Category: travel

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Snow White Soothed a Boy with Autism at Disney World

Brody Bergner do very well around strangers, but he was looking forward to visiting Disney World.

Photo Credit: Needpix

Lauren (his mom) talked to Brody for months about what her 6 year old with autism could expect when he got there. But, knowing how sensitive her son is to crowded and noisy places, she knew she could expect at least a couple of meltdowns.

So, while waiting to meet Snow White toward the end of a full day of park hopping, Lauren could sense her tired and overstimulated boy was heading for a breakdown.

She told Today, “Brody was overheated, sweating and overwhelmed by everything. He just started crying.”

Then something happened that changed everything.

I am so emotional with these pictures !! Brody was having a meltdown . It was our turn to take pictures with her and he…

Posted by Lauren Bergner on Sunday, August 25, 2019

Snow White could see immediately that Brody was non-verbal and had special needs.

In her post, Lauren writes,

“She kissed, hugged and cuddled him. She then took him for a walk away from the crowd! She was amazing. She held his hand , danced with him , took him over to a bench and sat with him . She went above and beyond !! She took so much time with him .She was a pure angel ! She was magical and my family is forever thankful and touched !”

Lauren’s Facebook post, with pictures of Brody and Show White, was shared over 100,000 times.

She and her husband, Bill, were awed at how quickly Brody connected with the Disney princess.

Posted by Lauren Bergner on Sunday, August 25, 2019

Fearing, at one point, that the crowd would grow impatient with their family for holding up their Snow White encounters, Lauren turned around only to see everyone break into applause.

“It was this magical moment that we will never, ever forget,” she said.

And, that’s how, on a sweltering, hot day in the middle of Florida, a small boy met his princess.

The post Snow White Soothed a Boy with Autism at Disney World appeared first on UberFacts.

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Snow White Soothed a Boy with Autism at Disney World

Brody Bergner do very well around strangers, but he was looking forward to visiting Disney World.

Photo Credit: Needpix

Lauren (his mom) talked to Brody for months about what her 6 year old with autism could expect when he got there. But, knowing how sensitive her son is to crowded and noisy places, she knew she could expect at least a couple of meltdowns.

So, while waiting to meet Snow White toward the end of a full day of park hopping, Lauren could sense her tired and overstimulated boy was heading for a breakdown.

She told Today, “Brody was overheated, sweating and overwhelmed by everything. He just started crying.”

Then something happened that changed everything.

I am so emotional with these pictures !! Brody was having a meltdown . It was our turn to take pictures with her and he…

Posted by Lauren Bergner on Sunday, August 25, 2019

Snow White could see immediately that Brody was non-verbal and had special needs.

In her post, Lauren writes,

“She kissed, hugged and cuddled him. She then took him for a walk away from the crowd! She was amazing. She held his hand , danced with him , took him over to a bench and sat with him . She went above and beyond !! She took so much time with him .She was a pure angel ! She was magical and my family is forever thankful and touched !”

Lauren’s Facebook post, with pictures of Brody and Show White, was shared over 100,000 times.

She and her husband, Bill, were awed at how quickly Brody connected with the Disney princess.

Posted by Lauren Bergner on Sunday, August 25, 2019

Fearing, at one point, that the crowd would grow impatient with their family for holding up their Snow White encounters, Lauren turned around only to see everyone break into applause.

“It was this magical moment that we will never, ever forget,” she said.

And, that’s how, on a sweltering, hot day in the middle of Florida, a small boy met his princess.

The post Snow White Soothed a Boy with Autism at Disney World appeared first on UberFacts.

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15 Interesting Finds from Google Earth

I can spend endless hours on Google Earth.

An Imgur user who also happens to be a geologist with the username “geologistsmakethebedrock” spent a lot of time on the site and posted some of his most interesting finds.

Take a look, these are fascinating!

1. “A fort in Lille, France.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

2. “This is a private island on the coast of Maine.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

3. “It looks like an abstract painting. My first thought was a huge archeological excavation site. Turns out that was wrong. These pits are used in a very old fashioned salt extraction operation.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

4. “A very sinuous river. This is a good illustration of how oxbow lakes form. In the middle of the image you can see where a meander loop is being actively cut off.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

5. “A real live oasis!. Not all of these tracks are from cars. The smaller ones must be animal.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

6. “Here is a perfect meteor crater. It has a very nice raised rim. I bet if you mapped out the lake bed you would see a central peak too.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

7. “I couldn’t find anything about this strange place. It’s a huge, planned settlement near Namibe, Angola.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

8. “The circular reflections of these waves are cool.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

9. “This is Assamakka, Niger, a community that appears to be fighting a losing battle with the sands.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

10. “I wanted to see if I could find a ship wreck. I figured a desert coast would preserve metal wrecks well. It didn’t take to long to find this one in NW South Africa. It looks like a modern ship, and sure enough it wasn’t there in 2003 (the oldest picture available).”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

11.”A river cutting a hole in the ice.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

12. “This is the Lakeview neighborhood. One day after Hurricane Katrina.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

13.”This is some sort of reservoir in Belgium. I’ve never seen an octagonal pond before. I wonder why they made it that way.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

14.”A lake somewhere on the Tibetan Plateau in summer and winter.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

15. “A volcano poking up out of the South Pacific. I’m not sure if this one is growing or eroding away.”

