Tips for traveling with kids

Let’s get back to discussing tips for traveling with kids.

• First, you might want to consider boarding early. Yes, I know that will make your trip feel that much longer. But doing this will enable everyone to feel more settled in their places. It will be especially helpful if you do not have assigned seats.
• Everyone getting enough rest is essential for a nice, smooth trip. Consider getting a condo. If you are for sure staying in a hotel or resort, consider getting a suite or at least another room.
• Having free breakfast not only cuts down on costs, it also cuts down on stress. This is one meal you’ll know what you’ll be doing and won’t have to have any discussions about.
• I know a lot of people like to just go with the flow while they are on vacation, but some planning is a good idea when you’re traveling with children. You’ll want to try your best to work your children’s sleeping and eating schedules. Not messing with those will help keep everyone happy and on track.
• But you don’t want to overplan your trip, keeping everyone busier than usual.? Children love afternoons at the pool or movie nights.
• You will want to pack everything that you need, but you do not want to overpack. You don’t want to have more to carry than you have to. A lot of places are going to have washers and dryers that you can use.
• If you aren’t going to a resort that has a children’s program, consider bringing a babysitter. It isn’t going to cost that much extra. And vacations are the perfect times to get in some extra dates.

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MSC Cruises

I’ve decided that I like doing two things at once. Sure, writing about what I am learning about in this travel agent school seems to take me a little longer. But we are supposed to get the word out about the things we’re learning, and writing about the things I am learning does help. And since this school has many different courses, I should keep quite busy for a while.

Today we are going to look at the MSC Cruiseline. MSC stands for Mediterranean Shipping Company. MSC  strives for excellence in everything that they do, and has won a lot of awards for what they do.

• Where do these cruises go? Basically anywhere you would be interested in traveling to. They do Mexico and the Caribbean, they also do Europe and Asia. They also do an excellent South American cruise.
• Let’s take a closer look at some of what they have to offer. When it comes to food, their specialty is Italian. They have a lot of great pasta dishes. You will be able to get a great pizza any time that you’d like. But Italian isn’t the only cuisine that they have. They have a famous Asian chef that is over their Asian restaurants. And of course, they have a pas chef to make sure your sweet tooth is satisfied.
• MSC has partnered with LEGO to bring children and their families experiences they will never forget. They will have all the supplies that you will need for your baby and toddler that you will need.
• MSC also understands your need to keep up with your fitness program while on board. They will help you create the right exercise program while you are on board. They will also help you come up with healthy menus.

I would love to know your thoughts on any of this..

Okay, I know there are ways to book trips on the internet. So why would you need a travel agent? Let’s look at some times you might want to use a travel agent.

 

• Travel agents are great when you and your extended family are going on a trip together. You have a lot of people, some people may have special needs to figure out..People may need to come and go on different days. There are just a lot of details to figure out.
• You might want to book through a travel agent if you are going to a place you’ve never been. You may have a lot of time to do the necessary research. A travel agent can help you to set everything up. We can figure out your complete itinerary.
• And when you’re planning your honeymoon, you probably want to go through a travel agent. You have a thousand other things you need to plan. And this is a special trip you is really do not to mess up. Let a travel agent handle all the details .

Movie places

I am going to try to do this, and hopefully I’ll do a better job than I did yesterday.. I’m still doing a lot of experimenting and figuring things out as I go along… x

I think a lot of us like to watch movies when we want to relax. But have you ever wanted to go to the places where specific movies were made? Let’s look at a couple of these today.

• Do you have any Indiana Jones fans in your did you family? You might want to visit Petra, Jordan where these films were made. This has become a popular destination since the films were made.
• Slovenia might be small, but it is where Narnia was made. If I am remembering right, the place has some absolutely gorgeous spots.

Planning the perfect girls’ trip #2

Let’s get back to discussing how to plan a great girls’ trip. I have several things I’d like to look into more today, but feel like I need to do the normal things first and just see how the rest of the day goes. Let’s pick up where we left off.

• Some friends don’t need much except to have a place to gather and some nice food to enjoy themselves. Other groups will want to go to some of the more exotic locations. If your group is trying to start their annual trips together, it might be wise to have a gathering and discuss what everyone is thinking as far as overall budget. Is it going to be easier to gather in each other homes, or do people want to mark places off of their bucket lists? One of you might want  to play hostess more often than the others to cut down on her costs. You can find solutions that work best for your group.
• If one person is planning the whole thing, this lady will want to give some clues. You might want to get creative with the e-mails you send your group. Some people will go a step farther and send cute little packages to give hints. Groups who are going go somewhere exotic will usually meet at one member’s house, and then they do the reveal at the airport.
• This is a girls’ trip, so you are going want to have comfortable places where ere you can sit and gab. You might want to have one more than one place like this in case your group wants to split up for whatever reason.
• But as much as girls like to just sit and talk, you will want to have a few activities planned. Especially if you are going somewhere you’ve never been, you’ll want to get out and enjoy some of the sights. The planner should have a pretty good idea of the things your group likes to do.

