Category: Planning

February… we usually get through this month (one day longer this year) by dreaming of exotic Sun Destinations or one of our “zipity” 9-Day European City Tours. Not so this time around! Basically zero done for March Break tix/planning. I’d like to blame it on busy schedules, saving for renos, or this year’s Covid-19 outbreak… but I’d only be lying! Truth be told… I think we’re a bit stuck in the idea of stuff that we don’t want to do. In essence, I’ve only talked myself out of trips! That’s a curious statement, but here’s a stab at an explanation;

• We thought of a UK visit… something we’d really like to do is a loop of England, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland. But how do you do justice to this over a March Break? For value… this is a four week journey!
• Viva Las Vegas! Warm? Yes. Lot’s to see & do? Yes. Would there be learning? For sure. A new adventure? Yep. All green lights, except it somehow felt like we were “going” for the sake of “going”. There wasn’t really a destination that I could in fact name after some cursory research.
• We’ve rarely gone back to places we’ve visited. That said… we’ve done many of the “direct” flights from our regional airports (YHZ / YQM). We’re becoming more reluctant to crash for a couple of hrs at an airport or involve ourselves in messy overnight transfers / mad dashes for school on Monday mornng. In many ways, we used up those “gravy” flights that are easy and compatible with our work commitments.
• I’m hoping, and I’d think Janie would agree, that we’ve evolved as travellers. In short, I’ve become less interested in just seeing and transparently moving through a destination. We’re wanting, more and more, to be afforded the time to interact, create relationships, and be “on the ground” when on the move. March Break doesn’t do that!

All that being said… at the end of February the planning I had done consisted of two overnight visits to the camp. The warmth of “Rosa” has revolutionized the space… cozy evenings and overnight burning make staying a cinch! Not sure… maybe the camp is this year’s destination! Who knows? If a quick road trip or flight of interest “pops” into the mix by mid-March we might grab it, but if a trek occurs it will surely be spontaneous and “off the cuff”!

I recently had a friend ask about resources I use for research before and during travel. I didn’t have a succinct answer… Lots of “depends on” and website references. I’ve never used a professional travel agent so the bulk of our trips have been the result of hours of reading and time online completing planning and purchasing. Thus, I thought it might be a great topic for a February blog entry, as we continue to plan at home for our March Break excursion to Jamaica. Perhaps this is best broken up into the main components of most trips, which include for us the elements of general information, transportation, accommodation, and food/attractions.

General Information: Couple of specific “go to” options here (with tips on all items and add ins like history / money / safety / blogs / itineraries). Early on in my travel planning days I was very tied to Frommers Day by Day guidebooks. The itineraries were thematic and descriptors on attractions were excellent. Now I just connect to Frommers online for it virtually, bypassing the books and accessing a broad set of introductory details on their web site. For destinations in Europe, Rick Steves is a valuable resource… And his online presence / video catalogue is designed for the independent traveler (although tours form a huge part of the business). I’ve undoubtedly gotten great tips there! More recently, I let Twitter do the work, as I follow one or two solid feeds from the chosen destination that drop up to the minute information on everything travel. This trick paid excellent dividends in Paris ( i.e. Helped us keep an eye on rotating transit work actions and potential attraction interruptions).

Transportation: For “air” we always start with some “Expedia.ca” time online. It’s a good tool for narrowing in on a wide range of flight options. Halifax or Moncton are our start / end points. In the end, we’ve never purchased through expedia. Most often secure the flights through our ScotiaBank Rewards VISA collecting card points and normally a small discount. If we’re driving, we never leave without our GPS. The best highway tool ever! Google Maps also plays into this… As I will “save” all stops at the planned destination, then create travel loops. Oh… And the best site for trains in Europe is “Seat 61“. Always start there!

Accommodations: Of course, this depends on where and choice. For our big road trips, we’ve always stuck to a “chain” that works for our taste/budget. A quick breakfast, Internet, and parking were always factors, and our go to has been Hampton Inns / or others from  the Hilton Honours Program. Further… Grab the points program and collect. More recently, we have used VRBO and HomeAway for rentals when spending multiple days at a destination. Janie refers to selecting these as real life HGTV time! Fingers crossed… But as of yet we haven’t had anything that would be close to a complaint in utilizing this type of accommodation.

