollywood but tend to get shy in front of a camera, there’s a way you can reconcile your love of animals with a fascination with the film and TV industry and that’s as an animal wrangler. Animal wranglers provide animals of all shapes and sizes for productions large and small. You’ll get to work with a wide range of animals and thus you’ll have to have instant rapport with them and understand their behaviors. Not only will you get to work with different animals every day, you may even find yourself working with some famous faces.


Pet groomer

Many pet owners want to make sure that their furry friends look and smell nice and this sizeable market can be the place for you to build your new career. You’ll clip and style fur, trim claws, clean teeth and keep pets looking perfect. You’ll need a keen stylist’s eye as well as a great working relationship with animals (and a whole lot of patience since few critters actively enjoy being groomed). While you may start your career in a pet salon or a veterinary practice there’s a lot of space for eager entrepreneurs to set up their own grooming business either in their own salon or as a travelling pet groomer.



Reptile farmer
If you’ve always preferred scales to fur, perhaps you’re destined for a career as a reptile farmer. You’ll breed, capture, raise, keep and attend to a range of reptiles for sale to pet stores. If you’ve always wanted to try your hand as a ranch manager but haven’t the space, reptiles require less space although they do require specialist knowledge and expertise. However, you’ll be able to specialize in a particular kind of lizard… And that’s a very broad church! You could choose to specialize in snakes, cute reptiles like turtles tortoises and terrapins or even large reptiles like crocodiles and alligators. You’ll not only work with your preferred reptiles but be ideally placed to work with schools and universities to educate people about the realities of these wonderful creatures and help to shatter a lot of common misconceptions.


Animal cruelty investigator
If you love animals and have a burning passion for animal rights and justice, you’ll find no career more rewarding than as an animal cruelty investigator. You’ll essentially be an animal cop, so you’ll need to temper your love of animals with outstanding interpersonal skills, an extremely professional demeanor and superb investigative skills. You’ll need to be extremely perceptive and analytical as you’ll essentially be a detective. You’ll also need an extremely strong resolve as you may witness scenes of animal cruelty and mistreatment that may be extremely upsetting. If you’re a team player who can remain calm under pressure and demonstrate excellent people skills even in the face of cruelty and mistreatment of all kinds of animals this is the career for you.


These are just eight of the many examples of careers that provide great job satisfaction and a lot of face time with animals while playing to a wide range of transferable skills. If you thought that the only rewarding career with critters involved enrolling in veterinary school, think again!







Resolving Issues At Work

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If you are currently dealing with issues in the workplace, you can often feel stuck. Stuck working in place where you are being made to feel stressed and depressed. Stuck needing a job and an income but feeling like you can’t move to another company because of commitments in the role that you are in. Resolving issues in the workplace is rather an art – you have to be able to resolve the issue without causing further problems for yourself, and that’s not easy. Feelings of dread as you head to work everyday are not easy to cope with, but you can manage it. There are ways around feeling friction in the workplace, and there are three choices ahead of you: you can deal with it, look for another job or talk to your management team about your concerns.Let’s face it, you need your income and so the best thing you can start doing is solving the problems before they become irreversible.



You may be having a tough time of it at work, but if your job is one that you really enjoy and took you some time to find, you may be reluctant to change jobs. The thing is, you could love your job and still find yourself feeling pushed out. People don’t leave good jobs, they leave bad managers who don’t know how to handle employees. Workplace problems don’t just end with bad management, though. Issues with shoddy health and safetyleading to injuries are a reason that people can find themselves out of the workplace and still dealing with issues.


Of course, if you are encountering problems in the workplace because of an injury that has left you laid up and running out of money, that’s an entirely different problem to dealing with friction with management. Dealing with workplace problems while you’re in the office is easier than trying to deal with them from a sick bed at home. Unfortunately, an injury that puts you out of work means that you can’t just deal with the issues face to face. If you find you have been put out of action due to an injury, and you may not end up returning to the office you’ve worked in for so long, you should be looking at workers compensationto help you get through the tough times financially. There are many ways you can ensure that you work around your problems at work, unless you are at home and signed off work.



