Traveling and COVID – Winter 2022 Edition

The beginning of every new year is traditionally a popular time to plan vacations for the coming year and while this year is no exception, COVID continues to hang over our heads and continues to affect how we travel.

As I have noted in the past, everything we have learned about travel in the past nearly 2 years, can be summed up in the following two statements:

  • Things are complicated.
  • Things can – and will – change.

As the pandemic continues to evolve and change, so has travel, as destinations, tour operators, resorts and hotels, airlines, theme parks, and cruise lines all work to find the right balance between staying operational, providing memorable travel experiences for their guests, and keeping everyone – both guests and employees – safe.

It’s a complicated and challenging scenario, and as the situation with the pandemic has changed, guidelines and protocols have adjusted. In some cases, many times. Read more

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Packing Tips for Your First Cruise

One of the most common questions I get from those taking their first cruise is “what should I pack?” And while what you’ll be taking will depend on the kind of cruise you’re taking, there are some general guidelines to keep in mind when you are packing for cruise. Read more

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What to Know About Cruising and COVID

It’s not really possible to discuss cruising at the moment without addressing the question that is on the minds of many who are considering a cruise vacation – “What are the COVID policies if you want to cruise right now?”

So, let’s chat about that today. Read more

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Your Flight is Cancelled, Now What?

Photo via https://flic.kr/p/4qzos1

Last Friday morning, as I was getting ready to fly to Wisconsin for the wedding of our best friend’s daughter – a wedding where I was doing a reading – I noticed in my Southwest app that our evening flight was already showing delayed. I thought that was a bit odd so many hours before our flight, so I kept checking all day long, and kept watching the delay steadily increase to over 3 hours by late afternoon.

And then I got the dreaded alert: Cancelled. Read more

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Why Cheapest Isn’t Always Best When It Comes to Travel

Everyone wants to know they’re getting the best possible price for their vacation – but how do you actually do that?

Do you scour “discount” travel sites that offer trips at cheap prices? Do you grab that Groupon that just showed up in your email? Do you ask thousands of people you don’t know in a Facebook group? Do you book the inn that your Aunt Martha said was a great deal when she and Uncle Harry visited there 20 years ago?

The answer actually starts with two truths that you probably heard as a kid:

  1. You get what you paid for.
  2. If it seems too good to be true – it probably is.

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