Tips - Snapshot Chronicles Roadtrip

Travel tips for road warriors

May 30, 2010 by Susan Getgood

: Image via Wikipedia

This month, I took two overnight business trips, to Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale. Didn’t see much other than the companies I was visiting and my hotel rooms, both of which were your standard chain rooms (Omni in Atlanta and Westin in Florida), although I was able to have dinner with friends in both places – Mexican at No Mas! Cantina in Atlanta and sushi at Asia Bay on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. Both terrific and I highly recommend them.

Here are some tips for surviving short turnaround trips like these.

Always get two hotel keys. If one doesn’t work (and it happens often) you have a back-up and can avoid the long journey back to reception. Because, guaranteed, you’re tired and when the key doesn’t work, your room is ALWAYS at the furthest possible point from the elevator.

Don’t check your bag. Bring just what you need and carry-on. If you check and your bag gets lost, you’ll probably be home before it catches up with you. And you won’t have clean clothes for the second day. Problematic if that’s when the big meeting is. A variant on this tip for your family vacation is to carry-on one bag with a change of clothes for everyone plus your basic toiletries. It’s like carrying an umbrella on an overcast day. You may not need it but if you don’t have one, it will rain.

Extra fees are a fact of airline travel these days. I fly JetBlue or Southwest when I have a checked bag, because I will not pay the big airlines for the privilege of checking a bag unless I absolutely have no choice. Some fees are worth it though. Early-bird check-in on Southwest is well worth the $10 each way. When you are on a tight schedule, you can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to call in at the 24-hour mark. Early-bird pretty much guarantees you won’t get stuck in a middle seat, but you don’t have to pay the higher ticket price for business class (or whatever they call it.) On JetBlue, the extra legroom seats are worth it for longer flights, especially if you have to work on the plane, but don’t bother for short hauls. Don’t forget to bring your own headset for JetBlue.

If you like to read, get an e-book reader. Especially if you read fast. I got a Kindle (affiliate link) for Christmas and now can bring 2-3 books on a trip with the same slim footprint. Freed up lots of space in my briefcase and makes carry-on realistic, even for 2-3 day trips. In summer, when the clothes are lighter. In winter, I can do carry-on for an overnight, but not longer trips.

Invest in a netbook instead of lugging your laptop. I’ve also heard that some folks are substituting an iPad for their laptop. Bottom line, lighten the load. If you are using a netbook, definitely get the Kensington Wireless Mouse (affiliate link) that has a USB option for inflight use.

Don’t assume that a round-trip ticket is the least expensive option. Especially if it involves multiple airlines. Look at the cost of each leg booked as a one-way before buying your ticket. This is super important if your plans may get “fluid.” I recently lost a great return flight, even though I was only changing my outbound travel, due to the extremely rigid rules of the airlines. Had the tickets been two separate tickets, I still would have been screwed on the last minute change to the outbound, but could have kept my return. This applies to Amtrak as well when using the AAA discount. The outbound leg of my upcoming trip to NYC (on the Northeast Regional in off-peak hours) would have been more expensive booked as a round-trip with my return on the Acela. Instead I booked it as two separate trips, getting the great off-peak fare for the trip to NY and the AAA discount on my Acela fare for the return to Boston.

Only carry the things you will need during the flight in your “under seat” bag. Everything else goes in your overnight bag. I even put my netbook in the outside pouch of my roll-aboard bag unless I am going to use it on the plane. This reduces the weight on your back or shoulders. Seems like a small thing but you’ll appreciate it as you navigate a terminal for a connecting flight and your shoulder bag doesn’t feel like it has bricks in it.

Hotels — even those that aren’t part of chains — have soap and shampoo in the room. Don’t waste the space in your 1 quart plastic bag with those items for a short trip. Your skin and hair can take one night without whatever special products you use at home. Save the space for things like moisturizer and your favorite make-up remover. I always bring eyedrops.

What are your top tips for short trips?

The road to Africa – Boston to JFK NY to Johannesburg

October 11, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Friday September 11 – Sunday September 13, 2009

Our long awaited trip to Africa started with a long wait for our flight from Boston to JFK airport in New York. We were supposed to leave Boston around 2pm, but didn’t leave until 6. For a 45 minute flight.

Luckily, our flight to South Africa didn’t leave until the following morning at 11:30am, so unlike many other travelers on our NY-bound flight, we weren’t panicked about a connection that evening. All we had to do was find the airport Holiday Inn and get a little supper.

For a scary moment at the bag claim at JFK, we thought my bag didn’t make it. The belt stopped, and so did my heart, just a little. About 5 minutes later, it started up again and voila, there was my bag.

The United/South African Airways codeshare flight from JFK to Johannesburg is non-stop to South Africa. Fifteen hours in the air. That’s a long time. A very long time. On the way back, it stops to refuel in Dakar, which amazingly enough is the half-way point. Makes you appreciate just how big the African continent is. That flight clocks in at more than 17 hours with the one-hour ground stop.