A lack of communication in the workplace can be the biggest problem you encounter. The best way to resolve this? SPEAK! Call a meeting, hash out your biggest fears and worries and discuss how to move forward with ease. If you are feeling as if you are working on eggshells, you need to nip it in the bud as quickly as possible. Your safety and your health at work matter, and this includes your mental health. When you get signed off work due to an injury, you need workplace support from your peers and mentors so that you can feel like there is a way back into the office later on. If there is no way back, because the injury is permanent, or because the relationship with the management in the office breaks down, then you need to work out what comes next for you.


Discussing work issues with your direct team leaders can get complicated if not handled correctly. It’s not easy for an employee to say what they think without there being a risk of retaliation, and that’s where it comes in about bad management. Good, strong and confident company owners can take constructive criticism. Weak management teams with big egos cannot manage criticism and so would prefer to erase the person complaining than deal with the issue at hand. It’s a legitimate concern for anyone that their opinion could get them fired, and your ability to be continually successful at work depends very much on whether you can be free to air concerns. You could easily encounter issues with your performance in the workplace purely because of the stress you are put under by people directly in charge of you. The resolution tactic here that you should immediately consider is discussing with your boss your concerns. It’s a professional way to handle things and it’s the best way that you can approach a problem. If you go above their head in the first instance, you could find yourself feeling even more friction and could significantly make the problem worse. Pride and ego do come into play in the workplace – make sure you know how to manage those!


If you have had a conflict with a boss or a coworker, you need to figure out whether this is a personality clash or whether you are feeling like that because you have a different work style to them. If the latter is the case, you can approach the situation by explaining that you appreciate the difference in working styles, but you would like to learn how they approach any situation so that you can learn to work together. When the issue comes down to a personality clash, the best option is to work out whether you can shift to a different department in the same company.



When the workplace problem comes from feeling undervalued, you need to call a meeting and ask directly what it the expectations for your role are and how you can meet them. If you don’t feel valued, you need to speak up and say so. There is a very good chance that the people you work for don’t know that you feel that way, and the only way anything can change and move forward is if you know where you stand. Long working hours andlow pay rates can make anyone feel underappreciated, and yet the long hours could be put upon you simply because you are good at your role.


Conflict resolution at work is a difficult pill to swallow, but you don’t have to do it alone. The HR department is there to support you through any issues, so approach them and use their knowledge to help you.



How Fashion Has Evolved

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Fashion is a wonderful thing. It has the power to change someones appearance for the better, and in some cases for the worse. But whatever it may be, fashion truly is a wonderful thing, and over the years it has evolved massively. A few mistakes have definitely be learnt along the way, and some fashion was that successful it is even coming back into play now.


The fashion we see today is also massively influenced by the people working in the industry, and celebrities. Celebrities and social media might just be one of the biggest influences, with stars such as Kanye and Kim west shaping the fashion world as we know it. There’s also the big designers that have come about in recent years that continue to make a difference such as Tom Ford and Donatella Versace. But, if there’s one thing we do know about fashion, it’s that there’s so many different views of what’s good and what’s not. Some people view catwalk fashion as a work of art, whilst some view it as a disaster. But if there’s one thing we all share, it’s the love of clothing and this article is going to explore how this love of clothing has evolved over the years.




1960’s
Let’s start way back. The 1960’s was a time where everything in the world seemed right. There wasn’t much conflict, and it was generally a better time to live. The fashion back then was so much more reserved compared to what it is now. It was the year of flares for the men, and cute shapeless dresses, usually in some form of crazy colour. In a way the fashion was much more sweet and innocent. A lot was left to the imagination, unlike now. For the most part, it was simplistic, minus the colours. The men wore tight flared jeans, usually with a turtleneck style jumper. Women also used to like wearing the two piece skirt and blouse combination. But it wasn’t the blouse we know, it was more of a blazer blouse, but the top and bottom were always matching. Sometimes they’d push the boat out and have some floral typed pattern on the top and skirt. The outfit was always accompanied by a small little handbag, some things just don’t change today do the?



