The TecBlast Blog

Sooner or later the dreaded - or the wonderful happens. You have to travel. Whether for business, vacation, pleasure or other purposes, you can cull more than enough gems from almost any trip to spin off an article or two. It’s infinitely doable to generate a dozen articles or more from a week-long stay away from home. From personal interviews to restaurant reviews and local news pieces, let’s look at some possibilities.

Know Before You Go

In the military they always used to say, “Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance”. So it is too with the art and craft of writing. As soon as you know you’ve got a trip coming up start preparations. Before you go read up on York, Pennsylvania or wherever your destination is. Use the library and the internet. Check the phone book when you get to your hotel too. Let your fingers do the walking first, then your feet. Make a “practice run” at visiting your local markets and points of interest where you live.

Be Active - Look Around

Don’t stay cooped up in the hotel for any reason. It shouldn’t matter what it’s doing outside. If there’s a riot going on outdoors, for goodness’ sake go down and carefully snoop around t find out what’s going on. Take a walk if things are tranquil. With a note pad and pocket digital camera tucked in my pocket I walk a square pattern from the hotel - left out the front door, walk three blocks, turn left - walk three more blocks, left again and three more blocks. A final left turn with another three blocks of coverage and you should be at the corner of your hotel block. During this “stroll” I stop in stores and shops that pique my interest. Stay a bit and chat up anyone there who’s talkative. If it’s a quiet hour shopkeepers will often bend your ear with interesting tidbits. Record or jot them down. And be sure to get a business card from the shop. Note what businesses you find to identify a pattern. While you’re at it, get your hair styled or trimmed, chatting as you get “done”. An information-seeking stroll like this can take anywhere from half an hour to half a day or more and yield numerous gems and seeds of shorts or feature articles.

Collect Brochures, postcards and tourist info

The time to start serious data-gathering is immediately upon arrival. Duck into that magazine or souvenir shop at the terminal or station. Pick up a handful of postcards for the city or region to arm you with some possibilities. Grab a guidebook too if you don’t already have one. Information is also available at drugstores, pharmacies, newsstands and bookstores. Don’t just whip in and out. You’re information-gathering remember? Strike up a conversation with the clerk or other customers.

Read local newspapers, magazines and community tabloids

Ask at a local newsstand about the best local and specialty newspapers, magazines and tabloids. What! “I don’t read “those” kinds of papers”, you say? You don’t read tabloids? You do now. At least while you’re “away” - psst! Nobody’s going to know but you and I, and I promise you I won’t tell a soul. Honest. Read everything. Look at the classifieds. Read the ads and Obituaries too. Look for stories and angles and you’ll find them in some of the most unexpected places.

Review Restaurants

Eating out or with family, makes no difference, you’re going to gather material to do a “food” piece. Maybe a short using your Uncle Sam’s (I really had an uncle named Sam) beer and pretzel dip recipe. Your sister’s pot luck pride recipe is also grist for your article mill. Eating out? That’ll work too. Even the local (I said local) fast food joint is fodder (pun intended) for your article mill. Photograph the food. If they look at you strange ignore them. It’s your food, you paid for it and you’re going to eat it. Just say, “Oh, this looks sooo good I’ve just GOT to get a picture for my friends back home.” After this line, the chef will come out and pose for you. Don’t laugh, it’s happened to me more than a few times. Ask for a “Take Out” menu and business card too. They contain extraordinarily valuable information you’ll use later. Do three to five restaurants with food and exterior shots of the restaurants and you’ve got enough to query a feature article in a major publication.

