Christmas in the UK isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Top of some people’s Christmas list is heading to one of Europe’s most fantastically festive cities and soaking up the yuletide spirit of starry-skied, mulled wine scented outdoor Christmas markets. Others crave a chance to escape from the cold, commercialised Christmas of the UK while taking it easy somewhere nice and hot for a week or so.

If you’re one of the thousands of Britons jetting off this Christmas, you’ll have probably started a mental checklist of things to remember. After all, forgetting the presents would be a nightmare! But forgetting the travel insurance could be even worse. Here’s why.

(more…)

Today is Columbus Day. It’s the day that many countries in the ‘New World’ celebrate as the day when the Americas were first ‘discovered’ by Europeans. But myths of Columbus and his voyage abound. Many believe that Columbus set out to prove that the world was round rather than flat. However, the truth is that Columbus set out to find a western trade route to the Far East. He didn’t even discover the New World first – that claim now goes to Leif Ericson. In fact, Columbus’ famous voyage of 1492 wasn’t plain sailing at all.

Here at World First we’re happy to say that we are able to provide cover for many people who find it hard to get cover elsewhere. We cover people up to the age of 100 as well as those with medical conditions and were the first travel insurance company to offer a policy for travellers living with HIV and AIDS. We also insure families and backpackers and those who take time out to travel the world. But would we have insured Columbus?

Er…. unlikely. Columbus was a travel insurance nightmare.

(more…)

Photographer and World First social media man Tristan Rothwell recounts his recent trip to Cornwall and shows off some of the photos.

Having just returned from a trip to my birthplace and home town, Penzance in Cornwall, I thought I would share some photographs with you from the trip.

I don’t get home to the motherland as often as I would like – but have just found time to spend a long weekend there with my girlfriend, armed with my usual array of cameras including my standard weapon of choice: the Canon 50d equipped with a Canon 50mm prime lens, the sharpness of which is truly amazing! The thing is, it didn’t actually make it out of my camera bag!

The reason the Canon became slightly ignored this weekend is due to taking delivery of my shiny new white iPhone! And then going into a camera app downloading frenzy. I downloaded Hipstamatic , Scratchcam and a few others the evening before leaving and was like a child with a new toy. Hipstamatic gives you a lovely lo-fi effect which i really like. I usually spend hours taking photographs with my £1000 DSLR and then spend many more hours making it look like they were taken on a £20 Russian charity shop camera. Not anymore thanks to these toy-camera apps.

I am a street photographer by choice, where the idea is to get the photograph without being seen! That’s not easy if you are using a large digital SLR. So the iPhone makes the perfect street photography and holiday camera. It’s got a 5mp lens, there are some great apps for it and nobody seems to take any notice of you using it. Perfect.

Here’s some of my iphoneography from the trip.

Land’s End – The end of the UK.

St.Ives in the rain. I guess it had to rain at least once. We decided to make a run for the Tate Gallery.

Once in the Tate Gallery we became part of the art itself, adding our names to the walls of one of the exhibitions.

I spotted these model houses in a shop in the High Street in St Ives and thought it may make an interesting shot.

We left St.Ives and headed for Sennen (my spiritual home). I grew up surfing Sennen and considered it my local break for 20 years. So I always visit when I’m in Cornwall. The sunsets are spectacular. Usually. Unfortunately, they weren’t this time and the heavens opened (again) just as we arrived. We made our way to The Beach Restaurant which really is worth a visit.

We would have sent you a postcard but…

We finished our long weekend with a trip to Philp’s pasty shop in Hayle, where we loaded up with pasties to take home for friends and family, not least the World First Managing Director who is a keen ambassador of pasty power. And what trip to Cornwall is complete without a pasty? Exactly. We’ll be back soon to stock up again.

Tristan Rothwell – Social Media Team – World First Travel Insurance
Twitter @wftristan
wftristan@gmail.com

And where to find the perfect insurance policy for holidaying at home.

Fine dining, golden-sanded beaches, picture-postcard coastal scenery, pastoral countryside, world-famous cities and a vast choice of accommodation; there’s one place that has it all. And it’s right on your doorstep.

Yes, more and more of us are deciding to take our holidays at home in good ol’ Blighty. With purse-strings being tightened at every turn and the cost of foreign holidays continuing to spiral, people are waking up to the fact that giving up on foreign travels doesn’t have to mean going without your annual getaway. For many the UK will do just fine, thanks very much.

There’s no need to buy travel insurance either, right? Well, kind of. But consider what might happen if you had to cancel a booking at your dream cottage in the Cotswolds at the last minute. You could be left substantially out of pocket. Fortunately there’s a policy that’s absolutely perfect for UK holidays.

And you can find out more below.

(more…)

If you can’t make up your mind where to go for your summer holidays this year, then I can highly recommend opting for a life of indecision. And by that I mean staying flexible with a holiday in a classic camper. Not only will a beautiful set of retro wheels make you the coolest kids at the camp site but you’ll also be able to go anywhere you want, safe in the knowledge that you’ve got everything you need right there with you.

Taking off in a classic camper van is nothing new. It’s a fine tradition that goes all the way back to the hippy trail and the idealistic days of freedom, peace and love on the road. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Today you don’t even have to own one to enjoy a taste of the outdoor life. There are now hundreds of companies all across the UK who are prepared to entrust you with their vintage wheels so that you too can enjoy the freedom of the open road.

(more…)

This is a bit self-indulgent. I was going to call this 10 great things about Sealink, but I couldn’t find enough to list.

I used Sealink a lot in the 60s, 70s and 80s as a child and then as a student going back and forth from France and Spain. For those old enough to remember, Sealink was what we used to get to continental Europe before the Channel Tunnel came along. It was real travelling. No antiseptic, air-conditioned high-speed trains here. This was real contact with the wind, air and diesel fumes.

(more…)