1980’s
This is where things got a little bit more daring. Both women and men began experimenting with different styles. Women in particular dared to push the boat out a little further. It was also the time of the hippies, so some fashion in a way was a bit crazy. But, in recent years that hippie style fashion came back, especially in the UK. Everyone loved a good tye dye top and the classic small framed glasses. But that was just one class of people who created their own style. For the most part, retro is the word used to describe the fashion at the time. The bright style that the 1960’s loved still carried on through to the 80’s, but the style changed completely. Tracksuits, tailored suits, and weird and wacky jumpers were all on the list. By then Nike had been born and so had comfort for a lot of people. The flared cropped three quarter trousers the so many people know and love were born in the 80’s, It was considered a smart look back then, and women usually couple it with a plain tee tucked into the trousers, pretty much like people do today. But if it wasn’t colourful, it wasn’t any good. The suits for the men however were much of an improvement to the 60’s.




2000’s
Ahhh, the era many of us know and love. This is where the term the shorter the better was definitely introduced. Flared jeans were still popular, but couple with a tight cropped top instead of a cute full length one. Leather was also a hell of a lot more popular, especially for skirts. Cargo pants were also a big hit with the men, as the famous band the backstreet boys will display in their videos. It was a time of relaxed fashion, mixed with a little bit of craziness from the girls. To be honest, the 2000’s was a time where anything went. People put together their own fashion, and others copied. Sort of like what happens today. It was a time where you could wear what you wanted, and felt free in doing so. The short denim skirt was also born in the 2000’s. It was a fashion trend that was loved back then, and is even loved today by so many around the world. Since, then we’ve still taken inspiration into what we wear today. Men also loved a good puffer jacket, and the suits got even smarter. The main thing to take away from the 2000’s is that it was ok to show a bit of belly and leg, a lot more than it was in the 1980’s anyway!



Present
Fashion in a way has taken a turn for the crazy if you look at catwalk fashion. But normal everyday fashion for the people who can’t afford the high end brands is pretty simplistic and smart. There’s so many different looks for so many different occasions. Party dresses, skater dresses, casual dresses, bodycon dresses. The 21st century has created it all. There’s so many bargains to be had as well. With online shopping being so huge, it is even easier to find something that suits you. There’s always a discount to be had as well. Using sites such as dontpayfull.comsaves people an absolute fortune. This is a luxury people in the 60’s to 80’s just didn’t have. If there’s one amazing thing about present fashion it’s that there’s literally something for everyone, and anyone can create their own unique style and run with it.


This should have made it easier to show you how much fashion has evolved over the years. A lot would say for the better, but we’re sure there’s something from every era that everyone can love.



Taking Your Career Around the World

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When it comes to careers, many people will spend the majority of their time behind the same desk, day in and day out. This can quickly grow dull, but the lull of routine and habit mean that people become stagnant and stay put. Is this something that you want to aspire to? Of course not! Why would you want to stay in the same spot permanently when the whole world is out there waiting. Luckily, advancements in travel and technology mean that you can easily take your career around the world with you. Here are just a few ways to advance your career without being cooped up in an office!


Engage in Distance Learning
If you haven’t yet secured a job or are between jobs, you may be considering heading into education to gain qualifications that will boost your resume or allow you to set up a business of your own. This will usually mean enrolling at a higher education institution and frequenting the same old campus day in and day out to attend lectures and seminars. But why not engage with distance learning instead? Courses such as international accounting and finance msc allow you study online. This means that you can fit your education in around various other activities, such as travel. Remember that travel doesn’t only look great on your resume. It also gives you the chance to scope out different markets around the world and put your studies to practical and real-life use. Perfect!


