Mars vs. Venus when Preparing for Business Travel
As I go through my Sunday ritual getting ready for tomorrow’s business trip, I wonder how a woman’s preparations for business travel differ from a man’s.
Pack your own washcloth!
Many hotels in Europe do not provide washcloths in the rooms. Bath towels and hand towels are always available, but do not count on having a washcloth.
I have stayed at many hotels through Europe and never noticed an absentee washcloth before, but recently had a shared experience with several female travelers at a hotel in Scotland. We all arrived at the breakfast table in our hotel’s restaurant and immediately asked each other “Did your room have a washcloth?” “No, did yours?” Read more of this article »
My Mom Knows Where My Travels Take Me … But How?
The good news is that my Mom usually knows where I’m traveling to. The not-so-good news is that she doesn’t learn my whereabouts from me … not directly anyway.
My mom finds out what parts of the globe I’m in by reading my ezine, Pearl of Travel Wisdom. I send out this ezine every week to thousands around the globe. Mom will read this when she gets around to checking her email and she’ll then know where I’m at this week or where I’ve just been, and maybe where I’m heading.
When I stop to contemplate this latest way of keeping in touch with my mom, I want to be laugh and cry.
- Cry because an ezine isn’t the way a daughter should let her mom know where she’s at. What has this world come to that it’s easier to update a fan page, post a tweet or send an ezine than it is to make the time to call Mom from my hotel room?
- Laugh because it’s great to know that Mom is sufficiently tech-savvy (ok, this is being generous!) to join the new way of online life. Mom will never, ever be a Facebook friend or a Twitter follower, but she’s ok with email. It helps that my ezine is available directly within the body of my email. If it was in Adobe, the ‘open an attachment’ thing would be an issue.
So while I cross the continental U.S. this week and spend time in three cities before heading home for a few days, my Mom will feel some comfort in knowing where I’m at and where I’m heading because she has my ezine. She also likes the photos I include, and she really likes when I include a Featured Smart Women Traveler.
And just so you don’t think I’m a really horrible daughter, I actually do talk on the phone with my Mom. And I travel with her a few times each year. I may not call her every week, but I do call each time that I’m home on a Sunday night. I walk the dog while she and I talk, and her first question to me is always, “And where are you now?”
To see how Mom finds out where I’m at, see this week’s Pearls of Travel Wisdom ezine.
Missing Your Pet When You Travel?
I have seen more photos of dogs and cats over the past few weeks than I have of kids! Maybe the travelers I’m talking to are empty-nesters rather than parents with little ones at home or their pet has an equal status in their household to their kids. Either way, get someone started on a discussion of their dog or cat and invariably the photos come out.
Our pet’s behavior when we are preparing to leave or their excitement when we arrive back home are the common topics of conversation. My dog Toby is usually sitting by the front door on Thursday evenings around the time that I am due to get home. My husband doesn’t have to say anything to him about my homecoming; Toby just knows. He also knows when I’m about to leave home again. As I pack my suitcase, he gets restless. His sad eyes break my heart. Read more of this article »
A Great Touristy Day … Right Near Home
How many of us have tourist attractions right near where we live that we almost never go to? I live in between Disney World and Daytona Beach and rarely get to either. When I lived in Chicago, I stayed in suburbia and seldom ventured down to State Street or Michigan Avenue. Granted, I am only home one to two weekends per month, so I usually do not want to venture anywhere away from my beloved home. But it is really nice to spend the day as a tourist in one's own hometown once in awhile.
St. Augustine was my touristy experience this weekend. It's about a 90-mile drive from my home, and it was a sunny, beautiful day to drive north on I-95. My daughter, Jenn, was in town from Chicago and her girlfriend Rachel joined us.
St. Augustine is the oldest U.S. city, first sighted by Spanish explorer nter Don Juan Ponce de Leon on Easter, March 27, 1513. He claimed the land for Spain and named it La Florida, meaning "Land of Flowers". The oldest wooden schoolhouse in the U.S. is here, built over 200 years ago.
The schoolhouse is on St. George Street, which is also the main shopping avenue of St. Augustine. Our goal was to get our Christmas shopping started and we found some great things in the unique shops along St. George Street and the surrounding area. Music was playing from various restaurant decks, and there was a festive feeling in the air.
Lunch was a special event at Columbia Restaurant. A pitcher of Sangria and fantastic 1905 salads were enjoyed at this Florida tradition (their restaurant in Ybor City near Tampa was founded in 1905).
