Traveling pet peeves

I’m not sure what the rest of my week holds. We have a family vacation coming up, and I have no idea how much internet access I am going to have. On August eighth, I should be back home and ready and able to return to normal work for a while, hopefully anyway.

Today we are going to look at some pet peeves people have when traveling. I know for myself, I like being with family and friends, but do not like the actual driving much.. I’m just not especially comfortable in a car over long periods of time.. Anyway, here are some pet peeves travelers have mentioned.

• First, especially when you’re going on an airplane or bus, try your best to smell nice at least as you start. Wear your deodorant. Put on your perfume, but be sure not to overdo that. It might be a good idea to pretend you are going on a first date.
• Other peeves on an airplane? Please keep your baby and children as quiet as you can. Take a book and enjoy some reading time. Say hello to the person you’re sitting next to, but let them lead as far as how much of a conversation you have.
• Meanwhile, if you are drive, your fellow travelers will appreciate you to pay attention to the road. This is not a time to play on your phone. Avoid loud music unless you are falling asleep.

I would love to hear some things you appreciate in your fellow travelers.

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Planning YOUR dream trip

There are so many variables when it comes to planning your dream trip.. What do you want as far as sleeping quarters? Do you want the ultimate in luxury, the nicest beds, [and do you like firm or soft beds,], nicest bathrooms, complete privacy? Do you like ream living when going on vacation, living like the natives do? Or do you like doing something in the middle? What about the food? Do you eat very healthy and want to stay with that program no matter what? Or are you someone who says, “heck with diets, I want to eat whatever I feel like whenever I want.”

And then there is the whole question of what you want to do on vacation? Are you trying to see a lot of places in in a short amount of time? Does the thought of a cruise scare you or thrill you? Are you wanting to go to one place and just do absolutely nothing? Are you an adventurer that wants to do all kinds of rock climbing or scuba diving

What you want to do on vacation will also have to do what stage of life you’re in. Vacations tend to change as you go from being single to being a nnewlywed to having a family of your own.

With me being about to head out for another vacation, I don’t think I am going to start anything new. But I think I am going to start working on some quizzes I want people to take.. I would love for you to take these quizzes and pass them around..

A Disney cruise for the holidays

Next year I’ll know better than  to say that I’ll try to get any work done while at camp. I had a wonderful time at camp, but there was no time to do anything on the side. And now my family is about to gather for our summer vacation. Once we have the vacation, I’ll feel ready to settle into serious work once more.

I have to say that I like having a traditional family gathering around holiday times. And what I mean by that is, all all my family gathers in a home and we do different things throughout the week… But sometimes it’s nice to change things up a bit and do something different.. And that may be even more true if you’ve lost a loved one in the past year. Today let’s look at what Disney Cruises does for the holidays.

We are going to start with Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving dinner sounds like a formal affair. Your hosts, Mickey and Minnie, will be dressed to the nines. And after Thanksgiving the celebration of Christmas begins like it does most everywhere else. there will be carol singings. There will be a Broadway style play with Santa, and Anna and Elsa. You will also have the opportunity to make gingerbread house.

I’ll be honest, it isn’t exactly clear to me which celebrations are the Thanksgiving cruise and which are the Christmas cruise. But I can help you figure that out better if you are interested in taking a cruise for the holidays. Please let me know if you are.

Hotel news

Once again, I think this is a truly beautiful hotel, and wanted to share it on here. This is a resort that will be one of Universal Orlando’s properties. The resort is going to have a Caribbean feel to it, and oh yeah, it is called Sapphire Falls. They are going to have a nice lagoon-type water feature that you and your family can enjoy floating down together. They have a water fall as part of that. They are going to have one of the largest pools in the nation… And of course, you are going to be right near Universal Studios. And you’ll be close to several other theme parks with it being in Orlando.

I’ve never been into gaming much myself, never feel like I want to take on another hobby between working, writing, friends and reading. But I know some people love gaming. MGM is bringing tournament games to the casinos at their Las Vegas resort. You can actually play anywhere in the resort that you want, in your room or beside The pool. It sounds like these games are a mix of casino games and your regular computer games.

Finally, hotels are entering the world of texting. Hotels are starting to embrace this technology as the better way to communicate with guests to figure out exactly what they want. People seem to be communicating less and less with hotels with all of the new technology out there. This is one way hotels can add that personal touch.

I would love to know any thought or questions you might have about any of this.

More on wedding cruises

It feels like there is so much going on in our world, so much evil. I’m thinking specifically of the mess our country is in, and what has just happened in France, but I know there seems to be trouble every time we turn around.. Yes, things feel hard in a lot of ways, but I do believe that God is still in control, that He is good, and that He does have a plan for everything.

Okay, let’s get back to discussing cruise weddings.. First, the cruise lines we looked at yesterday seemed to have specific ships and places where you could get married. With Carnival, you are going to have more choices. They just want to make your dreams come true. Have you always dreamed of a big wedding? Or do you want it just to be you and the one you love? Where do you want to get married? Someone with Carnival will guide you through the choices you need to make, while trying to make everything less stressful for you. Doing your wedding on board also allows you to take a nice cruise as your honeymoon.

Disney Cruises also allows you to marry on their ships. Again, Disney is going to have everything you need to make your special day feel perfect, from flowers to cake and pictures. You will have a wedding coordinator who will help you plan your special day. They will help you decide what is important to you. And Disney is going to have places that are kid-free if that’s a concern.

Again, I would love to know your thoughts, or any questions you might have. I’d also love to help you plan your dream wedding. Please let me know.

