Not everything is going to go smoothly in life, or on vacation. There will be delays, detours and unplanned events. It doesn't have to derail the good times. Here's how to roll with it, and keep smiling.
1. Bring your confirmation numbers and receipts. Especially if you booked with a 3rd party like Expedia or Hotwire etc. Having proof at your fingertips will make for a more smooth check-in even when the hotel has no record of your booking.
2. Plane delay.... these things happen. Yelling at the desk agent will not help. If there's a chance to re-route, you can often do it yourself quickly and without charge at the self-help kiosk. Get the seats on the next plane out before someone else does.
3. Rain or inclement weather ruining your planned hike or day at the amusement park? Don't disappoint the kids.... have an indoor backup plan ready to go. A quick call to the concierge will work if you hadn't pre-planned something.
4. Sick child? If it's not serious, and they just need to rest at the hotel, this is a great time to divide & conquer. Have one parent take the other kid(s) out for some personal time. The parent left on nurse duty will get to go out on their own later when it's time to switch off. Don't forget to bring back a treat for the ailing child.
5. Keep smiling. See the bright side of things! Remember you're on vacation. You could be at home doing laundry!
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Vacation Bargains Abound
I've been looking around at all my favourite discount travel sites lately. Not for myself, but for any friend who asks. I'm happy to do this. I'm certainly not a travel agent, but I have had a pretty wide variety of travel experiences and adventures in the last 10 years.
We have managed to tote our kids to Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Minnesota, North Dakota, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, The Turks & Caicos, The Bahamas and Hawaii. We've travelled by passenger train, car, plane and cruise ship.
We've gone hiking, skiing, swimming, surfing, shopping, to amusement parks and more. It's felt a little crazy at times, but it's been good. I have no regrets at all.
My hubby and I also do the classic couples' getaway to Vegas every now and again. Personally, I love Vegas. I'd go anytime. I think one of the things I like so much about Vegas is the nightlife. It's the opposite of my hometown. My hometown exists, Monday to Friday, from 9AM -9PM. After that, the place shuts down and seems like a sleepy hollow. So, to have concerts and plays and people out enjoying life after dark seems exciting. I like the change of pace.
But I'm not ready or able to plan another family vacation. Not yet anyway. As I stated last week, I seem to have lost my spark. Though, I am genuinely ok with researching on behalf of friends.
There are lots of amazing bargains out there right now. 5* golf vacations to california for about $700 including taxes, hotel and airfare. Cheap jaunts to Cuba at under $1000. Luxury caribbean cruises around $800 (Airfare extra). Lots of bargains to Florida & Arizona. Vegas is always cheap in the first part of December & the last part of January.
I priced out one golf vacation during the 3rd week of January at $800. The identical trip in late February is sitting around $1700. So yeah, that's what I consider a bargain. 5* trip, at 3* price. But truly, it's about getting the type of vacation that works for your family, at a time that's convenient, at a price you can afford. I would caution to never ever take a vacation that the only thing that interests you is the price. If you go somewhere you hate, it's truly no bargain.
--------------
Travel sites I like:
www.itravel2000.com
www.redtag.ca
www.yqrdeals.ca www.yegdeals.ca www.ywgdeals.ca (Deals specific to your local airport)
www.aircanadavacations.com (Check out their last minute specials.)
Both Redtag and Itravel2000 will chart the vacations days before and after your selected date and show you a grid of the varied prices. This is an amazing feature, as sometimes a day can make a $500 difference, and you'd never know unless you see this comparison. Each site also searches all the package providers for you. It will show you if Westjet has a better price than Air Canada on the nearly identical vacation.
We have managed to tote our kids to Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Minnesota, North Dakota, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, The Turks & Caicos, The Bahamas and Hawaii. We've travelled by passenger train, car, plane and cruise ship.
We've gone hiking, skiing, swimming, surfing, shopping, to amusement parks and more. It's felt a little crazy at times, but it's been good. I have no regrets at all.
