What's In a Staycation?

A friend of mine recently stated on her Facebook page that she was off work for the next 3 days.  Of course, I got excited and asked “Where Are You Going?” and to that she responded “No where.  It’s a Staycation.”  OHHHHHHH….a Staycation?!  I got REALLY EXCITED.  Why?  Cause Staycations can be fun too!

Staycations give you a chance to do things in your own city that you never get to do or never think about doing.  A Staycation allows you to see your city the way others do.  It gives you an opportunity to slow down and smell the streets of unknown neighborhoods, walk around an empty shopping center, or have a leisurely lunch at a restaurant that usually has a 30 minute wait just to be seated.  It gives you a chance to fall in love with your city - all over again.

Recently, I’ve been on a self imposed “no travel” restriction.  Unable to leave town, I have been exploring Chicago in ways that I haven’t in a long time.  And while I will be the first to admit, I love hopping on planes and heading to new places; it's been fun to explore my own streets.

Here are just a few things I have been doing on my weekends while playing tourist in my own home town.

• I spent some time at Navy Pier where I sat by the water and watched the boats while eating Funnel Cake. I found a deal on Jetsetter.com for a downtown hotel I wanted to experience. 

• I booked a room for July 3^rd (yes, I was surprised that date wasn’t blacked out), sent the deal to some friends and we spent the night hanging out enjoying the start of summer.

•  I walked up and down Michigan Ave., not shopping (that’s new), but taking in the sites, listening to all of the different languages being spoken and snapping pictures of “Planter Heads” that were installed by Plant Green Ideas in an effort to promote sustainability.

  

• I got up early one Saturday morning, headed to the closest beach and spent the day laying around, catching up on some reading and watching people on the bike path.

• Some friends and I snagged a Groupon deal and hopped on an architectural boat tour where I learned that the natural flow of the Chicago River has been reversed.  WOW – that’s interesting!  I actually did some research when I got home about how they did that.

• I’ve been to Millennium Park at least twice.  On one trip, I simply sat by Crown Fountain eating ice cream and watching children play freely in the water. On my most recent trip to Millennium Park, I discovered a series of sculptures in an outdoor gallery.  Turns out, this gallery is named Boing Gallery and the collection is titled Dangos by Jun Kaneko, who is known for his work in the field of monumental ceramic sculpture.  I found these sculptures uninteresting, yet interesting.  It was odd.  I read the information card and learned that the pieces were “representative of his past and present artistic practices” and that the ceramic steels are “covered in a variety of vibrant shapes and patterns which allow viewers to examine their environment and focus in a sense of scale and place.”  *Blank Stare*

I will say that my self imposed travel restriction has been frustrating, but rewarding.  Yesterday, I spent some time at a beach close to my house watching boats sail by.  I whispered to my friend, "Chicago is a beautiful city" and he whispered back "Yes, it certainly is".  

31st Street Beach. Chicago, IL

For more photos of my weekends out, click here.

Why I Travel

When I was first asked that question, my initial response was “Why Not?” But since that wouldn’t make for a very interesting blog, I gave the question some additional thought. That is when I began to notice that all of my fondest memories from my childhood involved travel.

You see my Mom was a traveler. She loved to go. So she made sure that every summer, if not more often, we went. Of course, Florida was a favorite destination, but we also enjoyed time in Wisconsin Dells, Atlanta, St. Louis, Chicago (we lived in Detroit then) New Orleans, California and Washington DC. My childhood was filled with family trips and family meant sisters, brothers, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, neighbors and anyone else who said “Can I go?”

As a child, I loved this family tradition and couldn’t wait to see what kind of trouble I could get into. Here are just a few of my memories:

• Almost giving my Aunt a heart-attack when I brought a frog from the pool into the room.

• Learning that I really couldn’t swim by jumping into the deep end of the pool and being rescued by the life guard (My Aunt immediately enrolled me into swimming lessons when we got home so that we wouldn’t have this problem again with her “little fish”).

• Swiping the tips left on the table for the waitress every time we left a restaurant (What? I didn’t know why change was constantly being left behind!).

Ahhhhh yes. Those were the good old days!

Recently I read a study conducted on behalf of the U.S. Travel Association and I realized that my Mom was on to something. According to the study:

• Adults remember vacations from a young age: the majority of adults surveyed (62%) say their earliest memories were of family vacations taken when they were between ages 5 and 10.

• Half (49%) of adults describe their memories of childhood family vacations as “very vivid.” These memories are significantly stronger than their memories of school events or birthday celebrations (34% and 31%).

• Travel experiences are not only remembered, but also passed on to younger generations: 77% of youth respondents report that their parents have told them stories about their childhood family vacations.

