This is a blog for lovers of international travel. Two years ago, I quit my job, moved to London and used the city as a base for travel. Now my journeys fit in between full time television news assignments but I'm always scheming the next adventure.
Katy is coming into Eugene in the morning and I am so excited to see her! I have plans to take her to the coast on Thursday to watch for whales as they migrate south to Mexico. They pass by the Oregon coast this week every year and we're hoping to catch a glimpse of Gray Whales and Humpbacks as well. I need binoculars but a good pair is pricey!
On Friday, we'll visit King Estate Winery (you can buy bottles in Kroger for about $20 - try the Pinot Noir) for lunch. I've made the reservations for noon so we can enjoy a tour afterwards. I have to head to work at 2:30.
Katy has offered to cook dinner for Friday night and Saturday...we're heading north to Portland!
Oh yeah...there's also New Year's Eve...I have to work but will hopefully toast at midnight.
I found this article today while searching for travel deals online (big shock). Richard Wiseman has conducted research on lucky and unlucky people for years. I cut out some of the words to shorten... His findings may surprise you:
Hundreds of extraordinary men and women volunteered for my research and over the years. The results reveal that although these people have almost no insight into the causes of their luck, their thoughts and behaviour are responsible for much of their good and bad fortune.
I carried out a simple experiment to discover whether [people get lucky] due to differences in their ability to spot such opportunities. I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked them to look through it and tell me how many photographs were inside. I had secretly placed a large message halfway through the newspaper saying: 'Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $50'.
This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than two inches high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.
Unlucky people are generally more tense than lucky people, and this anxiety disrupts their ability to notice the unexpected.
In 2009 - imagine yourself as a "lucky" person and see what happens. Happy New Year!
There have been times I was certainly saved by my iPod. You know...one of those people sit next to you on the plane and as he takes a breath and turns to you launching into his life story, you quickly put your earbuds in.
An iPod also works perfectly as a distraction on public transport. If you're stuck in the train, smelling someone's armpit, at least you can jive to a rendition of Beyonce's Single Ladies.
But what if your personal music player can literally save your life? It happened in Switzerland.
From the Associated Press:
Swiss officials said they found two missing skiers after spotting the light from their MP3 music player.
The Swiss air rescue association Rega said it received a distress call from the French tourists late Friday but their phone battery went dead before they could be reached.
Rega spokesman Gery Baumann said the two men were eventually found after midnight in steep, wooded terrain near the town of Savognin by a helicopter crew that spotted the light from their digital music player.
Christmas was nice even though we had to work. Natasha went home straight after the FOX newscast and cooked a lovely homemade dinner. She made traditional Pakistani food including spicy beef with potatoes and basmati rice. We even got leftovers for dinner the next day!
Kim opened a bottle of champers for the occassion...
And we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase...
We certainly missed our families and loved ones but we each talked about family traditions and had a good time!
I am sooo happy it is Friday. Seems like it has been a long week. Thought I'd share one of our newscasts from this week so you can see what I've been doing while normal people are spending Christmas with family.
I took a video on Christmas of the other KVAL-ers at work:
I've been feeding the birds in my lawn and decided to do something special for them for Christmas (yes, I realize I sound a little nuts). I made little suet balls of peanut butter and oats...but as soon as I looked out the window this little guy was chowing on it! Oh well, it's hard to outsmart the squirrels when it comes to food.
Here's to unexpected treats this holiday season. Merry Christmas!
If I'm not raving about travel...my passion swings to animals. If I could, I would keep a zoo of animals that need a home: fish, birds, dogs, cats, horses and possibly even bunnies. I also love reptiles and am not afraid of snakes. So...to keep the spirit of the holiday I decided to volunteer my time. The corporation that I work for, Fisher Broadcasting, allows employees paid time off in exchange for volunteering. I took them up on the offer and am so glad I did.
Volunteering at the humane society was not fun and games. In fact, I only spent 10 minutes in the Cattery at the end of the day as a reward...the rest of the time was spent in the front office. We accepted a fantastic donation from this young couple. They are high-schoolers and they arranged for a few classes to donate food, toys, brushes and other pet needs. Then, they arranged the gifts in stockings labeled: Meow and Woof. How cute!
I also helped carry in bags of donated dog and cat food. Most shelters are in need of canned food as well so if you don't want to adopt an animal or volunteer, you could always drop off food.