Food/Attractions: Lastly, where to eat and fun things to do! Once again, we use Google Maps a fair bit, and will scan it for potential places to visit within a specific area. Then ramble through TripAdvisor (combined with Google Maps) and a cull through the reviews to give one a “feel” for a good foodie visit / attraction. We did this quite successfully in New Orleans recently, just because it’s so incredibly walkable. This in mind, the links I use only scratch the plethora of online possibilities… although sometimes the best methods (like asking someone) are the old school kind.

So we’ve done the research, prowled Google Maps / Street View, and trudged through the “Travel Tips”, “Advisories” & “Do’s and Dont’s”. I’m actually ready to go now I think (I’m writing the week before departure)… minus the little issue of there being school next week! Through the kitchen window the thermometer is steady at -12°C, wind is sideways from the west and a light snow is swirling past. Yet, rustling palm trees, waves lapping at water’s edge and a warmth in the afternoon sun seem so very close! Getting excited!

We’ve learned lots about our destination, Puerto Morelos, since our last post. There are decent videos, blogs and websites that have complemented our initial impressions, as well as discussions with friends/co-workers that have frequented the town. I think it will be perfect for us. Off the Cancun all-inclusive strip… yet a short drive from airport, attractions and any amenities we might require. I might even be able to get a poolside taste or two of tequila along the way!

Mexico’s “rep” isn’t the greatest in some things I’ve read. And indeed, there have been serious issues amid warring drug factions in the north along the US border. Don’t drink the water, be careful where you wander, watch out for louts, swindlers and pick-pockets… yada, yada! Truth be told… I would do all the same things in Halifax, NYC, or Paris! Travelling smart is the key… be modest, don’t flash “folds” of money, be aware of your surroundings, trust your instincts (if things don’t seem right… they probably aren’t).

So… most everything is ready, including flights, accommodation, transportation and banking. The exception is what we include for attractions. Traditionally, while heading south during the winter we wait on booking excursions to look for best deals on the ground. No driving for me… just get on a bus with everyone else and relax. We’ve got eyes on things like snorkeling, one of the Mayan archaeological sites (maybe Chichen Itza), and/or some funky fun outdoors/extreme stuff for Monica (you know… ziplines, jungle treks, etc).

No more posts before we depart, but if you want to follow along I’ll be attempting a daily blog & pics (Mexico ’17) that will chronicle our March Break. Hola…

“Snow days” are a great time to collect ones thoughts (not to mention the obligatory opportunity to shovel and scrape while pondering). When my work day gets tugged from under my feet in early February it means one thing… time for some travel planning! Where to this time? What’s there to see, do, experience?  Research, bookings, bank accounts (eeks)… So begins our next excursion.

In effect, the selection process was really quite simple. We wanted somewhere we hadn’t visited, preferably warm, the offer of a solid cultural experience (history/food/people) and, finally, a destination not too hard on the pocket book! We consciously opted to leave the US out of the mix (time for a little break there) and really were not looking for straight up “All-Inclusive”. We’d rather chip away at learning about how others “spend their day”. Further, we wanted somewhere with a direct flight, having really only the week of March Break to work with and not wanting to lasso too much time in the commuting process.

In the end… Mexico was the choice, and Cancun the destination. Now this may outwardly seem a mighty strange choice for folks wanting to avoid the All-Inclusive… Cancun being one of the most “touristy and catered to” spaces in all of Mexico. However, having not made prior visits to the country, we thought it might create the perfect space for us to mix the beaches, drinks and comforts of a Caribbean trip with a region used to folks from up north. Our recent success with VRBO in a Paris booking provided an entire event in living among Parisians, as opposed to the customary partition of gates found on southern vacations. Maybe we can find that kind of vibe again in Cancun!