Go Freelance
If you’ve already settled into a career, why not consider going freelance? You likely have plenty of experience which will attract the attention of potential clients, so you needn’t worry too much about asking people to simply trust that you’ll do your job properly. Just build up a portfolio of your previous achievements to showcase should clients request examples of your previous work. Going freelance also means that you can work from anywhere you, please. This option proves the simplest for those who can complete their work from remote locations such as the home. If you can work on your laptop and email your final pieces to clients over email, you’re pretty much set to go! Your office is wherever you happen to be: your accommodation, a coffee shop, a local library… you name it. But who said these have to be in your hometown? This accommodation, coffee shop, or local library could be absolutely anywhere! The world is your oyster!


Take Business Trips
A simple way to stay employed but also experience the wider world is to undertake business trips. These allow you to get out of your usual environment while also being productive. Arrange meetings with potential overseas clients or partners and use the trip as an opportunity to see the wider world! Opening your eyes to how other cultures deal with business could also prove extremely beneficial for your own position or business too.


As you can see, you don’t necessarily have to stay put in the same place forever to make a success of your career. In fact, taking your career to an international stage can vastly improve your prospects!



Is It Time You Landed The Career You Deserve?

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As much as it’s easy to get comfortable in life, you really do have to remember that life is short. And while that sounds like such a cliche, it’s still very true. You only get one life, so you really need to make it count. When you’re not happy with your current job, you’re going to want to do everything in your power to ensure you get a better job going forwards. Because we all deserve to be on a careerpath that we love. After all, we’re a long time working, so it’s always best to do something that you enjoy. So let’s take a look at what you can do to finally land yourself a job that you love.


Looking To Your Passions
First of all, you need to consider your passions. Because when you want a job that you can be completely in love with, you need to be able to choose something that you’re passionate about. Whether you love to write or you really know a lot about sports, you should think about the things that you love, are good at, and enjoy doing. More often than not, you’ll be able to find a career that involves one or more of your interests, but you need to identify what they are first.


Considering Your Options
So now that you have some ideas in mind of what you want your career to involve, you’re going to want to look into your options. Because it’s one thing having a passion for shopping, but you have to find a viable career path that is a realistic option for you. This means you need to get your research skills together and start looking. You should aim to find options or one set career path that suits your skills, strengths, and your interests too. Otherwise, it may not be a realistic option for you.


 


Going Back To School
From here, you’re then going to consider whether you need to go back to school or not. Not every career will require this, but many will benefit from it. Whether it’s an online MBA in accounting or a night school program in fashion design, your new career could depend on this. So you need to look into the requirements for your dream job, and weigh up whether or not you want to go back to school to make the change.


Getting Experience
Next up, you should definitely think about how you’re going to go about getting experience. Because you will need to have some knowledge and experience of a new industry when you’re trying to break into it. Internships and volunteering can really help you here.


Following Your Dreams
Finally, you’re also going to need to get your mindset right. Because if you really want to be able to follow your dreams, you need to do what it takes to make them come true. This can often mean that you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone and stay on track even when times get tough. But if you really want it and you’re willing to work hard, it will happen.



A Career In Policing – Is It Right For You?

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Police Officer, Police, Uniform, Officer, Cop, Law

The life of a police officer is one that is often glamorized in films. Meanwhile, the thought of having a positive impact on the community is a very appealing aspect too. Before rushing into this type of career, though, it’s imperative that you know what you’re signing up for.

  

A little insight goes a long way as you look to make the best possible decision. So, let’s take a closer look at the career you can expect to have.

  

It’s Not All Car Chases & Intelligent Investigations
At times, police work can be very exciting. From following suspects to analyzing crime mysteries, it’s enough to keep your mind occupied like no other job on the planet. In reality, though, this is only a small portion of the work. Appreciating the additional elements is crucial if you want to make a smart decision.