Visit the Zoo and local Museums

Go with your brother Bernard and his yowling brats to the Zoo or other local kiddie emporium. You say you don’t like video games? You will THAT day. You’ll even try out a couple yourself (hint, hint). Photograph signs, entrances, exhibits and layouts for background to use with your articles. Oh yeah, take some pictures of Bernard’s mob too - especially “in action” at exhibits. Be sure to pick up maps, brochures and other available handouts to provide depth for your proposed pieces. Talk to the brats about their favorites. Chip in your “first hand” experiences in playing “Crabgrass!” yourself and you’ll be able to garner more than you’ll need for an in-depth, saleable piece. If you have markets already in mind, fine. If you don’t, don’t worry, just get everything you can. You’ll sort it out later over coffee and writer’s guidelines back home.

Spend time at the Market

Talk about an absolutely great place to snag a story or two - this is it. Take your pick or do’em all, supermarkets, fruit and produce markets, fish and seafood markets. They’re all tremendous article-producing sources. Take photos - lots of photos. Remember your “food” response line too if vendors want to know why. If you or your companions actually buy anything it’s automatic for you to take a photo. “Excuse me, but I’ve just GOT to have a picture of my brother buying one of those nice-looking “do-dads”. Unusual goods on sale? Ask about the story behind whatever it is. What’s it for? Who buys it? How long have they been selling that? How did they get started selling them? You can background research that item later for addition material for your query and article. With the pictures and “on-location” interview material you’re a shoo-in for a quick sale.

Take Photos of Everything

All along I’ve been saying to snap relevant photos of everything you can. This serves more than one purpose. One, you have material to illustrate your proposed piece. Another thing, photos will serve to capture textures, color and visual impact that will aid you in pounding out a precision piece full of sensory stimulation. Third, you can use your photos to ask others for more information on an item. “Have you ever used, seen, tried these?” “Really? Would you mind telling me about them.” If you shoot roll film (35mm is a standard) you can always have the pictures digitized at your favorite photo shop back home. Slides are useful and can also be transferred into a digital format.

Interview the Locals

“I’m too shy to interview people”, you say? Get over it. How are you going to fill your high-paying articles with quotes if you don’t talk to people? You needn’t come off like Walter Cronkite. This is up close and personal. Ask an innocent question. Listen attentively. Ask another question. Keep listening. Say you’d like to know even more, while continuing to listen attentively hanging on their every utterance. Women are usually so good at this it’s embarrassing. Men tend more to “Bogart” their way to information. Nevertheless, do what you have to in the time that you have. Information is the name of the game. No matter how you write, you must have something to say or it’s “game over”. So, get it when and while you can. Besides, people just love to talk about themselves and their interests. From the newsstand operator to the hotel desk clerk to waiters, waitresses and barbers or hairstylists, get them started and you’ll usually have no trouble at all.

So the next time a trip’s coming up, do a little preparation and you’ll be able to turn that trip into additional sources of income from the articles you’ll spin off and the photos you take. The time to bone up on your interview, food writing and photographic skills is starting right now. Soon, you’ll be “writing on the road” like a pro.

If you haven’t read “How to Triple Your Article Sales Writing Media Package Proposals” at: http://ezinearticles.com/?id=85302, or another to the point piece entitled “10 Tips for Writing Exotic Articles About Where You Live” at: http://EzineArticles.com/?id=72713, also you might find this one helpful too, “Write an Article a Day: Use This Simple Outline Template for Writing Online Articles” at: http://EzineArticles.com/?id=85061, or drop me an e-mail request at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com and I’ll send you a copy by return e-mail.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is a bi-lingual copywriter, expert author and photographer specializing in business, travel, food and education-related writing in South America. His work has appeared in Transitions Abroad, South American Explorer, Escape From America, Mexico News and Brazil magazines. He teaches at a university in Cali, Colombia. To get original, exclusive articles and content for your newsletter, blog or website contact him for a no-obligation quote and current rates. For free information on the 5-week online course “Develop a Specialty and Get Published on the Web for Fun, Fame or Fortune”, e-mail your request to: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

The Euro lottery was in the beginning set up by the national lotteries of the UK, Spain and France and was disclosed on February 2004. The opening lotto draw was on Feb 13th-04 in Paris. The Spain, France and the UK were the only nations partaking in the beginning but lotteries from Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Switzerland and Austria likewise got active in Oct-04.

