Paraguay is a little-known country of magnificent beauty in the heart of South America. Although the country is not often visited, it is packed with culture and authenticity. Because there are no major attractions to lure in travelers and tourists, the culture is rich and beautiful. For a trip unlike any other, travel to Paraguay and experience the true South America.

General Info

The small country is landlocked between Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia with a population of merely 6.8 million people. The language typically spoken in Paraguay is Spanish and Guaraní. Their currency is the Paraguayan guaraní.

What can I do in Paraguay?

Although the country is hardly ever visited by tourists, there is no shortage of things to do. Many travelers enjoy visiting the Iguazú Falls for sightseeing. There is also Eco Reserva Mbatoví for tourists who enjoy adventures like zip-lining through the wilderness or taking walks across historic hanging bridges. For a more traditional South American experience, tourists can head to Estancia Aventura for horseback riding and sightseeing on a beautiful ranch.

That sounds nice, but what about food?

The food in Paraguay is very similar to the dishes found in Uraguay. While visiting Paraguay, be sure to try their traditional dishes such as Chipá, Borí borí, Pira caldo, and Tereré. Each of these recipes has been perfected over the centuries and speaks true to their traditions. Most of the cuisine consists of barbequed meats and vegetables, pastries, and fish.

And where should I stay?

It easy to find both budget and luxury stays in Paraguay. Some of the most popular are Hotel Excelsior, Hotel Papillon, La Mision Hotel Boutique, and Topachi Hotel. For a more authentic stay, Pro Cosara, Mbaracayú Eco-lodge, Tres Gigantes offer remote lodging in the wilderness.

I’m sold. How do I get to Paraguay?

Paraguay is 14,431 km from Australia, making the flight about 35 hours, depending on the number of stops along the way. There are no direct flights to Paraguay from Australia and will typically consist of two to three layovers. The cost of the flight can be anywhere between 1500 and 3000 AUD.

The little-known country offers authentic beauty and timeless traditions of Soth America. For the trip of a lifetime, plan a visit to Paraguay.

In 1966, the Los Angeles Times posted an article containing the first use of the term “jet lag.” It stated that jet lag was a “debility not unakin to a hangover” and that it is caused by a jet traveling so fast it “leaves your body rhythms behind.” Now 50 years later, we are still dealing with the consequences of jet lag. While our bodies have yet to adapt, as a society, we have made several advancements towards understanding jet lag and how to combat it.

There are plenty of tips for avoiding jet lag or decreasing its effect, as well as some luxury items that have slowly begun to edge into the marketplace. Listed below is a look at some of the remedies for preventing jet lag before, after and during a flight, as well as some luxury items that were designed to diminish any effects of jet lag.

Before The Flight

Gradually Adjust Inner Clock – When it comes to avoiding the effects of jet lag, one of the best plans is shifting your sleeping schedule. So if traveling west, a few days before the flight you should start going to sleep later and later and waking up later, and vice versa for traveling east.

Avoid Overnight Flights – Since you lose time when traveling from west to east, it is considered a tougher flight. Even though we can’t always dictate which way we will be traveling, we can do our best to avoid the flights that will cost the most hours of sleep. Most redeye flights offer daylight alternatives, so look for those; if unavailable, opt for a flight with an arrival time that coincides with the late afternoon/evening at your destination.

During The Flight

Eat Lightly – A less-commonly known fact about jet lag is that it can disrupt your digestive system. This could mean hunger attacks in the middle of the night or loss of appetite during the day. To avoid these symptoms, skip heavy meals before or during your flight to allow time for the digestive tract to adapt.

Use Sleeping Pills Wisely – While it may create a more tranquil sleep during the ride, sleeping pills can have adverse side effects. It is recommended only to use sleeping pills when: the flight is longer than 7 hours, flatbeds are available, and the medicines have been used before.

After The Flight

Give Yourself Time – Rather than jumping into plans, allow your body a few hours to adjust to the time difference.

Consider Melatonin – An extensively studied jet lag drug, melatonin is a hormone that tells the body when to sleep and when to wake. So taking it when you want to sleep allows the reset of the body’s sleep-wake phase.

Luxury Items

Light Therapy Glasses – These glasses essentially expose your eyes to strategically colored light to regulate sleep patterns and can help reset body clocks.

