July 2, 2009
Fees for minors flying unaccompanied
When we talked about flight attendants a while back we also talked about unaccompanied minors. Here's an article about just that. The author thinks the fees for flying unaccompanied are unreasonable.
I'm not so sure. If the child gets supervision then someone has to pay. The flight attendants might not do anything extra in the air, but if the groundstaff has to get the kid on and off the plane...
Do you agree with these survey results?
Interesting results from a tripadvisor survey. I really don't understand how they have New York as both the friendliest and least friendly. I guess they screwed up. I could see it being the most expensive though.
Favorite City: New York City, San Francisco, Chicago & Boston
Least Favorite City: Detroit, Los Angeles, Atlanta
Most Underrated: Portland, Oregon
Most Overrated: Las Vegas
Most Economical: Las Vegas
Most Expensive: New York City
Cleanest: Portland, Oregon
Dirtiest: Detroit
Sexiest: Miami
Most Boring: Cleveland
Healthiest: Seattle
Least Healthy: Detroit
Friendliest and Most Helpful: New York City
Least Friendly and Helpful: New York City
Best Free Attractions: Washington D.C.
Most Romantic: Honolulu
Nicest Sounding Accent : Atlanta
Most Annoying Accent: Boston
July 1, 2009
Cancelled trip and what I'm missing
Some of you may remember that I was planning a busy August that included a trip to Costa Rica. My wife cancelled the trip to Costa Rica because she feared swine flu. Makes no sense to me but that sometimes happens with emotions. She wanted to cancel our cruise as well but since we had already paid...
Anyway, I was supposed to stay at the new Beacon Escazu:
I suppose I'm looking for a little sympathy now. If you take a look at some more pictures of the hotel I think you'll see why I'm kind of bummed about missing the trip.
My wife did say that I could go anywhere in America or Canada instead. Somehow these countries don't scare her. I'll be going alone. Now I'm trying to meet up with a couple of old friends from high school but that may be tricky.
June 30, 2009
Here's one story from a woman who doesn't regret traveling to Mexico. Unfortunately we don't get many details of the actual vacation in Mexico but we do get an interesting look at some of the fears the author felt before taking the trip (violence and swine flu in Mexico).
At first I was going to say something positive but after rereading the article, something seems hollow about the author writing that visiting this resort in Mexico will make her a real traveler:
Perhaps it was also the desire to be able to make sophisticated and knowing comments about distant places, with the kind of self-satisfied authority I heard in so many accomplished travelers.I don't like to think of myself as a travel snob, and I do my share of cruises and resorts. I even shop when I'm on vacation. But I also know that these experiences don't make me a sophisticated traveler. Or maybe resorts are for sophisticated travelers and the real travel experiences are reserved for poor backpackers. I guess anyone can be a self-satisfied authority but I won't accept you as an authority until you've done a lot more than visited a resort in a neighboring country.
I guess it comes back to the old question, what makes someone a real traveler? If you're curious, I spent 20 minutes looking for this entry - that's why you see so many other links above - I guess this blog is too big and too old.
June 29, 2009
Traveling for work - how do you make it fun?
This is my second time in Yong In for work. The first time, I came up with a question about rural or urban vacations.
This time it's a question about traveling for work in general: how do you make it fun?
I know I'm supposed to be working and shouldn't be trying too hard to have fun but then again you only live once and should enjoy as much of life as you can, right?
Yet here I am with work to do, and no friends, family, or pets to distract me. I had a little fun when I arrived because I had time to go to the gym and get in a quick workout. The gym here isn't great, but it does have a punching bag and this is only the second time in my life I've fooled with one of those.
I suppose I could go for a walk, but I am in the country so while trees are nice and everything I don't know if that will make this 3 day trip really fun....
What travel experiences have chnaged your life?
Nice story here about a life changing travel experience. An English actress saw The Reasmey Angkor Bassac Theatre Troupe in Cambodia. This troop was so poor that they traveled around Cambodia on foot.
Since meeting them, the traveler has been inspired to raise money for them. I'm sure it didn't take too much to change their lives.
I can't say that I've had an experience like that. Nothing that really changed the way I lived after I returned home.
Spas, economic recovery hopes & signs
A few days ago, at the bottom of this blog entry, I linked to an article that talked about how going to a local spa might be a good vacation idea for a troubling economy.