The Euro millions lotto or the Euro lotto, as it is usually acknowledged, pools the lottery ticket receipts of the 9 partaking Euro countries showing a gigantic Euro lottery jack-pot. With the number of nations joining the EU on the increase, this will without question will lead to even more countries partaking in the Euro Millions lotto. A growth in the amount of people partaking in the Euro millions lotto will lead to a continued growth of the already tremendous European Lottery “jackpots”.

Q. How Would You Play The euromillions Lotto

Every participant has to choose five main numbers from one to fifty and two Lucky-star numbers from one to nine. During the draw, five main and two “lucky-star” numbers are then chosen at random from two lotto draw machines containing numbered lottery balls.

Euro Millions Winnings

The probabilities of scooping the Euro Millions jack-pot is a far-off one : seventy six million but the probability of acquiring a money prize is a fairly decent 1 in twenty four. If the “jackpot” is not won in a given week, it is carried forward to the next lotto draw which results in an ever increasing “jackpot” prize. New regulations added on the 9/02/07 specify the amount of successive roll-overs to 11, with the jack-pot rolling down to smaller prize levels in the 11th draw when the prize is not collected.

The new rules likewise initiated Euro Lottery Super Draw which go on twice yearly and offer jack-pots in the region of 100 million pounds. The difference with Super Draws is that the jackpot must be won during the calendar week of the lotto draw; as a result, when there is no ticket matching, all the drawn numbers then the top prize will be distributed to the lottery ticket bearer(s) on the next winning prize tier.

Many people feel very nervous when it comes time for them to present a speech or public performance. Quite frankly, it is amazing that this phenomenon is so prevalent. To overcome these fears, perhaps an examination of reality will help to gain a new perspective on the art. First, if you are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak or perform before a large audience, you should remember that everyone sitting in the crowd has come to hear what YOU have to say.

It does not matter at all what you will be telling them, good or bad, because someone has given you permission to express whatever is on your mind. If the audience does not like what you tell them, they can heckle or leave, but it is a pretty sure bet they will not demand to come up and bump you from your position to express their own opinion, because they are too afraid to do it themselves. You should remember that you have agreed to speak your mind, give your opinions, or share your expertise, and the worst thing that can happen for doing it is that the audience will not appreciate what you say. If you allow others to sway or change your mind about your own convictions, you probably should not have been invited to speak with authority in the first place.

Here is a perfect example to illustrate my point. While working as a technical instructor for a well known software company, I was presenting information that I was being paid by the company to relate to the class. About half way through the first day of class, I discovered that there were a number of students who were so disappointed with the information they were receiving, they simply decided to leave the class. I was not given an opportunity to address their concerns or respond to any of their issues; they simply walked out during the break period. Before the class resumed, I was informed by someone that these people had left in a huff, and that I needed to take appropriate steps to regain control over the remaining students, because they were all buzzing about the incident.

When the class resumed, I could tell the remaining participants had lost respect for my role as instructor, and were not prepared to show me appropriate courtesy when I regained the floor. I had truly lost their willingness to connect with what I had to say. To counter this situation, I told the class there were some changes that needed to be made before the next session resumed. I confessed that I was aware there were a number of students who had opted to leave the course for reasons they did not care to share with me, so we would be trying a different approach, in case there was anyone still present who did not appreciate the presentation format. For the next chapter of information, instead of presenting the information in lecture format, we would be playing a game I called “Stump the Professor.” I divided the room into two separate teams whose objective was to take some time for each team to study half the material assigned to them in the next chapter. At the end of the study period, each team would elect a spokesman from their group who would be responsible for presenting the information from the material to the opposing team.