My hubby and I also do the classic couples' getaway to Vegas every now and again. Personally, I love Vegas. I'd go anytime. I think one of the things I like so much about Vegas is the nightlife. It's the opposite of my hometown. My hometown exists, Monday to Friday, from 9AM -9PM. After that, the place shuts down and seems like a sleepy hollow. So, to have concerts and plays and people out enjoying life after dark seems exciting. I like the change of pace.
But I'm not ready or able to plan another family vacation. Not yet anyway. As I stated last week, I seem to have lost my spark. Though, I am genuinely ok with researching on behalf of friends.
There are lots of amazing bargains out there right now. 5* golf vacations to california for about $700 including taxes, hotel and airfare. Cheap jaunts to Cuba at under $1000. Luxury caribbean cruises around $800 (Airfare extra). Lots of bargains to Florida & Arizona. Vegas is always cheap in the first part of December & the last part of January.
I priced out one golf vacation during the 3rd week of January at $800. The identical trip in late February is sitting around $1700. So yeah, that's what I consider a bargain. 5* trip, at 3* price. But truly, it's about getting the type of vacation that works for your family, at a time that's convenient, at a price you can afford. I would caution to never ever take a vacation that the only thing that interests you is the price. If you go somewhere you hate, it's truly no bargain.
--------------
Travel sites I like:
www.itravel2000.com
www.redtag.ca
www.yqrdeals.ca www.yegdeals.ca www.ywgdeals.ca (Deals specific to your local airport)
www.aircanadavacations.com (Check out their last minute specials.)
Both Redtag and Itravel2000 will chart the vacations days before and after your selected date and show you a grid of the varied prices. This is an amazing feature, as sometimes a day can make a $500 difference, and you'd never know unless you see this comparison. Each site also searches all the package providers for you. It will show you if Westjet has a better price than Air Canada on the nearly identical vacation.
Fast 5 Travel Tips: Is it your vacation?
Finding the vacation that suits you is almost as hard as finding the right shoes to go to a high school reunion. You need to have some patience and be really honest with yourself about what you want and what your goals are. If you can't walk in your shoes, even though they are pretty... are they the right choice?
It IS your vacation when:
1) All members of the travel party have something they are looking forward to
2) You choose activities you are genuinely excited about
3) You can't wait to write in your travel journal/blog/tell your friends
4) You are living within your budget and not stressing about money
5) You are NOT doing things out of obligation, guilt or because somewhere you read you HAVE TO visit/see/do a particular monument/activity that you're not actually interested in.
It IS your vacation when:
1) All members of the travel party have something they are looking forward to
2) You choose activities you are genuinely excited about
3) You can't wait to write in your travel journal/blog/tell your friends
4) You are living within your budget and not stressing about money
5) You are NOT doing things out of obligation, guilt or because somewhere you read you HAVE TO visit/see/do a particular monument/activity that you're not actually interested in.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Cleaning therapy
Today I tackled the all-purpose closet... aka, the giant junk drawer behind a door. In this hiding place I've accumulated a couple yeas worth of partially used craft supplies, or unused craft supplies with the best intentions. There's also some wrapping paper, some photos, some colouring books, some shipping stuff, and all the birthday cards I bought for people but never sent because I couldn't find them. (If that was an olympic sport, I'd be on that podium.)
So, I spread everything out in the living room with a garbage can, a recycling bag and a few clear boxes for keep items. The puppy was thrilled with the "buffet of toys" and things to taste that I put before her. LOL. She's a little goof but she did help me decide on a few things that should go into the garbage can immediately. Or immediately after she had them in her mouth!
All in all, I feel good about the project. I managed to release myself from the guilt of having unused craft supplies with no purpose. As a hockey mom, with barely enough time to make meals and clean jerseys, crafts are not really realistic for me at this stage.