Have you done anything like this? I would love to hear about it.

Go play in your favorite video game

[Disclaimer : I have never been into video games. I have never enjoyed playing those type games. I hardly know anything about any of those games. I’m just going to tell you what this article says.]

I may not know much about these games, but I know they are pretty popular. I know some children, and adults, absolutely love these games. If they aren’t playing them, they’re thinking about playing these things. So let’s look at some places you can play these games in RL [for those that don’t know, RL is real life].

• The first one is, of course, Mario Brothers. I do remember sitting and watching people playing these games. Who doesn’t dream of getting into these games? The closest thing you can get to this is in Tokyo.
• There is always Pokemon Go. And I know that you can play that anywhere. The cool thing about this game is that you have to play it outside.
• In l Las Vegas you can play Any Resident Evil. There you can play zombies to your heart’s content
• .And now I have good news and bad news good news is that  Nintendo is building its own amusement park. The bad news is that it will not be ready until 2020.

Flying standby

There is so much to learn and figure out when you are in the travel business. One person can not learn everything.. Today let’s look into what what it means to fly standby.

Flying standby is a good way to fly if you don’t especially care when you leave or come back. It’s usually the least expensive way to fly, you’ll usually pay around twenty-five dollars, but you are not guaranteed a seat. So if you think that flying standby would be a good fit for you, here’s what you should do.

• Firs, you will want to see which airlines have this option available . You will want to read up your chosen airline’s policies to make sure that you, and they, play by the rules.
• A lot of times they’ll want you to purchase a normal ticket. Sometimes you can get away with a friend flying. Again, you will want to know the specific policies.
• Another thing that would be good to remember is that you do not want to have checked luggage. They’ll more likely to take you if you don’t. You’re allowed one carry on and purse in most situations. The day before or the flight, you will want to look at the airline’s website to get the latest info on the flight. You will not want to check Expedia or Priceline, they are not going to have the latest information.
• You are going to want to get there at least two hours in advance. You will want to go to the ticketing agent, and let them know that you’re interested in flying standby.
• Next you will want to proceed through security and all that. Be sure to let the people at the gate know that you want to fly standby.
• At the time of the flight, the gate people will be able to let you know whether you’ve made it on.

I would love to know your thoughts  about any of this.

More about frequent flyer miles

Let’s get back to our discussion on frequent flyer miles and how to get the most out of some of these programs.

• To start off, we are going to look at AwardWallet. This program helps you keep track of all your points and when they expire. This program support most other reward program. If you want to get serious about this game, this is definitely something to look into.
• If you are part of an airline loyalty program and are looking for ways to earn more points, some credit cards will allow you to transfer points from their program to your airline program.
• A lot of the major credit cards are going to give you frequent flyer miles or the equivalent. Often they will give you a lot of bonuses when you first get their card. Others may reward you after your first year with them.
• And you may think that if you sign up for one credit card with a lot of sign up bonuses, that your spouse can’t sign up for the same card and receive the same rewards. That is simply not true.

How to get Frequent Flyer Miles #1

Frequent Flyer Miles can be used for a lot of different things when it comes to airlines. They can be used for seat upgrades, lounge privileges, and other perks. Today let’s look at some ways you would be able to get more miles.

• Do you want to earn perks before you fly? You will want to try the Frontier Airlines World Mastercard. You will get a huge bonus just for signing up. You will also get points any time you shop with that credit card.
• Are you looking to get to places in the United States and the Caribbean? The JetBlue program is probably a smart option for you. You can transfer points from different credit cards. And you and your family can also pool points.
• Do you want to know another program that allows you to pool points? Are you interested in going to Hawaii? Check out the HawaiianMiles. They allow you to share with anyone else in the program.
• If you are in Delta’s program, you will want to check out their frequent sales. They will give you some great deals from time to time.

I think we are going to get back to this discussion tomorrow. I would love to know your thoughts.

So why travel? #2

Everyone is so busy these days. Everyone has jobs. I know some women stay home and are primarily mothers, but even then we’ll often have side jobs we do. We’re helping our husbands in their careers. We’re getting children everywhere they need to go.. Why should we make the time to travel? Let’s continue our discussion from yesterday and talk about some more reasons to travel.

