Early August, noting a scant bit of “blue sky” in our schedules, afforded the opportunity to hit the road. With Monica at camp and Peter working, it would be just Janie and I, with no specific priorities beyond connecting with friends from Maine.
Planning…
With a day or so of planning time available, we are cobbling a travel route together intending to explore roads and attractions not previously seen. Treks into NH and VT, the Lake Champlain district, and Cape Cod will be new to our travels. Return visits to Fall River, Fenway and Great Spruce Head Island hope to rekindle memories and friendships.
If you’re up to it, you can chase the daily blogs as we make our way through what for us is some “unseen” New England. Just follow the links! Feel free to comment and we’ll do out best to drop a note! Cheers…
July of 2016 has been a busy endeavour! Music, rest & relaxation, great food and lots of time exercising outdoors. Even better, it’s all been done without charges for flights, fixed roof accommodation, or meals beyond trips to the grocery store/market/craft beer locations. Yep… We’ve been enjoying summer in the relevant comfort of the maritimes with family and friends.
Main Stage @ Stanfest
Kicked off with moving from the throes of year end / graduation in our respective schools to Stanfest! The 2016 edition of the festival proved excellent, with solid crowds, favourable weather, and a tremendous entertainment line-up. Our entire family continues to volunteer for the event leaving expenses minimal, not much beyond the campsites that Janie purchases. We’ve been involved in the festival since its inception, and have shared the experiential opportunities it fosters with our children over the past several years. We need not drive further than an hour to partake in the best music festival the East Coast of Canada offers (no bias intended).
Uncle Mike’s kitchen in Main River
Weekend number two of July saw a reunion of sorts. Off to the heart of New Brunswick with several friends (instruments in hand) to visit Mt A Alumni and reconnect. Music, drink and food were ambitiously unfolded over the entire three days. We visited the Rexton area, and found our excellent host Andrew up to the task welcoming our particular brand of “foolishness” with open arms. We ate like kings, sampling delicacies like bottled lobster, bar clam dip, young carrots and BBQ’d pork/beef done to perfection. Music in the evenings, fostered by drink, closed out each day with favorites from a wide range of artists. Walking through fields of hay and skirting the river provided excellent contrast to the “salty” nature of Stanfest!
Our tiny cove on Smelt Lake
Monday saw full on Smelt Lake! In a driving rain (much needed I might add) I sailed the lake and opened up the cottage for a week’s stay in Guysborough County. We find the coastal location an excellent reprieve in July/August from the heat of the inland and from Tuesday through Sunday we experienced temps an average of 6 degrees less than Antigonish. We used kayak, paddle board, floating dock, fire pit and kitchen table to host several visitors. Simply put, a very relaxing 7 days. Even the couple of jobs I took on were more like fun than work. Can’t say enough about how fortunate we are to be entrusted with such an isolated and beautiful location. After a short stint in Antigonish, July saw a second, 7 day excursion to the cottage with excellent weather and several more projects completed. The whole month may have been sponsored by Rare Bird IPA and Hanham’s XTR!
I’ve thought a lot about my last trip… Especially the concept of mobile device use in preparing and while away. To be upfront, we’re not teenie boppers with thumb tapping at every occasion, but pushing 50! However, we have experienced a real leap in capacity and confidence as trip planners with the advent of these technologies. I’d like to use this entry to share some of the tricks we use to leverage the power of our iGear while on both short and long excursions. In essence, the tool has become irreplaceable for us abroad and on stay-cation.
First and foremost… When we book accommodations wi-fi access is an essential. We would most often, when moving as a family, have 3 iPhones and at least two iPads (all owned/no work devices). We would normally not book a room unless wi-fi was included in cost (bypassing data cost issues) and fully accessible. This becomes especially important with family travel… Being teachers we understand better than many how “connected” kids are today and mobile device use within that generation. We are trying our best to keep in tune with the present apps of social media accounts (fb/snapchat/Instagram) and ensuing conversations our two have with their friends. No easy chore! Our philosophy, however, has always been that it’s a tool that needs implicit teaching… When used improperly someone gets hurt!