I also greeted people looking for animals and showed a few potential pet owners to the "Small Animal Room" so they could meet the bunnies and guinea pigs!
Most of my time, however was spent answering the phones. Some people wanted to make a donation but most were calling to find out how to drop off an animal. There are so many people with dozens and dozens of excuses as to why they can no longer keep their animals.
Maybe this holiday season you can consider adding an adoptable pet to your home.
The best part of the day was hanging out in the Cattery. (I was a little bummed I didn't get to see the dogs but that's okay...) Greenhill is nice because the cats can roam freely, curl up with each other and give chase.
London, UK is known for it's fog and rain but - is it really worse than other parts of the world? Living in the Pacific Northwest, I've also had to deal with a lot of rain these past 9 months.
I live approximately 50 miles from the West coast and we often get weather systems that pick up the ocean and dump it in our laps in Eugene. It's the same thing in London. However, I think London gets the bad rap for being so rainy because people NOTICE it more. In Eugene, it has literally either rained or snowed every day for the past 3 weeks but I don't have to walk outside in it every day and it doesn't bother me.
In Eugene, I'm spoiled. Instead of waking up early, dressing in a rain coat with rain boots and an umbrella to fight the elements on the way to the Tube station (as in London) I simply walk to my car, turn on my wind shield wipers and drive to work.
When I need to get some groceries, I drive my car to Safeway, park, go in and shop, then return to my car to drive home. In London, after work, I would ride the bus to the tiny Sainsbury's just outside of Waterloo station, crimp up my broken umbrella, and maneuver the aisles and hoards of others in the working world. After paying, I'd carry a few bags of food - not even bothering to mess with my umbrella again - to the train station across the road. Not only was it always raining in London, I felt like it was always raining ON ME.
So what do you think? Does London get the miserable weather label because it is really that miserable or are people just more aware of it because they use public transport?
KVAL is located on the top of a steep grade in Lane County. It can be raining in the valley but snowing hard on the hill. This is one guy who wasn't too lucky with the drive.
I felt pretty brave going up and down with my 4 wheel drive so I took this video... The next day (with false security and only in part-time 4 wheel drive) my car slid off the road on my way to work. I had to have help getting it un-stuck. Usually I don't mind the snow but Lane County is not equipped to battle ice or snow. This year, I'm not really a winter-weather fan.
One of the reasons I never mind long flights is because of the reading. I make sure to pile up books in my bags and put them all around me in my seat. The hours upon hours of flight time don't scare me a bit because I know I have words and words on pages that need my attention. IF it is a good book, I'm quite content to read for 12 hours straight but woe to the author who puts a boring story together and I don't know it until I'm 3 pages into it, flying the friendly skies with the seatbelt light on.
These last two weeks I've managed to wade through:
The Dead of Summer by Camilla Way (novel) A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants by Jaed Coffin (travel memoir) Split by Suzanne Finnamore (memoir) Two Marriages by Phillip Lopate (novellas) Costal Living, Oct 2008 and November 2008 (magazine) Body + Soul, May 2008 (magazine Atomic Ranch, Issue 17 (magazine) American Bungalow, Issue 57 (magazine) Brides, December 2008 (magazine)
This weekend I'm looking at:
Elegant Brides, Winter 2009 - a gift from Casey The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (novel) Winning Chess Openings by Yasser Seirawan A Handful of Honey by Annie Hawes (travel memoir)
My employer...KVAL threw a lovely Christmas party this year at the Eugene Country Club. Our news director even allowed the nightsiders to attend.
You would not believe how good the food was. As far as television news Christmas parties, this one had the best food by far. Medium steak, cooked crisp veggies, salad with hazelnuts, cranberries and pears... Yum!
We also enjoyed entertainment by an acoustic guitarist.
But my favorite part of the evening? The desert! I cannot remember the last time I was served and finished an entire dessert by myself. The fruit compote was drizzled over vanilla bean ice cream on a crunchy, buttery base. Merry Christmas!
10. Friends who can always make me laugh. 9. A Loving, supportive family. 8. My Pookie - 5 months from today honey!
...while I'm writing this I have to remind myself the list cannot contain things to do with travel...it's difficult...
