6 Tips For A Moneyless Vacation At Home

6 things?

There may be a thousand things you could do while at home, complaining that you can’t go on vacation in top-ranked locations.

Most of the complaints deal with work and the lack of money: you’re either too tied up to leave work, or your budget doesn’t allow you to spend money on a vacation, or… both.

These 6 simple activities can make your vacation a great one, while still being at home. You don’t have to drown into consumerism to have some quality time.

Home vacation advice #6: Read. Read more. Read even more.  

After a stressful day you’d rather watch a comedy or a tv show, but when’s the last time you laid your hand on a book?

If you argue you’re one of those persons who don’t read, then take a look again at Home vacation advice #2.

Reading is like food for your brain, besides making you less ignorant and improving your knowledge. Trying a book that improves you language skills and challenges your ideas can be a good exercise.

Home vacation advice #5: Spend more time outdoors   

You don’t have a lot of money to spend on travelling, but I’m sure you have a quiet place near/outside the city where you can go for a breath of fresh air. The more, the merrier, so invite somebody to keep you company.

Take your bike for a stroll. Take a book for a read in the park.

Home vacation advice #4: Practice some sports   

If affordable, you can choose a fitness gym, but it’s not a must. If you’ve got enough motivation, you can do some exercises at home or go for a run.

Home vacation advice #3: Learn something new   

Either it’s a new language, or a food recipe, learning something new keeps your mind alert. It also gives you a feeling of satisfaction, of personal achievement.

Home vacation advice #2: Doing what you usually don’t have time to do   

You know how long ago you wanted to clean the computer keyboard but you just didn’t find the right moment to do it? Well, now is the perfect moment for details like these.

Home vacation advice # 1: Wasting time can be benefic    

When’s the last time you took some time and just sat and did nothing? No TV, no Internet, no magazines, no movies, no music, no other form of distraction?

Wasting some time (in moderate quantities) can be very productive and it  ultimately makes you more creative. Best ideas are born in these sessions of  ‘time wasting’.

3 Ways Bill Gates Spends His Money

Steve Job’s death drove the point home even harder for Bill Gates that he has to use the short time he has left to do as much as he can for the world.  During an interview with Yahoo! and ABC News, Gates says of Job’s death, “Well, it’s very strange to have somebody who’s so vibrant and made such a huge difference and been… kind of a constant presence, to have him die.  It makes you feel like, ‘Wow, we’re getting old.’  I hope I still have quite a bit of time for the focus I have now, which is the philanthropic work.  And there’s drugs we’re investing in now that won’t be out for 15 years – malaria eradication, I need a couple of decades here to fulfill that opportunity.  But, you know, it reminds you that you gotta pick important stuff, because you only have a limited time.”

So how is Mr. Gates spending his vast wealth and limited time?

The Gates Foundation has pledged to spend 95 percent of Gates’ personal wealth on philanthropic work.  At home, Gates has made it his mission to improve education in the U.S. through a “peer-reviewed” teaching program.  According to his proposed strategy, an elite group of teachers, after undergoing training, will observe other teachers’ classes, evaluate their teaching methods, and advise them about improvements that need to be made.

He explains, “You take 2 percent of the teachers, train them very well and have them do structured visitations.  And they tell the teacher, ‘OK, you were good at this, but you didn’t engage these kids very well.  You didn’t create discussion here.  You didn’t explain why a kid would wanna know this thing,’ and help those teachers improve.”

Most of the money pledged by the Gates Foundation, however, goes to international charity; approximately 75 percent is allotted to helping out the world’s poorest countries.  One of their priorities is the fight against preventable diseases.  In India, their recent vaccination efforts were so successful that there was only a single case of polio reported last year.

This year, the top focus of the Foundation’s annual letter is agriculture; more specifically, Gates is channeling funds towards the genetic engineering of crops that are resistant to flood and drought.  Despite the controversies surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs), Gates firmly believes that giving farmers access to this technology will also give them the ability to feed the world’s continually increasing population.

The Gates Foundation Uses Genetic Modification For Good

“Over time, yes, countries will need to look at specific GMO products like they look at drugs today, where they don’t approve them all,” says Gates.  “They look hard at the safety and the testing.  And they make sure that the benefits far outweigh any of the downsides.”

To his critics who point out that his money would be better spent at home, Gates says, “Well, the question is, are human lives of equal value?  For the mother whose child dies in Africa, is that somehow less important, less painful?  If we can save that life — for very little [money], is that appropriate to do?  And, in fact, we know that if we do save those lives, it can reduce the population growth.  It can let them be on a path to graduate from receiving aid.”

Global Seed Vault In Norway

LONGYEARBYEN, NORWAY (26 FEBRUARY 2008) - The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened today on a remote island in the Arctic Circle, receiving inaugural shipments of 100 million seeds that originated in over 100 countries. With the deposits ranging from unique varieties of major African and Asian food staples such as maize, rice, wheat, cowpea, and sorghum to European and South American varieties of eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato, the first deposits into the seed vault represent the most comprehensive and diverse collection of food crop seeds being held anywhere in the world.

At the opening ceremony, the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg, unlocked the vault, and together with the African Nobel Peace Prize-winning environmentalist Wangari Maathai he placed the first seeds in the vault. The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and a host of dignitaries and agriculture experts from around the globe deposited seeds during the ceremony. A variety of Norwegian musicians and choirs also performed in the opening ceremony held 130 m deep inside the frozen mountains.