with Lorelle and Brent VanFossen

Tag Archives: travel tips

How Travelers Waste Money on the Road

Fodors offers “8 Ways Travelers Waste Money on the Road”, which offers some good basic tips: Not reading the fine print on the credit card for foreign transaction fees. Avoiding hotel websites – online prices can be cheaper. Travel only during high seasons – off season can save you money. Renting cars – use your […]

Will the EU Ban Smoking?

According to the International News Tribune, the health chief of the EU recommends a smoking ban for the European Union countries. The European Union’s health chief urged all countries in the bloc Tuesday to prohibit smoking in public places, following bans in Ireland, Italy and Sweden. Banning smoking in places like bars, restaurants and the […]

UK Flights Hit With Another Tax Increase for Pollution

BBC News reports an air tax increase for all flights from the UK. Laws doubling the amount of passenger duty people pay when taking flights from the UK have come into force. The increase was announced by Chancellor Gordon Brown last December. He said airlines should pay more for damaging the environment. Hundreds of thousands […]

Space: The Next Destination

Your next vacation destination? Why not choose space as your next destination? Not just “get some space” but really get into space with the space tourism program with Virgin Group: The Spaceship Company, a joint venture of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group of London and Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites of Mojave, Calif., plans to begin test […]

New UK Terrorist Threat – Tips For Travelers and Photographers

There is a lot of confusion over the new high threat risk advisory and recent arrests in Britain of terrorists. Let’s look at the specifics. Expect Long Delays and Multiple Security Inspections No matter where you are traveling, but especially at international hubs, expect double to triple waiting times as you are processed through security. […]

Amelia Takes a Road Trip

Amelia Hits the Road, by Marissa Moss (and YEEHAW – Amelia!), is a fantastic book for children, introducing them to travel and life on the road. This is my new travel notebook. Mom bought it for me so I wouldn’t be bored on the long driving part of this trip. She said if I’m busy […]

Traveling With Pets Overseas

We’ve traveled extensively by car, trailer, motor home, and airplane with our pets. Dahni, our eye-less wonder traveling cat, traveled with us on at least 12 airplanes visiting six countries. So we have a little experience with transporting animals on airplanes as well as across borders. Each country has their own requirements, though the creation […]

A Interesting Look at Today’s Frequent Flier Air Mileage Programs

Yahoo News offers “Frequent flier programs change course”, a interesting current look at what is going on with the Frequent flier programs. The first frequent flier program began in 1981 with American Airlines’ AAdvantage as a way to keep profitable business travelers flying the same airline. Other major airlines like Delta quickly followed. Twenty-five years […]

Knitting, Crocheting, and Tatting on Airplanes

I love crafts and have thoroughly enjoyed tatting, sewing, crocheting, quilt-making, and doll making while traveling. My favorite has been tatting, something that is very easy to do and mindless, as my hands can be busy tatting while reading a book, watching TV or a movie, or listening to a book on tape while driving […]

United Airlines Offers Amazing Discount (Cheap) Flights to Asia and Australia

I was starting to look for some cheap flights back to Alabama and stumbled upon an amazing air flight sale from United Airlines with incredibly cheap flights to Asian, Australia, and all over the globe. A big change from recent high price fares blamed on a slagging airline industry, high fuel costs, and pending strikes. […]

Buying WIFI: The Greed of Expensive Hotels

I’ve been planning to write a scathing article about the high price of WIFI Internet connections at hotels, motels, and the like for a while, but I can’t compete with the brilliance of Respectful Insolence’s article, Good WIFI, Bad WIFI: Most of the hotels that I end up staying at for these meetings are pretty […]

Looking for a Good Seat on an Airplane?

I recently found two articles packed with information on how to choose a seat, and how to get that good seat, on an airplane. Microsoft Small Business – Business Travel – 5 Secrets to Getting the Best Seat on a Plane had some very good advice. Your airline’s own Web site is one of the […]

My Mother is at it again – Eat Healthy

Okay, so my other is at it again. She sent me a link. No words, just a link. While I don’t usually check these out, for all the normal security and time-wasting reasons, I clicked this one. Belly Bytes – The 29 Healthiest Foods on the Planet And I found our shopping list. Honestly. Brent […]

Track Your Packages Online from One Site

Because we travel so much, when we order something online there is a paranoia that the package won’t arrive before we make the next trip. Package Mapper is a new service which combines the database information for tracking shipping from UPS, FedX, and other delivery services, with Google Maps. Enter your shipping number and the […]

New NPR Station Maps Help Travelers

I depend upon NPR – National Public Radio for news and information while I travel. I get national news, international news, and local news, helping me understand what is going on around the world as well as in the community I’m visiting. NPR now has a new feature to help find stations near you. The […]