7. Pinot Noir, preferably from the Willamette Valley. 6. Summer nights with a slight breeze. 5. The adrenaline that comes from doing my job right. 4. Books - piles and piles of books. 3. My electronic toys - cell phone, camera, laptop 2. Music (jazz, reggae, classical)
...the number 1 thing I can't do without besides discovery through exploration...
I'm piggy backing this post off of Amanda, who blogs from Australia. She writes about travel on another site and posed an interesting question. Where does a traveler get her drive? Does it come from inside or is it a learned behavior?
Mt. Rushmore
I commented on the article saying that my family never traveled abroad when I was a child. We didn't have passports but we did take summer vacations visiting places like Mount Rushmore, Frisco, Colorado, Casper, Wyoming, the Royal Gorge, the desert of New Mexico and later in life the East Coast and Florida beaches. My parents traveled abroad a few times after we were in college but they never directly encouraged us to travel. They DID encourage us to be ambitious and better ourselves in any way possible.
Royal Gorge
For me, that meant travel. I really started getting the bug while working in Cincinnati, Ohio. My full time career began directly after college in 2000. Taking classes every summer I managed to graduate in 3 years and I jumped directly into a job after my internship at CNN. By age 26, I was already burned out on the daily grind.
When I explained my plans to my mom and dad about moving to London, they were nervous to have me so far away but they encouraged me to reach for my dreams. After my first trip to Torino, Italy with a group of friends from London, I was hooked. My life would not be the same if I could not look forward to exploration and the education that comes from learning about new cultures, food, language and history.
International travel is attainable. It just takes disciplined savings, careful planning and the drive to discover.
Does the desire to travel come from within or is it nurtured by family, mentors or friends?
Even though this is primarily a travel blog, I can't help but share some of what's going on in Eugene. We've had snow in the valley which is a rarity AND there's more expected for Wednesday and Thursday. Tonight it is 15 F which is -10 C. Brrrrrrrrrr.
Our news station is located on top of a hill in Lane County just beyond city limits. Most of the year, the location can be kind of a bonus...nature, wild life and incredible views BUT 2-3 weeks out of the winter...it is horrendous.
The nightside crew met at 2pm (30 mins before our shift) to get a "shuttle" to the station. See, you need chains on your tires or studded tires to get up and and down the HILL that leads to the station. The shuttle went up and down without a problem but our cars stayed parked at a local store where the roads were kind of cleaned off. A rough winter already.
A quick note to update you on my dreams and ambitions. Tonight I finished the book proposal I've been working on for months. I printed 5 copies of the mammoth 20-pager and used a pink paperclip on each one.
The proposals are headed to literary agents in New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey and San Francisco. That's why Blond Across the Pond the blog has changed slightly. I'm hoping it can work with the book I'm writing which is non-fiction and will encourage other women to travel abroad. I have asked 5 of my peers to talk about their travels and how it has changed them for the better.
We'll see what the professionals think... Meantime, hang with me. Change is good but can also be annoying. I promise to add more personal anecdotes to the blog and mix them into the travel articles. xoxox
...will be to Portland, Oregon with Kate. She is doing California first and then will head north to spend New Year's Eve with me. We plan to explore Portland over the weekend before she hops a plane back to Cincinnati.
I plan to take her to Henry's Tavern downtown (which is the former Weinhard brewery) and then to the Pearl district. Please let me know of other suggestions. I've only been to Portland once and am just starting some heavy research.
Organize a Group Tour, Travel for Free If you organize a group of people to book a package tour together, many tour companies will allow you, the group leader, to travel for free. You can choose to accept the freebie or spread some savings out to everyone in your group. Either way, it's a good deal. Each tour operator's group tour policy varies a bit, but most require you to put together a group with at least 10 paying individuals before you'll get a free spot. Grand Circle Tours, a company that runs trips geared towards mature travelers on six continents, lets a group leader travel for free with 10 paid travelers on river cruises or 16 paid travelers on land tours.
Pay for Three Nights, Get Seven at Club Med Club Med's recurring "Seven-Day Weekend" package is back, promising seven nights for the price of three at eight of its all-inclusive resorts. The deal is valid at family-friendly Club Meds in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Cancun and Ixtapa, Mexico; Sandpiper, Fla.; Caravelle, Guadaloupe; and Buccaneer's Creek, Martinique; as well as adult-only Clubs Meds on Columbus Isle, Bahamas, and on Turks and Caicos. You must book by December 15 and travel by February 13 to take advantage of the promotion.