So… let the games begin. We committed ourselves by nailing down flights (our first time grabbing a WestJet flight so something new there). Next step is accommodations… secured by Janie and Monica as they explored the myriad of Air BnB, VRBO and FlipKey webpages. We eventually came to rest in our room search as preferences aligned with a somewhat removed fishing village, Puerto Morelos, tucked quietly between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. We’ve since booked a ground floor 2 bed/bath condo with pool, private beach, internet and our own funky kitchen. The owner has been very responsive / helpful in regards to our novice questions and it looks as though beach side restaurants, warm breezes and outdoor attractions abound in the area (everything from snorkeling to zip lines). We continue to research online for potential markets, excursions and locking in airport transfers… but much of this will be left to purchase when feet hit the ground in Mexico!

So I can’t say that we’ve totally immersed ourselves in the “loyalty card” craze, but we’re definitely sampling the product. We’re buying groceries, filling up at the pumps, using specific accommodations, and purchasing via Credit Card anyway… so why not. It’s usually as easy as carrying the second card. Almost all is double-dip (each purchase sending rewards to 2 cards)! Our latest trip planning effort is a weekend stay in Toronto and we’re going to try and get back and forth in November as inexpensively as possible, while still being comfortable, by way of reward points. Here we go!

We’ve long been collectors of rewards/points including Air Miles, AeroPlan, HiltonHonours, and Travel Points garnered through our Credit Card use. We don’t do so naively, recognizing that it does come at a cost as corporations collect boundless pieces of personal information on our buying habits and purchasing, and we see continued exposure to focused marketing and advertising. Nothing is free… But I digress. Traditionally, the only points we’ve used are the Credit Card points, transferring those into discounts on either flights or all-inclusive purchases. It’s nice to be able to knock anywhere from $500 to a $1,000 off the top of our bigger flights. We generally do that a few times a year. In November, however, we’re trying to create a “getaway” trip that doesn’t reach so deeply into the cash flow by using our “other” rewards points. Here’s what we’ve managed.

Firstly, airfare. We have two different cards in use… Air Miles and Aeroplan. It so happens that we also have collected Air Miles on an “expiry” track due to changes in that company’s policy. Thus, it seemed sensical to start using points we’re about to lose if not redeemed. Janie started with a quick calendar check for November and opted for return flights from Stanfield to Pearson. These were booked directly through the Air Miles website, and we accomplished securing flights for the cost of associated airline fees in the amount of $140 bucks each. Okay… That’s decent.

Next up… Where to lay our heads? Anyone who has followed along with our travels would know that we stay at Hampton Inns when on the road. Modest and practical, we find this level of the Hilton chain gets the job done for us without surprises. We’ve never used any of the points collected on those stays. I normally book our stays using the HH App so we booked from there. In the end, we decided on all points for 1 full night in Halifax, then point/cash combo for a 2 night downtown stay in Toronto. All in $150 bucks for three nights. Pretty happy with that as well!

In short… Roughly $450 and travel/accomm for two covered. That kind of makes the fumbling around with cards and check out swipes worth something. Good thing… About the only way I could afford Leafs tickets! I’ll keep an eye to these bookings to make sure that things roll out as advertised. Next steps are to build in attractions to round out time on the ground in Toronto… That’ll be November blog fodder I’m sure.

As the end of Feb draws near, I’m realizing a new level of comfort with our daily itinerary. Last week on Joseph Howe Day I revisited earlier planning and made some useful adjustments, juggling attractions enough to place a day trip mid week in the schedule. Thought it might be a great break and an opportunity (somewhat selfishly) to add a special WWI attraction to the voyage! As things look, I have just one item (PSG football match) I’m struggling with, as they have not posted the actual game time listed for our final day in Paris. Once I get that, I think things are in the books! (ps… So glad I waited. The game date was actually switched to a day later the last week in Feb… Putting it outside our travel dates. Glad I didn’t gamble and grab tickets!)