The food is okay. It was much better on the way over than on the way back, but if I were to do such a long haul again, I would bring some snacks. I would also purchase extra water at the airport. I always bring at least one bottle of water and sometimes a soda too. I’d bring more next time. The flight attendants do try to bring enough by, but it is nowhere near enough to keep you well hydrated.

We arrived at about 8am or so Sunday morning. Passport control and customs were smooth sailing and at the meeting area, we had no trouble spotting the representative from Journeys of Distinction. She gave us our itinerary and vouchers and guided us to the shuttle for the Southern Sun airport hotel.

A little tired, a little thirsty and more than a little excited, we were off on our African adventure.

Across the USA: Yah, I want to go…now what?

June 10, 2009 by Mary Cardwell

So, we’re going cross country! Yea! I’ve been talking about this trip for years and now it’s time to put my money where my mouth is! Planning major events is not new to me; I’ve done it hundreds of time…for work. The more I thought about it, the more nervous I got. What the hell do I know about going cross country?! Nothing! I need to learn and fast!!

I know I said this trip was for my kids – their education and an opportunity to spend quality time with us, that kind of crap – but that’s not the whole truth. The truth is much more selfish. I made a goal for myself to see all 50 states by the time I am 50 years old. I’m in my mid-forties and I’ve been to 34 of the 50 states. Not a bad track record but I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

So back to what this all has to do with planning a trip. My first step was to mount of map of the USA on a board and note with pushpins the states I need to visit. Then I asked the kids what are the places they’ve heard about and want to visit. To this day, their answers amuse me – Niagara Falls, Las Vegas and Oklahoma. Don’t ask. So I marked those next. We then identified friends and family that we should stop and visit while “we’re in the neighborhood.” Up on the board they went, too. Last we added the obligatory National Monuments. How could we justify a cross country trip without seeing Mount Rushmore, the Grand Canyon, Old Faithful and the world’s largest ball of string, my personal favorite? It may sound like a painful exercise, it was really quick actually. The hardest part was finding the map. With that complete, the route presented itself almost immediately. It really came together by playing connect the dots with some string and the push pins.

A semi-painful but very useful exercise!

Although we had a basic route in place, we really didn’t have a good handle on how long or how many miles we were talking or how much time we needed. Google Maps became my best ally in the next planning stage. A quick search for directions from location to location, tracking the miles and time to get there gave us a good foundation to work from. We guessed on how many days to stay in each location, whether it was a stopover or a major sightseeing opportunity. My advice – make your plans like there were no restrictions – you have all the time in the world and money is no object (oh to dream!!) See what you get, then scale back as needed. What can you afford and how much time can you really afford to be away? As with most major decisions, budget may not be the deciding factor but it certainly has a big impact. Since we live on the East Coast, we scaled back Washington D.C. and North Carolina because we knew those were trips that would be easy for us to make at a later date.

So you’ve got some ideas on the where to go and how long you’ll be gone, you’ll also need to figure out the when. We knew we would go when the boys got out of school but we live in New England, predicting the end of school is nearly impossible but we did our best! Now your straw man is almost complete…

Let’s review. You should have a foundation of where you will travel, how long it will take you, how much you can afford and when you want to go. With a basic framework of your perfect trip, you can turn your attention to travel. How do you want to travel – car? RV? Plane?

Anyway you choose, be realistic about the cost of travel. You will never visit multiple states over the course of a couple weeks and only spend $100. That’s not to say that you can’t find ways to minimize your costs but know what and how much you are willing to compromise. What’s more important to you, getting to the largest collection of hubcaps or the extra $100 and 6 hours it’s going to take you to get off the interstate and head down the endless dirt road in the middle of nowhere?

TIPS

Write it down! Every decision, every idea, every phone number, web site or travel tip. You’ll discuss so much it’s easy to lose track. Keep a log of your dates, locations, and travel time.
Google Maps is your friend! So is AAA. Use the tools available to you.
Create a visual of your trip. A map with pushpins always offers a clear picture of where you’re going.
Not everyone has the luxury of unlimited budget and unlimited time. Set your priorities.

What To Pack

May 25, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. On one hand, it’s a somber holiday during which we remember and celebrate those who’ve served in our nation’s military.

On the other, it’s the traditional start of summer, although the calendar doesn’t catch up for another three-four weeks. Backyard barbecues. The beach. Hiking in the mountains.

The family summer vacation.

After you’ve decided where to go and what to do, you still have the really tough decision ahead of you: What To Pack.

Here are some tips I’ve gathered over about 30 years of regular travel, including the last nine packing for my son as well as myself.

Make a list and pack early. This prevents last minute laundry because you (or your child) wore something you really wanted to bring. Lay out everything by category (underwear, pajamas, swim clothes, shoes, socks, dressy clothes if necessary, casual clothes, sports clothes, even jewelry). Then put about half of it back. Folks almost always pack too much, forgetting that unless you are going totally off the grid, you can probably find a place to do laundry or a store to pick up extra socks. And if you are totally off the grid, who cares if your clothes aren’t exactly… pristine. Just do us all a favor and pack extra underwear.