So today when I saw this article the title seemed all wrong: "What will signal consumers are back? Check the spa."
Well, I thought, more spending at the spa might just mean the economy is still in trouble so people are opting for cheap vacations that include local spas.
Now in that article there is a brief reference to resort spas - I think I can agree that when resort spas start seeing more more business than consumers are spending again. That means economic recovery since the US economy is driven on consumer spending.
Some of the other signs they mention:
Diners will order big pancake breakfasts again. Business suits will sell briskly. So will name-brand luggage, gym memberships and pricey jeans. Spas will sell more facials and massages.Anyway, it's an interesting article, not really about travel, but the economy and the travel industry we like to talk about are certainly related.
Remember the old question, will the economy hurt the travel industry? Well we've seen that it has even though there was some doubt.
June 26, 2009
PruneYard Plaza Hotel: review (sort of)
The following is a paid review:
I was asked to review the specials page - I like looking at packages.
I didn't really understand the movie night package's appeal. Why would I visit San Jose to go see a movie? But I did grok the romance package:
$229 = regular room (king size bed, big bathtub)
$249 = suite (has a fireplace plus above)
$309 = Penthouse Suite (balcony, flat screen TV, plus above)
Then you get a bottle of sparkling wine, Godiva chocolate, turn down service, breakfast delivered to your room in the morning, and a complimentary late check out at 3:00pm.
The rooms and the hotel itself seem quite nice. Plus I'm sure that we're talking about an expensive area so I'm guess there's value here (though I haven't done any comparisons).
I'm still not sure I would stay there, however. It's 50 miles from San Francisco and if I'm going as a tourist (I doubt I would need to visit Silicon Valley on business) I'm getting closer to San Francisco.
However, for you business travelers out there, or for those of you who want to visit San Jose because you know something I don't, I would certainly check out the PruneYard Plaza. In fact, the amenities they list seemed aimed at the business traveler anyway:
The hotel offersI wonder how popular their movie and romance packages really are...
# a 100% smoke-free environment
# Complimentary High-Speed Internet access
# DVD player
# iPod/mp3 clock radio
# Spacious work area
# Ergonomic work chair
# Cable TV
# CD player
# Two dual-line telephones
# Voicemail services
# LATHER bath and body products
June 25, 2009
Bose Quiet Comfort 3 Headphones vs. other high end headphones
I've heard that there are better headphones out there for sound quality but that Bose is #1 for comfort on long plane trips.
I know one person with the Bose 2 model who is very happy with them. They block out low humming noise like airplane engine noise. This way he doesn't have to crank up the volume of an in-flight movie or whatever. They don't block out all noises so you will still hear conversations, yelling kids and crying babies
The Bose 2 sit on top of the ear so after three or four hours his right ear starts to hurt. So he thinks the Bose 1 which are over the ear might be better in this regard. The Bose 3 are supposed to be like the Bose 2 only more compact.
Another friend basically said, before you spend a lot more for less, check out the line of Sennheiser headphones. They provide better sound for less money. But I don't know how comfortable they are for long flights either.
And Sharon mentioned Quiet Point headphones on this old post. I had never heard of them before and haven't heard of them since so I don't know what people are saying about them.
June 24, 2009
Cheap hotel if you can sleep on the floor, close to home vacations, and resorts you can trust with your infant
Here are some things I meant to blog about a while ago but got lost...
First, a sale for those of you who are traveling to San Diego with a sleeping bag:
• Deluxe accommodationsHere's some advice on infant friendly resorts since you can't always leave you baby behind when you go on vacation.
• Breakfast for two$219 per night*
OR...
• $199 without breakfast
• $179 without honor bar
• $159 without A/C or heat
• $139 without pillows
• $109 without sheets
• $89 without lights
• $59 without linens
• $39 without toiletries
• $19 without bed
Lastly, here's an article on close to home vacations that are not quite staycations. They typically involve a nearby restaurant, hotel, and spa. I don't know - I suppose if you throw in a show it would be a lot nicer. Otherwise if you're saving money you might as well camp out in your backyard roasting marshamallows and making smores. Personally, I'll be taking the nerdy route and trying the medieval campsite experience with a bunch of other nerds in costume. I just got my 32 pound stainless steel scale armor suit in the mail (won it on Ebay) so my costume is all set...