  

Maintaining peace within the neighborhood often relies on less glamorous tasks. In truth, having human empathy and an analytical brainis often far more valuable than being able to handle a car or gun. Meanwhile, paperwork and organization are crucial attributes that will consume a lot of your time.   

  

Progress Isn’t Easy, But It’s Very Rewarding
Climbing the career ladder within the police force is a long and hard-fought affair. In addition to proving your worth with experience, it may be necessary to take a BA Policing degree. These can be completed in your time, which is a bonus. However, it can take several years before you reach the senior positions that you crave.   

  

Police, Police Car, Use, Blue Light, Signal, Patrol Car 

On the other hand, there’s no question that the emotional and financial rewards can be huge. Given that many of the skills are transferable into other careers too, this is a very positive factor. Still, it is important to appreciate how age and other life factors may influence your career in the field. Rushing in without careful consideration simply isn’t a solution.

  

The Opportunities To Go Elsewhere May Be Limited
Getting into the police force isn’t always easy. Furthermore, you must acknowledge the fact that switching things up may be a little harder than in some roles. Policing isn’t a job where you can travel with work. The fundamental features are similar across the board. Still, you will always need to understand individual territories. Therefore, even permanent relocations are limited.

  

In truth, budget cuts in some territories also mean it’s often difficult to find better roles in new districts. After all, those positions are often filled internally. Of course, this isn’t an issue for those that are happy to climb one career ladder for many years. For those desiring a regular change of scenery, though, this is a factor to consider.

  

The Final Word
It takes a special type of person with specific skills to become a successful police officer. Moreover, it’s a job that requires a long-term commitment. Still, if you fit the bill, you could be the perfect addition to the ‘old bill’. When this is the case, there’s no doubt that it’s the most rewarding career of all.



Set Standard: Blogging Like A Pro

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Over the last decade or so, blogging has become one of the most popular forms of online expression. Anyone has the power to start something like this, and the range of acceptable topics is practically limitless, making this media one of the most freeing there is. Of course, though, with so many blogs out there, trying to break into it can feel almost impossible. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring one of the best ways to boost any blog; a set of standards.


The Site
To begin, you won’t be writing anything quite yet, as you will have a little bit of work to do to make sure that your website is up to scratch. Thankfully, systems like WordPress make it incredibly easy to get started on your own blog site. Everything, from the domain to the color scheme, should be chosen to reflect the content you’ll be making. This will help to make the blog recognisable, while also ensuring that it is all consistent. When things are designed in different ways but used on the same project it can start to look very cheap.


The Content
Even with the website sorted out, you won’t quite be ready to start writing, as you’ve got some content to think about. It usually works best to plan the content you’re going to make for at least a couple of months at a time. This will keep things consistent, while also giving you the chance to check your ideas over and over, ensuring that they are as good as they can be. The sort of topics you cover should always relate to one another, or people will find it hard to know what your blog is aimed towards.


The Writing
There’s nothing worse than a blog with poor grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. Even though you’re not a professional writer, people will expect your content to be produced to the same standards as everyone else on the web. To achieve this, taking a couple of writing courses could boost your skills to the next level, while also preparing you to write on your own website. To test this out, you can find a sample guest post pitch email template here which can give you the chance to reach out and make content for others. This is a great way to test the waters and get some feedback.


The Contributors
Finally, as the last area to consider, it’s time to think about the other people you’ll be letting post on your blog. There are loads of new bloggers out there looking for the chance to guest post on other people’s sites. As long as someone is writing in the same field as you and is good at what they do, it shouldn’t be any problem to use some of their content. In fact, this can be a great way to boost your presence when you’re first getting started.


Hopefully, this post will inspire you to start working harder on the time you put into your blog. This sort of hobby is great for anyone looking to make a little extra cash or simply find a way to express themselves on the internet. With some being nominated for Pulitzer Awards, it’s easy to see how serious blogging is becoming, and you could have everything you need to take a slice.




