This week's travel blog of the week is Coomers Family World Adventures. The blog is about a family of three Shawn, Shawn and Jasmine who set about a two year trip around the world. Amongst their destinations are Australia, Belize & Honduras, Canada, Fiji, Guatemala, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and the USA.

One interesting article is entitled "Have We Died and Gone To Hell?" Which explains the families trip through the Australian outback and suffering the severe heat which was so intense they had to cancel a trip and spend most of the time indoors with an air conditioning unit. Shawn mentions that in the brief time they were outside even the animals stayed out of sight in the shade.

The government will investigate claims that contaminated air in planes is making pilots and passengers ill. Figures suggest that one in every 2,000 flights is polluted with engine oil but unions claim that the problem occurs much more often. Last year there were 116 contaminated flights reported to the Aviation Authority. Pilots and passengers have reported symptoms including nausea, headaches, dizziness and lethargy. The investigation will use equipment to measure the cabin air on five different types of aircraft from five different airlines to try and identify any toxins that might be in the air filters.

Jet lag can really eat into your vacation time especially if you can only get away for a short break. This article suggests that simply by not eating during the flight you should be able to rapidly adjust to a new time zone. Studies carried out on mice found that the brain has two internal clocks, one activated by light and the other activated by meal times. Apparently the daylight clock usually takes precedence so we are more sleepy at night but travelling across time zones sends this out of synch and causes jet lag. With mice, fasting means that they will forage for food outside of daylight hours. Similarly the problem of jet lag can be overcome by fasting for the plane journey, up to around 16 hours and eating when you land, helping your body adjust more quickly. Having not tried it I'm skeptical but its worth a try, plane food is usually awful anyway.

BA have announced an increase in fuel surcharges on all tickets sold from Tuesday 3rd of June. The surcharge will increase by £3 per flight to £16 on short haul flights and increase by £15 per flight to £78 per flight on long haul flights. The increase comes at a time when the airlines are facing rising costs of jet fuel due to soaring oil prices. It is likely that other airlines will now follow suit.

Monday the 26th is a Bank Holiday in the UK meaning there is no mail collections or deliveries. Any mail sent after close of business (5pm) on Friday 23rd of May will be posted on the next working day Tuesday 27th of May.

Last summers storm has meant that bathing water at beaches across the UK is more polluted. As a result the number of beaches with excellent water quality has fallen by 10% on last year. 779 beaches were tested, with 443 getting a good rating compared with 495 last year. The tests were carried out between May and September last year coinciding with the wettest British summer on record. The society has said that heavy rain would have washed sewage and animal waste into the rivers and the sea making the waters more polluted than normal. The tests also found that the number of beaches failing to meet the minimum standard has tripled from 17 to 53. If you want to find out how a beach scored before swimming you can see the results here.

American Airlines will bring in a charge for checked bags from the 15th of June. They will charge $15 for the first checked bag and already have a $25 charge for the second checked bag. It will also raise other fees for service such as reservation help and fees for oversized bags. The changes come because the airlines fuel costs have increased by nearly $3 billion since the start of the year. Other airlines such as United Airlines are also looking at whether to impose a fee on checked luggage. It seems checking in baggage free of charge might soon become a thing of the past.

If you are planning on using your credit or debit card when you go on holiday abroad then you might want to check how much your bank charges. That's the message from some financial experts who warn that many holidaymaker's are charged much more than they expect for using their card abroad. Many banks have increased their fees for using cards abroad in the past year. These increases mean that if you withdraw £100 from a cash machine abroad you could be charged as much as £4.95 whereas spending £100 on a credit card will incur a charge of up to £3. Whilst the charges may seem relativity small if you unaware of them it can soon add up so the message is to check how much your bank charges before you go away.