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Hope it´s not too late for some shallow and inane though important reminders especially for women savoring last precious moments on their beach holidays along the picturesque side of European sea coast.
In the middle of the year especially during winter when temperature goes below zero degrees and when stress at work becomes more than what you can bear, doesn´t fantasizing about the sea, waves, sand, sun or just mere relaxing on the beach make you wish that God would listen to your prayers to skip three months of spring and just bounce into summer?
Every year, people in all parts of Europe go gaga about their summer holidays. Some scrimp and save, some take a loan for a family vacation and some lucky ones are provided by their generous employers some kind of a summer bonus to spend for their holidays. A great number trek and take their summer adventures to the Mediterranean or Adriatic coasts where beaches are fully packed as early as July and taking its height during ferragosto, an Italian holiday starting the 1st of August. This therefore, makes it some sort of unwritten rule in Europe to go out, enjoy and be blest with the sun´s UV rays that would eventually give you either sunburn or a sun kissed bronze. If you´re thinking about work, don´t worry about it. It´s either you can go alternately with your co-workers depending on the work schedule. Meaning, you go on a holiday first then your colleague goes second or vice versa. But the point is- everyone should go!
Since beach is the most popular holiday destination here in Europe, unexpected jaw dropping common moronic mistakes might surprise you that could suddenly result into a preposterous beach party pooper disaster ruining your much awaited expensive holiday break. So, in order to prevent some unavoidable beach blunders (that may look like taken from a Hollywood comedy slapstick )or before you whack your head muttering what-was-I-thinking confession, here are some banal tips that would make your beach vacation as smooth and trouble free as possible.
1.Choosing the right tanning lotion/oil for you: Sunbathing is not complete without carrying a bottle of tanning lotion / oil for your soon to be tanned skin. But be careful in choosing the right one for you. Observe how your skin reacts to the brand you´re using. If you see some reddish itchy reactions, don´t blame the sun or the salty sea water yet. It could possibly be that you might be allergic to the brand you´re using on your skin. A friend of mine wanted to have dark tan after their beach holiday. She consistently put tanning oil on her skin and her husband´s for eight straight days while sunbathing. After a few moments, of sun exposure, severe itchiness and red blotches appeared. Both of them blamed the poor old sun declaring that they got allergic reactions to it. So they spent 8 days of their vacation mostly in the shade. But at the end of the 8th day, aha moment suddenly dawned on my friend and curiously asked: couldn´t this allergy be due to the tanning oil we consistently put on our skin? So on the 8th day, they tried swimming and sunbathing sans tanning oil.
Lo and behold, there were no itchiness and red blotches at all. Thanks to her sudden epiphany which she may have gotten from religiously watching CSI´s forensic analysis. At least they enjoyed the last two remaining days from their 10 day vacation.
2."Hallo" is Hey: In most parts of Europe, when people would want to call your distracted attention, don´t take it as an offense when they holler "hallo" at you. Yes, not hello, not hey but hallo (emphasis on the oooo!) Expect that when you´re walking along and you suddenly drop your towel or pareo, don´t worry, sooner or later, somebody would immediately yell, hallo! with an index finger pointing to whatever you may have dropped.
3.Hiding Tan lines: Women do not usually want to be seen with –after- beach- tan -lines. As much as possible we would like to make it appear that our bronze skin is as natural as possible, right? But how do we achieve hiding evidence that we have spent hours lying down in the scorching heat of the sun like dried fish and yet resulting to a natural native Brazilian touch. Try shopping for a tube top bikini which covers your breasts area but no strings attached (I mean literally) around your neck or straps on your shoulders. However, with some that may have strings at the back part. Make sure to untie them to be able to expose your back evenly without having a white stripe.
If you´re using the bra type which most women wear, straps end up being lowered hanging on the arms. Too inconvenient to put on and off all over again. Halter bikinis would also be hard to deal with when it comes to hiding tan lines. It will definitively leave triangle shaped untanned areas that covered your breasts. However, if you´re hell bent on having a one hundred percent free tan lines, sure! You can go topless. That is if you´re bold enough to do so. After all, it´s convenient, practical and you´ll end up having an even tanned all over. Just make sure to stay away from people holding cameras or phone videos, or you´ll end up seen in "You Tube".
