✈️ Travel hacking: Vacations by Marriott Bonvoy is offering 25,000 points.

Hey Reader! Welcome to the Olympics edition of Ticket To Awesome where everyone gets a 🏅for opening this up today.

Here's what's happening this month!

• 🏅 Olympic host cities we love
• 🩼 The long road to recovery
• 🚫 Natural tricks for mosquito repellant

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🏅Olympic Cities

With the Paris Summer Olympics in full swing, we were inspired to look back at a few of our favourite cities that have hosted the games.

Whether it's to check out the site of the Olympics, these are cities we think you'll love.

1) Calgary

Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics, only one of 3 cities in Canada where this event has been held. When you visit, you should check out the WinSport Canada Olympic Park.

In the summer, they have mountain biking, mini golf, and downhill karting (insanely fun which you can see in our video).

In the winter, you can come for skiing, snowboarding, and the tube park.

2) Barcelona

Barcelona is one of our favourite cities in Europe and they hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics.

What you'll love about your visit here is that most of the venues are in the Barcelona Olympic Park including Barcelona Olympic Stadium, the Telecommunications Tower (designed by architect, Calatrava), and Palau Sant Jordi.

As a visitor though, you'll be looking at the exteriors but while you're there, make sure to explore Poble Espanyol, visit Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, watch the Magic Fountain show, and riding the Montjuic Cable Car.

3) London

The 2012 London Summer Olympics was a memorable one where the opening ceremonies featured the late Queen Elizabeth, James Bond, and Mr. Bean.

With London, your visit likely won't include visits to specific venues unless you do guided tour of Wembley Stadium (football), or cruise the Thames (river zone), but don't worry, there's so much to do in the city.

4) Beijing

Wow, now this is a throwback! I was so stylish back then, right? Check out that track suit, sneakers, specks, and hairdo!

Beijing hosted the Olympics in the winter of 2022 during the pandemic and perhaps most memorable, the 2008 Summer Olympics. If you get to go, make sure to see Bird's Nest and Water Cube, all of which have been maintained and are still in-use today.

5) Sydney

There's so much to see and do in Sydney, Australia. They hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics - one of my earliest full memories of the games.

If you didn't know, Brisbane was awarded the 2032 Summer Olympics so it'll be heading back!

Sydney is the kind of city where you need at least 2 days to explore but if you can, we'd allocate at least 4 days so you can also include day trips to the Blue Mountains (which also includes a visit to the Featherdale Wildlife Park). Also, make sure to also book the official Sydney Opera House guided tour.

6) Tokyo

Tokyo hosted the Summer Olympics in 1964 and 2020, one of 6 cities that have hosted twice.

With how hot of a travel destination Japan is right now, it's not like it needed an Olympics lift. That said, a few spots that you can check out are the Japan Olympic Museum across from the Japan National Stadium.

There's also a huge cluster of venues on the man-made island of Odaiba. Here, you'll find a replica of the Statue of Liberty, views of the bay, Gundam Base, theme parks, and shopping malls. Nearby is also the Toyosu Fish Market.

7) Salt Lake City

Most people don't believe me when I say that Utah is my favourite state in the US. I've had the most insane adventures here whether in the winter or summer.

Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and is coming back in 2034.

Many of their venues are still in operation today including Olympic Park which you can see above. It'll undoubtedly need an upgrade, but this place is ton of fun with ski jump shows, tube riding, alpine slide, summer bobsledding, ziplining, treetop trekking, and more!

Outside of the SLC metro area, try to visit at least one of two of the Mighty Five - Arches, Bryce, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion National Parks.

8) Vancouver

Saving the best for last! As a Canadian, 2010 was the last time we hosted the Olympics and there were so many memorable moments, including Sidney Crosby's game-winning goal.

When you visit Vancouver, there are several sites you can visit. In the neighbouring Richmond, you'll find the Richmond Olympic Oval which we visited. Today, it's a big multi-sport centre but as visitors you can drop-in for rock climbing or go to the Richmond Olympic Experience which has museum and interactive games.

Many of the mountain events were on Cypress Mountain and in Whistler so make sure to go skiing/snowboarding in the winter.

Lastly, a must-visit is the Olympic Cauldron which is a permanent structure right by the waterfront.

💰 This Months Travel Deals

We've got a bunch of outstanding travel deals that you'll want to take advantage of. Remember, we have our deals group on Facebook. Join if you haven't yet

• Mountain Hardwear: 60% off select apparel with coupon code MHWSAVE. August 4, 2024.
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• Europcar: Get up to 15% OFF with their summer offer. This is for booking dates of July 25 - August 1 and check out dates of July 25 to October 31.
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• Klook: Use code HOTELSAVING15 to save 15% off hotels with a minimum spend of $250 USD. The maximum discount is $40 USD. Applies to stays until December 31, 2024. Coupon valid until the limit has been reached.
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• Choice Hotels: Summer Promo - Stay 2X Get a $50 Gift Card (US and Canada). Deal runs from June 3 to August 8, 2024.
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• KnowRoaming: Want to try a different eSIM provider? They are offering 10% off with the code GAP10 that's good for any purchases and repeated uses. If you're headed to France, they are offering 20% off with code OLYMPICS20 (ends Aug 11, 2024).
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• LATAM Airlines: Fly to South America from 245 USD Round Trip (final price). Starts May 23 and ends December 13, 2024.
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• G Adventures: 20% off Africa and the Americas. For US clients, it's good for travel by Oct 31. For Canadian clients, it's good for travel by Dec 14. In Europe, it's actually 25% off and good for travel by October 31. Deal expires July 31, 2024.
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• Airalo: Use the code NEWTOAIRALO15 and new customers get an additional 15% discount on all Airalo eSIMs. For existing customers, use AIRALOESIM10 to save an additional 10%. Starts July 1 and ends December 31, 2024.

