Apologies to our friends to the North, Canadian’s celebrated Thanksgiving this past Monday and I totally missed it. That means Thanksgiving here in the States is 6 weeks from today! Of course you’ve got time to prepare, but I wanted to challenge you this year to approach things a bit differently. It’s always been an odd juxtaposition to me that Thanksgiving is a holiday about being thankful for the things you have and just hours later, sometimes before the dishes have even been cleaned, people are rushing to the stores to buy more things!

What if this Thanksgiving season you focused on spending that extra time with those people you’re thankful for creating new experiences rather than buying more things, even if they are a great deal?

You’ve heard me pose this question different ways in the past, but honestly how many pairs of slippers do you really think Aunt Sue needs? I’m not saying that she doesn’t love them, but by now she’s got a closet full. Instead of getting up at the crack of dawn to stand in line for the newest video game for your kids, why not get up at the crack of dawn and pile into the family truckster to go for a hike in the mountains or a walk on the beach? It’s the time you spend together as a family making memories that will last much longer than the battery life of 2018’s hottest toy.

Spend Black Friday making a scrap book of the photos you’ve taken this past year on your adventures together. Wouldn’t it be nice to share those memories sitting around the dinner table instead of crowded around a phone screen where your photos are eternally stored?

Believe me, I love to shop as much as the next girl (my husband may even say I do so more than the next girl) but I also love the idea of focusing on things we can do together.

When you are ready to get started planning your next vacation, all you have to do is click here. I look forward to helping you. 

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When is the last time you really unplugged from your device? Can you make it through the day without your phone? Most of us can’t, myself included. I’ll admit that if I happen to leave my phone at home or at the office accidentally, I’ll go back and get it pretty quickly.

As a society we’ve come to rely on having that technology at our finger tips. The statistics I get each week on this email indicate that around 50% of you read this on your phone rather than a computer or tablet.

Can you really enjoy a relaxing vacation if you’re always looking at the screen on your phone rather than the stunning surroundings you are visiting? Or, is it because you are plugged into the office that you feel like you can get away for a week or more and not be buried under a pile of work when you return? The struggle is real, I get it, but when we talk to our kids we find out that their favorite parts of vacation aren’t necessarily the experiences or the sights. When asked, most kids will tell you their favorite part of a family vacation is the time they spend away from routines at home, the time they spend with you, no housework, no yard work, no phones, no email, just the family making memories together.

This week I wanted to share with you a few ways that you can ease into unplugging during your next vacation.

Sure, selfies are a great way to get the whole family in the picture, but some vacations deserve more than selfies. That’s why we have teamed up with the folks at Flytographer who have photographers all over the world. We handle all the details for you and all you have to do is show up and the photographers from Flytographer will capture your vacation memories and send you the link to digitally download the high res images from your photo shoot. The results are stunning.

Instead of turning to social media for restaurant suggestions why not ask a local where they recommend. Better yet, we’ve also teamed up with suppliers who will match you with a likeminded local family with whom you can share an evening of conversation over dinner in their home. It’s a really fantastic way to immerse yourself in a destination and get a greater understanding of the differences and similarities of every day life.

Most of us would draw the line at actually leaving the phone at home during a vacation, but a day out on the water is a great excuse to at least leave it safely at the resort. Don’t get so caught up in nonstop social media posts that you miss the whale breaching beside your boat, or don’t quite catch the green flash as the sun sinks into the sea after a beautiful sail. Take time to really experience your destination as well as the time you are spending with the ones you love the most. The memories you make together on vacation will last long after you return to the office, and perhaps will provide you with the much needed mental fuel to make it to the next vacation.

The good news is that you don’t even have to put your phone down to get started planning your next vacation, all you have to do is click here and we can get started today!

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We’ve all seen the spoofs of the “ugly American” tourist sticking out like sore thumb while traveling abroad. This week I’ll share a few tips to help you blend in while you visit a foreign country. Just a hint – stop and read this before you run out and buy new shiny white sneakers!

How to look like a local when you travel.

I’ve said for years while traveling through Europe that you can most easily identify the Americans by their shoes. Leave those new white sneakers and flip flops at home and opt for a more European style of shoe.

Unless you are actually at the Gym, you shouldn’t be in workout clothes, that’s a sure sign that you’re an American.