Free Weekend Rental Days From Hertz Hertz knows the only the thing better than a weekend away is a three-day weekend away. The company makes it easier for renters to take longer weekend trips by offering the first day free when you rent a car for three or more weekend days, including a Saturday overnight. The deal applies to economy- through premium-class cars rented through March 31, 2009, in the U.S. and Canada, excluding Hawaii.
Swap Homes, Stay Free Why not swap your apartment in New York for a cottage in the English countryside? Or maybe my Utah ski condo for your second home in Costa Rica? By participating in a home exchange, you can get free use of another person's house if you're willing to let them stay in yours. It's a common practice for a certain segment of travelers who prefer staying in vacation homes over hotels and are a bit flexible with where and when they travel. Home exchange websites make it easy to find and make arrangements with other home owners. HomeExchange.com is one of the largest of such sites.
Free Airfare for Crystal Cruises Panama Canal Sailings When you book one of three Crystal Cruises' Panama Canal sailings, you'll receive free airfare between Los Angeles and Miami, Ft. Lauderdale or Palm Beach, FL. The cruises which range from 14 to 16 days, sail between Miami and Los Angeles, so Crystal is essentially promising a free flight home from the final port. Departures include January 6, February 16, and May 7, 2009. Cruise fares start at $3,595 per person, not including taxes and fees.
Couch Surf For young budget travelers, sometimes hostels just aren't cheap enough. In that case, why not crash for free with one of the nearly 800,000 members of the Couch Surfing Project. Travelers can find and request stays with potential hosts on the CouchSurfing website. Hosts offer a free place to sleep and oftentimes show guests around or share advice on places to visit nearby. As a member, you can request places to stay and host guests as you please. The site has some checks in place to help ensure the safety and trustworthiness of hosts and surfers.
Graffiti Wall lists a few embarrassing travel moments from fellow discoverers. Here are some of the funnier ones:
Can you spare me a dime... We recently took a two week Transatlantic cruise and then spent a week in Italy afterwards. Packing for both parts of the trip was a challenge, as I was determined to limit myself to a carry-on.
I decided to bring cotton "broomstick" skirts with me. One of them was a multi-color, patchwork skirt.
As I was wearing this skirt, I noticed several of the guards in the Uffizi Gallery giving me odd looks. It took me a while to figure out that I was dressed rather like a street beggar! Yikes! I don't think the guards thought I was a beggar, they just couldn't figure out why the crazy American was dressed like one!
Needless to say, I've retired that skirt from my travel wardrobe! Denise Kirkland, wa USA
Don't Leave Your Platform Our train to Munich pulled into Salzburg on time and as advertised but seemed to move pass our assigned platform. We hurried down to the next platform, jumped on, and we were on our way. Not quite!
When the conductor started to punch our ticket, she exclaimed, "Munich? No, Innsbruck." Seems the long train pulling into Salzburg with one engine at the front and another in the middle uncoupled. Our part of the train that we ran to continued on nonstop to Innsbruck and the second half (boarding at our assigned platform, continued going to Munich.
After a pretty two hour sidetrip to Innsbruck, we purchased another ticket to Munich and arrived no worse for the wear but with a better understanding of it doesn't hurt to show the conductor your ticket before boarding just to make sure! Preston Malcom McDonough, GA USA Ugly American Sighting We got on our train, a Eurostar, going from Firenze to Venezia. My seat was a single, near the end of the car. Someone had covered my seat with several huge screaming pink suitcases. My husband had to drag them off my seat and into the luggage rack area, where we saw a few more screaming pink suitcases. I looked at a luggage tag to see who would be a**hole enough to travel with so much luggage and also who would be so inconsiderate on a packed train to cover up someone else's reserved seat. Yup, someone from "Sugar Land, Texas." My husband said he knew it, no European would do such things. When we got off the train in Venezia, we loitered to see what someone with so much luggage looked like. We saw a fat middle-aged guy wearing shorts and a baseball cap pull up outside our train car with three luggage carts. We had our man. I think he was traveling with his wife. Sheez. Claire Minn. USA
Friendly Ghost While taking a ghost and ghoul tour in Edinburgh, our guide took us through a few rooms that were underground. While in one room the guide proceeded to tell us how haunted the room is. As she was telling us the story, my friend tapped me on the back to tell me something. I thought it was a ghost and screamed. A chain reaction formed throughout the group resulting in EVERYONE screaming and trying to rush out of the room at the same time (some even fell and were trampled upon!)
