We are unrepentant lovers of luxury travel, especially when someone else pays for it. But we have occasionally opened up our own wallets for some. It can be a smallish splurge in the grand scheme of the vacation's total cost but have an outsize value in terms of making us feel as pampered as we somehow got the (mistaken) idea we deserve. Here are a few splurges to consider … [Read more...]
Home Exchange – How do I get started?
Fear of home exchange Blonde is planning to exchange her home in Florida for one somewhere that isn't Florida. Ideally she will be able to spend a month or so on another continent in 2016 and not incur any expenses for her lodging. And no, the plan is not to meet people in bars or bus stations and just sleep around. (Why do we have to talk about the 70s anyway?) However, … [Read more...]
Why travelers should care about Gorilla Glass
Blonde signed up to attend the Women In Travel Summit 2015 in Boston in late March. Boston in March??? The same year it got over 100 inches of snow? Well, I signed up a good 6 months before then and didn’t know there was going to be Snowmageddon. Besides, Boston was my home for 17 years so it seemed like a good idea. And oddly enough, it was! One of the sponsors of the … [Read more...]
Layover in LA with art and ash
Some things to do if you have a layover in LA Several years ago we learned the exhausting way that if we are flying to Los Angeles en route to another continent then we need to spend the night on our layover in LA. When we didn't do this we arrived at our destination drained of energy for the beginning of a trip. On the way home from Australia Blonde once spent 5 hours in … [Read more...]
What is “luxury” travel to you?
Luxury travel: Necessity or root of all evil? We know people and travel companies who say they are all about luxury travel. Others practically have steam-clouds of indignation coming out of their ears at the mention of luxury. Is luxury high thread-count sheets? A butler with a silver tray (and an imperious attitude)? A personal sommelier? Someone who unpacks for you, … [Read more...]
How to create your own trip itinerary
The idea of creating their own trip itinerary sometimes overwhelms people. So they just go to one resort, stay there and come home. Or they sign up for a tour and then are unhappy that they spent so much time on a bus and didn’t get to linger in the places that interested them. Or worst of all they don't even go anywhere. We definitely think group travel has a role to play. … [Read more...]
2014: Where we traveled , what we liked and what we didn’t
Our travel in 2014 2014 was the year that we went from casual travel users to wild-eyed travel addicts. And, following in the footsteps of the late Amy Winehouse we won't go to rehab. We say "no, no, no" (but we do hope for a happier outcome). So, without further reference to dead rock stars here's our 2014 travel year in review: Doha What we liked: The … [Read more...]
Burying dead (stereotypes about) American tourists
Lately we have seen a spate of articles online repeating old stereotypes about American tourists. To our glee most of these articles have had long strings of comments telling the writers that they are wrong. Blonde may have left one or two responses calling the writers lazy and unoriginal but we neither confirm or deny that. But more surprisingly, Brunette is mad as hell and … [Read more...]
Athens walking tour through the centuries and the shops!
A walking tour of Athens with Athens Insiders solved one of our recurring travel issues. We get to a city we haven’t explored before and know the main things we want to see. But we don’t have a good (or any) plan for how to do it all. Then we waste time trying to figure it out, ride public transportation going in the wrong direction and decide a glass of wine would be a good … [Read more...]
Our favorite destinations for snorkeling (so far)
Ever since we were little girls we have loved water and then somewhere in our early twenties we both began to try snorkeling. That minor change in our water sport interests has entailed a fortune in travel expenses and "resort wear" necessities, but we bravely snorkel on in search of the next best reef! We have a previous post which (surprisingly) has good advice for anyone … [Read more...]