Photo Credit: Google Earth

Now I’m in the mood to see the world!

The post 15 Interesting Finds from Google Earth appeared first on UberFacts.

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People in Asia Are Sick of “Begpackers” Asking for Money to Fund Their World Travels

This is infuriating. The nerve of some people is enough to make your blood boil.

For some reason, there’s a trend in Asian countries of Western backpackers asking the locals for money to help finance their travels. There’s nothing like asking someone who has to go to work every day to give you some cash so YOU don’t have to work, right?

Jeeeez…

Obviously, the locals in these places are not fans of these folks, and I don’t blame them one bit. Let’s take a look, shall we?

1. Especially insulting in a working-class neighborhood

2. F*ck off

3. Begging

Beg packers – tourists who travel with the intent to beg for money from the locals to fund further travel. Peep the sign, too from ChoosingBeggars

4. Shameless

5. Great! They brought kids!

6. Please support me

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Just heard about this and I don't get it. Westerners are traveling around Asia on a shoe string budget and begging for money to fund their trip.? A fellow Malaysian pointed this out and I'm really baffled why this is even happening. Is this really happening or some sort of prank??? So, you're from a developed country traveling to a 3rd world country begging for money? ? Why not get a job and save up for your doggone trip like everyone else? Don't give the rest of us in the developed country this image.? Am I wrong to think this entitlement issue is getting way out of hand??? What do you think?? . . #Entitlement #Millenial #travelling #freeloader #begpackers #norespect #respect #backpacking #digitalnomad #nomad #travel #travelasia #bethechange

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7. Uggghhh

8. D-bags

9. Hugs!

10. So disrespectful

11. Traveling is a choice

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Yesterday I saw these blindfolded travellers asking for money in one of the most transited areas of the shopping district of Kuala Lumpur, and I have strong feelings about it. Travelling is a choice, and not only a choice but a luxurious one. When you choose to travel, to leave your confort zone and explore the world you might feel yourself as an adventurer, and you might be one, you are one among your group of privileged people. If you can actively decide to leave everything behind, take a backpack and wonder the world, it is because you have a social structure that allows you to do it. You do it because most likely your family does not need your work force to be sustained, you do it because even after months or years of travel, you can go back to a safe place were your "struggles" as a backpacker will only be a nice memory of the times when you decided to get out of your confort zone and "live". I have no troubles with the people that decide to travel and perform an art, entertain people, and from that keep travelling, or finding a part time job in different places to keep going, as long as it is legal. When I was living in Oxford I had a licence to perform in the streets and I was registered as a legal busker as a side activity. I have also performed in bars and hostels in exchange of a beer or an extra free night. I have done hardcore backpacking myself, and if it wasn't for the dozens of people that have let me stayed with them or that have helped me in other ways, I wouldn't have been able to live as many experiences. But I have never pretended that people should give me free money to keep travelling, to keep doing what the majority of the people in this planet will never be able to do, not because they don't want to but because they can't. I have always had enough to sustain myself, I plan and save for years for my travels. Continue reading on the next post. —> #begpacker #backpacker #travelling #qleveryday #BukitBintang #KualaLumpur #Malaysia #Asia

A post shared by Quique León (@elquiqueleon) on

12. Nope

Begpacker near Hồ Hoàn Kiếm, Hanoi from VietNam

13. Beggars

Begpackers spotted in Hoi An from VietNam

14. They look pretty happy to me

15. Privilege

Uggghhhh…some people…

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A Beagle-Shaped Airbnb Gives ‘Dog-Friendly Travel’ a Whole New Meaning

Do you have a pooch Need a hotel? Man, have we got the perfect Airbnb for you!

There is a beagle-shaped house in Cottonwood, Idaho, available on Airbnb for $132 per night. The house was built by Dennis Sullivan and Frances Conklin, artists who live in another (regular-shaped) house on the property. They started by building a 12-foot beagle named Toby in the late 1990s. It became so popular that they built a 30-foot tall beagle named Sweet Willy to use as a guest house, and that drew enough attention that they decided to rent it out to the public.

“Toby got some attention, but Sweet Willy put us into the stratosphere,” Frances told Roadside America.