After we regrouped ourselves the guide asked what happened. I said something tapped me on the shoulder (still thought it was a ghost!) Just at that moment my friend stepped forward and took responsibility...but she didn't know it was her that set me off! She was just as scared as all the rest of us! At the end of the tour as we were exiting underground they had someone jump out wearing a mask to scare us. At that point none of us jumped, we already had our excitement!
Kate B Winnipeg, Canada
American History 101 Know some basic American history! On my first trip to Europe, my sister and I went with a tour group, which included a bus tour in each city. In London, the tour guide would ask us questions about American history and virtually no one---including myself, I admit---knew the answers! I wasn't exactly embarrassed but I wished that I could have demonstrated that some Americans really do care about their heritage. Also, reading about the history and culture of the places you are going to see makes it much more fun and interesting. Kate Fairfield, ND USA
Any embarrassing travel moments to share? Mine is eating in an Italian restaurant in Putney (London). I thought I was speaking decent Italian to the waitress but she spoke English and told me that I was saying something completely different than what I intended. Ugh. Back to Pimsleur's Language cds...
In my travels, I've noticed American tourists abroad can be embarrassing. Some seem to have no clue how loud, arrogant and just plain rude they are. (No haters here - I was once one of those tourists.) After doing a little research, I found that even the U.S. Department of State has advice for US Citizens traveling abroad (my comments are in blue):
How To Be a Tourist Without Looking Like One Avoid attention-grabbing attire; dress conservatively. Don't wear expensive-looking jewelry; avoid displays of affluence. A flashy wardrobe or one that is too casual can mark you as a tourist.And please, leave the fanny packs, large cameras, sweatshirts and baseball caps in the hotel room.
Be a Safe Packer Simply put, travel light. You can move more quickly and will be more likely to have a free hand. You will also be less likely to set your luggage down, leaving it unattended.Do not expect your cab driver to carry or load your suitcases. Better to just do it yourself and keep an eye on things.
Do Your Homework Learn a few phrases in the local language so you can navigate around more easily and can signal your need for help.What a nice concept. Take some time to learn a bit of the native language of the country you're going to visit. It really upsets me to hear Americans complain that citizens of whatever country they're traveling in "don't speak English very well." That is a pompous and ignorant attitude. Try Pimsleur's language lessons on CD. I listen to them in my car and the way to and fro work and they are free at the library.
Research ahead of time: The Department of State's Consular Information Sheets are available for every country of the world. They describe entry requirements, currency regulations, unusual health conditions, the crime and security situation, political disturbances, areas of instability, and special information about driving and road conditions. They also provide addresses and emergency telephone numbers for U.S. embassies and consulates.
Finally, Bring Your PassportI choose to keep mine with me at all times while traveling but I do make copies and leave them in my suitcase.
Denae and Kate with the Blue Jacket's mascot: Stinger.
When you make plans to travel, even if it is just to visit your family in another state, why not plan to do something new? Not every city has a National Hockey League team so when I made plans to head to Columbus, Ohio to visit my parents and brother for Thanksgiving, I started scheming. Columbus is home to The Blue Jackets.
My mom also has an adventurous streak and daddio will usually try anything once, so I asked if they could score tickets to the game. The folks came through for us and Kate, Dannen, Shannon, mom and dad and I went to the game.
Shannon, Dannen, Mommio, Daddio
Even though there were no punches thrown at the game, it was a new experience that we all enjoyed. The atmosphere in Columbus's Arena District was energetic and celebratory. I wish I lived closer to my fam. We had such a good time together but when I go back to visit, we'll find something new to do again. Makes for great dinner conversation!
While in Lisbon, Portugal walking in the city center, I witnessed a pick pocket grab a woman's wallet out of her purse. He was gone before I could shout and the victim only noticed when she felt the bag sag slightly. I felt sorry for her but realized she was probably a North American tourist without a clue of how the game works.
She was wearing one of those backpack purses...cute but horribly impractical when exploring other lands. It was slung casually on her back and with a simple unzip...the wallet popped out. The guy easily slipped it out and run away. We were near a public transport station and the crook turned down the tunnel and was gone in less than a second in a throng of people. Thieves make their money on these type of mistakes. What can you do to protect your money?
