Welcome to another World First Wander, a regular rundown of the travel blogosphere’s best new posts – as spotted by our social media man, Tristan Rothwell. It’s a super speedy way to stay on top of the latest and greatest stories in the travel world. So grab a coffee, get comfy and get reading.

Take it away, Tristan!

Greetings travellers!

It’s time for another World First Wander – your one stop shop for what’s hot in the world of travel. There have been some great travel posts and articles appearing across the internet recently and I wanted to share a few of my favourites with you.

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We’ve had some really amazing entries for this month’s My World First competition. There have been tales of camel kissing, AK47s, communist countries, ice hotels, the Amazon, a kiss from Olly Murs, stolen underwear and a fling with a diving instructor. And that’s just the start! The best news is that there’s still time to enter and give yourself the chance of winning a Kindle.

As you might have guessed, the theme for our travel writing competition is world firsts. Get it? We want to hear about your first-time travel experiences. It could be anything you like. And judging by the entries we’ve already had, it probably will be! If it’s a first in your world then it’s one of your world firsts. Tell us about it. This blog post explains the rules and reveals just how easy it is to enter.

The winner of this month’s competition will receive a Kindle – or the equivalent value in Waterstone’s vouchers if they prefer. Viveca Koh won a Kindle in a previous World First competition and sent us this amazing photograph of her and her new toy at the ECVB powerstation in Belgium.

You can take a look at more of Viveca’s photography using these links:

Viveca Koh Photography

Viveca Koh Blog

Follow the hashtag #myworldfirst on Twitter. This month’s competition ends at 23:59 on 30th November.

Written by Tristan Rothwell

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For many of us, going on holiday is one of those rare times when you can settle into a deckchair and get stuck into a really good book. It’s a glorious indulgence isn’t it? Once you know that everything, including the travel insurance, is in order you can begin to relax.

I love reading and adore books so I’ve spent many trips hauling piles of novels around with me. On one trip, to India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bali I endured a couple of months with three volumes of Indian epic ‘A Suitable Boy’ in my rucksack. They must have weighed over a kilo but I just couldn’t bear to be parted from them. What a fool I was. But then again, they hadn’t invented e-readers yet!

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July 4th 2011

Busy day today? Too stretched to catch up on the best in travel news and writing? Manic Monday making it impossible to manage those blog feeds? Don’t panic. The World First Weekly Wander is our very own weekly breakdown of the best travel based web content. It’s compiled by our very own Tristan Rothwell ( @WFTristan for all you tweeters). So sit back and let him do all the work.

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We have heard today that air traffic controllers are expected to be among 750,000 workers who will join a day of mass strikes that are planned by trade unions for the 30^th June. If this happens then the travel industry will face more delays, cancellations and travel misery. Oh dear.

If you are due to be travelling on the 30^th June or shortly after then it should be noted that you will be covered for Travel Delay, Abandonment and Missed Departure on your World First Travel Insurance policy as long as you took out your policy before 16^th June (today) at 0800 GMT.

Unfortunately anyone who took out a policy after this cut off time will not be covered. However, as usual, your airline should be responsible for offering you alternate flights or compensation for additional accommodation.

We will update this story as and when we hear more.

It’s heartbreaking watching the news today. As we stare open mouthed at our televisions it’s hard to imagine the magnitude of what has happened in Japan and what is about to happen in the rest of the Pacific. Tidal wave alerts are in force in Russia, Hawaii, The Philippines, Indonesia, Alaska, Central America and even South America. The Tsunami that resulted from the largest earthquake to hit the country since records began over a hundred years ago has already hit the north east coast of Japan. Its magnitude has been put at 8.8 on the Richter scale with some reports putting the wave height of the tsunami at 10 metres. To give it some scale the earthquake that hit Christchurch last month was 6.3.

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Martin Dorey

If you’ve been anywhere near BBC2 this week you might have caught a brand new series that’s been running every night at 6.30. It’s called ‘One Man and His Campervan’ and it’s all about a chap who travels around the UK in his classic camper cooking and eating as he goes.

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So it’s Friday afternoon. It’s raining outside. There’s nothing in the diary to keep you excited. Every other shop window is spraying fake snow all over the place. You’re dreaming of far away lands. You’re dreaming of pistes glowing white under a fresh dump of snow. You’re dreaming of schnapps and good times. Why not? But where to first?

If you’re thinking of dropping everything and jumping on a plane for a quick snow plough in the alps it’s going to be a bit of a risk at this time of year. But don’t worry. With your trusty computer at hand you can check out the snow conditions practically anywhere. So. How about a quick overnight dash to Scotland? What’s happening right now? Thankfully you can check out the conditions right here at Ski-Scotland’s website. There’s not much on offer but you might be lucky if you head for the Cairngorms. They plan to open this weekend for snow sports. Yippeeee. (more…)

In the last blog we looked at airport parking with ski gear on our journey to the slopes for this winter’s ski season and great deals on airport parking as part of a World First Travel Insurance package.  For this one we’re going to look at a completely different way of getting there – the ski train from St Pancras ( you might not need the parking but you’ll still need great value winter sports cover). Going by train can be really relaxing and it could well prove to be the answer for people who want all the fun of the snow without the hassle or higher environmental impact of flying.

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Now I’m no economist but even I know that the exchange rate means everything when it comes to booking your holiday. It can mean the difference between eating out and eking out the pennies. And that can make or break your holiday, especially during these (and I quote) ‘tricky economic times’.

So whilst you might be able to get great deals on your travel insurance and super-cheap flights, it may not be a true reflection of the cost of your holiday.  Some of those great holiday deals might look great you when you’re tapping away on the laptop absentmindedly in front of the telly, but don’t forget to think about how much it’s all going to cost when you get there. At the time of writing the GBP (£) was at its lowest against the Euro for almost a year, which means that if I nipped out to the Post Office today I’d get about £140 less for every £1000 worth of Euros I bought this time two years ago. That adds up to more than just a few cervezas.

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