• First, traveling more often will teach you how to pack your bags. It’s going to show
• which things you really need to take and what you won’t really need. It will also help you pack more compactly.
• Travel can actually become addictive. Once you go one place, you will want to go to another. You will probably want to spend some of your free time researching places that you might want to go.
• Are you shy? Doing some traveling might break you of that. While traveling, you are going to have to communicate with other people to figure out where you are going and what you are doing. Sometimes words will be completely unnecessary, although a lot of people do speak English in other places of the world.
• Who knows? Maybe your travels will inspire you to pick up a new hobby. Maybe the beauty of a place will help you get into photography. Or maybe you see something that you want to let the world know about through writing.

So why travel? #1

I am going to get personal for a minute. I am looking for a job. I’m not giving up on being a travel agent, not by any means. I just really want to start making some money somehow. I need money to do things for this business among other things. Hopefully I am going to find something soon, something I can do while still working on this business. I believe strongly in this business. I believe that families need to make time to travel together, so that they can reconnect and spend time together.

We are always talking about travel in one form or another on this blog, and I know I’ve talked about this on here before, and probably will again, but why should we travel?

• First of all, we need to take breaks from work. No one can work five to six days a week and keep fresh and motivated. Stepping back for a week two or three times a year helps keep us from getting bored or stressed out.
• Getting out of our comfort zones and experiencing new cultures can be downright enlightening. You can discover new ways to think about things. There may be certain practices from other cultures that you want to incorporate into your own life. Most of all, you will learn how friendly other cultures tend to be.
• Solo travel is getting to be big. But why? Why should we do that when a lot of us hardly travel with with our families? For one thing, solo travel is going to force you to learn new things about yourself. For another, you will also meet a lot of new and interesting people do.
• Do you want to learn more about a certain place? Travel there. You will want to study up on the place before you leave. Going to the place, seeing the people, will also make you more curious about the place after you have come home.
• And you have to eat on your trip, right? Trying the local cuisine can be one of the most fascinating parts of any trip. Some of the food you will love, others you will not be crazy about. But it’s interesting to learn about how other people eat at least.

More travel blunders

Especially if you are pretty new to traveling, here are some things that you might not think about, but could just make or break your trip.

• Okay, first please let your credit card company know about your trip. I understand that you might not want everyone to know your travel plans, especially your nosy neighbor. But your credit card company needs to know your plans so that they’ll know that no one took your credit card and then took off to Greece or wherever. If they don’t know you are going away, they might disable your card, and you might not be able to get necessary things like food.
• You will also want to consider getting travel insurance. Just because you are on vacation doesn’t mean things can’t come up. You may have a family emergency, and you have to get home right away. Or you might get sick and need medical attention. Some insurance plans also cover all your expenses if you book a trip and then you can’t make it. You do have to have a legitimate reason for canceling your trip.
• And please make sure you have all the documentation you need for the trip you are going to take. In fact, this is one of the first things you should check on when you are planning a trip. Are you going to need a passport? Is yours in good working order and is not going to expire within six months of your trip? Are you going to need a visa? How would you obtain one?
• I say this often, but you do not want to over schedule yourself. Part of the purpose of any trip is to relax and enjoy yourself. You might also want to follow some of the locals’ advice.
• Keep your itineraries with you at all times. Have it on your phone if you can. You will also want to make a pouch with your passport, visa, and your itinerary to keep on your person whenever you go anywhere.

Travel blunders

Today has been one of those days where I’ve started to write about this and that, but nothing seems to work. Today let’s look at some common travel blunders people make.

• You shouldn’t overpack. You do not need to look your absolute finest for every single occasion. You can get away with a lot when you’re traveling when it comes to fashion. Pack outfits that you can easily mix and match. And you are going to be able to find laundry facilities most anywhere you want. Airlines charge you when you overpack. There is only so much weight they can take.
• You will want to know exactly what your cell phone company’s policies are for when you travel. Are you going to be slapped with high roaming charges? If you are going to need data, make sure to get an international plan.
• Racing through the airport trying to get your next can be exciting, but it can also be frustrating. Try to book flights with enough time in between. I understand that you just want to get to your destination, but missing a flight is going to mess you up more.
• Get some of the local money when you are at the airport. You are going to need something to pay for a taxi or bus. Getting it at the ATM is going to be your best bet.

Common misconceptions #2

Let’s get back to some common misconceptions about travel.