Anniversary Coming Up? Plan a Romantic Getaway Using These Ideas

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If you would like to surprise your partner this year by planning a getaway for your anniversary, don’t just book a resort holiday or a boutique hotel. You can find great experiences around the world that will make your vacation memorable. Below you will find some inspiration on how to find the right vacation rental for your anniversary.


Glamping

If you would like to get maximum comfort and privacy when you celebrate your anniversary, glampingis a great idea. You can choose to stay in the middle of the forest, or in a resort, and get all the comfort you could have at home. Take a brisk walk in the morning, visit old towns, book a table at a local restaurant, and explore the area. You can make the most out of your glamping vacation if you check out the attractions nearby and book your tours ahead. The good news is you don’t have to wake up early to get your breakfast, and you can stay flexible.


Cruising


One of the best ways to celebrate an anniversary is to book a cruise. An all inclusive package can take you around Europe or the Caribbean, and introduce you to different cultures, heritage, scenery, and cuisine every day. Alternatively, you can book a boat trip https://boat.me, and enjoy everything a custom itinerary has to offer. Book a luxury cabin and take advantage of the on-board entertainment facilities.


Treetop Hotels

To get away from it all and get closer to the nature and each other, you could arrange a rainforest vacation at an eco-lodge. There are several boutique hotels offering great packages and eco friendly accommodation. If you want, you could even stay in the canopy and listen to the sound of nature falling asleep in your cabin.


Yoga Retreats

People who would like to rejuvenate and renew their vows can book a yoga retreat in a natural reserve in the Caribbean or in Asia. They can take a step back from civilisation, and reflect on their relationship, as well as the way forward. You don’t have to be fit or flexible to try meditation and yoga, and you can benefit from the detoxification offered by the hotel for many years to come. Say goodbye to the crowd and pollution for a while, and try to embark on a journey of self-improvement together.


Small Islands


If you would like to enjoy tranquility and explore underwater worlds, choosing one of the popular island destinations for your special getaway is a great idea. Tropical islands, such as the Seychelles have a great climate, and they are great for relaxation. You will feel like you are in paradise, and time simply stops.


Whether you are looking to take a break from civilization, or take an all inclusive cruise around the world to celebrate your anniversary, there are several romantic vacation packages you can choose from. Make sure you plan every detail, so you can enjoy creating more memories with your loved one.



Surprising Ways Pets Can Give Your Mental Health a Boost

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The stigma around mental health is being broken down bit by bit in life, on social media, and with celebrities alike. And as a result, we can be more open about how we are feeling and remembering that it is okay not to be okay. While there are many interventions and medications out there, one thing that could benefit anyone that is suffering with depression or anxiety, as examples, is by getting a pet. It can have quite a profound impact on mental health and overall wellbeing. Not convinced? Here are some ways that a pet could help.


 


Pets Reduce Stress
We can all feel stress in our lives, from work or our home life, there are a lot of pressure on us. But there is plenty of research that has shown that simply petting a dog, for example, can really help to reduce stress. Even watching fish in a tank can help to calm you and help with mindfulness. You get a connection with them without any questions asked that could stress your further, so why aren’t more of us doing this?


Constant Companionship
If you’re lonely or feel like you don’t want to go out and socialize all of the time, then having a pet to keep you company can be just what you need. As has been said, you get the connection and comfort with a pet, but you don’t have to have a stressful or anxiety-inducing conversation. It is simply companionship. So it can help you if you are quite introverted or feeling lonely.


Gives Your Routine and Interaction
If you’re having a particularly bad day, the temptation to just stay in bed all day can be very real. But in reality, that is unlikely to help you to feel better. But when you have a pet, you don’t have the option of just staying in bed all day. They will require feeding, cleaning, or taken for a walk. So it can give you a much-needed purpose and some motivation to get up n get going. This can help your self-esteem massively, as well as your overall health. So if you think this could really benefit you, then it could be worth looking into getting an Emotional Support Animal. You could get apply for an ESA doctor's note online to get the process started. You never know, it could really benefit you.