There are items for which I’ll definitely buy tickets upfront. One reason is sheer savings. For example, I picked up 4 Adult online tickets today for boat tours of the Seine. In this case, the tix aren’t that expensive (14€ each). However, in advance I got each for 11€ saving 12€ in total, almost $20 bucks Canadian. Best of all, no risk as the tix aren’t connected with a date and expire in one year. Awesome… Saves money and gives us the option, if in fact it’s pouring rain, of another date. Win, win! Scores…

A second reason is to walk around a line. I will be prepared for mega attractions (ie Louvre, Versailles, Eiffel Tower) armed with advance tickets. My itinerary has us arriving at non-peak hours and with all the necessary credentials in hand. We have a week to work with while in Paris, and hours in a line-up are not a good use of time for the cost of simply being prepared. I emphasize the point here that the trip starts long before leaving home, and the success is tied to the planning and organizing that starting months prior.

Surprisingly, there are a significant number of “no admission” items that we want to do in Paris. Churches like Notre Dame, La Madeleine and Sacre Coeur, for example, are free to visit. Parisian streets are an attraction in themselves, and we plan to traipse Promenade Plantee, Belleville, Montmartre, Mouffetard, the Marais… All at the expense of well soled shoes. Monuments, parks, and “Places et Jardins” abound… Great for a quick snack, healthy walking and people watching!

Last year, in Madrid & Lisbon, tapas bars became a real attraction for us. This trip we continue to move more towards placing “eating” in an adventuresome role, whether it be “on the town” or “from the market”. For example, Janie planned for us an authentic “French Meal” experience using the website VizEat. In essence,  it’s a dating service for meals. It matches host and client for a freshly prepared “at home” meal where visitors can opt to make a reservation with regular Parisians to share a meal at their place of residence. It’s caution to the wind… And sounds like a lot of fun! It was a bit out of our normal eating budget, but not so unimaginable when considered more like an attraction.

January saw us put flights and accommodation to rest. I think we did reasonably well cost wise and, as those layouts were all upfront, I have great idea of what expense we can handle in regards to Paris attractions for our March Break week. This is when my ever growing spreadsheet kicks in! Detail… Detail… Details!

Last week I had the opportunity to visit a Grade 4 class for “Literacy Day”. It’s been a while for me, so I struggled a bit with how to prepare for the group. I decided I’d share some resources in regards to the topic I read and write most about these days… Travel! I took in a batch of Frommer’s guides from cities I’d visited…. New York, Paris, Chicago, Rome, Venice, DC, etc. Then I had the kids pull out the maps, select an attraction, and go to the text and provide three facts about their choice. It worked great and really reiterated my suspicions that, at least for me, having success travelling is all about research!

So, my spreadsheet is loaded with facts and details. I firstly break out the trip into dates, then an itinerary for each day. Then I look at items that will not be available on a specific day (i.e. The Louvre is closed on Mondays) or an event with fixed date (i.e. Football Match). Those rigid items get locked in first. As I research each item, I put times and cost beside it in the spreadsheet. Further, I look at the location in Google maps for other attractions to partner with… No sense in criss-crossing the city when items in a general area can be clumped together. Thus, in this way an itinerary begins to take shape.

I haven’t fully mastered the timing, but I think there is a moment along the way when you see a more “set” plan take hold, a firmed itinerary and comfort of pre-purchase of attraction tickets becomes a possibility. Although I know I could almost always purchase a ticket while “on the ground” in Paris, experience tells me that Lumsdens + Ticket Line-up = Wasted Vacation Time. Lines can be nasty in Paris. We saw that while frequenting the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre in 2008.  As I finish assembling what we’d like to see/do in Paris (for just Janie and I this is easy… little trickier with the kids) I’ll begin grabbing some date specific tickets.

 

Airfare purchased… Check! Now… Where to stay becomes new lead concern. What an adventure!

Janie and I both worked hard in early January trying to land beds for our gang in March. On the heels of March Break 2015 in Madrid/Portugal we had a new appreciation in how accommodations can really be an attraction during time on the road so we chose to invest some time in our selection. Discussions started with a few key elements… Ample beds, location near transit, and getting online! Seemed easy enough… Standard with most hotel offerings, right?

