The Travel Chick

 With fuel prices making travel significantly more expensive this summer, many people are choosing to skip the summer vacation and stay at home.   If you’re one of these people, there’s no reason you can’t relax and see some new things anyway.  Everywhere there are towns with hidden gems - historical museums, rivers perfect for canoeing, community theater troupes and more.  Perhaps your own town has some of these hidden gems, or maybe there’s a place just a short drive away that’s new and different.  Take a fresh look at what your area has to offer - it might be more than your realized!I live in a little beach town along Lake Michigan, which is kind of like being on vacation all summer long.  I’m at every festival and event.  It’s funny, because people who were raised here say they never go downtown during the summer because of all the tourists.  I just can’t understand that - I love doing all that touristy stuff.  I pay more for the ice cream that’s right by the water, I bring my lawn chair to listen to music at the park and eat free popcorn while my kids  chase one another around the fountain and I go to the busy beach in town rather than the hidden one in the country.  I grew up in a town about the same size, but without the tourism trade, and let me tell you, it was BORING.  Now I live in a place where there’s some sort of event going on every weekend throughout summer, and you can bet I’m not going to avoid it just because it might be a little crowded.  This weekend it’s the art fair - I can’t wait!

We booked that Disney trip I was talking about the other day. My husband and I have been watching all the news of airlines and the dire predictions about fuel prices and decided we’d better lock in our ticket prices before they go any higher. A few months ago I saw tickets at $175 round trip to Orlando - right around Spring Break. I’ve been watching for something like that, but no, nothing. I think if we had shopped around a little we could have done better, but my husband is the sort of fellow who, once he decides to do something he wants it done RIGHT AWAY. So he got us tickets that were $400 each. Ouch.

Because we were spending more on the plane tickets we decided to cut back on the hotel price and went with the Nickelodeon Holiday Inn, which I’ve heard good things about. They have suites, which will come in handy because my husband and I are both night owls and will want to stay up after the kids are in bed. They’ve also got free internet, which is a must-have for me when I travel. There’s a nice pool for the kids too. I understand that one should keep in mind that it’s a Holiday Inn and that it’s a hotel geared towards children, but the price is right and it’s nice.

There was a time when all an American needed to travel to countries like Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean islands was a birth certificate. I grew up in Michigan, where crossing the Canadian border was undertaken as lightly as crossing into Ohio. Unfortunately, those days are gone. Today a passport is required when flying into the U.S. from those countries. While you can still enter by land or sea from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean with just a driver’s license and birth certifcate, that loophole will be going away by Spring of 2009, after which you’ll need the passport.

This means you have to plan ahead, or just have the thing in hand. I have a friend who found an AWESOME travel deal to Jamaica just a couple of weeks before her kids’ Spring Break from elementary school. Unfortunately, the kids didn’t have passports, so she decided against buying the trip for fear that the kids’ passports wouldn’t arrive on time and they would not be able to go.

I prefer for everyone in my family to have a passport ready to go so we have the flexibility to take advantage of some of the incredible online travel deals I find, even if the departure date is only three days away. Passports are good for 10 years for adults, 5 for children, so we’ll have plenty of time to use them.

However, if you’re fairly sure you’re not going to be taking any spur of the moment trips abroad and don’t have any foreign travel plans, you could be reluctant to spend the cash for a passport you might never use.

Passport or no passport? Before making your decision, why don’t you head over to the U.S. Department of State’s website for more information? The site tells how long it’s taking to process passport applications (currently around four weeks, two for expedited applications), lists application fees and describes the different options, such as the new passport card.

Anyone who has traveled by train knows it can be a pleasant mode of travel. The last time I was in Europe I relied heavily on train travel to get around and enjoyed sitting back, relaxing and watching the French, Spanish and Italian scenery roll by.

With fuel prices skyrocketing this summer, perhaps more Americans should consider using this means of travel. Amtrak travels throughout the United States, and it can be a relief to skip the hassle and tension of driving busy highways and just sit back and read for a few hours before arriving at your destination, nice and relaxed. I prefer to use the train for shorter trips, although I did once use it for an overnight trip between Ann Arbor and New York City. Sleeping upright in my seat was uncomfortable, but I liked taking my meals in the dining car - it made me feel like I was in an old black and white film from the 1940s.

