Several years ago I purchased a nifty universal power adaptor. It came with various shapes and sizes of plugs in an all-inclusive little box. It allowed me to plug in anything I owned, such as a camera battery charger, and then plug into the round plugs of Europe or Asia or wherever I ventured. During [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘In The Suitcase’
July 15, 2010
In the Suitcase: Best times to book flights
USA Today featured a great article about the best time to snag the best deal on a flight. For example, you’ll need to book a flight for the Fourth of July at least 2 months in advance for the best deal. But for Labor Day, the best deals tend to show up almost 3-4 weeks [...]
June 29, 2010
In the Suitcase: Customer service abroad
“Customer Service” is a term that truly, really, only exists in the United States and perhaps in parts of Canada. Even in sections of the U.S., it’s a loose term. In other countries, the customer is not always right. I’ve been told this in many languages, and if I didn’t understand them in that language, they’ll [...]
June 23, 2010
In the Suitcase: keeping track of your immunizations
In preparation for our trip to Kenya and Tanzania, Jon and I went to get vaccinnated against anything our weak little American bodies can’t handle. There’s nothing like watching people in my office use toilet paper to open door handles because they’re so afraid of catching a parasite or something from their diseased colleague and [...]
June 17, 2010
In the Suitcase: Killing time at airports
So there I was in Chicago, waiting for tornado threats to pass by so I can fly home without the fear of being swept up into a whirlwind storm. What does one do in the event of a delay? I’d already finished my Michael Crichton novel and I didn’t care to purchase any of those [...]
June 2, 2010
In the Suitcase: Much Ado about (driving into) Manhattan
I do this every time I go into Manhattan, even when I lived there. I think, you know what, I’m going to drive there. I’m going to deal with the snarled traffic on the FDR and try this new trick by taking the Willis Avenue bridge, or if I’m coming from New Jersey, I’ll be [...]
May 18, 2010
In the Suitcase: Avoiding tourist traps
It’s easy to take advice from others while on vacation: Eat here! Go there! That place has the best mojitos! Don’t miss the incredible tour of this! Depending from whom this advice is doled, we forget that opinions and tastes still vary greatly and then suddenly we fall into – the tourist trap. It happens [...]
March 30, 2010
In the Suitcase: Trip insurance!
I briefly mentioned the value of purchasing trip insurance twice in this blog: once when our honeymoon to Thailand was nearly sabotaged by the hundred thousands of protestors taking over the airports in Bangkok, and another regarding injuries while on vacation. Now, Jon and I are cashing in on our trip insurance, which we bought [...]
March 2, 2010
In the Suitcase: What to do if you get hurt or sick while traveling
The worst case scenario in any travel adventure is that people can get hurt! Tourists wander around in a bubble, observing their new surroundings like visitors at an uncaged zoo, avoiding the water and washing their hands with alcohol wipes but never expecting that they can be just as vulnerable to accidents and injuries. And [...]
January 18, 2010
In the Suitcase: Volunteer vacations
Who hasn’t dreamt of living out of a hut in Kenya and playing with orphaned children, helping them read or put on clothes or singing songs together. I mean, what a great romantic cliche many 22-year-old college graduates think they’ll experience as they turn their tassles and march into the Real World (and I mean a [...]