The house has two bedrooms: one in the beagle’s belly and a loft in the head. The bathroom is located on the dog’s behind, of course. Nearby, there’s a giant fire hydrant to go with the giant beagle, and the property also features a visitor’s center and gift shop. Dennis and Frances live up the hill, and, since the house doesn’t have a kitchen, the couple prepare light breakfast foods for guests. There are also dog-themed books, games and puzzles for the truly dog-obsessed.

The Airbnb is, of course, dog-friendly, as long as canine guests are “responsible” and get along with the couple’s own dog — who is, shockingly, not a beagle, but a canine retriever.

Ready to book?! Sadly, so is everyone else. The Airbnb is completely filled until April 2020. But with endless 5-star reviews, it appears to be worth the wait.

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Travel Instagrammers Share Helpful Tips for Taking Better Travel Photos

No vacation feels complete anymore without the perfect travel photos these days. If you want to take your travel photography up several notches, these travel Instagrammers have some advice for you.

Part of the magic of photography is all about timing. One Berlin-based travel photographer, Theodora Melnik (@______theo), tells HuffPost that sunrise is the perfect time for a photo.

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Sigh, time to leave Siracusa ???

A post shared by Theodora ™ (@______theo) on

“I can’t recommend shooting sunrise enough,” Theodora said. “Whenever I make the effort, I get to explore even the busiest of places practically by myself, which if you’re thinking of the Eiffel Tower or the Spanish Steps is really something.”

And speaking of the sun — sunset is also a picture-perfect time of day, but don’t make the rookie mistake of only photographing the actual sunset.

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Best coast

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“On vacation when you go to the beach at sunset, everyone has their phones pointed directly at the red orb going down over the ocean, which is really pretty and definitely worth capturing. But don’t forget to turn around and see what the sun is shining on,” Tyson Wheatley (@twheat) explains.

Similarly, when visiting a major monument, people tend to snap a photo of it for their records. But Elke Frotscher (@elice_f) recommends photographing the little things that surround the big monuments.

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Galloway House | Ella’s VW T2

A post shared by elke | london (@elice_f) on

This allows for a more unique photo that truly captures the essence of the place, instead of just a photo of the Eiffel Tower that looks exactly like something you could find on Google.

Have a great trip, and hope the photos turn out great!

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This Non-Profit Recycles the Soap from Hotels You Leave Behind When You Check out

Every time you check out of a hotel, you leave behind a mostly-unused bar of soap. It may even be untouched, if you’re the type of person who has strong soap preferences. So what happens to it?

The answer is pretty disappointing: hotels generally just throw the soap away for sanitary reasons. And all that soap adds up; about one million bars of soap are thrown out every day in the U.S., between travelers and hotels.

One traveler was unhappy to discover this wasteful practice, so he decided to do something about it. Shawn Seipler, a former tech employee who used to travel five months out of the year, thought that he could make better use of all those slivers of soap, so he started Clean The World. The Orlando-based company collects unwanted hotel soap, sanitizes it, melts it down, and redistributes it around the world.

Just last year, Clean The World made over 7 million bars of recycled soap, which were then donated to people in need. Thousands of children die from diseases that are preventable with basic hygiene — or, as Clean The World puts it, “Soap saves lives.” The organization also recycles shampoo, conditioner and body wash for homeless shelters around the world.

Clean The World partners with hotels for the modest price of 50 cents per room per month. There are operating centers in Orlando, Las Vegas, Montreal, India and Hong Kong.

“There’s a whole world of hotels out there we can get to start donating,” Shawn told Thrillist. “Right now we’ve got 20 percent of all hotels in the US. That’s a lot of room to grow, and a lot of soap to make.”

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These Photos Warn Tourists to Stop Riding Elephants in Thailand

Hundreds of thousands of Westerners visit Thailand each year, and one of the “must-try” activities is riding a majestic elephant. But tourists are now being urged to stop, thanks to the revelation of some truly heartbreaking photos.

A Twitter user posted several photos of elephants in Thailand being cruelly mistreated. Their keepers, called mahouts, keep them in line by hitting them with sharp metal hooks, often hard enough to draw blood. Their heads are covered in old wounds.

Around 3000 elephants are currently used for entertainment across Asia, and 77 percent are treated inhumanely, according to the World Animal Protection. Elephants are often ripped from their mothers prematurely, violently broken into submission, then subjected to a lifetime of abuse and isolation.

While Thai government agencies are working to end animal cruelty, officials also urge visitors to boycott businesses that treat their animals this way.

“We never support tourists riding the elephants,” a spokesperson for the Tourism Authority of Thailand told Yahoo! News. “Please don’t ride the elephants and don’t support this business.”

Photo Credit: iStock

There are about 3500 wild elephants in Thailand and about 4500 domesticated elephants. The domesticated elephants are classified as “working animals,” just like livestock. Animal advocates are working to change this classification in order to offer more protections to elephants.

