TripHip - Travel Tips and Advice for Traveling on a Budget

Want to try something a bit different when on vacation? Try some geocaching. If you have a hand-held GPS unit, that's all you need to try this fun hobby.

Visit www.geocaching.com for all the details. It's basically a world-wide GPS treasure-hunt game. People hide "caches" around their hometowns and record the coordinates on that website. Then you take the coordinates, and see if you can find their cache.

Caches are usually hidden in parks and on walking trails. I've seen all kinds of fun places that aren't in a tour book by looking for caches. A cache usually has small prizes inside, and you're suppose to take something and leave something new behind. Bring along some mementos from your own hometown if you plan on trying this game.

While geocaching is available around the world, the most caches are in the United States, Canada and some parts of Europe.

Eco-tourism or ethical travel is the latest catch-phrase in the travel industry, but what does it really mean? And are you going to get the vacation you think you're going to get? Though the term is tossed around a lot, it doesn't always mean the same thing.

Ideally, most people think of eco-tourism as something that will minimize any environmental impact from your trip. That can include a hotel that uses renewable energy or does extensive composting. I could also mean a resort that uses no pesticides or chemicals in the outdoor gardens.

In many cases, tour companies will offer "eco-tours" which are really just vacations with a lot of outdoor time in natural surroundings. Vacations with hikes, wilderness explorations or outdoor sports could be labeled like this. Nothing wrong with an outdoor holiday, but it might not be as environmentally-friendly as you expect.

Going out on the open water to watch some whales? Here are a few tips.

Even if it's fairly warm on land, it will be quite a bit colder out on a boat. Dress appropriately (layers are good) and even bring a jacket. Your shoes should have sturdy rubber soles so you don't slip on a wet deck. If your favorite sandals have smooth soles, leave them on shore.

Whale watching can also be a bit dull if there is a long ride to the open water, or if there are just no whales about that day. Remember that if you plan on taking small children.