4.Getting Ran Over While Sunbathing: You think it´s not possible? When sunbathing, we usually focus on spreading our towels on the beach anywhere where we could immediately do our sun worshipping lying position. But here´s the caveat:
Avoid laying down your towels anywhere close to pedal boats, canoe, kayak or any kind of boat rental area. You may not be aware that the area you´re lying on is where rented pedal boats are parked. It may not seem a problem. But when your ear phones are plugged while your eyes are closed (imagining you´re with Matthew Mc Conaughey sipping Margaritas), you may be oblivious to the returning pedal boats coming your way and ending up getting ran over or hit at any point. If anything else, this tip would save your legs from being shoved by pedal boat caretakers who don´t speak any English at all. Find a spot where you will not be bothered by annoying boat rental business, whining kids, rowdy teenagers or passionate couples making out in the beach on a hot sunny afternoon.
5.Drink Up! It has been said all over again in most women´s magazines to drink more fluids especially when exposed under the sun. Well, no matter how many times we may have been reminded of, we still forget or take drinking water for granted. But if you want to maintain your poise, glamour and Ipanema girl image and so as not to faint in the midst of a busy colorful beach crowd causing an embarrassing commotion-drink more liquids. Juices, soda, iced tea, coffee or cold water would keep you hydrated and will surely keep beach medical emergency staff away from you.
6.Don´t Just Accessorize: If you have chosen an exotic beach as your holiday destination, for sure, there are chains of shopping stalls around the area also known as girls´ playground. You can find heap of women´s accessories beckoning at you with a tag that says I- can- accentuate –your- pink –bikini- so-please-buy – me. It may be too overwhelming at times with the visual stimulation running a gamut of women´s bling bling display. But buying a special accessory memento in various types such as vintage, hand made crafts, ethnic beads that may come in unique designs and lovely colors locally produced and made originally from the place of vacation would be a great buy- not to mention the sentimental value it may hold to remind you of your unforgettable summer memories of the place.
There are still remaining two weeks before the end of August but certainly not the end of summer until the 21st of September. You can still mull over these trivial- easy- to –do- face-saving - tips to skirt beach vacation faux pas. If these do not work this year, you may consider them your advance tips for a great, smooth and hassle free summer holiday next year.
In the middle of the year especially during winter when temperature goes below zero degrees and when stress at work becomes more than what you can bear, doesn´t fantasizing about the sea, waves, sand, sun or just mere relaxing on the beach make you wish that God would listen to your prayers to skip three months of spring and just bounce into summer?
Every year, people in all parts of Europe go gaga about their summer holidays. Some scrimp and save, some take a loan for a family vacation and some lucky ones are provided by their generous employers some kind of a summer bonus to spend for their holidays. A great number trek and take their summer adventures to the Mediterranean or Adriatic coasts where beaches are fully packed as early as July and taking its height during ferragosto, an Italian holiday starting the 1st of August. This therefore, makes it some sort of unwritten rule in Europe to go out, enjoy and be blest with the sun´s UV rays that would eventually give you either sunburn or a sun kissed bronze. If you´re thinking about work, don´t worry about it. It´s either you can go alternately with your co-workers depending on the work schedule. Meaning, you go on a holiday first then your colleague goes second or vice versa. But the point is- everyone should go!
Since beach is the most popular holiday destination here in Europe, unexpected jaw dropping common moronic mistakes might surprise you that could suddenly result into a preposterous beach party pooper disaster ruining your much awaited expensive holiday break. So, in order to prevent some unavoidable beach blunders (that may look like taken from a Hollywood comedy slapstick )or before you whack your head muttering what-was-I-thinking confession, here are some banal tips that would make your beach vacation as smooth and trouble free as possible.
1.Choosing the right tanning lotion/oil for you: Sunbathing is not complete without carrying a bottle of tanning lotion / oil for your soon to be tanned skin. But be careful in choosing the right one for you. Observe how your skin reacts to the brand you´re using. If you see some reddish itchy reactions, don´t blame the sun or the salty sea water yet. It could possibly be that you might be allergic to the brand you´re using on your skin. A friend of mine wanted to have dark tan after their beach holiday. She consistently put tanning oil on her skin and her husband´s for eight straight days while sunbathing. After a few moments, of sun exposure, severe itchiness and red blotches appeared. Both of them blamed the poor old sun declaring that they got allergic reactions to it. So they spent 8 days of their vacation mostly in the shade. But at the end of the 8th day, aha moment suddenly dawned on my friend and curiously asked: couldn´t this allergy be due to the tanning oil we consistently put on our skin? So on the 8th day, they tried swimming and sunbathing sans tanning oil.