Once I conceded I would never tackle that project that a starry-eyed me once envisioned, I lumped them all in a box labelled "Kindergarten/School." Surely, the classes at my kids' school will know what to do with these goodies. Perhaps they will even consider them a gift, and not the burden they have become in my junk closet.
It feels good to tackle that one. Where to next?
So, I spread everything out in the living room with a garbage can, a recycling bag and a few clear boxes for keep items. The puppy was thrilled with the "buffet of toys" and things to taste that I put before her. LOL. She's a little goof but she did help me decide on a few things that should go into the garbage can immediately. Or immediately after she had them in her mouth!
All in all, I feel good about the project. I managed to release myself from the guilt of having unused craft supplies with no purpose. As a hockey mom, with barely enough time to make meals and clean jerseys, crafts are not really realistic for me at this stage.
Once I conceded I would never tackle that project that a starry-eyed me once envisioned, I lumped them all in a box labelled "Kindergarten/School." Surely, the classes at my kids' school will know what to do with these goodies. Perhaps they will even consider them a gift, and not the burden they have become in my junk closet.
It feels good to tackle that one. Where to next?
Thursday, November 22, 2012
A year later
It's been exactly a year since my mother had a stroke. This changed our lives.
I don't want to get too personal here, but she wasn't even old enough to collect a pension when it happened. She was not overweight, a smoker or have any other medical circumstances that would have led us to believe this was going to happen.
In fact, the evening when it started all she noted was an uneasy stomach and maybe a pinched nerve in her leg or something. It just hurt a bit to walk, she said. Honestly, none of us had ANY clue that 8 hours later she would be unconscious in an emergency room.
Yesterday was hard. I was pretty weepy. I was having nightmares about the events from a year ago. Being in the emergency ward, not being able to communicate with her, seeing her unconscious felt really out of control. But that was a year ago.
When it all happened, I didn't leave her side. I slept in a chair, in a corner and in a cot for 6 nights. Family and friends rallied. 24 hours a day everyone was asking me (and my brother) for updates. Much of that week is a blur. I remember trying to go see my son at a hockey tryout, and instead sitting in a hallway bawling my eyes out at a hockey rink.
I gave up my vehicle for 3 or 4 days. I was too exhausted to drive and hospital parking charges were killing me. I wasn't sleeping. I may have said things that people didn't wanted to hear. I was blunt at times. Though now, I could not even tell you what I said. Seriously, such a blur after the 3rd day.
Then somebody, somewhere, hijacked my credit card that very weekend. A vending machine? The hospital parkade? My wallet? Who knows. I felt paralyzed without it - which is pretty pathetic for me to say, because at that point my mother was significantly paralyzed for real. But with my credit card and debit card frozen and nowhere near my bank branch, lets just say it sucked.
Emotionally, I felt lucky for I had friends in different time zones that were ready and willing to talk at different times of day and night. I was touched by the ones that reached out to me, and a little surprised by the ones who didn't. Facebook was a good thing. I was a bit of a wreck. Facing my mother's paralysis and now her obvious gambling addiction... it was a lot to handle.
I essentially abandoned my own family and moved in with my brother to care for my mom last winter. It was hard but where I needed to be. Her survival was the only thing that mattered. My own kids and husband survived, they even missed me a little, but that was only temporary.
After several months of round the clock care, and expert rehab my mother was able to move back into her apartment. And my life got back to "normal" too.
Her mobility is limited. Significantly limited. She has lost her license and given up her car, which is ok I guess as she's actually afraid to set foot outside her door anyway. The big wide world is a scary place now. The TV doesn't help either. She has a tendency to personalize every crisis happening around the world whether it is weather-related or random violence or whatever. An example would be that one night at 4AM she started texting me and begging me not to drive my kids to school because of the hurricane. It was July. The hurricane was in the caribbean. We don't live in the caribbean. But not much would settle her down except me promising I would not take the kids to school that day & that I did indeed have extra water and food in the house.