In this exercise, points would be awarded for skill in presentation by the apposing teams, and additional points added or subtracted from the presentation by me as the moderator for how accurately the information was presented. The class jumped at the chance to better me. The energy level of the room went up significantly as the teams competed with each other to best my style. Presentations were made, critiques given, points tallied, and one team was awarded overall best in delivery. When the laughter, applause, and excitement of this first round of “Stump the Professor” had ended, I called upon the class to make another decision. I told them we could go forward with the learning process using this game format, or return to allowing me to exclusively present the information to them. Calling this issue to a vote by show of hands, the class voted by a margin of everyone else to one that I continue to present the remaining information myself.

For the students who stayed the course, my approval rating was very high in their evaluation of my presentation. I had regained their respect using the simple mechanism of putting them in my shoes and allowing them to go for it. This will hopefully show you that presentation is not a matter of how poorly or well you do at delivering your topic, it is merely a matter of how skillfully you capture the respect and attention of your audience. If you do fail, just pick up and move on to the next, because you are the one they paid to hear.

Director of Software Concepts
BHO Technologists - LittleTek Center HTTP://home.earthlink.net/~jdir/
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A lot of Linguists and other scientists tried to establish a lot of methods to improve human memory and make the chain of thoughts and ideas more fluent and coherent. Robert Dilts was one of the scientists that established Neuro-Linguistic Programming as a way to improve writing skills and make then overall view of possibilities clearer. The scientist worked along with his colleagues and observed the work of professional writers to see the main difference. The presentation of it showed that it really helps to improve writing skills. This method can be used by individuals regardless their age.

The main aim of the Programming is: To determine the most active sense and concentrate on tailoring other four to it; To learn to concentrate on the topic and switch on imagination when necessary; Lexical interchanges make your vocabulary richer and nobler. The most important thing about writing is the topic examination. Thing about it as of the thesis statement of your paper and focus on possible styles you may use to depict all you have in mind: it may be a narration, a description, a memo or fiction. Do not forget about the reader’s preferences and desires. It may be a good idea to make a sketch of what are you going to present in a chronological or functional order and work in the direction you outlined yourself. The preliminary stage concerning your composition is ready. Now it is all about arrangement there are also several methods that can suit you.

1. If it is hard for you to formulate a bridge between the sentences, put a connection word you like at the end of each sentence in your mind to make it easier for you to comprehend the idea of previous sentence. This is a way to systematize your thoughts. 2. English is a poly-semantic language rich in synonyms that may be used in different meanings according to the text. Use the interchangeable variants to make it easier to orient within the text. This gives your language fluency you never had in your oral speech. 3. Instead of interchanging words you can alter them. The more lexical units that qualify the subject you use (adjectives, adverbs, participle, gerund etc.), the better. Be sure to apply this into the right style (your text may contain direct speech). A cue you’ve established has to be composed of narrator’s position, connection and sensory verb. The narrator’s position and sensory verb are to stand at the beginning of the paragraph. The connection can be placed anywhere in the text that follows. This is what helps you to develop a unique and outlandish style that is going to become a sample for your course mates. 4. Having mastered several methods, you can successfully use them and mix to your own liking and your abilities will improve with every written assignment. Linguistic research shows that this method is helpful in 92% of cases and the easy application of it makes the studying process enjoyable.

Daniel Hunt is a senior editor at SuperiorPapers.com - Term Papers writing service. You can recognize his sample term paper outline at the company’s official site. He specializes in apa term paper format writing and editing various kinds of papers form essay to a dissertation.

Many fail to realize the power flowers have on our emotional well being. Flowers overwhelm our senses with exotic fragrances and beauty. They play on our need for belonging, attention and attraction and most of all; flowers remind us that we are somehow “special” to someone.

So why do so many people underestimate the simple sentiment of flowers?

Reasons people give for not sending flowers are that they do not know where to start and that not everyone appreciates flowers, especially men.