Improves Your Fitness

Exercise is going to help you to feel better about yourself, as it gives your body a boost of good hormones, as well as helps you to feel stronger and be fitter. Making everyday easier than before. So having a reason to get out and get moving is going to be really beneficial. A pet dog, for example, is a great reason to be out and about and getting fit. You are going to be more active with a pet that needs playing with or needs to be walked. And the benefits are going to really show.


Have you had any experience of this? Would love to hear what you think.



Alternative Getaways For 2018

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Going away for a much-needed break might be on the minds of a lot of these days. Especially with the dull and grey of January and the post festive blues. So I thought I would share with you some different ideals to get you feeling inspired for your travel plans this year.



A sports style holiday
For the sport enthusiasts there is no better way of enjoying a holiday that involving your favourite recreational activities. Giving you the chance to experience different sports in different locations and climates. From watersports to something where you are on dry land. The sports style holiday suits everyone. From a boys weekend away, a trip with friends, or even something for the family. You could even enjoy this style of holiday as a couple if that suited you. There is something for everyone.


Something for the active amongst us
Maybe you love to be active. Perhaps doing something, playing a sport or just being outdoors. Then why not consider a different vacation style that suits your interests? You could head over to a national park where you go hiking. Exploring the great outdoors. People who are active tend to consider things like hiking, mountain climbing or camping. There are plenty of organised holiday companies who would be happy to take you on treks and other organised sports. Who says it’s just students on GAP years who can go off and backpack across Asia or hitchhike across Australia? If you want to utilise your summer holiday and explore new and uncharted lands then go for it. Backpackingand doing things on a small budget is fast becoming a new trend for couples and could be an experience to share with family for years to come.



An alternative destination
Perhaps you sick of the mundane usual destinations you will go to. The ones everyone seems to have been twice over. Then why not branch out your options and consider an alternative destination. Maybe you have wanted to visit India or some of the Asian countries, or actually do something a little different like travel to India. Hotels like the Courtyard Kochi Airport could be a great stopover to provide you with a point to travel further. Perhaps to see iconic sites like the Taj Mahal or soak in the delights of the city of Delhi.


A luxurious beach getaway
After a busy time in work or just living life in general, sometimes the dream is to head off to a white sandy beach and just relax. It’s the top priority for many when it comes to their annual holiday. You could consider something a little more luxurious and head further afield to places like The Maldives or The Caribbean. There, are however, many destinations that have beautiful scenery and white sandy shores a little closer to home. You could book a package deal or consider booking things separate to get the best deal.


I hope that this has offered you some inspiration to get something booked for this year.



Urban Chameleon: Streetwear Style That Births Confidence

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No one can really pin down where the modern version of b-bop style comes from, but streetwear looks like it's here to stay. It's essentially coming out of the urban scene because originally it was born out of the hip-hop scene merging with the hipster culture. Practical yet cool and relevant to music, art and city nightlife, streetwear can be worn by almost anyone. The style is formless, which is why so many students who don’t have a lot of cash to splash out on fashion items, have taken to the style like a duck to water. However, the icons that have made this genre famous can be deemed one or two generations above them. If you can’t find a particular style that suits you and you’re the type of man who is lacking a little confidence, don’t worry any longer. The reason why anyone can pull off this urban look is because it's a formless style, without rules and strict codes or traditions. Almost anything can be mixed into it, giving you a chance to add your spin on things.