Now Boarding…
While on the move I utilize my iPad fully as an organizational tool. It allows full research access to web information via travel websites/apps for accommodation, attraction, and transport. This includes times, locations (StreetView, Maps), and costing, all important prior to arrival and throughout ones stay. Have to book something or adjust? Do it yourself in a jiffy online! Further, through cloud drives (we use Google) one can maintain back up / fail safe access to pre-purchased tickets (flights, transport, attractions, room confirmations) and any important files (ie: Passport Copies, itinerary, insurance docs) to be considered. Preparedness, in this case, supports efficiency and ease of mind.
Of course, all these machines exude versatility with highly functional cameras… Making both still picture and video possible. We’ve all experienced the over-the-top, selfie-sticked tour groups that would render a porcupine defenceless! I consider that an extreme. However, I think almost everyone does wish to capture images that reflect what they’ve seen and done to share with others. We do… And enjoy our pictures time and again. We have thousands. For the bulk of travellers these multi purpose devices replace the camera of old… We now don’t even consider packing a camera!
Storage Locker “54”
And how about a couple of tips for iGear cameras a bit outside the box? Try taking a picture of your car, when you’re parked with a thousand others at the airport, that shows the section sign. Then forget about it! Ever store your luggage among row upon row of lockers at a European Train Station? Snap a pic that includes the locker number and instructions on your device. Even better… Know that UPC ticket or QR code that you can’t lose? Click! No maps when you arrive? Take a shot of the signs/layout at the entrance! It just makes things easier. Checking out of that rental with a damage deposit placed… Couple of photos of the excellent shape the space was in when you walked out the door could come in handy!
And of course, one would be remiss if he didn’t incorporate something in regards to these devices and their capacity as a tool for communication. Although a fully functional phone, we rarely use it for calls outside of our region of coverage. Data and roaming costs are not to be fooled with! We do, however, regularly communicate via text, email and social media while connected to wi-fi when travelling. It doesn’t overtake our trips, but we like to touch base, share images with family and friends, and make sure things at home are good.
More recently, I’ve taken to “Blogging” while away. We have shared our last several trips via blog (this site) with those close to us in real time, with daily write ups and posts of pictures that include just about everything! Readers will sometimes “comment” back with questions and suggestions, wherein the conversation continues. The blog serves as a great, fully editable memory piece as well… Replacing a journal, photo album and slide show in one grand swoop!
Here are a few more tidbits for iGear use that can add value to your trip;
Step Counter: Last trip, to Paris, we were in the midst of some lifestyle switches. In essence, trying to get healthy through eating and exercise… enter, Step Counter! Great fun counting our daily movements around Paris. All made possible with an iPhone App.
Bring multiple chargers: Have a set pattern/routine for where and when you charge (it’ll help you with NOT leaving it behind)
Twitter: We follow multiple accounts prior to travel (in English) from local tour operators. Great source of info on unique tips, as well as up to date reports on potential interruptions, closures, events, etc delivered directly to my iPad.
Below is an excerpt from my Paris ’16 web done in March… built from thoughts inspired by our experience travelling just prior to Belgian Terrorist attacks.
Our Tips for Friends page usually hosts a multitude of snippets that can be helpful for travellers, many being “common sense” and others I would categorize as “reminders”. This time around, however, I’m going to take this space and focus on what I feel is the “importance” of travel and “faith” in others. Apologies up front in case this gets preachy!
Departure Gates – Brussels Airport
On Tuesday morning, just two days after our return, I awoke to reports on my many Twitter news feeds of explosions at Brussels Airport. This, normally, I would meet with a certain amount of disgust and thoughts of compassion for those who lost loved ones. However, we had in fact been in that space on Sunday morning, during that time frame, in the departures area, getting prepared for our flight back to Canada. The previous “non-event” quickly became something much more significant to ponder.