Locating a florist near you is simple. By searching through your local phone directory or by doing an Internet search for Florists you can easily access an extensive directory of florists that should be able to accommodate deliveries in your area, nation and world wide.

Locating a florist near you, that is suited to your needs, however, may be a little more difficult. Asking a florist if they have an active database that they use for their clients is always a helpful hint. Active databases store vital information about customer, such as past purchases, delivery information, preferences and needs and “special dates to remember”.

In addition, ask if the florist performs a client profile survey. This type of survey informs the florist of upcoming special occasions for each of their customer’s data via the database. Many of times, I myself have been “reminded” of my anniversary by my personal florist through a personal phone call or by a mailer. This act alone is one of the best indicators as to how good a florist’s customer service is.
Choosing the right flowers can also be quite simple. If a client survey is performed and an active database is utilized a professional florist should easily be able to determine if a bouquet of Daisies is appropriate for your occasion or if the arrangement calls for something more sophisticated. If you are still uncertain, it is also helpful to visit the florist’s show room. This will enable you to better visualize the type of selection that will best convey your sentiment.

However, things to consider when sending a man flowers are his personal style, office décor, and personal hobbies. Most professional florists try to integrate this knowledge into the design and flower selection of the arrangement. For example; if the man you are sending flowers to is a golfer, your personal florist may want to add golf balls or tees to the arrangement. Men are also stimulated by color and are visually oriented, so it may be a good idea for the florist to use bright vivid colors as well.

Just as women love receiving flowers, it turns out, men do too. A survey, conducted by the Society of American Florists, showed that over 60% of men responded in favor of receiving flowers on special occasions and holidays, particularly Valentine’s Day.

As the need to exhibit personal gratitude, love, appreciation, and concern grows in our emotionally intellectual society it has never been a better time for people to stop and send some flowers.

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Having some good quality time clock software is very important to the way that you conduct your life and your business. You can use time clock software to manage the way that you pay your employees and to make sure that you get to work on time each day. More and more people and companies are making use of time clock software each and every day for efficiency reasons. In no time people will not be able to function without time clock software, it is just too darn good!

More and more people are coming to rely on time clock software and for good reason. Time clock software can completely replace punch cards and machines. Never again will you have to pay for all of that paper! Many people are surprised to learn just how much money gets spent on these paper cards each day and each month. When it comes time to add up the expenses for the year we are talking about a whole lot of money. Then take into consideration how much money it costs to get these machines fixed! By using simple time clock software that can be installed into a computer you are looking at savings of thousands and thousands of dollars each year that you are in business. This money can then be used to up your profits instead.

Accounting payroll time clock software is another useful and popular tool for you to use at your company. You can save so much time and trouble by using this kind of time clock software that everyone will thank you for it. Excel time clock software is the most common of these time clock software programs.

Time clock software construction is simple. These time clock software programs are brought to you from some of the greatest minds of our time. These geniuses will write the script for these programs and they will then be used in any business.

If you are interested in getting some free time clock software then you should start your search online. The internet is a powerful tool, just as powerful as your time clock software and it is the perfect place for you to find your time clock software. Once you have tracked down some good employee time clock software and some excel time clock software you can then proceed to download it to your computer system. You will need to make sure that this time clock software is compatible with the operating system that you use each day. This is vital to the success of the program in your business and computer.

If you have a Mac computer then you will have to download some time clock software especially designed for this kind of computer operating system. PC computers and Macs have different ways of dealing with software and choosing the right time clock software is very important to your entire business venture. Start looking online for the perfect time clock software today and watch your business take shape and grow.

Jeff King is a technologist who writes on many consumer topics.
There’s more about clocks at
Every Clock

Moving is one of life’s most trying events. For youngsters, it is also an emotional turmoil adults oftentimes don’t pay enough attention to. Below are some things to keep in mind.

Does Age Make a Difference?

