Travelers Thoughts

RV travel is a great way to see the country and spend some quality time with your family. Why not take advantage of gas prices coming down and start planning a family getaway.  Traveling by RV is less stressful than other forms of travel because you can control all of the departure and arrival times since you are not at the mercy of the airlines.  Depending on your location, you can also schedule your days to include sightseeing tours, or just go out on your own and find your own adventure.

When traveling with the family it is important to find family friendly sites to hitch up overnight.  The kids can go a little stir crazy if they don’t have some social outlet.  There are many RV parks and campgrounds that are family friendly and offer amenities for entertaining the children, and therefore attract many families. RV travel is quite the social outlet for some families. When you settle into these campgrounds, it is not uncommon to meet other families whom you form lifelong friendships with.  This is a great way for the kids to have some time to play with other kids and for the parents to swap ideas about entertainment in the area and exchange other RV travel ideas.

RV travel is also very popular with retirees. After retirement, many couples choose to sell everything they own and live in their RV’s and travel the country full time.  There are Senior RV clubs that offer social gatherings all over the U.S. and Canada for those who are full time travelers, as well as the weekend warriors. It is believed by many that RV-ing is the best way to see the country and a great way for empty nesters and retirees to reconnect with their spouses, after the hustle and bustle of raising a family and working 9-5 is behind you.

While RV-ing you may chose to “camp out” in campgrounds or off the beaten path somewhere secluded.  This decision may be easy for some that don’t like to “rough it”.  RV travel incorporates a few more conveniences than traditional camping. So many people find it fun and interesting.

You can plan a theme for your trip, like antique collecting, or touring the historic sites in the northeast, or all about the Wild West and rodeos.  There are unlimited possibilities when planning an RV excursion.  Let the road and your imagination be your guide.

Vacations are becoming more expensive every day with rising fuel costs, food costs, hotel costs, just about everything is on the rise, making it more difficult for families to afford summer vacations.  The new catch phrase is “staycation” This means you stay close to home and explore the area around you.  Staycations also emphasize what vacations are all about; quality time with your family.

Depending on your location, there are probably many one tank trips you can take with your family. Do some research and find out what’s around you, within driving distance.  Even if it involves a night in a hotel, it’s still more affordable than a plane trip and a week at a hotel, meals…etc.  On a staycation you can also enjoy local things that were always out of your budget.  Again, without  the major travel costs, you can afford these little splurges, like eating at fabulous local restaurants, and taking in local theater.

Vacations are a great tiime for families to regroup after a hectic season and get to know eachother again.  Staycation-road-trips are a good way to do this.  Reconnect with you kids and enjoy local family activities together. There are probably numerous sightseeing opportunities that are overlooked due to busy schedules. Exploring your surroundings together will create just as many memories as visiting the mouse in Florida.

Be certain, no matter what you plan for your staycation travels, that you  DO NOT just stay at home.  When you are at home with unlimited free time, it is easy to fall into the trap of completing all the little projects that don’t get done throughout the year.  Leave the house daily as if you were out of town.  The cluttered closets, the piles of laundry, the dirty grout lines will all have to wait.  Don’t let the daily chores ruin your vacation, because you chose to make it a staycation. Plan your daily activities in advance the way you would on any other vacation.

There are parks and picnics and museums and history all around you.  Enjoy your local resources and most of all enjoy some relaxation with your family.

Since most women love to travel and we ALL occasionally need to get away, why not start planning a fun girls’ getaway with a couple of your friends or family. There doesn’t need to be a special occasion for a fun trip with ‘the girls’. No occasion at all can be the best reason to celebrate and take a little breather. It may just include a long weekend or three or four days, and needs to be relaxing and/or exciting, but definitely guilt-free.

This kind of small, female group travel is one of the hottest trends today and most resorts and hotels across the country are aware of it. You can find package deals almost everywhere, almost any time of the year. Promotional packages can include spa treatments of every kind, chocolates and champagne or gourmet dinners, tickets to the theater or other special events. They can include cooking lessons, dancing lessons, horseback riding or rock climbing — it will all depend on when and where you decide to go and with whom.

One drawback of the pre-planned getaway package is that the perks of the package have to appeal to all the women in your group. If they don’t, then the price of the package will not be worth it. You should be careful when you choose a promotional deal because sometimes the price of an all-inclusive package is just not worth the sum of its parts. You may have much better luck planning your time away by purchasing a la carte items to entertain yourselves.

While in those fun planning stages, the girlfriends can determine if they want to get away to be pampered or go hiking, be in the sun by the pool or go snow skiing, or just try something they have never tried before. (I’m always for being pampered and relaxing because I‘m practically an expert at it.)

Once your interests and activities have been narrowed down and your destination chosen, research some of the points of interest in the area. Contact the local chamber of commerce or visitors’ bureau. Check to see if there are any specials or discounts available at the hotels or resorts that look interesting in the area.

