travel
The best travel locations for vacations or workplace locations around the country and the world.
Cruise Ship Diaries Part 7
In Part 6 I talked about some of the onboard events we had to cover (or as I later learned didn’t ‘have’ too) but on the Corals run probably the best event the entertainment staff ran was called Dancing Through The Decades (which you can see in the above link) which spanned the 1950’s - 70’s and also involved 3 costume changes for the cruise staff throughout the night. Starting with a 50’s rock n’ roll vibe, they’d be dressed up in outfits directly stolen from ‘Grease’. What I loved about the events was the character work that the cruise staff would put into it, you had the geeks and the jocks and an Elvis competition where three unwitting members of the audience would be pulled up onstage given an Elvis wig and blow up guitar and have to give there best Elvis to win a $2 bottle of shampoo (cruise staff joke not mine!).
By Neil Gregory4 years ago in Journal
Cruise Ship Diaries Part 6
Each cruise Heather would make our schedule from the ships F&E (Food & Beverage), this document would list all the days of the cruise and she would circle what events she thought or we would be required to film. As a senior videographer you can generally pick what you film in conjunction with the photo manager and entertainment departments, as a junior videographer you just get told what to film, though generally with a good senior you’ll rotate the events so that you don’t film the same events every cruise. Also the schedule has to take into account how long the port day filming will be as well, if you are going to be up at 7a.m and get back to the ship around 7p.m then you will need time to eat, shower and power nap before editing the footage you’ve just filmed that day. This also means if you’ve been on the long excursion you shouldn’t be filming the onboard events that evening, although as you'll see later this does happen!
By Neil Gregory4 years ago in Journal
Dealing with homesickness.
Hey guys, so as I am traveling quite a lot for work now, and as traveling is my work, I must deal with being away from home and loved ones more than I would like. So, I came online for tips to deal with homesickness and wanted to share my experiences with people going through the same situations. If you are traveling for the pure fun of it, homesickness will be very rare, or none existent if you are going for a short holiday.
By Victoria Keeley4 years ago in Journal
What working at a summer camp did for me?
What did camp do for me? Working at Surprise Lake Camp for four consecutive summers really did shape me as an individual. I learned so much about myself, and also what it is like to be surrounded by those who may not share the same beliefs as you. You can test your limits, and discover new things about yourself. It was an experience I will never forget and one that I hold dear to my heart as I met some of the most amazing people throughout the four summers I was there. These beautiful people are now are considered family. Not going to lie my first summer in 2013 that I spent away from home, was the first time I had been away from ‘family’ so to speak – for more than a weekend. So it was something that was completely new to me. I cannot fault the Camp America process at all, everything was explained, and went to plan. My first three weeks away from home, in the wilderness that was Cold Spring, New York were the hardest weeks of my life at that point. I was incredibly homesick, but being surrounded by amazing people and such a wonderful community that made me feel at home was what encouraged me to pursue my dreams of travel and to stay for the three month period. It was insane. I still talk to the people I met when I first went to camp, that is how special these relationships were, you create the best community of friends that will not always be around, but will always be there for you. I have a plethora of friends from all over the world that I can rely on if I need anything. I am so grateful.
By Victoria Keeley4 years ago in Journal
Cruise Ship Diaries Part 5
I woke up in the video room with beer bottles to my right and equipment manuals to my left, and some of the head office bosses from Los Angeles were staring at me! Thankfully I wasn’t in trouble (despite the empty bottles) and they were just onboard as there was a head office Photo/Video conference in Vancouver that week and they were doing a quick ship visit to see how things were going onboard. I’d been by myself for a week already and just completed my 2nd cruise as the only videog with no disasters, but on todays turnaround day in Vancouver I had to film my first onboard wedding. One of the photogs was going to man the wide camera for me and I’d be doing the close ups, having never shot a wedding before I had to research the Princess company style and also use wireless mic kits for the first time in my life. So the night before I’d been in the video room getting everything ready and fallen asleep in my uniform.
By Neil Gregory4 years ago in Journal
Cruise Ship Diaries Part 4
I joined the Coral in August 2007 and within the first month I’d began to adapt to my surroundings namely a much larger alcohol intake and surviving on 2-3 hours sleep a night was the new normal, work was picking up and I was getting more confident with my editing and things were going well.
By Neil Gregory4 years ago in Journal
Cruise Ship Diaries Part 3
The first person who met me in the terminal was Richard the ships Senior videographer who would be training me throughout my contract, we walked into the labyrinth maze that was the M1 (crew name for the deck 4 through-fare that stretched the whole length of the ship). First stop was to go and drop off my luggage at my room and meet my first roommate, ‘We’ll just drop these off as he’s probably still asleep’ Rich said, I just nodded thinking ‘wow he sleeps late as its already 11am’. As I opened the door ‘turn the fucking light off’ greeted me! I left my suitcases and quickly got out, Rich then explained that there was big party the night before for the guy I was replacing Kevin and everyone on the team was a little worse for wear that morning.
By Neil Gregory4 years ago in Journal
Cruise Ship Diaries Part 2
I’d been told my first ship was going to be the Grand Princess and they had a spot for me as soon as I had for US seaman’s visa sorted out. Security at the US embassy in London was spectacularly tight and you were literally not allowed to take anything else in with you bar your documents so my parents came up for the trip. We’d left early on the train from Dover so there plenty of time for any delays before my appointment at 11am, I just didn’t realise how many delays we would encounter!
By Neil Gregory4 years ago in Journal
Base Tendriling Travel Expenses
As business travel expenses nose upward, companies are realizing that better cost-management techniques can make a difference US. corporate travel expenses rocketed to more than $143 billion in 1994, according to American Express' most recent survey on business travel management. Private-sector employers spend an estimated $2,484 per employee on travel and entertainment, a 17 percent increase over the past four years. Corporate T&E costs, now the third-largest controllable expense behind sales and data-processing costs, are under new scrutiny. Corporations are realizing that even a savings of 1 percent or 2 percent can translate into millions of dollars added to their bottom line. Savings of that order are sure to get management's attention, which is a requirement for this type of project. Involvement begins with understanding and evaluating the components of T&E management in order to control and monitor it more effectively.
By Julia Vegas4 years ago in Journal
Jobs For Nomads
As a student who has caught the travel bug, coping can be pretty tricky. Between school responsibilities and trying to fund your education, it's hard to find the time and money to live out your travel dreams. If you're anything like me, you don't want to compromise between a valuable experience, a summer job, and having fun. So for my uncompromising nomads looking to scratch that itch and make money while doing so, here's a rundown of some cool alternative ways I've found to spend my summer breaks.
By Renee Deer4 years ago in Journal