Exceptions to this rule:

Packing the diaper bag for a baby or toddler if you are not going to have access to your luggage for more than a few hours. Add a couple extra outfits and more diapers/pull-ups than you think you could ever possibly need. I learned this lesson the hard way. When Douglas was one, we were flying home from Europe, starting in Paris, changing in Zurich and then home. I packed the carry-on with enough stuff for a full day. Then our Zurich to Boston flight was delayed by SIX hours. Douglas got sick to his stomach and blew through two outfits in an hour. Literally. At the time (don’t know about now), they did not sell baby clothes or diapers inside security at the Zurich airport. We were hanging on by a thread with only one diaper to spare when we finally landed in Boston.
Short trips, especially business trips. Pack exactly what you plan to wear for every day and then add one business casual outfit in case the trip gets extended or someone dumps their soup on you.

Car trip versus plane trip: There’s a temptation to bring more when you are traveling by car versus flying to your destination. Resist! You still have to get it from the car into your accommodations.

If you are flying, try to keep everyone to one checked bag, a backpack and another small carry-on (purse, camera bag). Pack a spare bag for the inevitable souvenirs, but unless you are flying Southwest with free checked bags, consider mailing your souvenirs home. Costs about the same as that second bag on most domestic airlines, with the added convenience of not having to deal with it at the airport. We once shipped our hiking boots back from California. This was well before all the added bag fees; we did it because once we left Yosemite, we didn’t need all our hiking gear in Sacramento and San Francisco.

Sports gear: If you are driving, you can bring your own. If you are flying, consider renting when you get to your destination, especially if you don’t plan to do the activity every day. Typically, we’ll bring our ski boots and golf shoes/gloves, but rent skis and clubs at our destination. If you are going on a golf vacation where the entire time will be spent golfing, you probably want your own clubs, but for a family vacation where you might play once, maybe twice, renting at the course is fine. On a ski vacation, renting the skis lets you try the latest models, but you’ve got the comfort of your own boots.

Staying in a timeshare or rental with a kitchen? If you like to, and plan to, cook, on your vacation, bring some of your favorite spices in small jars or baggies. A lot easier than buying full size jars of everything.

Lifesavers:

DVD player, some favorite shows, and if budget permits, one new DVD just for the trip. Especially useful for younger children who can’t yet read or play video games. Be sure to road test the headphones before the trip. Kids can be picky about the headset and you don’t want to find this out at 30,000 feet. You can also get a splitter so two people, each with their own headset, can share the same screen.

For older kids, portable video game player of your choice. We’re a Nintendo family and Douglas just got a new Nintendo DSi. Be sure to get a spare charger and a car charger. Rocketfish has a combo pack that includes both, available at Best Buy.

A netbook. If you are driving to your destination, and plan to work (or blog), by all means bring the big ole laptop. Flying? Even only now and again. Get a netbook and a high capacity USB drive to transfer your work from home machine to netbook. There are lots of choices — I have an Acer AspireOne which I love, and my brother recently got an HP netbook.

At the moment I do not have a lot of domestic trips planned where I won’t have Internet access already (Vermont house, BlogHer) so I can’t justfy it, but if I were doing a lot of US travel, I also would definitely invest in a MiFi wireless router. Many US hotels charge you $10 per day for Internet. Do the math. Verizon’s MiFi plans are very affordable if you are on the road a lot, and doubly, triply so if you are with colleagues or family members who also need access.

Last words. You will forget something. Don’t sweat it. Even prescription medications can be dealt with remotely, though it can be a pain in the ass so try to NOT forget those. What do I tend to forget? My hairbrush. It’s always in the “other” suitcase, the one we didn’t bring on this trip. Luckily, you can buy hairbrushes almost everywhere in the world. Trust me. I have.

Travel tips – Orlando, Florida

April 27, 2009 by Susan Getgood

I promise to tell you all about my adventure with the python at Gatorland but it will have to wait until I am back home and able to download more photos. Right now I am in San Francisco for the New Comm Forum conference. In the meantime, here are some tips for getting around Orlando with kids.

Buy the chewing gum BEFORE you get to the airport. They do not sell chewing gum anywhere in the Orlando airport. The clerk at the newstand who told me this said it was a maintenance issue. I can understand their point; hundreds, thousands of kids travel through that airport every day. If only a small number of them dispose of their gum inappropriately, they’ve got a huge mess.
If you are planning to spend the day at Epcot or Magic Kingdom, and stay for the fireworks at night, make a dinner reservation at one of the sit-down restaurants. Everyone will appreciate an opportunity to sit down for a quiet meal after a long day traipsing around the park. At Epcot, I recommend France or Canada for good views, good food. Disney Dining – 407-WDW-DINE (407-939-3463)
Universal sells an add-on to its ticket that lets you bypass the regular line. This is well worth the money; we had two-park, two-day tickets, and bought the add-on for our first day in the parks.