When in doubt, overdress. It’s better to show up for an event or even to the local pub a bit overdressed rather than under dressed. Also if you’re trying to decide on the neon yellow sweater or the black one, stick to the muted or more neutral color scheme for your wardrobe. Leave those logo hoodies at home!

Use public transportation! Travel from place to place like the locals do, it’s a great way to get a feel for a destination you have not visited before.

Respect the local culture and customs, know that when visiting certain sites that you will need to have your knees and shoulders covered. If you don’t, prepare to be turned away.

Brush up on the language, sports teams and politics before you visit. You will get a much better reception if you ask “Parli Inglese” rather than “Do you speak English”

Please remember this tip if you are struggling with the local language “Volume has nothing to do with comprehension” Ann Forehand. Yep, the sage advice of my Mother, if someone doesn’t understand what you’re trying to communicate repeating it louder isn’t going to help.

Hopefully these tips will ease some of your anxiety about whether or not you’ll fit in while traveling. Should you have specific questions about the area you are visiting please reach out.

Otherwise, click here and let’s start planning that trip you’ve been dreaming about! I’d love to help you see more of the World.

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While I would love for the temperatures to start dropping, this is my favorite time of year to take a walk on the beach or generally be out on the water anywhere. Things seem to move along at the pace of the wind or the waves, the crowds are gone and you’ve got time to reconnect with your family, or even reconnect with yourself! It’s a slower pace of life, if only for a few weeks. It’s that idea of slowing down that brings me to one of the latest and hottest trends in travel right now, the concept of slow travel. Lingering over a bottle of wine with the one you love as you finish a leisurely lunch in a cafe tucked away along the coast of Italy.

Chatting with the locals in their “local” over an extra pint before you step back outside to explore the cobblestone streets of Edinburgh. Wandering through the local market to pick up vegetables that were picked just this morning to go along with the cheese the village is famous for and the baguette, still warm against your shoulder. You know that the afternoon will be spent making memories that will last a lifetime because of the experiences, not necessarily the iconic sites you’ll visit. All of these are aspects of slow travel.

What is slow travel?

Slow travel is the antithesis of those “if it’s Tuesday it must be Belgium” type vacations. You know, the ones that you come home from more tired than when you left on vacation!

Gone is the trend of packing every possible site into your vacation itinerary. The slow travel movement evolved out of the slow food movement, introduced a few decades ago in Italy as an alternative to fast food.

The idea is to immerse yourself in the destination, to literally slow down and take it all in, rather than snap a selfie at every landmark you pass as you drive by.

Instead of queueing for hours to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, imagine strolling to the market with a chef and selecting the freshest local ingredients before you assist in the kitchen to make a grand feast.

Rather than the high speed train through the French country side, what about a luxury barge for you and a few of your closest friends that ambles along the canals from winery to winery?

The possibilities are bountiful and not limited to the destinations mentioned above. Perhaps a spa or yoga retreat in Costa Rica is more your speed.

Would you like to learn to make authentic Thai food in Thailand? Sail through the Greek Isles or even closer to home, in the British Virgin Islands as you captain your chartered catamaran? Maybe you’re ready to go a bit further afield and finally spend the time exploring the Australian coast?

Are ready to slow down and really take it all in on your next vacation? Click here and let’s get started. I’d love to help you.

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“Trying to reason with hurricane season” is a song written and sung by Jimmy Buffett. It’s lyrics of “squalls out on the Gulf Stream, big storm coming soon” are all too real this week as the East coast braces for the impact from Hurricane Florence. Of course while we hope and pray for the best, it’s important to be prepared. The agents here at Slaydon’s Travel, as well as our colleagues throughout the industry have been hard at work this week rearranging travel plans for those affected. Certainly, storms like this bring up all sorts of questions from travelers.

“What happens if my flight is cancelled?”  As always, your first call when your flight is cancelled or delayed should be to your travel professional here at Slaydon’s. If it is during normal business hours, call the office. Otherwise, you are provided with our 24 hour emergency number as part of your final document package.

“I’m supposed to take a cruise, what happens if there’s a storm while we’re at sea?” A cruise is honestly a great vacation choice during hurricane season. I know that might seem like an odd answer, but let me explain a bit. It’s rare for a storm to affect a port for embarkation or debarkation. It’s more common for a storm to be in the Caribbean during your cruise. Should that be the case, chances are that your cruise will experience an altered itinerary. Perhaps you were on an Eastern Caribbean itinerary with ports of call in the Virgin Islands. If a storm is in that area, or headed to that area, the ships have the flexibility to go west. You might not visit the islands you were expecting, but you will still get the vacation you’ve been planning for.

