Entries from April 2009

April 29, 2009

Now Boarding: The Pet Passport

My friend John is moving from Chicago to Berlin for work in mid-June and taking his cats with him (You can read all about his upcoming plans on his blog at www.doppnee.com). He also has experience being an expat in Paris, where we first met. From his insightful site I have learned about the delightful [...]

April 27, 2009

Cool Tools: How to hostel, post-college

The other day, my friend James was telling me about his honeymoon to Iceland. He said that while it was very fun and activity-laden, it was hardly romantic because they had been traveling around like college backpackers. Now, I met James in business school, a used cars salesman-turned-banker with a penchant for the finer things in life, [...]

April 24, 2009

Vacationing from… the couch

So you’re joining the 10.2 million unemployed Americans on their sofas and your mind is still twitching from all the work items left undone when you were escorted out of the building. This calls for a much needed vacation. But alas! You can’t afford to go on a splendid vacation when there is a mortgage [...]

April 22, 2009

Now Boarding: Costa Rica, again

I know I’ve exhausted Costa Rica, but this just came to my attention: *$599* all inclusive package for airfare from Miami to San Jose, seven-day SUV rental (minus fuel), seven-day hotel stays in San Jose, Arenal, Jaco (which we missed) and Monteverde. Depart on Mondays between May 4-July 27. At gate1travel.com. Mention BTMAYCRS1 for car upgrade [...]

April 17, 2009

In the Suitcase: Flying with a toddler

My sister, if you loyally read my previous blog, is headed out to Italy next week with her husband and her 3-year-old. If your toddler is anything like my niece, then she will squirm in her airplane seat, then slide out under the seatbelt and onto the floor, and when told to sit still, will [...]

April 15, 2009

Getting Lost In: [suburban] Chicago!

Ah, Chicago. What I find most interesting about Chicago is not the city itself, but how connected with its suburbs I’ve become. My first taste of Chicago was a t-shirt from my cousin who went to Northwestern, but he spent most of his time outside it, in Evanston. Then I watched all the movies by John Hughes [...]

April 13, 2009

Cool Tools: Uptake travel planner

My sister and family are headed to Italy next week for a vacation with my three-year-old niece and have taken every book and video about Italy out of the library. Did I mention they are a little nervous about keeping a three-year-old entertained? They’ve referenced several online sites about traveling with kids in Italy, kid-friendly [...]

April 6, 2009

Cool Tool: the Customer Service Rep and frequent flier miles

Believe it or not… customer service is still functioning, as are frequent flier miles. Jon and I are headed to London and Sweden and have saved up a ridiculous number of American Airlines frequent flier miles to make the journey to our friends’ wedding this summer. According to this previous blog entry, I had overstrategized the [...]

April 2, 2009

Everyone likes Pictures… of Costa Rica

Truth be told, I’ve been dragging my feet to get these pictures of Costa Rica posted because my computer has been painfully, painfully slow, but here they are. Enjoy!   Above: La Fortuna, with Arenal Volcano behind it.   Arenal: it’s live!! The little white puffs rolling down the side of the volcano are actual rocks that [...]