Another option is to utilize the commuter trains that service large cities. This is a good option for those who hate driving in crazy city traffic. Choose a suburb outside a large city, then drive to the station, park your car and take the commuter train into city. From the train station you can catch a cab to your hotel. Be sure to call ahead to make certain that you can park overnight at the station.

I love to travel, but getting to your destination can be a real drag. Crowded airports, delays, outrageous prices for airport eateries serving mediocre food, tiny seats, long, boring hours in flight, and the less said about airplane bathrooms, the better. I know, I’m being so negative! I don’t envy the airlines the job of coordinating the movement of massive amounts of people around the world. But if you’re planning an air trip anytime soon, you might want to check out these articles about which airports are most likely to lose your luggage or leave you hanging.

Here’s a link to an article about the U.S. airports where you’re most likely to have a delayed flight. Check to see if your favorite hub is on the list! The number one time drainer is Chicago’s O’hare airport - no surprise there. I once spent 8 hours there waiting for a flight to Detroit to take off - it would have only taken me four hours to drive!

In “Dude, Where’s My Bag?” learn which airlines are most likely to lose your luggage and tips to ensure your bag will be there when you get to your destination.

Summer is upon us! It’s time for swimming, picnics and vacations. If you’re like me, you look forward to vacations as a chance to relax, recharge, try new foods and see new sights. But if the skyrocketing gas prices are making you rethink your vacation, you might want to read through some suggestions for saving a few dollars on summer travel.

Check out the Associated Press article Being flexible can lead to summer travel savings, where you’ll read several ideas for cutting travel costs, such as renting a vehicle that gets better mileage than the monster in your driveway, or searching for plane tickets for cheaper evening flights.

Those planning a family getaway should take a look at the Budget Travel article,  Affordable Summer Travel for Families.  Staying at farms, sleeping in state park lodges and visiting ski resorts in summer are just some of the unusual suggestions presented in this article. 

I think most of us have heard that the U.S. dollar is doing lousy against the euro and for that reason right now is not a good time to travel to Europe. Meal prices are sky high. Hotel costs are outrageous. Money will be flying out of your hands.And yet sometimes you’ve got your heart set on Europe, and none of the suggested substitutes will do. Though Montreal and Quebec City are charming, they’re not Paris. Though Buenos Aires is full of Latin flair, it’s not Madrid.

Summer’s here and beach towns and other tourist destinations are loading up on activities to keep visitors busy. One of the most popular of these are live music concerts - often free, often taking place in parks.

I couldn’t make this stuff up. This is a real news story:

Airlines charging by the pound? The gist of it is that airlines are actually considering weighing passengers and making them pay accordingly for their flight. Not weighing the luggage, but THE PASSENGERS. I’ve already mentioned other stories about airlines scrambling to cut costs in the face of rising oil prices. I read recently that fuel costs represent 40% of their flight costs, so it stands to reason that with the soaring oil prices they’d try to cut back elsewhere. But weighing the passengers? The simple fact that they’re even considering it smacks of desperation.

In my family, we usually do a bunch of little trips a year and one big trip. This year the big trip is Walt Disney World.  My kids have been to China, they’ve been to the Caribbean, but they’ve never been to Disney, and now that my oldest is eight, we’re thinking we shouldn’t hold off any longer. The thing is it’s going to cost an INSANE amount of money and when I think of the AWESOME places we could go instead if we’re going to spend that much … it’s painful. But I love my kids, and though we always make it to zoos and children’s museums while we’re on vacation, they’ve also been saints as I’ve carted them to famous art galleries and peaceful temples.   They’ve earned a vacation designed specifically for kids.As I’ve been planning our trip, I’ve looked at the Disney website, of course, as well as Disney guide books, and I’ve been talking to friends and visiting message boards at travel sites like Frommer’s and Fodor’s.  I’m learning things like the Disney Princess breakfast is worth the extra expense and that shuttles travel between the Magic Kingdom and Disney hotels every fifteen minutes, so you don’t need a rental car or taxis.  I think it’s going to be a memorable trip.