If tourists want to enjoy these beautiful animals, one option is to visit a wild elephant sanctuary. There, tourists can observe and pet the animals, but cannot ride them.

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Miniature Horses Are Now One of the Service Animals That Airlines Must Allow to Fly

Be prepared to possibly see an unexpected animal on your next flight.

The list of service animal just keeps growing, doesn’t it? And specifically, I’m talking about service animals that are allowed on planes. In addition to dogs, we’ve seen ducks and all other kinds of creatures accompanying their human handlers on flights.

Well, it’s time to add another furry friend to the list of animals allowed to fly on planes: miniature horses. The U.S. Department of Transportation is encouraging airlines to allow miniature horses on flights as service animals.

And while it may sound a little odd, miniature horses are actually quite popular as service animals, right up there with dogs and cats.

The official word from the Department of Transportation says, “After reviewing the comments on this issue, we believe that it would be in the public interest and within our discretionary authority to prioritize ensuring that the most commonly recognized service animals (i.e., dogs, cats, and miniature horses) are accepted for transport.”

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A play date that was just her size•We held our first, “Toddler Time” with Martha, last week, giving kids, ages 2-4 years, to come be with Martha•She was the quintessential hostess of her playground ? and all the kids loved petting her fluffy hair•When the goodbyes were said, each child got to choose a button of one of the horses•Surprisingly, there were no duplicates?Such a cute way to share Martha with a tiny little population and add more exposure to kids as we continue our goal for her therapy work?Think about all the good that comes from exposing a child to a horse at this young and how it effects their future feelings towards them?….sound . . . . . . . #miniaturehorse #miniaturehorses #miniaturehorsesofinstagram #horse #horses #horsesofinstagram #dwarfhorse #rescuehorse #adoptdontshop #hunterjumper #dressage #eventing #horseriding #horsebackriding #equine #equitation #equinetherapy #equinephotography #equestrian #equestrianlife #kids

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Airlines aren’t obligated to allow therapy horses on their flights, but if they ignore the new guideline from the Department of Transportation, they could be penalized. And just to get down to the nitty gritty: this guideline does not apply to emotional support horses, only service horses that help people with visual impairments or issues with mobility. Emotional service animals are often times dealt with on a case-by-case basis at the airport.

The guidelines also say what CAN’T be used as service animals: no snakes, rodents, reptiles, spiders, or ferrets are allowed. Thank goodness for that…

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This Is What It’s like to Run a World-Class Penis Museum

If you are reading this article, you’re clearly my sort of people – because who wouldn’t be curious about what it takes to run a museum full of penises?

Luckily, there’s a man with experience ready and willing to let us all in on the family secrets.

Hjotur Gisli Sigurosson curates the Icelandic Phallological Museum, a vocation handed down by a father who indulged a penis fascination by collecting interesting specimens wherever he ran across them.

Hjotur was just 10 when his father, Sigurour Hjartarson, began his collection in 1974. The first specimen was a “pizzle,” or a dried bull’s penis, that was given to Sigurour as a joke. He began a collection that grew until he opened it to the public in 1997.

Hjotur never thought the collection was odd, and recalls time spent with his father fondly.

“I had great adventures going to remote places to harvest organs with my father,” he told Mental_Floss.

The collection includes mostly Icelandic mammal specimens, harvested from dead animals (like beached whales) or given to the family by hunters. Hjotur says, though, that they “never ask for an animal to be killed just to harvest the organ.”

They have one human specimen.

“It was from a 95-year-old man. He signed a letter of donation in 1996, and when he died in 2011 a doctor removed his penis.”

The collection also includes 23 “mystical creature” penises, like “elves, trolls, and mermen,” though Hjotur acknowledges that “some, we suspect, are man-made.”

The museum sells every practical object in the shape of a penis you could ever want – cutlery, lamps, bottle openers, etc – so basically, now you know where to go before your next bachelorette party!

Hjotur isn’t ashamed of the collection, as “there is nothing pornographic or offensive on display,” and he points out that people from all over the world come to visit.

“The reaction is 99.9% positive. Most people see the humorous side and some get very into the scientific angle of it. Most people enter not knowing what to expect and come out smiling or laughing. Last year, we had a little over 20,000 visitors.”

He thinks, too, that seeing the, um, variety might help people understand that when it comes to anatomy, there is no “normal.”

“You’ll learn that as with everything in nature, the diversity in this department is as great as in any other; even within the same species the difference in size and shake is often quite remarkable.”

Hjotur, like his father before him, is always adding to his collection – “a new one, a bigger, better one, a different one” – and he’s open to starting a gallery that honors phallic art in all forms, too.

If you’re looking for something a bit off the beaten path on your next trip to Iceland, well, how can you pass this up? It’s education, it’s entertainment – what more could you ask for in a tour stop?

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