Remember, we update our Going Awesome Places Deals page often so make sure you bookmark it. Also, if you want to know about deals right when they come out, join our secret FB group.

✏️What's New on the Site

We've been taking advantage of the rest time required after surgery by publishing a few new articles and sprucing up some old ones!

• ​How To Plan 4 Days While Based in St. John’s – A Newfoundland Itinerary​
• ​Weekend Ontario Road Trips You Can’t Miss​
• ​Santorini In 3 Days – Itinerary And Travel Guide​
• ​1 Day St. John’s Itinerary In Newfoundland​
• ​24 Hours in London Itinerary​

🎥 New Video on the Channel

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Think of this as the appetizer and the main course coming really soon. With so much incredible footage

Curious how I was able to film within a Parks Canada national park? I had to go through quite the process with filling out a filming permit and permission to use drones permit.

This is a short 2.5 minute video that encapsulates much of the wonder that I felt during my 3 days in Gros Morne National Park.

☝️ What's Next at Going Awesome Places

Cancelling my speaking gig at a conference and several other projects, doctor's orders were to rest after my knee surgery at the beginning of the month.

While I'm still on crutches and a splint brace, I've felt better and have tried to stay busy with work and lots of movies and TV shows. If you have any recommendations, let me know!

Next month looks to be much of the same but I hope to be out of the braces and working on my walking again. The good news is that I'll have time to finish up content for previous trips so look out for those!

📅 This Month in Travel

Off the beaten path summer destinations

Summer is always the time most people take their vacations so a lot of the holiday hotspots are packed with tourists. Which doesn't always make for the most enjoyable trip! So if you want to avoid the crowds we have some of our favourite off the beaten path destinations for you to visit this summer:

• ​Sydney, Australia: Head over to the southern hemisphere to escape the summer and enjoy a Australian winter in Sydney. It doesn't get super cold so the temperatures are perfect for exploring the botanical gardens and doing the Bondi to Coogee beach walk.
• ​Newfoundland, Canada: This hidden gem is a great place to spend the summer. Temperatures are lovely and the old world charm is the perfect way to pass summer days.
• ​Greek Islands: The more popular islands of Mykonos and Santorini will be packed in the summer but there are lesser known smaller islands that are perfect to get your Greek Island adventure without the crowds.
• ​Tahiti, French Polynesia: Enjoy the drier season in Tahiti and score some great deals on hotels and flights during July and August. There are also a lot of incredible local festivals over the summer including fire walking, canoe racing, and now surfing for the Paris Summer Olympics.

Travel news

Here's the latest from the industry with a few articles that we think you'll enjoy.

• ​UNESCO adds new World Heritage sites - The annual meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee was held in New Delhi and this year they have added 24 new sites to their list of cultural protection. Have you visited any on the list?
• ​Self-driving commercial planes? - Heard about self-driving cars? What about self-flying airplanes? It seems they are getting closer to taking to our skies.
• ​How to stay healthy while traveling - Do you always seem to get a cold or a dodgy tummy when flying? Here are some tips from flight attendants to help you stay healthy.
• ​Sustainable travel in Tuscany? - With responsible tourism leading the way in the future of travel, this small town in Tuscany is winning awards as a Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism.
• ​Tech issue grounding flights globally - Did you hear about the major whoopsie with Microsoft products? The security software CrowdStrike which services major businesses had a tech breakdown that caused chaos across the globe, grounding flights and blocking payment platforms.
• ​Thailand digital nomad visa - The ‘Destination Thailand Visa’ (DTV) launched on June 1 and enables remote workers to stay in the country for up to five years.
• ​This lake named hidden gem in the US - Have you ever been to Crater Lake in Oregon? According to Tripadvisor reviewers, the next big thing is hiding in the Pacific Northwest.

Are you a human all-you-can-eat buffet?

With summer comes those buzzing, blood-sucking, itchy little monsters. The mosquito. They haunt your sleep, they ruin every moment sat outside enjoying the weather and they can also carry nasty diseases.
For those of you who are lucky enough to not be a tasty treat for mozzies, we hate you... respectfully.

The solution often is slapping on the deet, and if you are going somewhere with high malaria risk then you absolutely should go in with the hard stuff. For those occasions, we use Ben's which comes in handy travel sizes so you can fit it in your carry-on.

However, if you just need to repel the little beasts from using you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner then there is a natural alternative we have found to be quite effective:

• Step 1: Get a little spray bottle and half fill it with water.
• Step 2: Add several drops of citronella oil, we kind of eyeball this to make the solution look oily and smell pretty potent.
• Step 3: Add 2-3 drops of tea tree oil, then put the lid back on and give a good shake.
• Step 4: Fill the rest up with either more water or a carrier oil of your choice. We like Johnson's baby oil for the nice moisturising benefits.
• Step 5: Spray all exposed skin, smell fresh and citrusy, and remain bug free!

We would like to note that a member of Team GAP uses this spray and her dog is truly offended by it, however it does mean they can enjoy forest walks. A compromise has been made and dog accepts stinky owner in exchange for rolling around in the shade of the forest.

Let us know if you try this spray and if it also works for you!

July just steamed ahead didn't it! Despite the respite care at home, it flew by! August is going to be a month of recovery but I'm going to make the most of it. See you guys next month!

Will Tang
​Chief of Awesome, Going Awesome Places

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