“What should I do if there’s a storm headed towards my home?” It’s certainly a matter of preference for you, the traveler. Some travelers choose to secure their home and heed the advice to get out of harms way by continuing with the vacation plans they already have in place. Others choose to remain at home. Ultimately you have to choose the option that you and your family are most comfortable with.

“What should I do if there’s a storm headed towards my destination?” This one is a bit more tricky than the cruise question. So much depends on the projected path of the storm and whether or not the destination is proactive with tourist evacuations.

“Should we buy insurance?” Yes, you should always buy insurance when you book a vacation! However, if you choose not to take that advice it might be too late. Once a storm is “named” you can no longer purchase a travel insurance policy that will cover for that storm.

 When you’re ready to start planning your next adventure, click here, we’d love to help you get the best value for your vacation budget.

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I loved seeing my facebook news feed full of back to school photos during the past few weeks. It also means a new blank calendar to start the school year. Like most parents I’m quickly filling my calendar with school appointments and teacher meetings, but also with school holidays!

There certainly aren’t very many on the calendar, but if you plan early you can take advantage of the long weekends and even longer breaks like Spring Break. You’ve got the dates now, don’t wait until January or February to start planning your vacation for Spring Break. Now is the time to do that to make sure your family not only gets the best value, but also more choices in destinations and flight schedules. We have even been busy planning fantastic itineraries for families to take in the Summer of 2019. Europe is again the hot spot for family vacations in 2019 for ages 4-94!

When you sit down with the calendar pay attention to those weeks in November and even in January where there are several days off in a single week. Affectionately known as “No school November” there is only one week that month when kids go to school all 5 days! It’s a great month for families to vacation for 7 or more days and miss only 2-3 days of school, and the prices haven’t jumped up yet for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays if you take advantage of the election day and Veteran’s day holidays.

When you’re ready to start planning your next adventure, click here, we’d love to help you get the best value for your vacation budget.

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We’ve made it to the final week of our three week series on travel tips. If you missed any of the previous you can read about Tips for your carry on and 5 tips if you must check a bag by clicking each link. You can also revisit our packing tips here.

More of our travel tips

#1 –Clean out your wallet before you leave home! Carry one or two of your credit cards, along with a government issued id. You won’t need your grocery store loyalty card, your gym membership card, your library card, etc. Make copies of all your wallet contents, front and back, and leave them with someone at home who can help you cancel all of the cards should they become lost or stolen.

#2 – Make copies of your passports to take with you, but don’t fold them up and put them in the passport! They will help in getting your documents replaced should your passport become lost or stolen.

#3 – Keep a copy of your travel insurance paperwork with you rather than in a checked bag. Should you want to keep a copy of the paperwork in a checked bag that’s fine, just make an extra so you can keep one with you as well.

#4 – When leaving your hotel to explore a new destination ask for a business card at the front desk showing the name and address of the hotel in the local language.

#5 – Know at least how to ask in the local language if someone speaks English. You will go much further in finding assistance when you start in the native language rather than in English.

When you’re ready to start planning your next adventure, click here, we’d love to help you get the best value for your vacation budget.

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Here’s part 2 of the series I started last week of travel tips. Remember, if you are traveling for 2 weeks or less a 20″ hard sided roller bag should be sufficient for your packing needs. However, longer trips sometimes call for a checked bag. This week I’ll share my top 5 tips, if as a last resort, you must check a bag.

5 tips if you must check a bag

#1 –Crosspack – Unless you are traveling solo – do not use one suitcase for yourself and one for your travel companion. Split the space, put half of your outfits in one suitcase and half in the other. Should one suitcase become delayed or lost you will still have necessities to get you through at least half of your vacation.

#2 – Know the dimensions, color, size and brand of your checked luggage. Better yet, take a photo of your bag before you turn it over to TSA and the Airline.

#3 – Make sure your bags are marked, inside and out, with at least your name and a phone number where you can be reached during your trip.

#4 – Put copies of your intended travel itinerary and your travel insurance paperwork inside your luggage where it can easily be seen if opened by airport personnel.

