It's Time to GO!

We about 24 hours from departure for our annual winter Caribbean holiday. It's time for warmer weather and for our little family to decompress, relax and eventually rejuvenate.

Here's what we're taking:

DIVE GEAR

 SUNSCREEN

because we don't want to look like this...

  Of course these!

A few of these...

Because this is the plan for the next two weeks:

 

Make the most of your holidays - wherever you are!

Oh yeah, THAT traveler

You know, those in-flight travelers that are inconsiderate and/or just annoying.

Expedia's annual survey of the most annoying types of flight behavior include these top three and I have to say I agree, although their #11 is probably my #4:
1. Rear Seat Kicker (cited by 67% of study respondents)
2. Inattentive Parents (64%)
3. The Aromatic Passenger (56%)
11. Overhead Bin Inconsiderate (stows bag in first available spot, rather than nearest their seat; 32%)

And there are the people who dress, well, inappropriately.  

• Spiked heels? no
• Tight clothes, so when you sit down the seams split? no
• Perfume/Cologne? God No!
• Sweat suits? ok, maybe if it's a long transcontinental flight and you want to be comfy but please, no droopy drawers!
• Adidas type slippers with socks? I'm sorry but nothing screams novice traveler more than these!

Remember when...

You got dressed up to fly? Flight attendants handed out sandwiches from a platter? People were courteous? Yeah me too, but those days are long gone and everyone and anyone can get on a plane now. [If you can first get through security - see this post for more on that!]

It always amazes me what people think is OK to do on a flight.
Once on a flight to Denver some woman sat next to me giving herself a manicure until the flight attendant told her that acetone was not allowed to be used in flight. Um. Yeah. Thanks. [I was secretly hoping the oxygen mask would deploy due to the fumes.]

Some other things I've witnessed:

He was in pink sweats on my flight

• Kids with leaking dirty diapers running up and down the aisle. Barefoot.
• Seat kicker from Cairo to JFK - the guy across the aisle confronted the offender who ignored him. Then apologized to us "on behalf of the Egyptian people"
• Child (old enough to talk in full sentences) ripping up his mother's shirt for a "drink"
• Texting from KC to DC.  (Hope he drained his battery tower hopping!)
• Richard Simmons giving workout advice from DCA to LAX. 

The folks at Passenger Shaming have some doozies but I think their in-flight bingo card sums them up nicely.

Please don't do any of these!

Please, if you do nothing else on a plane, be a descent fellow traveler. The person sharing your arm rest will silently thank you.

The Gift of Travel

Off We Go!

One of the many beaches we've lounged upon

We've been traveling for years during the winter holiday season.  Not being religious, I figured it was better to get out of town, avoid the cold weather, skip needless shopping for stuff people don't:
a) want
b) need or
c) like and will therefore have to return while fighting the throngs of after holiday sale shoppers
and head to the Caribbean for a week+ of warmth and merriment of our own making.

 [Side note: Our parents lived on the same street and it was too chaotic shuffling back & forth so we just gave up, which was way easier than dealing with the family holiday madness.]

Wilma was a Cat 5 storm.

I should say this originally started when we were taking a trip in October that Hurricane Wilma forced us to 1) postpone and 2) find a new place to visit after it wiped out Cancun.  The NOAA hurricane central website helped find an island that had not been destroyed in recent memory. [See my post on Like Amsterdam But in Pastels for the full story.]

This tradition started when our child was a baby. As she's gotten older we've asked if she wants to stay home and 'celebrate' and repeatedly we got the 'No," so I've stopped asking and now we just go.

We have 12 days until we leave for this year's trek. Two weeks in a condo on the beach. But let me tell you, each year it gets harder and harder to plan. It seems there are more people who have taken to the gift of travel instead of giving unwanted/needed/liked gifts.

 

 

Our planning process 

This is our actual airline confirmation. Notice the date: May 20!!!

In May we start thinking about where we might want to go. Generally I look for a more 'off the radar' type of island.  But for some reason, this year I zeroed in on a well known destination. Typically  I start the process of looking for a place to stay on TripAdvisor. After looking at hotel rates (GASP!) I opted to find a rental through VRBO or FlipKey.  Thankfully I found a reasonably priced place and I booked it stat!  [When we started this tradition I could get a 4-5 star hotel for $179/night. This year I was faced with $750+/night!??!  Clearly this whole run-away-to-warmer-weather-for-the-holidays has caught on.]

Then I started looking at flights. Much to my surprise I was FORCED to by airfare because the flights were already practically booked - in MAY? We're talking for a December flight seats were filled and some totally sold out! Maybe it's the island we picked? Guess we'll find out in less than two weeks.

Since flights were already crammed, I figured I better book the rental car at the same time.  So at least all the big logistics were out of the way.

The spouse and the kid are scuba divers. For the past two months he's been saying 'I need to contact the dive shop.'  Finally he did. Guess what? First choice dive shop was booked. As in for the entire two week trip. [Again, people are catching on to this non-holiday thing.] Plan B - go with the cattle class dive shop. Stay tuned to see how that shakes out!

Part of the planning of the location/accommodations MUST include: beach access, pool, bar, spa, and ability to prepare our own meals or at least a mini-fridge and microwave. The first three go without saying, but the spa is all me. This is where I'll be spending lots of time...

This is what I really look forward to while not celebrating a holiday.

Moral of the story?

So, moral of the Gift of Travel post? Book early if you want to go somewhere you read a LOT about. Consider renting a flat, condo, house, villa if you can't find a reasonable hotel rate. Then hope everyone else decides to stay home.

Happy Travels!

Twice the $: Half the Clothes

I'm always amazed at how people pack for travel. 

The people that get me are those that don't understand that generally you can't fit a 48"+ rollerboard in an overhead compartment. Clearly they don't have a clue how to pack particularly if you're lugging that on an overseas flight where you get one free bag with most airlines.  OK, maybe they don't want to wait for their luggage but seriously... get a clue!

We travel a lot for work and pleasure in our house. And we travel for long stretches of time, like up to two weeks and we manage to get it all in one bag per person + carry ons, which I have to say we keep to a minimum. Sometimes this includes our scuba gear. So here are my rules for packing bags:

Rule one: find out if you have laundry facilities where you're going.  

Granted if your on a "If this is Tuesday, This must be Belgium" type of vacation, then probably not.  But if you're like us and typically go somewhere and stay in the same 'home base' for the trip, see if they have washer/dryer OR laundry service before you go.
[Hint: Most European hotels will get your laundry done for really cheap!]

Rule two: Pack mix & match. 

It kills me that the women I work with have to have matchy-matchy clothes, shoes, jewelry, hair accessories etc. for every single day! Really??? Makes me think of Mrs. Roper on Three's Company. Take stuff that you can wear more than once  like black bottoms or shoes and go with more than one thing.
[Hint: spot remover pens are a good thing to carry with you]

Rule three: Roll your clothes when you pack. 

You get a LOT more in your suitcase if you do this. Maybe it seems counter-intuitive but you can really make a lot of extra space using this over 'flat packing'.

Rule four: Pack things that don't need to be ironed. 

[OK, if you're going to a special event you get a #freepass] But do you really want to spend time on vacation ironing?

Rule five: If you are on the fence about something, don't bother you probably won't need it.

Golden rule: Take twice the $$$ and half the clothes.