However, after running a potential budget spreadsheet the Euros quickly began to ring up! We weren’t planning on the “low budget” excursion, but aren’t interested in a new mortgage either. At this point Janie went to work on VRBO and encountered an amazing number of options for apartment rentals in Paris. We spent several days surfing and studying maps… All reminiscent of an episode of HGTV. The site was easy to navigate offering hundreds of accommodation options while providing a great budget solution allowing “eat at home” potential.

This was new for us. Our first Paris stay was at a low budget, no frills (location/location/location) room near D’Orsay.  We loved it… But definitely not family friendly! Janie and I set to work on a budgeted amount (as the sky is the limit in Paris) and pulled together a short list of potential locations. We searched by Arrondisement and selected parameters such as non-smoking, internet included, and fully equipped kitchen while dog earring sites near outdoor markets, metro/RER, and walking distance to attractions.

We selected, after reaching out with several e-mails to renters, in the 6th Arrondisement. The cost, amenities and location fit our needs and we think it’ll work out excellently. Unlike a hotel stay, we’ve had multiple emails with the rental agency and have pre-arranged things like arrival time and payment. We recommend reading through the options carefully, as well as requesting a “total cost” via email to ensure all fees are included in the price you are viewing. Charges went on “the card” upfront and a damage deposit is also necessary. If you’ve got a gut feeling the trip could fall through, I’m guessing trying to get refunded would be difficult.  However, I do like upfront payment and having the expenses covered by the time you actually land!  The whole process felt a lot more like a lease than a stay at the Hampton!

So, over Christmas vacation I had time on my hands and was pondering some new year travel dreams. I could feel the footsteps of March Break running up from behind so I decided on a little trip research.  I had designs on warmth, comfort and learning… As by mid-March old man winter begins to tire on the soul. However, concerns about the exchange on the Canadian Dollar were pressing against the entire idea. March Break is fixed, so I knew the dates we had to play with and the lack of “wiggle room”.

Noodling through the all inclusives, I checked out the packages for Mexico, Cuba, DR and Jamaica. Nothing grabbed my attention to the point of purchase, although I did ponder a Hard Rock in the Maya Riviera that I thought the kids might really enjoy. However, I really wanted a pick with an “educational” component that challenged our little family a bit more!

Soooo… Attention turned to airfares. With a group of 4 adults, this would mostly likely formulate 1/2 the cost of any trip. While running a few combinations out of Moncton International (I often do this as NB has a different break than NS and choice and cost are sometimes impacted positively) I stumbled into some very reasonable tix to Paris. If we chucked in some points we had the makings of a solid airfare deal across the pond.

Paris had been in the media since a terrorist attack in November of 2015. The images, politics, and voices of the city and France reverberated with us in our daily news and in online content. Rick Steeves says a great way to combat that type of terrorism is to visit… Hard not to agree. Janie and I had been to Paris for three days in 2008 and have always held the city as one of our most memorable. Beyond that… What a perfect opportunity for our kids to use the French Immersion instruction they had participated in throughout their years in school.

Thus … the stars seemed to align and we purchased return tickets. With the wheels in motion, I’m going to try and chronicle our planning through to the actual trip as an exercise in process! Want to keep track of all my mistakes I guess… Stay tuned!

 

Every November (probably a lot to do with both Janie and I just finishing our first school based reporting periods) we start visiting sites and looking for attractions for Christmas Break.  It’s generally a two week span that we can use to carve some time away with the family.  Most often it resembles a road trip to the US for a few nights to explore a city, do some shopping, catch a pro-game and a museum or two.

Our sinking dollar has to be considered, but so does the chance to get away and be distracted! And what says distraction like a quick trip to the lights and glitter of “New York”! We are peeking at events and researching accommodations… Hopefully Mother Nature cooperates and we can assemble the puzzle for a few days away prior to Christmas.  Never a shortage of things to do in “le grand pomme” but we may want to go to Pinterest to explore the many “10 things to do for Free in NYC”. We’ll post the trip if we manage to pull it off!  Cheers…