Upcoming Adventures

Just want to update you all on the trips that I have coming up which means trip reviews will also follow.

1)  Cabo San Lucas.  I will have the pleasure of visiting Secrets Marquis Los Cabos for a 4 night stay starting July 24th.  One of the things travelers should be aware of when visiting the Pacific Ocean side of Mexico is that the water and beaches are NOT like those on the Caribbean side of Mexico.  Currents are much stronger in the Pacific and swimming can be tricky and is, in some cases, not recommended.  But one of the advantages that Cabo offers is some of the most amazing scenery and sunsets.  Unlike the Cancun area, the terrain around Cabo offers mountains and hills, large swaying palms and a drier climate.  I will be taking LOTS of pictures so stay tuned.


2) Eastern Caribbean Cruise.  Looking forward to our 7 night cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas.  This will be our second sailing aboard the Freedom and our 3rd to the Eastern Caribbean with stops at Royal Caribbean's Coco Cay, St Thomas and St Maarten. Our cruise departs Port Canaveral on September 23rd.  We have chosen to stay in a PR category stateroom which is an inside stateroom overlooking the Royal Promenade (i.e. mall-type area down the center of the ship).  So far...no specific excursions planned.  A first though for this trip will be our visit to Royal Caribbean's private island.  I look forward to comparing it to NCL's, Princess Cruise Line's and also Disney's.


3) Walt Disney World.  This will be our second visit within this calendar year.  We arrive on December  8th and will be staying 7 nights at Disney's Boardwalk Inn.  Resorts previously stayed at include Disney's Polynesian Resort, The Swan (of the Swan and Dolphin), Disney's Beach Club Resort, Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, and Disney's Pop Century Resort.  The only advance dining reservation that we have planned is breakfast at Akershus in Epcot's World Showcase (Norway).  Looking forward again to being able to see Disney during the holidays.  Again...LOTS of pictures will be taken.


This is going to make for an exciting second half of 2012.  If you have questions related to a cruise, or traveling to Mexico, or Walt Disney World, please post them here and I will glad to offer advice, opinion or tips etc.  Interested in my reviews?  Follow (like) my page on Facebook where all of my articles are posted.  Thanks!

Should I Get a Passport?

A while back I answered the question of "do I need a passport?" That was specifically addressing the questions related to cruises vs land based vacations outside the United States.

But now, I simply want to answer the question of "should I purchase a passport?" This is a general question that I receive from time to time and not necessarily tied to any particular non-US destination.

The short answer is YES! If you are a US citizen and are even remotely pondering the idea of traveling someday, now would be a great time to get your passport. Here are some reasons why I say that:

1) They are good for 10 years (if you are 16 yrs of age or older)
2) Pay now so you don't pay more later. Passport prices have kept steadily increasing over the past several years. Invest in one now at today's price and don't worry about the increase in costs for the next 10 years
3) Be ready to go! Having a passport in hand will allow you to take advantage of last minute travel deals for destinations outside the US
4) Alternate form of identification. Lose your driver's license? Having a passport can come in handy when your other form of identification is either lost of stolen
5) Avoid paying last minute expediting fees. This is tied to the last minute travel advantage. Sometimes a passport can still be obtained in time for the trip, but expediting fees may have to be paid which can add significant costs to the process

There are my top 5 reasons why you should just go ahead and get your passport now, even if you do not have an international trip planned in the near future. Agree with them? Disagree?

Walt Disney World 101 Recap

I figured it would be a good idea to go back and post all of the videos in the series called "Walt Disney World 101." This gives you a chance to watch them in sequence so you can see that about every aspect of a Walt Disney World vacation was covered.

As you will see, they are posted in chronological order.

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



Part 4



Part 5


 Comments? Questions? Is there a part of a Disney acation that you would like to see covered that I did not talk about?

Walt Disney World: Dining Cost Budgeting

A short video addressing the very popular question of, "how much should I budget for food during our Walt Disney World trip?"  This assumes again that you are staying onsite in a Disney resort.  Do you agree with my numbers?  Have any additional questions?

Walt Disney World 101 Part 5

For those of you who may not have seen parts 1-4, please follow this link to my Youtube account where you can find the first 4 videos in the series.  I hope you find these helpful, especially if you are a first time visitor to "the happiest place on earth."

Vacationing to Better Mental Health

Are you or someone you know seeing a therapist on a regular basis?  Wondering why everyone seems so stressed out and agitated these days?  Let me give you some statistics to ponder:

• A study done in 2006 showed that the average male US worker worked an average of 42.5 hours per week, not including commute time.  Australian men average 36 hours per week and France enacted a 35 hour work week by law (source info: US Workers and French Workers)
• A 2009 CNN Poll showed that the Countries most stressed about money were the US, Malaysia, Singapore and China.  The least stressed were France, Italy and Russia
• A 2004 WHO study showed that the USA ranked the highest in mental health disorders with 25% suffering from some form of mental illness. (source info: MSNBC article  
• France is ranked as the best Country for quality of life.  The USA is ranked 7th out of the world’s industrialized nations

Now, as you are processing those stats, consider the fact that the US is near the bottom when it comes to the average number of days of vacation that the American worker takes per year.  Italy leads the pack with 42 days of paid vacation.  France comes in second with 37 and Germany rounds out the top 3 with 35.  Here in the good old USA, we average 13 days of paid vacation (source info: Vacation Stats).

Hmm...are you seeing any correlation here between mental health and the time we American’s take to wind down and “vacate?”

And to prove that we continue to be among the worst when it comes to taking time for ourselves and our families, a recent article in the USA Today explained that we now are leaving some of our earned vacation time on the table and taking less time off than in previous years.

This is not rocket science.  We work more hours and take less time off.  Some will argue that we are being more productive.  Possibly true, but that comes at the cost of our quality of life.  And what are we gaining by being more productive?  Job security? Ha!  I think not.  Larger bank accounts?  Our nation’s debt statistics would beg to differ.  Maybe we all should stop, take a look around, and realize that maybe there is more to life than our work and take some time for ourselves.  Maybe we should learn from other nations and see that life is not defined by where we work, but is truly defined by who we are away from work.

Maybe a little vacation time is just what the mental health doctor ordered.

If Coffee Could Fly

If coffee could fly, we would all be flying first class.  This will be a brief look into the psyche of the American traveler. Proceed with caution, I may be talking about you.

We live in an age where everyone wants Ritz Carlton accommodations at Motel 6 prices.  Americans will spend hours searching high and low for the absolute cheapest price on every aspect of their vacation.  Travelers will opt for flights that leave at 5:00am with connections in 3 different airports and that does not arrive at their actual destination until 11:00pm that night to save $100 on airfare and then complain about not getting a bag of pretzels for free.  That same traveler will book a room at a hotel that they found on patheticallydirtcheapgetaways.biz and then spend 45 minutes with the motel’s manager complaining about the fact that the room is located near the hotel’s trash compactor.

But get this; that same traveler, the one who just nickeled and dimed every part of their “dream vacation,” will then march down to their favorite coffee venue and order a double-shot, no foam, non-fat, latte with a hint of cinnamon sprinkled on top and pay over $3.00 for a Venti and never complain a bit about not getting a free muffin.  Oh…and they do that 5 days a week or more.  You do the math.

Go figure…