I don’t write these blogs to make political statement, gloat of glamorous tales of travel or as a professional trip author for bucks! I do so because it helps my process of thinking! My personal attachment to travel comes from knowing how I learn best… From seeing, doing, experiencing using all my senses. You can read an article, watch a program, speak with a friend, they are all ways to learn about the world in which we live. But none measure up to actually being on the ground, a genuine curiosity and a willingness to learn… Education happens innately and exponentially when we visit. I like to detail our trips so I can see pictures of our family growing together, to remember the things we learned, and to share with family and friends who may wish to walk similar roads.
So… When the “bombing” reared its ugly head just days after our Paris excursion I was at a bit of a loss for words. I suspect many were. Our being there transformed what was someone else’s newscast, radio interview or Twitter post to being one for us! As the extent of the devastation revealed itself, one couldn’t help but think that we may have been quite lucky to have travelled on Sunday rather than Tuesday. Or, at the least, that those on Tuesday were unfortunately very unlucky! So many lives ruined at the hands of another… Our thoughts extend to those who are mourning.
Making sense of why these things occur is for bigger and better thinkers than I! I suppose if one let this type of event change the way he thinks, or the actions we take, then you could quite rightly say, they have already won! I, for one, will not let this keep me from travelling, learning about others, or educating my children about the wonderful world in which we live. In fact, I think in many ways it pushes me to advocate even more for the act of travel.
Together in Versailles
And why not… The blessings of this trip were many. We spent hours of time together as a family learning about Paris, it’s people, and each other. Got to view the city from the Eiffel Tower, see ourselves in the Hall of Mirrors, send a crooked smile back to Mona Lisa. I can close my eyes and hear the accordion player at the end of the bridge to Ile St Louis. We had the great fortune of breaking bread and sharing a glass with our wonderful hosts in the Marais, receive a helping hand from the stranger who provided RER C instructions to a lost family, the surprise of Raphael’s spontaneous appearance and tour of Père Lachaise, or tulips on the table as we stepped back in the door at 204 Cloverville Rd. So many great things can happen when we place faith in those we encounter. Meeting half way… Connecting… Trusting… These are the traits of a real travel experience, and authentic learning.
It was three pulls, but my trusty Honda (pulled directly out of storage) powered Peter and I to the camp in early-April. On a cool, bug free Friday after school we met the end of the lake seeing everything much as it looked late fall. After an excellent, but all consuming, March Break vacation my thoughts had turned to our tiny space at the water’s edge. We spent a chilly evening… Tackling a bit of cleaning, some work outside, and a real blasting of the space with the wood stove!
Morning on Smelt Lake
All wintered well… No critters, buildings intact, and no seasonal damage beyond a few windfalls. We settled quickly into the business of “wood”, including bringing some inside, blocking already felled trees, splitting and piling. Spent a great evening listening to CBC and seasoning some fancy new cast iron ware on “Blanche”! Great early start (last year my first trip in was a month later) and looking forward to a longer season. Overnighted to this impressive sunrise!
In many ways, Paris might be the most recognized city in the world. Fashion, food, architecture, history, art, or simply joie de vivre, almost our finest example of a living museum! Janie and I visited in 2008. It was so surreal. I am not an artist, but couldn’t help but fall in love with the scenes in Place du Tertre, Montmartre. I’m not a musician, but so fondly remember the Frenchest of melodies of the street side accordion player in Ile de la Cite. Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, Eiffel Tower… Overtly the engines of the powerful Paris tourism industry laden with vendors, tacky souvenirs and pickpockets. But my God, you can’t help but feel like part of a dreamy scene when in their presence!
My intent on this trip is to recapture the thrill of visiting some of the monumental sites of Paris with Janie and kids, while taking more time to get off the worn trail and experiencing Parisian life outside the glitzy centre. Perhaps sourcing a bit of simplicity in what is a very complex city! Markets, trails, parks, neighbourhoods… Dabbling these opportunities in with those core experiences that are “must dos” for visitors.
Going to try and blog daily as well! I experimented with this more on our last trip and appreciated the capacity to do so. Just follow the link below… I’ll try and manage a few pics too! Got my staff photographers on it! You can creep along with us or comment (bottom of each page) if you like, as we share what we see and do in the City of Light.
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!
Trusty Frommers Day by Day Guides
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… 2008
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!