Who knew? Pssst – my Mom did!

Now that I have children of my own, I try to follow in my Mom’s footsteps by making sure we hit the road (well, the sky) at least once a year. And just like then, anyone is welcome to join us. Last year, I took my daughter, her friend, and my niece to New York for a long weekend. We also crashed my Uncle's family trip to Atlanta.  This year, my daughter and 2 friends are heading to Ft. Lauderdale with me. Three years ago, we embarked on a true family vacation with 2 Aunts, my Sister and her crew (2 daughters and 1 grand son), and a cousin. My kids still talk about that trip!

And there’s more! Not only does travel bring your family closer; it also strengthens the U.S. economy and puts us a step closer on the road to recovery. Check out these facts:

• Since 2010, the travel industry created jobs at a pace nearly 16 percent faster than the rest of the economy, adding 296,000 American jobs (as of October 2012).

• The total number of American jobs supported by travel is 14.4 million.

• 4 million travel industry workers earn a middle‐class income or higher.

• Traveler spending directly generates $124 billion in tax revenue for local, state and federal governments.

• Direct spending by resident and international travelers in the U.S. averaged $2.2 billion a day, $92.8 million an hour, $1.5 million a minute and $25,778 a second.

WOW!

So get out there and do your part. Grab the spouse, the kids, Grandkids, Grand Parents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Neighbors and friends. Hit the open road. Sing some goofy songs. Take over half a plane and watch an in-flight movie. Get lost in a new place. Disconnect. Make some new friends (or re-connect with some old ones).

But most importantly, make some memories that will be talked about long after you’re gone.

That’s the Travel Effect!

*All statistical data provided by the The U.S. Travel Association. For more information, click here.

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

For Christmas, I gave a friend of mine a book for his son. Not just any book, but my absolute favorite children's book: Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss.

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!

I have loved this book since I begin reading it to my own children when they were toddlers. Even now, as an adult, I often read this book to myself as a reminder that I can do anything, go anywhere and see anything I put my mind to.

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.

You're on your own. And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You see, for many years I talked myself out of living my travel dreams. Making excuses such as I can’t afford it or that traveling to faraway places alone is not safe.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.

Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're dark.

A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!

Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?

How much can you lose? How much can you win?

I would say that I can't leave my kids and I can't take them with me. Or that being away from them for a week is simply irresponsible and unacceptable. So I settled into the life of "normalcy" that consisted of work, come home, be Mom, repeat; but secretly yearning for far away places and trying to figure out how to fill the void that is created when you put your hopes on the back burner.

You can get so confused

that you'll start in to race

down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace

and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,

headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place...

One day, after a routine doctor's visit, I found myself in the intensive care unit of my local hospital. The doctors were saying things like "stroke" and "bleeding on the brain". They were asking me questions such as "what has you so stressed out?"

NO!

That's not for you!

I spent a week in that hospital bed. It was there that I decided that I would no longer simply be who society expected me to be. That I would no longer live my life by the standards of others. I decided that life is to be lived and I deserved to live it on my own terms, in my own way. I made some life changing decisions that put me in a better position to do the things that made me happy. Things that filled the void and released the stress. I stopped making excuses.

With banner flip-flapping,

once more you'll ride high!

Ready for anything under the sky.

Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

So now when I get discouraged and the naysayers begin to naysay, I simply remember Dr. Seuss and I can almost hear him say:

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...

be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray

or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,

you're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way!

For the full text of Oh, the Places You'll Go! click here.

What About Your Friends?

Last weekend I traveled to Atlanta to support two friends who have started their own Event Management and Entertainment Company. Another friend picked me up from the airport and we proceeded to pick up another friend who was flying in for the night on her way to Haiti. The five of us hung out in the lobby of the hotel drinking, chatting and laughing. We shared our dreams, discussed our successes and laughed at our failures. We cheered each other on and encouraged each other to go for it, regardless of what "it" was. 

On Saturday evening, we all attended a concert where we were joined by 4 other friends. More drinking, chatting, laughing, sharing and encouraging took place. We danced until after midnight and as quickly as the group came together, we separated; vowing to see each other again soon - maybe in LA, Vegas, Montego Bay, Paris, Thailand or Dubai. 

Sunday morning I headed to the airport, mentally recapping the weekend. I smiled as I thought about my friends, and suddenly I realized that I have known 6 of these individuals for less than 48 hours and the other two for less than 6 months, yet I felt as if I have known all of them a lifetime!  I laughed.  This is the madness that is Nomad·ness!