• Some people say that in order to book the cheapest flights, you should get on the internet at midnight on Tuesday. While it used to be true that airlines would generally post their sales around this time, this is no longer necessarily true. Airlines are changing a lot about their business models and things like that. The experts say that booking your domestic flights six to eight weeks prior to your departure is usually your best bet.
• A lot of people say that you should always fly economy, that it’s just a waste to upgrade to business or first class. You may want the comforts and the perks that come with the higher class seats, especially if you are on a super long flight. And you can find some great deals on the upper class flights. You may have to look a little more, but it could be well worth it.
• People say that you should never travel with a newborn. Is there any child more flexible than a newborn? They need sleep, but they can pretty much do that anywhere and any time. Light and dark mean little to them. They need to eat, but milk is their only food. The only other thing that they really need is you, their parents.
• They say that you should not visit the Caribbean in the summer or other parts of the world during the rainy season. But if you are looking to get away from the crowds, that is actually one of the best times to go. The crowds go when the weather is supposed to be perfect. Maybe you actually enjoy rainy weather. Maybe you don’t want to be outside much anyway. Or maybe you just want to get lower prices on your trip.

Travel tips

 

People are always giving advice. Sometimes it’s wise to follow that advice, other times

you will want to ignore their advice completely. Today let’s look at some advice that you might want to consider carefully before you follow.

• First, people say that you should never stay in the center of town. Most people think that staying on the outskirts of town is going to guarantee that you will get the best deals on your hotel. That is not necessarily true. Sometimes you can get great deals right in town. And sometimes you want to pay the extra simply for being right in the center of everything.
• People say that you should skip all the major attractions of a city. There are reasons that these places are so popular. Do you want to go to New York City and not see the Statue of Liberty? Sometimes it’s great fun to be part of a crowd and feel all the energy. And sometimes you just want to say you’ll been there.
• Some people say that it isn’t safe to visit certain parts of the world. Hey, some people say it’s not safe to visit anywhere outside the United States. I’m sorry, but I don’t think our country is any safer than other places. Have you read the news lately? You will want to do your research for sure. I can help you with that research if I book your trip.
• Some people say that it is not wise to travel by yourself. But solo travel is becoming more and more popular. Traveling by yourself doesn’t mean you will be by yourself the whole time. This is a great way to meet other people.

Reasons to visit the Caribbean #3

Let’s look at some other reasons that you might want to consider taking a trip to the Caribbean.

• Let’s face it, you love your children, but sometimes you just need to take a little break from them. With both cruises and all-inclusive resorts, you are going to get the opportunity to leave the kids at kids’ clubs while you go have your own fun.
• Have we mentioned that the beaches are simply beautiful down there? This is the perfect place to take great selfies and make all your friends so jelly [um, jealous].
• Some people absolutely hate cooking. Others love it and find it relaxing. For those that love to cook, and want to do it even while on vacation, you will want to be sure to visit the seafood markets in the Caribbean.
• Don’t love to cook, but think you might get tired of eating in restaurants your whole vacation? Try finding a fish fry when you are in Barbados. These will usually take place on the weekends. Here you will not only find great fish, you will also taste some great side dishes too.
• Are you trying to meet the stars? The Caribbean has some very exclusive resorts, and the stars do frequent these places. I can even help you try to figure out where these people go to take their vacations.
• The Caribbean is diverse when it comes to their cuisines. Island hopping will allow you to sample a lot of different foods.

Reasons to go to the Caribbean #2

I’m trying some different things with the business, but I do want to make sure my normal work does get done. All right, so let’s get back to our discussion on why you might want to go to the Caribbean.

• This is one place that is fairly easy to get to. Your flights will be relatively short, it usually only takes a few hours to get anywhere in the Caribbean. And it is pretty easy to get a direct flight.
• Do you have airline miles you want to use? The Caribbean is one place you can get to using those miles.. You might get away with only paying taxes and fees.
• You can also use credit card rewards to get a very inexpensive trip to the Caribbean you can use your rewards to get into some very nice resorts. And of course, you can get all kinds of rewards when you sign up for a credit card.
• And if you are part of a hotel rewards program, you can save even more on your Caribbean trip. And yes, you can use those points on all-inclusive resorts.
• Don’t know which island you would like to visit? Book a Caribbean cruise. A cruise is a great way to experience several several islands at once. You can always go back to your favorite island on your next trip.
• Cruising is also an inexpensive way to see the islands. Cruises are not only very inexpensive ways to see the Caribbean, you will also get a lot of bang for your buck on a cruise. You will be getting most of your entertainment at no extra charge. Most of your meals will be included as well.