She continues to live with the support of health care workers/home care. Most days, I believe she is trying, but often the depression gets the best of her.
My brother has been amazing. His compassion and patience were and are far beyond my expectations. I feel he's carried the lion's share of the load. I try. I really do, but with a family and a business and living hours away in a different city... it's hard. My brother really has kept this all together. Mom & I chat daily, but I know it's not like being there in person.
Her siblings live her city too. I assume they try to come around when they can, though I've only heard of a couple visits. When I have tried to reach out to them I've been ignored. I feel that loss too. It's significant for me.
I don't know why this anniversary is so hard for me. Just a year later and I see how much we've lost, not how far we've come. Personally, I feel like crap. She's doing ok. Ok is really a relative term. I didn't bring up the anniversary when we chatted yesterday. It obviously better that way. I'll just find my own therapy here at the keyboard.
I don't want to get too personal here, but she wasn't even old enough to collect a pension when it happened. She was not overweight, a smoker or have any other medical circumstances that would have led us to believe this was going to happen.
In fact, the evening when it started all she noted was an uneasy stomach and maybe a pinched nerve in her leg or something. It just hurt a bit to walk, she said. Honestly, none of us had ANY clue that 8 hours later she would be unconscious in an emergency room.
Yesterday was hard. I was pretty weepy. I was having nightmares about the events from a year ago. Being in the emergency ward, not being able to communicate with her, seeing her unconscious felt really out of control. But that was a year ago.
When it all happened, I didn't leave her side. I slept in a chair, in a corner and in a cot for 6 nights. Family and friends rallied. 24 hours a day everyone was asking me (and my brother) for updates. Much of that week is a blur. I remember trying to go see my son at a hockey tryout, and instead sitting in a hallway bawling my eyes out at a hockey rink.
I gave up my vehicle for 3 or 4 days. I was too exhausted to drive and hospital parking charges were killing me. I wasn't sleeping. I may have said things that people didn't wanted to hear. I was blunt at times. Though now, I could not even tell you what I said. Seriously, such a blur after the 3rd day.
Then somebody, somewhere, hijacked my credit card that very weekend. A vending machine? The hospital parkade? My wallet? Who knows. I felt paralyzed without it - which is pretty pathetic for me to say, because at that point my mother was significantly paralyzed for real. But with my credit card and debit card frozen and nowhere near my bank branch, lets just say it sucked.
Emotionally, I felt lucky for I had friends in different time zones that were ready and willing to talk at different times of day and night. I was touched by the ones that reached out to me, and a little surprised by the ones who didn't. Facebook was a good thing. I was a bit of a wreck. Facing my mother's paralysis and now her obvious gambling addiction... it was a lot to handle.
I essentially abandoned my own family and moved in with my brother to care for my mom last winter. It was hard but where I needed to be. Her survival was the only thing that mattered. My own kids and husband survived, they even missed me a little, but that was only temporary.
After several months of round the clock care, and expert rehab my mother was able to move back into her apartment. And my life got back to "normal" too.
Her mobility is limited. Significantly limited. She has lost her license and given up her car, which is ok I guess as she's actually afraid to set foot outside her door anyway. The big wide world is a scary place now. The TV doesn't help either. She has a tendency to personalize every crisis happening around the world whether it is weather-related or random violence or whatever. An example would be that one night at 4AM she started texting me and begging me not to drive my kids to school because of the hurricane. It was July. The hurricane was in the caribbean. We don't live in the caribbean. But not much would settle her down except me promising I would not take the kids to school that day & that I did indeed have extra water and food in the house.
She continues to live with the support of health care workers/home care. Most days, I believe she is trying, but often the depression gets the best of her.
My brother has been amazing. His compassion and patience were and are far beyond my expectations. I feel he's carried the lion's share of the load. I try. I really do, but with a family and a business and living hours away in a different city... it's hard. My brother really has kept this all together. Mom & I chat daily, but I know it's not like being there in person.