• Generally speaking, the younger the child, the greater they will get by with the transition of moving to a new home.
• Extremely small children and infants may be lost. It is a good idea to try to explain to them what’s happening and pass it like an adventure.
• The biggest concern that school age kids endure is whether they will make more friends and fit in easily at their new surroundings.
• Since adolescents’ friends provide them with a sense of identity, it is more difficult for older kids to feel comfortable with the idea of moving to a new school.

Settling In

Understand that there may be a grieving period for youngsters after a big move; it may be a few weeks, maybe even a couple of months. Here are a few painless things you can do to make moving more simplified for your youngsters.

• Investigate and explore your new neighborhood together. Look for new and unusual things.
• Visit your kid’s new school with them in advance and walk about the new school together to assist them to find their bearings.
• Come with your children on their route to school until they are comfortable travelling by themselves.
• Check out after-school activities where your children can make new friends with like interests.
• Do not forget to remind them to keep in touch with old friends.

Being Alert to Early Warning Signs

A major change is most likely very rough for a kid. Even the most well adjusted kid can have difficulty grappling with moving.

Be alert, it’s important to catch small warning signals that your youngster may need additional assistance dealing with his or her new environs.

Here are some things to watch out for

• Withdrawn behavior
• Loss of appetite
• Problems sleeping, or regular nightmares
• Blowups of anger or tears
• Reluctance to stray far from the home or family
• Trouble making new friends

Selecting moving companies can be tricky enough, moving with a family might be even more hard. There are a lot of changes occurring for you and your family. That’s why it is critical to spend some time assisting your youngsters cope with the switches going on around them. The advice laid out above will help make your move go more easily.

Additional Moving Resources

• Google Knol advice on picking movers
• Squidoo Lens on preparing for your move
• NY Times article on avoiding moving scams

When you select your scuba diving equipment, go for quality stuff as this will not only add to your diving enjoyment but also, more importantly, to your safety. While choosing the equipments for scuba diving, one must have a good knowledge about the quality of equipments from various available brands. Your life depends on your equipment while scuba diving, so make sure you buy quality brand name equipment rather than trying to save money.

Basically the same since Jacques Cousteau introduced the Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus to the world, diving equipment has improved,although diving equipment has remained.

Leading makers of scuba diving equipment are continually enhancing products for safety, comfort, and reliability. There are a few things you will need to begin scuba diving including a mask and fins. Nevertheless, the major advance for the recreational diver is the dive computer. Enabling divers to precisely monitor their downtime, trajectory performance, safety, the Dive computer has revolutionized the precision with which diver’s plan their dives.

Care should be taken regarding the quality of equipment, however just as important is the comfort and functionality,as noted above. If you purchase tanks and they are too long and heavy for you, the dive will be more difficult and you will always be struggling with your gear,Scuba Diving tanks come in many sizes.

For some time now I was looking for a way to resize images in an easy fashion. My mother is 72 years old and has no clue of computing devices. For her computer software is way too complex. There are several offers on the internet, just one site was totally satisfyingThe website ResizeImagesOnline.com allows you to do your image resize, even rotate your images, and write them on hard disc. It is very easy, no matter You only need an internet connection and your camera.

A) Select picture.

B) Choose new size :

Which means that the longest side,will have a maximum length in Pixel:

Extremely small ( 80 Pixel )

Small ( 200 Pixel )

Medium ( 400 Pixel )

Big ( 600 Pixel )

Longest Side:

by the user, e.g. 786. So the picture will not be deformed!

Free Scale:

Height and breadth are selected freely.

The picture / image can loose its aspect ratio horizontally or vertically.

C) Optional : Rotate.

D) Click “Resize!”. The image is uploaded and changed in size.

Electronic Mail can be used to send the image to your buddies.The e-mail address must be valid.

The image resize is performed employing a new resampling technique.This gives a higher quality than most image editing programmes can do.You can input almost all sizings of images,File formats PNG, JPEG and GIF are allowed.

