April 20, 2011
I have a renewed perspective on my busy travel life after this encounter.
I was at my bank the other day opening an account. The financial services advisor I was working with was asking about my business. She asked about the t-shirt I was wearing. “Is that your business?” she asked, pointing to the logo on my shirt. “Yes,” I replied, “Smart Women Travelers is one of my businesses.”
Then came the barrage of questions: What do you do, where do you travel, and what’s your favorite place?
As I kept answering her questions: I help travelers travel smarter, safer and with more enjoyment; I travel all over the world; the Greek Islands are my favorite place, I could see that my new account was going to take longer than I hoped to get set up.
Then she said the words you may also have heard before: “Wow, you really have the dream job!”
My initial thought was “Are you kidding? – I traveled all or part of 50 weeks last year!”
But I didn’t react out loud. I thought about it while she was busy filling out the endless bank forms.
The downsides can be many. I miss:
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Posted by Carol Margolis under Favorite Cities and Towns, New Travelers, Random Thoughts, Travel |
March 22, 2011
Let’s hope the answer to this question is Yes! According to an article in the New American, TSA Will Now Scan Your Shoes at the Airport. Don’t get excited if your next trip through airport security is tomorrow, next week or maybe not even next year. The Transportation Security Administration is only in the initial stages of seeking proposals from companies who can manufacture a Shoe Scanning Device (SSD). But hey, it’s definitely a step in the right direction!
And if we travelers have our wish list of requirements for these SSD’s, they would be:
Posted by Carol Margolis under Random Thoughts, Safety, Travel |
February 21, 2011
Seems my husband is missing. Or maybe I am.
It was great being home for a couple weeks around Christmas but after that, the road was calling. That means companionship time suffers.
The travel season began in early January. Off to chilly Scotland for me but my husband and I had a great meetup in Ireland. Lots of fun but all too brief.
February was busy for me, beginning in Houston and back to Scotland, adding Norway to the itinerary. This month ends with me in New York and him in San Diego. No time for home but my husband and I did meet at a hotel for one weekend in Los Angeles. But hey, at least it was Valentine’s Day weekend.
March is another busy travel month but we will meet up for a few days in Chicago (Travel Goods Show!).
Ah April, finally some time at home for me. But wait, hubby is gone. He will be in China nearly the whole month. Hmm, my crystal ball is showing me on a road trip to China for a long weekend meetup.
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Posted by Carol Margolis under Random Thoughts, Relationships |
February 3, 2011
I booked my first-ever ticket on Aer Lingus. The airfare from Glasgow, Scotland to Dublin, Ireland, a quick hour flight, was only £14.99 (about $22.00 US). A great fare! Or so I thought.
Then the taxes added in at £37.29; plus an online handling fee of £5.00. Then add a baggage fee (yes, I had to check a bag on my 22-day trip) of £12.00 for 20kg (44 pounds). Any extra weight, and the pounds keep adding on (literally!).
There was also a sports equipment price, which thankfully I had no need for. But look at this list! Each golf bag, pair of skis, surfboard and more costs an additional £25.00.
In the end, my excitement over a 14.99 airfare quickly went to irritation as I saw the total add up to £69.28.
Aer Lingus also had a promotion going for ‘free fares’. Hmmph, free? I’m not picking on Aer Lingus, as they’re not the only airline with uber-enticing airfares that wind up costing you more than what you ever planned for, but a ticket price that quadruples seems a bit outrageous.
Has this ever happened to you? Share you outrageous fees below.
Posted by Carol Margolis under Random Thoughts, Travel |
January 20, 2011
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:
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Posted by Carol Margolis under Pearls of Travel Fun, Random Thoughts, Travel |
January 10, 2011
With two weeks actually at home over the holidays, I had time to reflect on my travel for 2010 and start to wonder what my travel will be in 2011. This was the first two week period that I’d been home since January of 2009. Oh, it was so wonderful to be home!
I traveled 49 weeks last year, all but one for business, flying 225,000 miles. This year is starting to shape up to be the same, with 25 days of travel in January alone.
I didn’t want to leave my home this morning to head to the airport knowing I’m not home again until the night of January 31st. I’m so torn. I love traveling and love the mileage and points, but I also love being home.
This got me thinking – just how much business travel is too much? For me, I’d be happy being home one week a month, two weeks once in awhile.
This would give me:
- Time enough to buy groceries and actually eat up the food before I need to leave home again.
- Time to catch up with friends.
- Time to see the neighbors and re-introduce myself.
- Time to actually see the maid who cleans our house.
- Time to get familiar again with what side of my car has the gas tank.
- Time to go to the gym that I pay a monthly fee for.
- Time to relax a bit.
What about you? How much business travel is too much travel to you? And what would you do with a bit of extra time at home?
Posted by Carol Margolis under Random Thoughts, Travel |
November 29, 2010
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?
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Posted by Carol Margolis under Current Affairs, Pearls of Travel Fun, Random Thoughts, Travel |
November 28, 2010
It’s been a great four days at home, though within hours it’s all over. Back on the road tomorrow.
My husband and I are spending the last night of the long Thanksgiving weekend packing. No Black Friday or Cyber Monday for us. It’s Suitcase Sunday in our house!
Tomorrow I head east to Scotland. He heads west to Hong Kong. I’ll be in snowy, 30 degree weather. He’ll be in sunny, 70 degree weather.
We meet up in Read more of this article »
Posted by Carol Margolis under Random Thoughts, Travel |
October 23, 2010
My neighbors must really wonder about who lives in our house.
They rarely see me in the light of day. When I am at home, which lately has been only about one or two weekends a month, I walk the dog late in the evening. When I leave by car, it’s from inside our garage. The same goes for my husband … dog walks and car trips, though he is home more than I am. The neighbors see our dog more than they see either of us, as Toby loves to lie on the front lawn soaking up the Florida sunshine and watching the kids walk home from school.
Growing up, everyone’s house seemed to have a name. Schaeffer’s house, Freda’s house, the crabby lady’s house. Do they call our house the Dog-with-no-Parents House? I’ll see people look into our glass front doors as they’re walking by, probably thinking to themselves “Does anyone really live here?” Read more of this article »
Posted by Carol Margolis under Random Thoughts |
October 19, 2010
I was randomly picked to go through a full body scanner at Chicago’s O’Hare airport today. This is my first visit to a controversial “what is security really seeing?” machine.
I never had one iota of a thought of what the security people were seeing on their cameras. My only thought during the experience was how lucky I happened to be to have full body scanner-appropriate clothes on! And as I walked away from the machine, all I could think of what how my wardrobe on travel days is now going to have even more planning around it.
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Posted by Carol Margolis under Random Thoughts |