Weddings at sea

Destination weddings are becoming more and more popular. And that’s especially true among that are older, whether they’re marrying for the first time or not. Today we are going to look at a certain type of destination wedding.. A lot of cruise lines are allowing people to marry on board their ships. Let’s look at some of what is offered.

MSC Cruises has certain ships that are going to cater to couples that want to get married. It is usually best to get married in a port of call, especially if you need to be legally married on the ship. If you are doing a vow renewal or something like that, it doesn’t really matter when or where you marry. If you want to do your wedding before you actually set sail, you can have up to 150 guests who will be able to leave before the actual cruise starts. You can get all kinds of perks if you bring a group of friends with you.

Norwegian has all kinds of packages for couples in love, whether you’re looking to celebrate your marriage for the first time, do a fiftieth wedding anniversary, or anything in between. They have breakfast in bed, romantic dinners for just the two of you, special spa treatments, and all kinds of nice perks. And they do have a honeymoon registry if that’s something you would be interested in.

I am going to stop here for now. I would love to know your thoughts.

Best places to visit in early fall

I am going on a retreat next week. It’s something that has come up last minute, so I’m filling out the forms for that and getting excited.. My plan is to work some next week. My family is planning a gathering sometime in August, and I’ll be taking some time off then.

But let’s get started.. If you haven’t had your vacation yet, later August and early fall, minus Labor Day weekend, is a great time to take a vacation. This is especially true if you don’t have schoolage children, or if you’re a homeschooling family. This is because most families are trying to get back into the routine of life. Hotels and other travel venues have some of their slowest in the fall, and often offer good deals and are often opened to negotiations. Let’s look at some places you might want to try.

You might want to take a trip to Canada. This country has some absolutely beautiful places. It is full of beautiful mountain ranges and lovely lakes. Canada is going to also have some excellent skiing if you like that kind of thing. The most popular things to do are to hike the beautiful countryside, to fish in their laks.

Those that love the beach might want to go to Jamaica. Again, you are going to be surrounded by beauty. Jamaica is also a warm and welcoming island. You will likely be able to stay at their resort at a reduced rate. Going in the Fall would also mean a quieter, more relaxed trip.

I would love to know your thoughts about either of these places.

Keep your travel memories

I’m a real journal keeper, usually write in my journal twice a day. I also keep a personal blog.. I love keeping a journal of whatever happens, but especially important things, things I really enjoy. But even if you are not as avid a journaler as I am, you might consider thinking up ways to keep track of the fun things you did on on vacation. This is also something you might want to encourage your kids to do, especially if they are going to have to do some kind of report on what they did over the summer.

This is actually something I used to do when I was a little girl. I used to get a postcard whenever we would go anywhere “touristy”. Usually I’d tell someone what to write on the back of the postcard. There are other things you can collect such as t-shirts, shot glasses, hotel pens.

Or you can always start a scrapbook. Keep your airline tickets, maybe you want to keep a piece of the hotel stationery, and maybe keep some of the menus from the restaurants you enjoyed. You might want to put some pictures of your favorite places. It’s really up to you what you want to include and what you don’t.

You might want to put some of your favorite pictures from your trip on your walls. This will be a great way to look back and remember all the fun you had on your trip. It will bring back memories of your trip, but also the fun you had with your family.

And finally there is the traditional notebook where you can write out all your thoughts and feelings. You can do the same thing with a blog, though you may want to be a little less free about what you say online. I would love to know your thoughts on this.

Vacations often cost more than expected

Some people are great making and keeping a budget. Other people kind of tend to fly by the seat of their pants.. But even those that are pretty good with their money tend to spend more than they were planning to. There are several reasons for this. First, pretty much anyone going on vacation is going to be unfamiliar with the place they are traveling to. Second, vacation is a time you want to have fun and do special things.. Third, you are more reliant on other people because you aren’t in your own home, you may be renting a vehicle, and things like that. Let’s look at some ways you may be able to save some money.

1. Have you ever thought it would be nice to trade houses with a friend? Maybe you’ll want to do a house swap for a week. You can still plan fun things to do as a family. You might even want to try to meet up with your friends you’re house swapping with.
2. Even if you do go out of town, it is usually pretty easy to get cereal for breakfast and sandwich fixings for lunch. It should be no problem to keep that stuff in your room. Then you can go out and get a nice dinner each evening.
3. If you have family or friends who live in a different place, you might want to go visit them as your vacation. And ask them what they want you to do for them. Do you want help cooking or cleaning? Do they want to go have a nice dinner together?.. Ask them what they would like you to do as payment and then follow through on that.

These are some of my ideas as far as saving money. Can you think of other money saving tips?

Cool cafes in Chicago

I’m not particularly into Starbucks, or coffee in general for that matter, but I know several of my siblings and even their children love the place. I can take it or leave it.. What appeals to me most would be gathering with friends and getting a nice dessert.. But I’m getting off track. Some people consider Starbucks a cafe. Other people say you need to have more variety of foods in order to have a real cafe. Let’s look at some places in Chicago.

The first one is called Kopi Cafe. They are going to have a wide variety of breakfast choices, and will also have different soup, salad and sandwich options later on in the day. It sounds like their menu tends toward vegetarian. The place also has a gift shop and library.. My guess is that the place has a hippee feel to it.

The Pick Me Up Cafe is near Wrigley Field. You are going to find pretty standard cafe food, and they will have food for both vegetarians and meat lovers alike. They are open until early in the morning, as in 2 a.m.. This is a place to kick back and relax, not a place you’ll want to stop by if you’re wanting to grab some food and go somewhere else.

I am going to stop here. Please let me know if you are interested in going to Chicago. I would be more than happy to help you plan a trip.