Pull in all those discount offers you can. Are you senior citizens? Does someone in your group have frequent flyer miles to share? Are any of you AAA members? All the breaks you can get in prices can be spent elsewhere on your trip (or not spent at all).

If you can plan six or nine months ahead (or more), you can all start saving towards the big event. Every pay period, each of you can set aside a certain amount. You may want to consider putting it all into an interest-bearing account. If you plan the financial end of it ahead of time, none of you will feel the squeeze when it comes down to booking the event(s) and coming up with the deposit money.

Whatever you do, where ever you go, allow yourselves enough time in your schedule to regroup and reconnect and enjoy those relationships. And remember, you are not abandoning your loved ones and your responsibilities. You are taking a well-deserved mental health break. You are not only entitled to some “Me” time, you owe it to yourselves (and your families) to leave the stress behind for just a little while. You will emerge a better mom or wife or sister or girlfriend for it. Have fun! Wish I were going.

Ahhh, the lovely Irish countryside of County Mayo, the breathtaking views of the Atlantic, the beautiful and serene Stella Maris Country House Hotel and Restaurant, and a memorable Ballycastle pub crawl! What could be better — of course, I failed to mention the renowned Stella Maris breakfasts and dinners that they are talking about all over Ireland and elsewhere. Just thinking of it all makes me imagine with an Irish lilt to my thoughts.

So here is what I know personally. In the mid-1800s, the property was used as a Coast Guard station while the British ruled Ireland. Then in 1914, it became a convent for the Sisters of Mercy who taught primary school for the village of Ballycastle and later lace making and music. In 1960s, a new school was built in the village of Ballycastle and the property subsequently was sold the Whelan family who then operated it as a small, family-run hotel for many, many years.

When the branch of the Whelans who had continued to run the hotel decided to sell it, fate intervened. The lovely Frances Kelly, who had lived in Ballycastle as a young girl and had worked at Stella Maris alongside her sisters after it had become a hotel, returned to Ireland for another visit after having pursued her education in culinary arts in the United States. When Frances learned that the property was up for sale, she and her husband, Terrence McSweeney, purchased the property, and began renovations on this unique property to the point that it is today — a beautiful and luxurious environment for a choice clientele who could appreciate the tranquility that West Mayo has to offer.

Today, Stella Maris is a member of Ireland’s Blue Book of Country Houses and Restaurants, as well as Historic Hotels of Europe. It also has been named one of Ireland’s Top 100 Restaurants, with it‘s many home-grown vegetables and herbs and local fishes and lamb, and, of course, Frances overseeing every detail of the modern Irish dinner specialties.

Situated very close (40-minute drive) to both the Enniscrone and the Carne/Belmullet golf courses, two of the finest links in all of Ireland, this meticulously restored structure provides the perfect lodgings for the golf enthusiast. With its 100-foot glassed conservatory, the views of Bunatrahir Bay will comfort and delight you. There is both fresh and salt water fishing, bird watching, hiking and biking all available in this area, as well as strolls to the famous Downpatrick Head. One version of the story of Downpatrick Head is that it is where St. Patrick cut off the head of a giant serpent, dividing the Head from the mainland and driving all snakes from Ireland.

And now I am there, if only in my imagination, and I swear I can almost feel the wind on my face and the sound of the birds and crashing waves. Is it my imagination, but as I look out upon that vast Atlantic, do I almost see the roundish curvature of the earth…?

As a senior citizen, I rather like that someone takes care of everything for me, but I was not sure I wanted to have to eat where ‘the group’ eats or sleep where ‘the group’ sleeps for six to eight days at a time. And honestly, six to eight days traveling with ‘the group’ was not exactly my style. My fear was that it might make me begin to feel like I was being held captive with a bunch of strangers. I guess if you haven’t tried it you won’t know if you would like it. So I tried it. And I liked it.

Last year, I made the commitment, plunked down my money and vowed that if it became too uncomfortable for me to handle, I would just leave that group bus tour, rent a car or hop a plane and find my own way home. What a delightful surprise awaited me.

From my hometown in central Florida, we climbed aboard the big blue bus (herein referred to as Big Blue) and away we went. The seating was very comfortable and there was a bathroom (very, very small though) on Big Blue the Bus. The windows were large and all aboard could see very well.

Our first stop was just across the Florida/Georgia state line where we had lunch at one of the southern cooking restaurant chains (not bad), stretched our legs, and had a short period of time to look around the gift shop before we re-boarded Big Blue for our next stop just south of Atlanta at a reputable hotel for our first night on the road. Now, I don’t know if you have ever noticed this or not, but once you have dined with strangers, they are no longer strangers. So as we traveled on, we all began to feel like we knew each other just a little better.

