Resume of a Frequent Traveler
Ever wonder how the skills learned from travel could help qualify you for a new career? Here’s a idea of the myriad of skills that we travelers have.
Resume of a Frequent Traveler on Smart Women Travelers.
Travel Gems for February 15th- 19th
Each Monday through Friday, a Travel Gem of the Day will be posted at SmartWomenTravelers.com. These Travel Gems are tips that will help a traveler travel smarter, safer, handle home issues, be prepared and enjoy their journeys.
Here are last week’s Travel Gems:
Monday Feb. 15 – Still using a generic travel checklist (or not using a travel checklist at all)? It’s too easy to forget needed items even if you do have a standard travel checklist. Instead, create a travel checklist for each season, and for each type of trip. See our Travel Gem from 01/04/2010 for a free download of a sample travel checklist. Create several based on your types of travel.
For example:
- Winter trip
- Summer trip
- Business meetings
- Business conference (may need more layering of clothes, recording device, extra business cards, for example)
You can also create different travel checklists for:
- Long flights
- Shorter flights
- Car trips
Create one standard travel checklist of items that you always bring on each trip, and then copy it for each unique type of trip. This will save you tons of time when it comes to packing, and lots of money to buy items you intended to bring but forgot.
Tuesday Feb. 16th – Feel like you’re shedding your skin due to too much air travel? Flying can really dry out your skin. What can you do when your hands, arms and legs look all scaly and your loofa is back at home?
A simple and free remedy is to mix in a packet or two of raw sugar to the body lotion provided by your hotel. Rub this on your body just before showering to create a nice body scrub that helps remove flaky skin. Good-bye alligator skin!
Wednesday Feb. 17th – Got an international trip coming up? Remember these key credit card to-do’s:
- Select two of your credit cards (at least one with cash advance privileges) for your trip.
- Call your credit card’s customer service department prior to traveling internationally.
- Ask them:
- Provide the dates of your travel and a telephone number where they can reach you at.
- For any necessary cash advance on your credit card, be sure you know your PIN number for your card. If you do not have this PIN number, contact your bank and request a new PIN at least two weeks prior to your travel.
Thursday Feb. 18th – This handy travel data can help you plan your flights. Go to this Department of Transportation site for lots of great data on airport and airline delays, baggage claims, the number of passengers bumped by airline and more.
For example: the number of passengers denied boarding for Jan-Sep, 2009 was highest at United and US Air. If you’re looking to get bumped and score a voucher for the next flight, your luck will be better on these airlines.
Also note the percent of on-time arrivals at major U.S. airports. The percentage is almost always higher in the mornings, so plan your travels early in the day.
Friday Feb. 19th – Help your kids build a postcard collection of your travels by picking up a few postcards at the airport upon arrival (bring postcard stamps from home). Each day, write a few words about where you’re visiting, what you love about your family, and any other journal-type of writing. Mail one every couple of days, or at least once per trip.
Have your kids save these postcards in a binder with clear plastic sleeves, so that they can see the picture on the postcard as well as your writings.
This is a great way for your kids to be excited about your journeys as they build this postcard anthology, and you will have fond memories as you look back on your trips over the years.
If you would like a favorite travel tip of yours to be included in the Travel Gem of the Day, email your tip, name and website to travelgem@smartwomentravelers.com.
Continental – I Miss the Old You!
Dear Continental –
I first noticed that our relationship changed in January when the evening ‘snack’ in first class was reduced from a nice cheese and cracker plate to 2 tiny bags of pretzel sticks. That snack – so 2009-ish! – was my dinner on each Thursday night as I headed home.
Now I nab a few packets of cheese and crackers from the President’s Club to share with seatmates when they go into shock as the two pretzel bags are placed in front of them.
Our relationship further degraded when I asked for a cup of freshly brewed decaf coffee on Monday evening’s flight. The flight attendant shared with me the ugly truth – you are now serving us this:
I’m sure that decaf isn’t real popular on the morning flights, but evenings? This should be prime time for a pot of decaf coffee. Please don’t serve instant decaf coffee.
What other changes are coming in our relationship that I haven’t uncovered yet? (And yes, I did catch that increase on headset charges from $1 to $3 … sneaky, sneaky!). And different free baggage limits for Silver members compared to Gold and Platinum – who knew?
You’ve changed Continental. I’d like my old friend back.
Thanks,
Ms. Love-My-Fresh-Brewed-Coffee
Pearls of Wisdom from a Frequent Business Traveler
Research shows that 40-50% of business travelers are women. Many times each year, women dash out their front doors, luggage wheels spinning behind them, waving goodbye to their loved ones as they head out on another business trip.
I am part of this statistic. Last year I traveled 48 weeks of the year. During these 48 weeks, Read more of this article »
Travel Gems for February 8th – 12th
Each Monday through Friday, a Travel Gem of the Day will be posted at SmartWomenTravelers.com. These Travel Gems are tips that will help a traveler travel smarter, safer, handle home issues, be prepared and enjoy their journeys.
Here are last week’s Travel Gems:
Monday Feb. 8 - New travel apps for (most) everyone! Blackberry users get Trip-It; iPhone users get Siri.
The popular Trip-It app became available to Blackberry users on January 20th. The Siri Personal Assistant for iPhone users was released on February 5th. Both are of great value to folks on the go.
Learn more about TripIt’s free mobile apps for BlackBerry, Android and iPhone atwww.tripit.com/uhp/mobile.
Siri is getting excellent reviews right out of the gate. Rather than me talk about it, here’s what appeared in USA Today.
