A pearl revealed in each and every trip
I always laugh after I send out my Pearls of Travel Wisdom newsletter every two weeks. Why? Because I get numerous “Out of Office” emails from on-the-road business travelers. When I read the emails, I feel a sense of companionship with my fellow road warriors. And I wonder about some who are always out of the office. Do they ever have their “Out of Office” turned off?
Here’s a few that I received today:
I’ve got countless hotel frequent stayer cards. My husband has his collection, too. And now our dog, Toby, is starting to collect his. For every 5 nights at Preppy Pets Suites, he gets a free night. Not bad for a reward program! And when using his free night, he still gets full points for the night on his next award card. That’s a better award program than what we’re getting! His stays include free bowled water and free wi-fi. Though the wi-fi is for us, really. We can watch Toby’s playtime with friends via Preppy Pet cameras while we’re traveling the world.
Toby isn’t as ecstatic about the free night as we are, as he’d prefer to be at home and not at the ‘Suites’ at Preppy Pets. He’d better hope they don’t start offering double points as we might just leave him there a fewdays longer. (Just kidding, Toby!)
Is your pet also collecting ‘hotel’ award points?
It’s easy to know you’re traveling too much when you open your wallet and 75 award program cards fall out, or your passport has so many extra pages added that it’s now War and Peace size. But what are the signs in your home life that get you shaking your head saying “I just travel too darn much!”
Check out the thread at FlyerTalk and laugh as you see your own situations shared by others or realize you’ve had “the signs” and didn’t realize it! And add in your two cents worth on how travel has sneakily taken over part of your life. (Hint: If you’re ordering Biscoff cookies for names on your Christmas list, you DO travel too much!)
When I board my flight in the next few minutes, I’m on my way to a whole other world, and I can’t believe I’m doing this!
The day started with coffee on my patio this morning. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining. Temps were in the mid-70′s.
A quick check of the headlines for today’s destination – Aberdeen, Scotland – and Yikes! “Road, rail and air chaos as Scotland shivers in snow.”
I expected cold, maybe a bit of snow, but this? I immediately cancelled my car rental in Scotland. I’ve gotten good at driving on the left side of the road, but I sure don’t want to be driving in this kind of weather. And I doubt I’ll be able to rent a car that has automatic snow removal as part of the deal. Do I really need to get on this flight?
One of my favorite benefits of business travel is seeing new cities, towns and countries, and experiencing different cultures.
I’m in Scotland for business and today is Halloween. When I arrived here, I wasn’t sure if Halloween is celebrated in the UK or not. Oh yes it is, and for much longer than it’s been celebrated in North America.
A bit of history:
The one thing I want to do the most after getting off a long international flight is to brush out my hair. It feels plastered to my head after being against the seat for many hours. No comb in the business class kit is ever going to get through my thick hair.
I flew into the Birmingham, UK airport and headed to the ladies’ room. I thought I could fluff out my hair with my fingers. Even that’s better than flat-head. 
But look – they have a hair curler/straightener! Just £1 for 90 seconds of a hot wand to run through your hair and you’ll look like the beauty in the photo, even coming off of an international flight!
Interested? Not me! I have never shared a hair brush. Never sharing hair instruments was right up there with wearing clean underwear every day, according to my mom.
What do you think, ladies? Would you use this?
Gumball-looking machines abound in the Birmingham, UK airport. I haven’t put money into and cranked the handle of a gumball machine in years, but I did so today. And I cost me £1 to do so.
While the majority of my liquids are in my checked bag (yes, I had to check my bag for my 15-day multi-city, multi-weather travels), I still had three small bottles of hand lotion and nasal spray in my laptop bag . . . and no 
clear plastic bag to put them in. The 3oz / 100ml restriction on liquids in carry-on bags applies here also, and I was unsure if UK security is easing up on the plastic bag rules like the US TSA seems to silently be doing.
This sounds silly coming from someone who flies on a plane just about every week of every year. I wish I could fly. No, not ordinary flying with the help of a jet with engines and wings – just me.
I realized this last night as I was virtually running through Houston’s Intercontinental (IAH) airport. I got off my plane from LAX at 10:30pm. I had my luggage with me so I was ready to get out of the airport as quick as possible. The terminal was quiet and all of the stores were closed. It was me, an empty moving walkway, and a long, long, long distance to walk between the last gate of Terminal E and the rental car bus location.
According to Starzlife, Paris has done everything that she’s wanted to do and is ready to get into something new. Following in great-granddad’s footsteps, she’s interested in real estate and perhaps her own hotel chain. I wonder if she’ll partner up with high school classmate Lady Gaga in this new business venture. Now wouldn’t that be an interesting hotel chain?
Pluto never had it so good: The next major attraction to open at Walt Disney World won’t be for the kids — it will be for the dogs.
Best Friends Pet Resort, scheduled to open Aug. 27, will offer boarding, bedtime stories and a water park for dogs.