Well, our first overnight stay at the mid-priced, but very clean and reputable hotel was uneventful. We all had dinner together, breakfast together and continued on our way. We made another stop or two along the way for meals and breaks and finally reached our destination, Asheville, North Carolina. The tour was a great success thus far. The changing of the colors in the landscape was fascinating. The countryside was gorgeous — everything I though it would be and then some.

Asheville, with all of its views and vistas was the best of all. Once we reached there, though still staying in the same hotel (a little rustic cabin theme this time), we were all free to do as we wished or we had the option to join in on a little sight seeing and history tour of the local area. Since we had two nights in Asheville, I chose to strike out on my own for one of the days and take the guided Biltmore tour on the following day.

That decision turned out to be a wise one for me. I was able to dine and shop as I pleased and I actually met and spent some time with some of the artisans in some of the charming little shops. The Biltmore tour with the group the next day was pleasant, but once again I chose to dine separately from the group and head for bed early at the quaint little cabin hotel room.

On the return trip home, again the vistas were lovely but by this time, some members of the group had begun to become a little disgruntled with some of the other members of the group. Barbara’s husband was the worst, but I guess there always has to be “one“. When traveling with a group, never, ever bring up the subject of religion or politics, unless you are quite sure everyone feels exactly like you do. But being “one” of those that assumed his way was the only way, Big John just wound up annoying the hell out of everyone all the way home.

The last night the tour surprised us with the dinner. Instead of a regular dinner, they booked a murder mystery dinner for us. This proved to be a wonderful and needed surprise. We were a little tired, and needed a different sort of event. The murder mystery troupe that performed for us brought in local history to the mystery, and involved many of us in the plot. It was loads of fun!

Would I take another escorted group tour again? Definitely yes, but…not if Barbara and John were going.

I simply cannot think of a better way to take a great vacation than to take a cruise. I am sure that many experienced travelers may think of it as limiting in some ways but if you are considering an all-inclusive travel experience, you really must consider a cruise. What is there not to like about paying one price and being completely free from having to check out some appropriate accommodations, planning your mode of travel, budgeting in entertainment and meals and all of the other planning you must do if you travel in any other way.

A cruise has it all. Where do you want to go? Do you want to cruise the Caribbean or the Alaskan waterways? There is a cruise for you, I assure you. Do you like to have a slow-paced, casual and relaxing vacation or do you prefer to dress up a bit and have a few more formal events available to you. There is a cruise for you, I assure you. Are you single and don’t want to get stuck with an entire vacation used dodging children and the noise and havoc that can wreak or are you the member of a family with teens or smaller children and you want to have things available to entertain them on your vacation? There is a cruise for you, I assure you. Are you gay or lesbian? Do you love blues or country music? Are you retired or a senior citizen? Are you physically handicapped in some way? Are you a gourmand and insist on fine food and fine wine? Must I continue to repeat myself — there is a cruise for you, I assure you.

Once you have decided if there is a specific category that you fall into and if that is the way you would prefer to travel, then call a travel agent or go online and start planning. Here is what you can expect on a cruise — almost all expenses covered in one price.

With the least expensive accommodations, your room may be on the small side but it will be clean and efficient and comfortable. You may prefer to stretch your budget a bit and go for the larger room with a balcony or a larger bathroom (that is my particular favorite, especially on longer cruises). I promise you though, other than sleeping, you will not be spending very much time in your room with all that is made available to you on a cruise. The meals are all provided and you may have never realized how much food you can eat until you have eaten your way through a cruise.

If you enjoy dancing and live entertainment, it is provided for you on your cruise. If you want to lounge outside in the fresh air and devour that new book you brought along with you, no problem. Lounging areas abound on the cruise ship whether you want to be in the sun or in the shade. If you want to try your hand at one of those rock climbing walls, a lot of cruise ships have them available. The cruise directors plan lots of fun games and competitions too, it’s amazing what crazy things people will do to win silly promotional items like a Carnival fanny pack. Take a while out to enjoy the pool and Jacuzzi too or schedule a massage or facial or a manicure or pedicure. It can all be available to you right there on your cruise ship.

The ports-of-call are so varied and it all depends on your chosen destination stops. When the ship arrives in one of its predetermined ports, you really must embark. You will find more shopping and vendors and eating and drinking establishments as well as excursions waiting for you. Depending on how long your stay is in each port, you will be able to see more and do more than if you had arrived at that destination by any other means of travel and visited it for a day or short period of time and you won’t have to find a place to sleep. Just get back on your ship, have a nightcap or a nibble in one of the many lounges or even in your room, then most likely when you awake the next day, another port awaits to taste and smell and discover.

Have I convinced you yet? Well, if this little message has not totally convinced you, then you need to do just a little more investigating. Ask your friends who have cruised. Go online and do a little research. Call a travel agent. I guarantee once you have been on a cruise, you will wait with anticipation until your next vacation time rolls around again and you can take another one. Bon voyage, my friends.