#5 – Know how much your bags weigh. Put them on your scale before leaving home, or use a handheld luggage scale. Make sure you don’t exceed the airline limits for checked bags. A few extra pounds can be a costly mistake.

When you’re ready to start planning your next adventure, click here, we’d love to help you get the best value for your vacation budget.

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I get a lot of questions about how to travel with just a carry on bag to avoid the fees, fear and inconvenience of checking a bag. This week I wanted to share some of the tips we’ve put together in our newest brochure.

Tips for your carry on

#1 – If you’re booking your own airline ticket, make sure that you are not booking a BASIC ECONOMY ticket that does not allow you to use the overhead bin on the plane.

#2 – A small hard sided carry on bag provides enough room for the average traveler on up to a two week itinerary

#3 – When making your packing list – start with the shoes! Wear a pair, and pack a pair, but build your outfits around those two pairs of shoes – not the other way around.

#4 – Take an empty water bottle with you so you can fill it before you get on the plane and throughout your travels to reduce waste. This is also one of our #VacationForGood tips!

#5 – Keep your liquids, pastes and gels limited to three ounce containers and keep them all in a quart sized zip lock bag for additional screening at the security check point.

#6 – Carrying powder? There are some new rules – powders in your carry on luggage should be less than 12 ounces and if the substance can not be identified by TSA it may not be permitted

#7 – We all know how nice it is to have a snack on the plane and those tiny bags of pretzels aren’t always the most filling. It’s fine to take food with you through the security check point (adhering to the liquid, paste, gel rules) but keep all of your food items together in a large zip lock bag and currently they require separate screening.

#8 – If you find yourself on a smaller commuter plane the overhead may not be large enough to accommodate your roller bag. Should that be the case, the bag will be “gate checked” for you meaning you roll it down the jet way, they put it in the luggage hold, then when the plane lands you claim it again on the jet way, it does not go to baggage claim. When this happens you also need to make sure that you don’t have any lithium batteries in the bag, or you will need to remove them, the same goes for the battery if you’re using a smart bag.

When you’re ready to start planning your next adventure, click here, we’d love to help you get the best value for your vacation budget.

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I am often asked by clients and friends to price out something that they have seen online or gotten in the mail offering a trip that “sounds too good to be true”, obviously in more cases than not, we are able to show them that yes, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. 

This leads into the conversation based on a quote by Warren Buffett, “Price is what you pay, value is what you get.” 

When looking at two trips that on the surface look similar it’s extremely important to dig a little deeper and really make sure that you’re comparing apples to apples. For instance, while considering a European tour that includes a few nights in Rome and a visit to the Vatican museum they can be very different! 

Trip one has a lower price tag, but when you look at the itinerary you’re actually staying about an hour outside of Rome and during your two night stay you only get one full day in Rome because of the hotel location and travel time involved. That trip to the Vatican museum is actually an add on, and it’s going to take a huge chunk out of your day, because it doesn’t include “skip the line” privileges.Another apparent cost saver comes at the exclusion of lunch and dinner. You’re on your own for those. 

Trip two appears to have a higher “out of the gate” price tag. However, once you drill down, the hotel is in the center of town and within walking distance to the major attractions. This tour also includes a trip to the Vatican museum, but lucky for you, you won’t have to stand in line, or buy tickets once you get there. This Vatican museum tour is private and it’s when the museum is closed to the general public so you won’t have to fight the crowds. You will have the pleasure of visiting before it opens for the day, or perhaps after it closes. Breakfast on this tour is also included daily. Lunches and dinners, while not offered every day, are included several days during your visit.

Aside from price and value, the other considerations that a travel professional can assist with are the pace of the tours you are comparing. A tour that spends several nights in a location before moving onto the next is going to offer a more immersive experience than the tour that moves to a new country or new city each night.

The same analogy can easily be played out when looking at a cruise or an island escape. Even some ocean cruises are now including shore excursions, gratuities and drinks. Of course the price tag appears higher than a similar itinerary that doesn’t include these things. However, when you add in what’s already included on cruise A versus cruise B you may be surprised that you’ll spend less over all on cruise A! The same holds true when comparing the cost of an all-inclusive resort to a standard hotel.

With the help of a travel professional we can match your travel style to the vacation that will not only maximize your travel budget, but exceed your expectations. 

The travel professionals at Slaydon’s would love to help you plan the vacation that is the best fit for your travel dreams. Click here to set up your appointment and we can get started today!

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