Her siblings live her city too. I assume they try to come around when they can, though I've only heard of a couple visits. When I have tried to reach out to them I've been ignored. I feel that loss too. It's significant for me.
I don't know why this anniversary is so hard for me. Just a year later and I see how much we've lost, not how far we've come. Personally, I feel like crap. She's doing ok. Ok is really a relative term. I didn't bring up the anniversary when we chatted yesterday. It obviously better that way. I'll just find my own therapy here at the keyboard.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
The flame is out
I've think I've lost my urge to travel. I'm sure it's only temporary, but still, this is a weird feeling.
I usually have the next trip planned before the first one is even done. What the heck has happened to me? And the oddest part is that I have travel credits in the bank. My Skymiles account has $2400 of free travel just sitting there designated for our family. Free travel. Free travel!!!! And yet, I can't get excited.
It's not that I've had a bad experience or anything recently. It's not that I've been around the world. I haven't seen everything I want to see. I certainly have not done everything either. I just don't know.
Have I lost my sense of adventure? Has my typical winter depression set in early? Am I lost to myself right now?
There are so many places I haven't been. And yet I have no urge to research.
By this time, I'm usually rabid to have something to look forward to. A Christmas vacation helps me get through our dysfunctional family holiday season. This year.... meh.
I think I've lost my spark. The flame is out.
I may as well just get a puppy and stay home.
I usually have the next trip planned before the first one is even done. What the heck has happened to me? And the oddest part is that I have travel credits in the bank. My Skymiles account has $2400 of free travel just sitting there designated for our family. Free travel. Free travel!!!! And yet, I can't get excited.
Have I lost my sense of adventure? Has my typical winter depression set in early? Am I lost to myself right now?
There are so many places I haven't been. And yet I have no urge to research.
By this time, I'm usually rabid to have something to look forward to. A Christmas vacation helps me get through our dysfunctional family holiday season. This year.... meh.
I think I've lost my spark. The flame is out.
I may as well just get a puppy and stay home.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Black Friday Sales: Canadian-ized
There is no doubt that cross-border shopping has been negatively affecting stores and jobs here in Canada. And with the Canadian dollar at par, the threat is very real for our consumers to spend their dollar in the USA. After all, the USA seems to know how to throw a sale.
Big time sales of 50% or 70% off would attract any consumer. Especially when the same or similar items are typically only discounted 10-20% at Canadian store. It's easy to see the attraction.
Old Navy is hosting a sale in Canada, comprable to their American sister stores. Here they are calling it "Cheermageddon" and they are advertising it everywhere.
Electronics retailers like Best Buy and Future Shop have been leaders in "Cyber Monday" sales as well. It's been their way of adding one more day to the frenzy that is the Thanksgiving shopping weekend. For it, they promise fabulous on-line deals on electronics, movies and the like on the Monday that follows Thanksgiving.
It would be great to get some Christmas shopping done at a discount, but I am not willing to travel, fight crowds or arrive hours before a store opens in order to do it. If I participate in anyway, it will be from the comfort of my office and on-line.
Whether you want clothes, electronics, hotel rooms (Fairmont is promising deals), Danier leather jackets or cosmetics from The Body Shop they are all getting in on the act.
My advice would be to do your research ahead of time. Only shop on-line with trusted retailers that you've shopped with before. And whether you are shopping at the malls, in person or on-line, be prepared for deals to go fast. Go in with a budget, and your Christmas shopping list to avoid going overboard. Try not to get carried away in the frenzy.
Shopping sites like Smart Canucks offer fabulous info, and up to date information on sales. There are also interactive forums where you can share information, deals, warnings etc with other shoppers.
I guess the countdown is on. Happy shopping, but most of all, Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends. Enjoy the special time of year and thank you for sharing your shopping phenomenon with your northern neighbors. Come visit sometime, it's friendly up here. Bring a parka.
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