Ahhhh yes, the Nomad·ness Travel Tribe, AKA The Tribe, was created by Evita Robinson and stemmed from her travel series Nomad·ness TV.  This is a place where likeminded individuals can gather to show why they are nomads. Where you can post your own stories, photos, videos, and travel plans. Where friends are made and support of a nomad lifestyle is given. Where there is no judgment, no "but why" - only answers and recommendations.  Where you can travel across the world with one post and hundreds of comments. Where there is always someone to talk to. Someone who understands your unquenchable need to go, to see, to do.

This group of almost 2,000 members have become my lifeline. We talk on a daily basis. We keep up with each others comings and goings. We kick each other in the butt when needed. We jump on an internet connection and find flights for stranded members.  We open our cities and our homes for visiting members.  We hop on flights to attend events, or to simply meet each other.   We text, Skype, and Face Time day and night because we can't sleep. And neither can the person on the other end because he or she is up looking for the next destination - just like you. 

I am constantly in awe at the wonderfulness that is The Tribe.  Jumping on flights, exploring the world, making a difference and changing the face of travel.  My life has been greatly impacted by these new friendships.  Friendships that inspire, encourage and motivate.  I am no longer intimidated by my desire to see the world and get lost in it all because I know that no matter where I land, there will be a Tribe member close.  I know that no matter what, success or failure, I have a friend (or 2,000). 

This is Nomad·ness!!!



Wanna see more pictures?  Click here!

I've Got Spirit...How 'Bout You?

If you know me, you know that I am a huge fan of Spirit Airlines.  I mean, there is no other airline that can get me from Chicago to Ft. Lauderdale or New York for under $100.  Or to Los Angeles, direct, for under $200.  And YES, before you ask, that includes baggage fees!

I have been flying Spirit for a couple of years now, and I swear I have heard every objection.  So here are my responses to the most common complaints.

They have “hidden fees”:  None of the fees are hidden. Just take the time to read the words on the screen instead of simply hitting next to breeze through to checkout.  But, now that Spirit is required to include taxes and fees in the cost of the fare upfront, that should make some of ya’ll happy.  Personally, I preferred viewing the fares without all the taxes/fees included and then viewing the total after all costs.  But hey, that’s just me. 

They charge for bags, even carry-on:  Yes, they do.  But in most cases, even after the cost of my bag, Spirit still comes in as the least expensive option.  For instance, a recent ticket to NY cost me $96.11 total ($50.11 for the ticket and $46 baggage fee).  And that was for a checked bag.  The next lowest fare for that same weekend on a different carrier was close to $200. So technically, the other carrier’s “baggage fee” was even more.

It’s not comfortable:  Neither is my trip to the dentist, but that doesn’t stop me from going.  And when was the last time you were comfortable on a domestic flight in coach?!  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you will be comfortable (unless you are less than 5’ tall).  But I am saying that for a 2 to 3 hour flight, it’s tolerable.  And I’m usually on the first or last flight of the day.  In other words, I’m sleep.

They charge for beverages:  This one usually gets the blank stare.  Seriously?  Buy a can of Coke before you board the plane.  On my flight home a few nights ago, I stopped by the restaurant near my gate and paid $.71 for a large cup of ice.  I then filled said cup with water from the fountain.  Problem solved.

I’m sure there are other complaints, or what I like to call “justifiable excuses to spend more money”, but if you are ready to give it a try, here are some additional tips and tricks:

Become a $9 Fare Club member:  You will have access to even lower fares and you save on baggage fees.

Pay baggage fees at time of booking:  The fees are cheaper if you pay the fee when you book your flight.  For instance, the $46 I paid for my checked bag above would have been $36 if I had paid the baggage fee when I booked my airfare.  Also, if you are traveling with someone, consider packing ONE large bag and split the checked baggage fee rather than both of you paying for carry-on bags.

Sign-up for email notices:  You will receive notices of travel deals via email.  Here is the trick – DO NOT HESITATE.  If you can, check out the travel deal immediately.  The lowest fares will go quickly. 

Use Spirit Airlines as a Regional Carrier:  Spirit may not fly everywhere you want to go, so use Spirit to get as close to your destination as possible.  For instance, to get to Hawaii, I will book an inexpensive Spirit Airlines ticket to Los Angeles and then fly to Hawaii from there.  Also, whenever I see a deal to Ft. Lauderdale, I jump on it since flying to the Caribbean is much cheaper when leaving from the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area.

Be Flexible:  Spirit Airlines flies to destinations that may not be on your “to do” list, but if a great deal to a place you have never been shows up, consider making it a long weekend trip.  Or, a great deal to a place you have been but would like to visit again.  Why Not? 

The choice is yours.  I will say that Spirit Airlines may not be for everyone.  But for me, they are always my first choice when looking for ways to save money while getting to my desired destination.