HumanCharger – This brain stimulator features earplugs that emits light to photosensitive regions of the brain. 8-12 minutes a day provides the needed amount of light daily.

Most people want to spend the holidays with their families. With extended family scattered across the world due to work and other circumstances, international travel during the holiday season is at an all time high. Follow these tips to make the most of your travel this holiday season.

Avoid Peak Travel Dates

On Call International writes that the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is notorious for being one of the busiest travel days of the year, followed by the Sunday after. Avoid jam-packed airport traffic and an even more crowded airport by flying out on Monday or Tuesday or even Thanksgiving morning.

Expect Security Slowdowns

To help keep the security line moving, remember these tips: Have your boarding pass and ID/passport easily accessible. Do not carry wrapped gifts in carry-on luggage. Wait until you arrive at your destination to wrap your gifts.

Shop Around

Smarter Travel states that whether you’re using booking sites like Expedia or Kayak, comparison shopping has never been easier than it is right now. During holiday travel season, casting the net as wide as possible will help you understand all of your options.

Book Flights Early

The Points Guys explain that if you’re used to paying $300 for a transcontinental flight that includes seat assignments and carry-on bags, you’ll need to accept that it’s simply not going to happen for Thanksgiving week. According to Google, if you’re planning to begin your trip on November 23, for example, expect fares to jump on November 1, November 8 and once more on November 15. You may find airfares to fluctuate on different dates in practice, but a good rule of thumb is that fares will increase 21, 14 and again 7 days before departure.

Be Kind

Angering the airport workers will get you nowhere. Keep in mind that they as well as your fellow passengers are stressed too. Alaska Air suggests packing your patience with you. “We’re very strategic about where we place people during the holiday rush. We look at the flow of traffic from the curb to baggage drop and then on to the security checkpoints, and make sure we have the right people in the right places and the right time.”

By avoiding peak travel dates, expecting security slowdowns, shopping around, booking your flight early and being kind, your international travel will be quick and effective and you can enjoy your holiday the way you should!

I recently took a trip to Singapore, which is such a beautiful and unique place to visit. Not only do they have miles and miles of gorgeous coastline, but the city features a blended culture that’s ahead of its time. With many official languages, national holidays that span many religions, and futuristic architecture, Singapore is a cool culture that you won’t find anywhere else in the world.  

Fashion for Everyone

If you’re into fashion, then you know that London, Paris, New York, and Milan each have fashion weeks that show off the latest and greatest on the runways. However, the only way you’ll get access to these events is if you’re a designer, a buyer, a model, a celebrity, or a journalist in the entertainment industry.

Unlike the rest of the world, Singapore Fashion Week sells tickets to the public, so fashion bloggers and lovers alike can get access to runway looks galore. This year’s event starts on October 26, so book your trip now if you’re interested!

Light Up Your Night with Solar-Powered Trees

If you take a trip to the breathtaking Gardens by the Bay, you’ll come across a set of 18 man-made “trees” known as the Supertree Grove. These vertical gardens covered in grasses and flowers soak up the sun’s rays during the day, then use that energy to create a spectacle of a light show at night. The best part is that admission is free!

All the Taxi Drivers are Friendly

If you’re the kind of person that craves conversation, then you and the taxi drivers of Singapore will get along quite nicely. Many of their taxi drivers are quite chatty and will talk to you about anything ranging from what country you’re from to what events are happening around town.

It’s Super Easy to Get Around

Speaking of taxi drivers making your trip pleasurable, getting a ride anywhere in Singapore is easy. With close to 30,000 official taxis in a city-state that’s relatively small (it’s only 277.6 square miles), finding a ride can be quick, easy, and cheap!

You’ve Heard of a Safari, But What About a Night Safari?

The world’s first nocturnal safari park opened in Singapore in 1994. Why have a nocturnal safari park? So onlookers will have the opportunity to see nocturnal animals like wallabies and tigers in their natural state! The park features six different tram rides that will take you across all the geographical zones of the world, and has four walking trails that each feature a different animal. The park opens at 7:15 p.m. and closes at midnight.