When it comes to the perfect stag weekend, Prague is having its moment in the sun. For the better part of ten years the Czech capital has been the ‘it girl’ of the former Eastern bloc. And just like ‘it girls’ from Essex to Primrose Hill, Prague is being done like a dinner. Those who aren’t already going there are thinking of going there and everybody else already went in the 80s before, like, it became so popular. Now there’s nothing wrong with abandoning Bournemouth and Skegness in favour of a bit of Iron curtain history and culture, in fact it’s where the smart money is. But listen up people, there’s a whole map out there filled with quirky, exotic and down right crazy locations that are just champing at the bit to show you a good time. So let’s start with the new kids on the Eastern Bloc; Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn and Moscow. Think of them as best friends you’re yet to meet. Lovers you’re yet to kiss, you get the drift. So here are some handy hints, interesting facts, useless trivia and some slap-your-granny-you-can’t-be-serious exchange rates on places that you might want to consider upon organizing the mother of all stag weekends. Gentlemen, get your phrase books ready.

VILNIUS

S veiki atvyke Lietuvos! Welcome to Lithuania! It’s the largest and most southerly of the three Baltic republics also home to an annual cucumber festival, pea beer and the world’s finest (and only) Soviet-era theme park. Here in Lithuania a beer bicycle is not just a fantasy but a legitimate form of transport and stewed beaver a perfectly reasonable alternative to toad in the hole. They ditched communism to score independence in 1991 and are now eating lunch in the EU with the cool kids. They walloped the 2001 Eurovision song contest with a princely 13th place and, as Paul McCartney would say, things just keep getting better all the time. The small and quirky republic of Lithuania, perched on the Baltic Sea and sandwiched between Poland, Belarus and Latvia, is simply one of the hottest travel destinations of the moment and making a stag weekend of Vilnius has never been so easy. So polish your Kankles, get in, get down and get ready to party Vilnius Style. Where it’s always 1991.

Why in the name of sweet Monica Lewinsky* should I go to Vilnius for My Stag Weekend?

What all those earnest Professor Boring travel guides won’t tell you is that Vilnius is home to some of the best legal fun a man could ever want. And the best part is the hordes are yet to climb on the bandwagon so there’s plenty of Lithuanian goodwill still in the barrel to go round. This is a good thing to keep in mind when planning the mother of all stag weekends. Now technically your wedding is supposed to be the best day of your life, but that doesn’t mean that your stag weekend can’t be the best weekend of your life. So, for the greatest weekend of your life Lithuanian style here’s what you need to know:

It’s the Geographical Centre of Europe (Yes! Really!)

Thanks to the nice people of the European Union extending their warm Belgian welcome to Lithuania, it is now officially part of Europe. And not content to simply be a part of the action, it also home to the European Geographical centre. I know. It’s rather like paying twenty Euro for a chunk of cement said to have been part of the Berlin wall, little more than a tawdry marketing tool and barely worth the photo opportunity. But. Still. You’re drawn to the idea. Like one may be drawn to standing with your left arm in the Northern Hemisphere and the beer clenching right arm in the South, or going to Korea to moonwalk across the border of communism and capitalism. Or going to York. Period. In any case Lithuania has the honour of housing the centre of Europe. And like all fledgling capitalists worth their coca cola they have embraced the fact by building a commemorative park - the ‘Europos Parkas’ - just in case one mistook the precise yet indistinguishable point for an alien crop circle or Stalin’s summer mud bath cabana. So they’ve got the centre and nowhere else does.

*A fine specimen of Lithuanian-descended womanhood

Amalia Illgner is a copywriter for chillisauce.co.uk; a fully bonded tour operator specialising in memorable stag nights. Like the sound of that? Well there’s a whole map of possibilities for a great stag weekend, for some excellent adventure filled ideas check out chillisauce where they will tailor a Stag Weekend in Vilnius just for you.