Credit Tim Savage


Snapbacks and laser cap
Made popular in hip-hop,the snapback cap has become more and more mainstream since popular music stars have been wearing them in their music videos. This kind of clothing item has founds its way seeping into streetwear and into the urban scenes. Men in their late teens, twenties and thirties can all wear this kind of cap and not look out of place or trying to be something they’re not. If you’re suffering from early male pattern baldness and don’t want to retreat into hats just for the sake of it, you have the option of turning the form into function. With a product like Capillus, modern technology blends into whatever kind of style you’re going to wear. It uses little lasers to focus in on your fading hair follicles and slowly but surely bring them back to full strength. Any onlookers won’t even know this is occurring because they’re on the inside and the cap is still flexible.


 

Tears and patches
There used to be a time when ripped jeans were only worn during the summer. At times there was a cultural notion that only women could pull off ripped jeans, but the streetwear scene has rejected this claim. Men can and should try to wear ripped jeans that are done in a specific way. Rips and tears should be done around the quadriceps area, just above the knee. Be careful to not give too much credence to jeans with stylish tears placed higher up the thigh as your undergarments such as boxers and briefs may be seen. Patches have come back into style thanks to the hipster culture, but as aforementioned, streetwear borrows much from its cousin. Knee and calf patches in different shades to the main color of the jeans give off a rugged yet youthful demeanor.


The great thing about streetwear is that it's a mix and match of different already proven styles. It's a cross between hip-hop and modern hipster cultures that any man lacking confidence can pull off.




The Power of Finding a Niche

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The majority of bloggers have heard the wonders of niche marketing being shouted from the rooftops, but perhaps, due to the fear of limiting the size of their market have opted to play it safe with more generalist positioning to ensure they don’t exclude key market segments.  This article explores the power of niche marketing for bloggers as an alternative to being a more generalist blogger.


WHAT IS A NICHE?

A niche is a focused subset of a particular market group.  There are millions of “mompreneur”, “home sweet home” and “travel” blogs out there - all craving for the world’s attention, yet when you think about the blogs that you’re truly engaged with and loyal to they probably hold your interest and loyalty due to being particularly relevant to you, and within this theme of relevancy, they are helping you solve a particular challenge or stimulating a specific interest within you.


Now, let’s look at it slightly differently - as a product category; if you were to think about pet food, for example, we could break that down to cat food and dog food – but this is still a very broad market.  If, however, we were to look at gourmet pet food this could be considered a niche market… and one step further would be to look at organic gourmet dog food.



WHY HAVING A NICHE IS IMPORTANT

In broader markets (e.g. pet food) you are up against competitors with massive marketing budgets and global brands.  As a blogger, one of the core challenges you face is that of people finding out about you in such a crowded space.  Indeed, you could run multiple ads but these are costly - to the point some bloggers take out an unsecured loan in order to launch their blog via popular channels such as facebook ads; but without a very specific focus on a subset of a particular audience, you can end up wasting  a lot of money this way.


If we were to think of this from a marketing spend perspective you want to get the greatest return on investment possible, and in spending money on digital marketing the cost per click for an advert relating to something broad like “dog food” is going to be much higher than something more niche such as “organic dog food” because the search term is less competitive.


When looking at this as a blogger, you could consider the term “marketing blog” to be highly competitive and somewhat generic - whereas, albeit particularly obscure just to make the point - “marketing blog for mompreneurs selling clogs” is going to get you much more noticed by this very specific (perhaps too specific) group of people.


It means that the person clicking on your advert is a more relevant customer that is actively looking for your particular solution rather than just browsing through marketing blogs.  Realistically, you don’t want thousands of people clicking on your adverts – as that would cost you a fortune; you only want qualified prospects – and the more niche focused your marketing is, the better the conversion rate will be meaning the higher the return on your investment.


Moreover, it means that your audience are going to be moreinterested in what you have to say because they have a natural affinity and alignment with the purpose of your blog.


In summary, the power of finding your niche within blogging makes you more relevant to your target audience which means people the right people will start being drawn toward you as the go-to expert within your specific area of expertise; so stop being so broad and generic - stand out and start getting more specific.



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