Marvel at the Insane Architecture

Quite a few buildings in Singapore are known for their peculiar but fascinating architecture. For example, the Marina Bay Sands Resort is known as the “stranded surfboard,” considering it’s three main buildings are connected by a structure that looks like a surfboard. The Henderson Wave, a walking trail that links Singapore’s hills, ridges, and parks, features wave-like architecture that leads your eyes up and down the natural flora and fauna of the city.

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Rachel Krider, a successful personal development life coach and entrepreneur, is the co-host of Born to Prosper’s Mind Power podcast. Along with her husband, Rachel travels the world in luxury to speak to aspiring entrepreneurs at conferences and workshops to inspire them to find their own pathways to success. Rachel Krider is part of The Prosperity of Life Network, a United States-based personal development business with a presence in 52+ countries.

Since my husband and I are successful entrepreneurs and life coaches, our work takes us all over the world. From New Zealand, Fiji, my husband’s home in the United States and mine in Australia, our family had been fortunate enough to afford to travel frequently and in the form of luxury. Not only does this provide a unique experience the whole family can enjoy, but my children are gaining a very enriching cultural experience early on in life that neither I nor my husband had the opportunity to experience until we were well into our twenties.

Providing my children with these experiences is a very rare opportunity a parent has. Since it is so rare, there aren’t too many written rules about how to keep your children disciplined while they’re on a trip few children — or even adults — receive in their lifetime. Below are a few of my guidelines that I personally use in my family that you could perhaps instill on your children one day.

Educate Them About Their Opportunities, and Tie It Into Schooling

How about a field trip to explore the geology of the rocky shores of Australia? Or watching White Faced Herons hunt for prey near tide pools on the New Zealand coast? Since we travel all around the world, our kids are exposed to a variety of nature’s wonders that many kids only learn about in textbooks. Our kids learn about these things in person, and we make sure we make it fun, yet educational, by reading signage with information about the area and its wildlife, as well as attending guided tours. Your kids will feel grateful that they’re learning this in person instead of through a textbook in a classroom.

See How Others Live

If you’re going on a luxury vacation, you probably have spas and days spent at the beach and pool in mind. Although those luxuries are certainly relaxing (and may be well needed for you and your family!), it’s also important to remember that you should also expose your child to the austerities life may bring to others. For example, volunteer to hand out meals at a food shelter for a few hours. Or if the area has recently suffered from a natural disaster, purchase necessities and encourage your kids to pass out blankets, water, food and toys to victims.

Set Expectations

When kids are on vacation, it can be easy for them to forget rules that are typically set for the home. Just like you establish house rules, you have to establish vacation rules as well — and it’s best to keep them similar to maintain consistency. You should still set a curfew for bedtime, set the expectations for good public behavior, and encourage healthy eating habits — with a little indulgence because it is vacation.

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Rachel Krider, a successful personal development life coach and entrepreneur, is the co-host of Born to Prosper’s Mind Power podcast. Along with her husband, Rachel travels the world in luxury to speak to aspiring entrepreneurs at conferences and workshops to inspire them to find their own pathways to success. Rachel Krider is part of The Prosperity of Life Network, a United States-based personal development business with a presence in 52+ countries.

Have you ever heard of Funchal, Portugal? The fun city located on Portugal’s Madeira Island is one of the country’s top tourist attractions for its cultural and historical value. Not only that, but it’s New Year’s Eve celebrations and ports for their cruise ships are a beautiful sight to see. In fact, the reason I discovered this city was because I was pulling into their dock after a cruise! Here are a few reasons why Funchal has become one of my new favorite spots to travel to.

Experience New Year’s Eve Like Never Before

The city of Funchal is unique because its mountainous slopes form an “amphitheatre” formation within the town. As the sun sets and shopkeepers and homeowners start turning on their lights, the town gets transformed into glowing bay of light — and onlookers will marvel at the sight that sits beneath them. When the clock strikes midnight, the skies are lit up with a giant firework display that lasts for about 10 minutes.

Get the Best Views with a Cable Car Ride

Not only is Funchal beautiful at night, but it’s even more gorgeous during the daylight hours. The bright green palm trees, blue waters, and rolling mountains were a glorious sight to see as I was coming into the port from my cruise. However, the only true way to soak up this beauty is to ride a cable car up the mountain.