Don't carry a purse on your back. It needs to be in front of you at all times. Even better, think about wearing a bag under your clothing to keep your Passport and money out of view and out of the grasp of would-be pick pockets.
Only carry a bag that zips up. I won't buy a purse that simply closes with a snap in the center. Not only will I probably dump all the contents out accidentally, there are no restraints for a thieves' hand dipping in.
Don't put your wallet in your back pocket. Here's another trick: Kingsley was in Spain and bent over into the back of the cab to collect his bags. While his hands were grabbing the suitcases, the taxi driver was grabbing his wallet. He had already paid the fare and didn't know his wallet was missing until he was in the hotel room. Keep your money, cards, ID in your front pocket or better yet, in a bag under your clothes.
Put some money in your carry-on. This is at least a way to be prepared if your best laid plans go out the window. This way, if someone steals your wallet, you won't be completely without cash in a foreign land. Also, consider carrying your ATM card somewhere other than your wallet.
Do you have any other suggestions to guard your money while traveling? Please post a comment.
I bought my ticket to London for just $677 from Eugene, Oregon. This is an excellent deal because I don't even have to drive round trip to Portland (1/2 tank of gas) or pay for parking ($80).
The trip is a little more than a month away! Thanks, Patricia for your advice on where to go once I get there. I HAVE traveled to Cambridge and took a lovely trip to Greenwich with Kingsley's parents Nan and John but I'm going to research the other places this weekend.
One of the best ways to update your friends and family on your travels is through a blog (try Blogger or Wordpress) or blog-style posts on Facebook or MySpace. You can upload some of your pictures, video and highlights of your explorations. Blogging a trip can get pretty overwhelming so here are a few ideas on how to do it without spending hours working on it:
Keep the posts short. Two to three text paragraphs with the same amount of pictures should be enough.
Blog about specific travel moments rather than a running schedule of your day. Your readers might be interested to read about how a certain experience influenced or inspired you.
Take videos. A video can capture a moment better than a picture. An example is the video I asked Kingsley to take of me when we were in Rome. I marked the moment of throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain this way. I upload videos to YouTube first and then embed the code into the edit html.
Update daily during your travels, or when you return. Just remember to keep your posts consecutive so your readers will be back for more!
I'm planning a trip to London in January and I cannot wait! Something about boarding a plane in one country that you know will put you down in another is exhilarating. But how do you get ready for it all?
Start by booking your tickets. This is a given but until you actually book a ticket, you'll never get off the "couch" of dreaming of travel.
Read up on your destination. I have 3 London books on my bedside table right now. I've been reading through the "day trips" pages since I've explored London several times. I haven't been out of the city too much except to Bath and Brighton so now is my time to figure out what I want to do. If I find something that looks interesting, I'm going to further my research on Google.
Get your passport ready. Is it still valid? Do you have enough free pages to have it stamped? Make copies of your passport and put them in your suitcase in case it is stolen or lost. You may also want to keep phone numbers of your Embassy handy for emergencies.
Study the weather. Before I even think about packing, I research the weather. London will be chilly in January and it will be raining. This means I need more than a winter coat. Lots of layers, loads of dry socks, umbrellas, hats, scarfs. I know the museums and pubs can be warm so I'll want to pack things that are lightweight but worn in layers.
Get current with the currency. Be familiar with your exchange rate and budget accordingly. I know $500 won't go too far in London so I need to plan ahead. Either find the cheap and easy way around (free museums, buses) or save more money. You can exchange your money ahead of time but I usually go to the first ATM I find at the airport and draw cash there. The rate is better however, take care because some types of cards don't work in all ATMs.
What do you do to get ready for international travel? Share your tips by leaving a comment.
Time for personal travel again. I enjoyed a lovely extended weekend with my parents, brother and Kate the Great even drove to Columbus to see me.
I'm playing it a bit more safe today and going to the airport an hour before my flight. Against my better judgement, I'm going to check a bag today. I have a few Christmas presents from the fam to take home so I'm packing a separate carry-on so I can take extra items back to Oregon.
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Tomorrow's post: How to prepare for international travel.
I started my first blog in 2006 and enjoy documenting my life and sharing with readers. Your comments and opinions are important here so please have your say.
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