All in all, it was a great day in Florida. Tourist attractions, great lunch, wonderful Sangria, shopping and time with my daughter … what more could I ask for?
Rachel, Jenn and I
A Fun New Restaurant in Houston’s IAH Airport Has Me Coming Back Again!
I am not usually excited about airport restaurants, but there is a new restaurant in the Houston airport that definitely has been getting my business. Le Grand Comptoir Wine and Food Bar is in Houston’s Intercontinental (IAH) airport in Continental’s Terminal C. It opened several
months ago and it has become my go-to restaurant for dinner before my typical Thursday evening flight back to Orlando.
Not only does Le Grand Comptoir have a fabulous menu of wines and beers, but their food offers healthy choices that I love. I always order their Provencale Salad, which loads on Greek olives, cucumbers, green beans and tomatoes onto fresh greens, topped with a broiled chicken breast. If I am running late to my flight, the restaurant prepares this salad to go within about 10 minutes and I eat it while in-flight, to the envy of my seatmates. Otherwise, I prefer to sit down and enjoy my salad, while either watching one of their televisions, working on my laptop (yes, they have outlets along the wall!), or just people-watching. In the evenings, Le Grand Comptoir is packed. But wait for a few minutes and a table usually opens up, or a stool at their bar.
It’s a fun place with great atmosphere, food and wine… so check it out the next time you’re in Terminal C at IAH.
Little Tastes Have Created a Large Appetite
I have always wanted to visit certain places around the U.S. and the world and thought that once I had ‘checked off the box’ with each accomplishment, I’d be happy. Instead, I find myself wanting more and more of each place. I want to visit longer, immerse myself in their culture, speak their language and know their history. For instance, visiting Spain is something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time. This past week this wish has come true as I was able to visit three cities in Spain as part of a Mediterranean cruise. Do I feel fulfilled now? Just the opposite! I now want to plan an extended vacation to various areas in Spain, revive my Spanish-speaking skills, learn more about their cooking, drink more of their wine, eat more of their olives and fish, and learn about the various influences over history that make up Spain today. This now gets added to my list after wanting similar things for Greece, except I have no Greek-speaking skills to revive – this would have to start from the beginning.
Yearning to know more about a city or country is great, as it is an amazing world we live in. I am so amazed that I’ve been able to see so many wonderful cities around the world and I hope to visit many, many more.
So I’ve now checked off from my list the visits to Spain, Italy, Greece and more. But I’ve added these items to the list:
• Visit Santorini, Greece for 4 to 8 weeks in 2010
• Learn Greek
• Visit the Costa del Sol area for 4 weeks
• Re-learn Spanish
• Plan for Australian / New Zealand trip
• Buy a condo aboard the ResidenSea (private cruise ship that sails the world)
• Win the lottery to pay for it all!
What’s on your travel list?
Bon Voyage: From The English Channel to The Mediterranean Sea
The horns are blowing. The big band is playing below and people are waving goodbye to them. There is excitement from all the balconies. The ship is pulling away from the dock. The Grand Princess has just embarked on a 14-day journey through Europe, and my husband and I am amongst the many fortunate passengers to be a part of it. I just gave my goodbye wave to the band as we depart from the Southampton, England docks.
It's eerie to think that 97 years ago, the passengers on the Titanic were doing the very same thing , all excited for their long journey which was just beginning. But I'm not worried about our cruise meeting such a demise… rather just very sad to think of their excitement which then turned to such a tragedy. For many on this ship, it is their very first cruise, and they must be over-the-top excited. For us seasoned cruisers, the fun in exploring a new ship, leaving and arriving in new ports, and meeting people from all over the world, is just as fun on our umpteenth cruise as it was in the beginning.
This trip is my biggest ever challenge in terms of packing for a 26-day trip. We'll see what type of ‘smart woman traveler' I am! I have already blown the fuse in our hotel room in Scotland after plugging in a hand blender into a US-to-UK power converter. But I have achieved the status of expert driver in the UK (ok, ok… so ‘novice' might be a better term), with renting cars in two UK cities and returning them with only scraped tires from hitting a few curbs. I have a new admiration for drivers of the double-decker busses who navigate so well amongst the narrow two-lane roads.
We're off on a journey through several European ports (Spain, France, Italy), and I'm so excited to be seeing new countries and learning about different cultures and languages. That's what is so fun about travel. I'll send updates later from my balcony on the 9th deck. I'm off now to explore the ship and say adieu to Southampton for a couple of weeks.