The Monte Cable Car offers fantastic panoramic views of Funchal, where you’ll see the bays, valleys, botanical gardens and mountains from high above. You’ll take a 20-minute ride starting from Funchal that drops you off at Monte, which is a nearby town. Then, you’ll have to take a driven wicker toboggan down the mountain because it’s the only safe way down! The ride will end in the suburb of Livramento, where you can take a taxi or a bus back to Funchal.

Taste Authentic Madeira Wine

Madeira is a well-known wine around the world, and in fact, it’s grapes are usually grown on Portugal’s Madeira island. If you’re visiting Funchal, you can get the chance to experience authentic, homegrown and pressed Madeira wine at Blandy’s Wine Lodge.

For over 200 years, the winery has brought everyone from the ordinary to the extraordinary to taste the authentic wines. In fact, the winery’s museum holds artifacts which include letters from Winston Churchill and murals from German artist Max Römer. Today, tourists can explore the various rooms of the winery with a wine tour complete with a wine tasting at the end.

Not only can you attend a wine tasting, but you can stay for dinner at 1811 Bistro and Wine Bar. Every Wednesday they host an “All About Madeira” dinner in which diners are served a four-course dinner with four different glasses of wine — which is definitely a perfect meal for a wine lover.

I hope I can visit Funchal again soon!

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Rachel Krider, a successful personal development life coach and entrepreneur, is the co-host of Born to Prosper’s Mind Power podcast. Along with her husband, Rachel travels the world in luxury to speak to aspiring entrepreneurs at conferences and workshops to inspire them to find their own pathways to success. Rachel Krider is part of The Prosperity of Life Network, a United States-based personal development business with a presence in 52+ countries.

Although we have really enjoyed our time broadcasting Mind Power here in glorious Australia, Shane and I thought it was time for a change. As we continue our travels around the world, our next stop leads us to Phuket, Thailand! This small, yet mountainous island off the coast of mainland Thailand is filled with rich rainforests and beautiful white-sand beaches with waters so clear that you can see the undersea life. We’re excited to share what we’ve discovered in our new home here on my blog!

Relaxing on Thailand’s Beaches

Located on the northwestern shores of Phuket sits Nai Yang Beach, a hidden beach that’s only a 10 minute drive from the Phuket International Airport. Since the beach is fairly secluded, the only way to access it is by staying at The Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa. However, your stay will be worth it because not only do you get the chance to soak up the sun on this private beach, but you can also take a free beginner yoga class on the shores! You will definitely feel relaxed and rejuvenated after spending a few days here.

Exploring Thailand’s Culture

Part of what I love about travel is immersing myself in the different cultures and customs that are out there in the world. One of the most treasured landmarks on Phuket island is the Big Buddha, which a very prominent fixture on the island considering it’s size. With a total construction cost of 30 million, the Buddha stands 45 metres tall and can be seen from as far away as Phuket Town and Karon Beach on the opposite end of the island. You can also visit Wat Chalong, which is one of Phuket’s most important temples. Decorated in thousands of pieces of shattered glass that glitter in the sun, this temple is a holy place for the locals to pray — so it’s best to learn about their culture before visiting.

And for the Kids…

Check out FantaSea, which is a cultural theme park that will not only educate you and your family about Thailand’s traditions, but it will do it in an entertaining way. Trapeze artists, elephants, and phenomenal pyrotechnics dazzle the Palace of the Elephants Theatre stage in bright colors and sparkle. After the show, hit up the Golden Kinnare Buffet Restaurant, which seats you in a forest setting and has a plethora of traditional Thai foods prepared by the top chefs in the country. You can also try your hand at the carnival games and browse through the locally made silk, ceramics and jewelry in the 15 shops that line the Festival Village Shopping Street.

We’re definitely looking forward to our stay in Thailand! Stay tuned to both my blog and our podcast for new updates!

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Rachel Krider, a successful personal development life coach and entrepreneur, is the co-host of Born to Prosper’s Mind Power podcast. Along with her husband, Rachel travels the world in luxury to speak to aspiring entrepreneurs at conferences and workshops to inspire them to find their own pathways to success. Rachel Krider is part of The Prosperity of Life Network, a United States-based personal development business with a presence in 52+ countries.

Welcome to Rachel Krider’s blog, check back for updates soon!