Tuesday Feb. 9 - Good-bye to excuses as to why you can’t exercise in your hotel. These light-weight travel friendly resistance bands
P.S. I have found that asking for a room with a king bed (vs. two double beds) gives me more moving-around room in order to exercise.
Wednesday Feb. 10 – When flying internationally and a domestic connecting flight is involved, either book the first flight out in the morning or allow a 3-hour time between flights. International flights almost always leave on-time, so any delays on your first flight could cause you to miss your flight or have your bags miss your flight. I learned this one personally and did not have my bags for an extra day because I only allowed 90 minutes between a domestic and international flight and my domestic flight was 70 minutes late.
Thursday Feb. 11 - Good/Better/Best for Hotel Safety and Dining Out:
Good: If you are venturing out of the hotel on your own, let the front desk know your agenda or itinerary and when to expect you back.
Better: If you are returning in the dark, call ahead to the hotel and ask that someone escort you from the parking lot into the hotel.
Best: Ask the hotel if their hotel shuttle will drive you to and from a restaurant.
Friday Feb. 12 - Want to create a photo journal of your trips, but no time?
Online Photo Books and Photo Gifts are a great way to easily record the special memories from your travels in much less time than a traditional photo album. With your digital photos on your computer, it’s as easy as drag-and-drop into your desired photo pages, complete with designs that you select. Some services even let you upload photos from your phone directly to your account on their sites.
There are many online companies for photo journals. Here are a few to get you started:
I wish this had existed when I was creating photo albums for my print photos (wait … I’m STILL creating my print photo albums!
Does the Perfect Travel Laptop Exist?
I have traveled with laptops for years and still can’t find one that is perfect. But thanks to technology, it is getting closer.
First, the screen has to be a decent size. The 10” netbooks are cute but not large enough to open wide Excel spreadsheets or programs like Tweetdeck. Moreover, they are not loaded with enough power for full-time work.
At the other extreme, there are now 18” laptop screens. However, they are much too large – not to mention too heavy – for airline travel.
Weight is also an issue. Most laptops with 14” screens weigh over 6 lbs with some of the larger ones about 10 lbs. That’s fine for Read more of this article »
Snow Snow Snow
That was quite the weekend of the Mid-Atlantic states getting dumped on with many feet of snow, and more snow is coming. Just because I live in Orlando doesn’t mean I can’t relate. I lived through years and years of tons of snow. I was born and raised in Chicago so I know what cold and snow and wind is! I had years of software projects all over Winnipeg, Ontario, Alberta, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana . . . so I KNOW winter! I’ve seen more ice houses on frozen lakes in Ontario than I’ve ever wanted to see (how can they drive their trucks on the ice??)
I suffered through my share of rental cars that never had snow brushes (my credit card got used for scraping ice off of windows), getting extension cords with my car so I could plug-in at my motel, and hundreds of hours smelling the de-icing material used on the wings of my planes. Read more of this article »
Travel Gems for February 1st – 5th
Each Monday through Friday, a Travel Gem of the Day will be posted at SmartWomenTravelers.com. These Travel Gems are tips that will help a traveler travel smarter, safer, handle home issues, be prepared and enjoy their journeys.
Here are last week’s Travel Gems:
Monday Feb. 1 - Don’t be caught without a phone number or address while you’re driving! You can’t find the restaurant where you’re supposed to be meeting your best friend or biggest client, nor do you have their telephone number. Don’t panic. Read more of this article »
What Happens to Your Miles When You Die?
Many of us save our air miles and hotel points for that special international trip or for retirement when we dream of having lots of time (and hopefully money!) to travel. In a perfect world, the day we expire is the day we’re on a trip enjoying the last of our rewards. But chance are, there may be a few miles, or million miles, in your account when you head to your permanent vacation spot in the skies.
So can you will your miles to someone else? Read more of this article »
Using Twitter as a Travel Resource
Travel and Twitter combine beautifully! I used Twitter this past weekend to ask my ‘tweeple’ about places to stay and romantic restaurants in Sedona, Arizona. My husband and I are heading there for Valentine’s Day weekend. I received great suggestions for both, made my selections and am ready for the weekend!
I could have first researched for these things on TripAdvisor or other travel review sites, but I decided to first start with Twitter. It only took a few seconds to send a couple of tweets on what I was looking for, and the suggestions started rolling in not only from the Scottsdale Visitor’s Bureau, but from many people who have previously trekked to Sedona. How cool is that? Once I received a few recommendations, I used TripAdvisor to confirm (or not) the suggestions. My research time was cut down to a 10th of the typical time I used to spend reading reviews. I saved time, hopefully selected some great places to stay and dine, and I met a few new friends on Twitter. A triple win!
If you’re looking to follow 50 great Travel Twitterers (I am very honored to be included in this list), head over to http://tweepml.org/50-Travel-Twitterers-You-Should-Follow/. With a ‘Select All’, you will easily be able to follow all 50 in a heartbeat.
Happy Tweeting!
Apple iPad: Good or Bad for Travelers?
Last week, Steve Jobs gave a keynote speech introducing Apple’s answer to the tablet computer – the iPad. Watching the announcement online, I was both pleased and disappointed with the new Apple iPad.
The size and weight are wonderful. It is quite easy to travel with a 10″ screen that weighs only about 1.5 lbs. The built-in keyboard and numeric pad seem easy to operate and the battery life of 10 hrs – one month on standby – is extraordinary. I also like the multi-touch, similar to the iPhone, as well as the bright color LED-backlit screen.
Read more of this article »