Lo and behold, there were no itchiness and red blotches at all. Thanks to her sudden epiphany which she may have gotten from religiously watching CSI´s forensic analysis. At least they enjoyed the last two remaining days from their 10 day vacation.
2."Hallo" is Hey: In most parts of Europe, when people would want to call your distracted attention, don´t take it as an offense when they holler "hallo" at you. Yes, not hello, not hey but hallo (emphasis on the oooo!) Expect that when you´re walking along and you suddenly drop your towel or pareo, don´t worry, sooner or later, somebody would immediately yell, hallo! with an index finger pointing to whatever you may have dropped.
3.Hiding Tan lines: Women do not usually want to be seen with –after- beach- tan -lines. As much as possible we would like to make it appear that our bronze skin is as natural as possible, right? But how do we achieve hiding evidence that we have spent hours lying down in the scorching heat of the sun like dried fish and yet resulting to a natural native Brazilian touch. Try shopping for a tube top bikini which covers your breasts area but no strings attached (I mean literally) around your neck or straps on your shoulders. However, with some that may have strings at the back part. Make sure to untie them to be able to expose your back evenly without having a white stripe.
If you´re using the bra type which most women wear, straps end up being lowered hanging on the arms. Too inconvenient to put on and off all over again. Halter bikinis would also be hard to deal with when it comes to hiding tan lines. It will definitively leave triangle shaped untanned areas that covered your breasts. However, if you´re hell bent on having a one hundred percent free tan lines, sure! You can go topless. That is if you´re bold enough to do so. After all, it´s convenient, practical and you´ll end up having an even tanned all over. Just make sure to stay away from people holding cameras or phone videos, or you´ll end up seen in "You Tube".
4.Getting Ran Over While Sunbathing: You think it´s not possible? When sunbathing, we usually focus on spreading our towels on the beach anywhere where we could immediately do our sun worshipping lying position. But here´s the caveat:
Avoid laying down your towels anywhere close to pedal boats, canoe, kayak or any kind of boat rental area. You may not be aware that the area you´re lying on is where rented pedal boats are parked. It may not seem a problem. But when your ear phones are plugged while your eyes are closed (imagining you´re with Matthew Mc Conaughey sipping Margaritas), you may be oblivious to the returning pedal boats coming your way and ending up getting ran over or hit at any point. If anything else, this tip would save your legs from being shoved by pedal boat caretakers who don´t speak any English at all. Find a spot where you will not be bothered by annoying boat rental business, whining kids, rowdy teenagers or passionate couples making out in the beach on a hot sunny afternoon.
5.Drink Up! It has been said all over again in most women´s magazines to drink more fluids especially when exposed under the sun. Well, no matter how many times we may have been reminded of, we still forget or take drinking water for granted. But if you want to maintain your poise, glamour and Ipanema girl image and so as not to faint in the midst of a busy colorful beach crowd causing an embarrassing commotion-drink more liquids. Juices, soda, iced tea, coffee or cold water would keep you hydrated and will surely keep beach medical emergency staff away from you.
6.Don´t Just Accessorize: If you have chosen an exotic beach as your holiday destination, for sure, there are chains of shopping stalls around the area also known as girls´ playground. You can find heap of women´s accessories beckoning at you with a tag that says I- can- accentuate –your- pink –bikini- so-please-buy – me. It may be too overwhelming at times with the visual stimulation running a gamut of women´s bling bling display. But buying a special accessory memento in various types such as vintage, hand made crafts, ethnic beads that may come in unique designs and lovely colors locally produced and made originally from the place of vacation would be a great buy- not to mention the sentimental value it may hold to remind you of your unforgettable summer memories of the place.
There are still remaining two weeks before the end of August but certainly not the end of summer until the 21st of September. You can still mull over these trivial- easy- to –do- face-saving - tips to skirt beach vacation faux pas. If these do not work this year, you may consider them your advance tips for a great, smooth and hassle free summer holiday next year.
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