Wanderthirst

Wanderthirst
Wanderthirst Blog

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

I’m traveling to Europe this summer...What and how should I pack?

This is a VERY good question. Europeans dress nicer than most Americans do. You’ll want to blend in and not LOOK like a tourist to help avoid those pick-pockets. If you don’t want to look like a tourist, avoid shorts, halters, sleeveless shirts. In Europe, these items are considered beachwear and you may find yourself a target just by wearing your normal summer clothes. You’ll also want to avoid packing those JUICY sweats outfits.

For starters, pack light. Try to pack only one bag – and limit it to 20lbs. If you can’t find a taxi, you’ll be the one lugging your bags to and fro so you’ll want to make sure you can carry everything you bring. An unstructured 9" x 22" x 14" bag should fit under most airplane seats and it will certainly fit in the overhead bins. You will want to pack clothes, toiletries and electronics, so keep that in mind when deciding what to take.

Pack less. But you are going to Europe for 10+ days, how are you supposed to pack less? Spend some time (perhaps every third night) doing a little laundry. And pack items that you can match up differently. After you’ve done a little bit of laundry, you can create new outfits so you don’t feel as though you are wearing the same outfits over and over again. This is the best tip for clothes, considering everything else you will want to take along in that bag of yours. Keep reading, you’ll see what I mean.

You’ll be doing a lot of walking, so be sure the pair of shoes you bring are comfortable walking shoes. It’s best not to buy a new pair of shoes for your trip. You won’t want to ruin them right away if it rains, and you wouldn’t want to get blisters on your feet the very first day. That would make for a miserable vacation. Aside from the one pair of walking shoes, I would bring ONE extra pair of nice dress shoes, so if you go out for a nice evening, you don’t show up in a dark pair of Dockers with bright white (or dirty and scuffy) tennis shoes.

Pack dark colors. Dark colors don’t show wrinkles or stains. Black goes with everything, so you’ll be able to create many different outfits. During warmer months, jeans may be too heavy and hot, so you might want to find some lighter weight slacks to wear.

During tourist season, many concert halls go casual. You should be able to get away with casual pants such as Dockers and a nice top.

Tie or scarf can gain you instant respectability. If you want a table at a nice restaurant for dinner, you should take something like a tie or a scarf to ‘jazz up’ your outfit.

I read an article by Rick Steves and I think he said it best:

“But ultimately — so long as you don't wear something that's outrageous or offensive — it's important to dress in a way that makes you comfortable. No matter how carefully you dress, your clothes will probably mark you as an American. Frankly, so what? Europeans will know anyway. I fit in and am culturally sensitive by watching my manners, not the cut of my clothes.”

Electronics: When packing, keep in mind that you may want to take some electronics with you. You won’t find a hair dryer provided in hotel rooms unless you are in a very nice hotel – and then you can’t guarantee there will be one there waiting for you. Find yourself a small, fold up, travel hair dryer and don’t forget to pack an adapter because European electrical currents are not the same as in America. And make sure the adapter is suited for where you are traveling. British/Irish outlets have different prong configurations than the continental Europe outlets.

When you get to Europe, you may want to visit a hardware store for a three way plug adapter. Many hotel rooms only have one outlet, but you have camera chargers, phone chargers, and the room light that you want all plugged in.

Now that you have all of these items in your suitcase, do you have enough room for souvenirs? You may need to pull one or two items OUT of that suitcase, so that you have room for the items you pick up along your travels when you return home. (Remember, you will want to do laundry a few times during your trip, so go ahead and take one or two outfits out of your bag.)

Additional information:

Rick Steves suggests the following for your Documents:

“Bring your passport, plane ticket (or e-ticket printout), railpass or car-rental voucher, driver's license, student ID, hostel card, and so on. Photocopies and a couple of passport-type photos can help you get replacements more quickly if the originals are lost or stolen. Carry photocopies separately in your luggage and keep the originals in your money belt. In your luggage, you'll also want to pack a careful record of all reservations (print out your hotels' confirmation emails), along with a trip calendar page to keep things up-to-date as your trip evolves.”

As an added backup, provide a copy of your passport to your Travel Agent. If you lose your passport, a quick call to your Travel Agent and they can begin requesting a replacement for you while you continue your trip and provide copies to any customs official when you need it.

Packing help: You may want to go out and buy some of those compression bags. You can pack your underwear, socks and other knit items in these bags which will give you more room for other items in your bag.

Guidebooks: Don’t pack them. Tear out pages from the books and staple them together. You can also print out information from the internet to take along.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Saving money and vacation for that rainy day

I don’t know if it’s a generational thing. I think of my grandparents who died at 93 & 94 yrs old, saving money for that rainy day. Maybe they were of the mindset that they should leave something behind for their family ~ and perhaps they did. Sure they took vacations, but mostly they were vacations to see family. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with seeing family ~ in fact, it’s important. But there is a whole big, huge world out there with many interesting places to see and people to meet! I for one don’t want nor do I intend to miss out on that. I CAN tell you that I don’t expect ANYTHING from my parents. They love to travel and I want them to be able to see everything in the world they want to see ~ so if that means they leave me a PENNY after they pass, then so be it! I’ll be lucky and happy to get that penny. Perhaps I’ll frame it next to a picture of them from one of their vacations!

Just like you, I’m not made of money, but I work hard for a living, I deserve much needed time off, and darn it ~ I’m gonna take it. You may be thinking “Sure, you get deals from everyone because you are a Travel Agent”. That is not always true and mostly I pay just like you do for the same vacation and once in a while I luck out and may get a small discount.

I find myself lying in bed thinking of all the places I want to see. Sure, I could save for years and MAYBE someday take that World Cruise of 100+ days. But I would rather see the world now and if that means seeing it in small doses, then small doses it is. I refuse to just sit down and watch life happen all around me. Life is hard enough. Make the most of it. Live happy ~ Live NOW!



Thursday, April 7, 2011

Benefits of using a Travel Agent Versus booking travel online

Benefits of using a Travel Agent Versus booking travel online
By: Eileen Tener, ACC
April 1, 2011

“There are too many options”; “I don’t have the time”; “How do I know if I will like this hotel or that cruise line?” These are just some of the questions you may be asking yourself if you try to book your travel online. How exactly can the internet answer these questions for you? It can’t…so consider the internet as ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to booking your travels. However, the internet might be handy when you want to book a quick flight to go visit your mother in Nebraska.

Travel Agents, on the other hand, are good at what they do. They research available vacation options, they sift through thousands of “Specials”, they ask you questions, and they fit you with the vacation that is right for you. Don’t be surprised if you are considering a cruise but you hear your Travel Agent ask you a question such as “What types of hotels do you normally stay at when on vacation?”. Questions such as these are a way for the Travel Agent to get to know you and to begin to put the picture together of which cruise would be the best fit for you. NOW you know you have reached someone who is working for you and not merely tossing prices out at you.

All Travel Agents, however, are not the same. So I suggest you shop around for the best fit in that regard as well. Call a couple of Agents and ask them questions. Here are some tips on what to consider:

Fees: not all Travel Agents charge a fee for their services. You might find that those that do charge a fee may also provide airline services for that trip to see your mother in Nebraska; since airlines do not pay commission, the Agents that provide this service to you need to be paid for their time and so they charge the fee to you, the client. However, this fee is their standard fee whether you are booking just air or an entire vacation, so consider your options carefully.

More about fees: Hotels, Tour Operators and Cruise Lines are among those that pay commission. If you find a Travel Agent who does not charge a fee for their services, it is highly likely that they specialize in travel that allows them to waive fees to their clients. If your choice is to book online or to book through a Travel Agent not charging fees (say cruises for example) consider using the Travel Agent. The price for your cruise will be the same whether you book online, direct with the cruise line or with the Travel Agent. The difference is in the Service you will receive (can the internet help you if your flight is delayed causing you to miss your cruise departure time? Can the internet give you a gift in your stateroom upon boarding the ship?) Commission is being paid one way or the other; it either goes to your Travel Agent or goes back to the big corporate cruise line.

Talk to your Travel Agent and get to know them. You may find that you have a lot in common. They may offer special vacations where they ask you to join them – a “Come Vacation With Me” sort of a deal offered to their clients. And you may find a friend for life.

I would like to finish with a personal story of my own – this is MY own best lesson for using a Travel Agent:

Prior to becoming a Travel Agent, I used to book my travel online. My husband and I decided we wanted to go to Ft. Lauderdale for the weekend so we let our fingers do the walking through the internet.

We spent endless hours searching hotels and looking for a ‘quaint’ little spot on the beach where we could do some shore diving.

What we found on the internet was a lovely little hotel which stated they gave (1) white-glove’ service. They said that (2) beverages would be provided upon check-in, (3) all rooms were air conditioned, (4) breakfast would be provided daily, (5) parking lot was easy to access, and they said that the hotel was (6) right on the beach. And the pictures? Oh how lovely! We literally fell in love with this quaint little hotel and thought we would surely be frequenting this lovely little place for weekend getaways. It was exactly what we were looking for!

So we packed our bags and our diving gear and headed down to Ft. Lauderdale. We were so very excited!

Upon arrival we found that the hotel was right on the beach! Wonderful! We were on the right track.

The parking lot left a bit to be desired; it was very tiny and although it was easily accessible, actually getting our little car into a parking space was quite the challenge.

We finally parked our car and went in to the front office to register. There was nobody there! We must have waited at LEAST a half an hour for someone to finally appear in their tiny hole of an office with a window air conditioner.

While we were registering with the office manager, we asked about the “Beverages provided upon check-in” to which the manager stated “there is a water cooler behind you with plastic cups there to use”.

We were given the key to our room and we schlepped our luggage and diving gear to the room – in the heat and humidity without any help from the hotel staff (which apparently was only the office manager).

The room was all white. White tile floors, white walls, white curtains, white linens, white bathroom, and white ceiling fan. (Was this our ‘white glove’ service?)

We soon came to realize that the WINDOW AIR CONDITIONER was not working and to top that off, the windows were bolted shut! We called the office and the guy came out and was at least able to un-bolt the window for us but we had to keep the ceiling fan on high for our stay because the air conditioner was not going to be working.

Oh, and the breakfast daily? Well, we were given a coupon to the beach bar on the corner that is open in the mornings for breakfast.

Well, the hotel WAS at least on the beach and we DID get some shore diving in while we were there. Thank goodness their definition of ‘on the beach’ was indeed just that and not actually ‘across the busy four lane highway’!

To plan your vacation, contact Eileen at Cruise And Vacation Paradise (a Cruise Planners/American Express franchise) www.CruiseandVacationParadise.com