travel – Success Strategies

2022 Travel Dreams? 7 Best In The World Road-Trips…

Workaholic. Yep, that’s me. It’s strange that I am dreaming of a getaway so early in the New Year. But guess what? It’s actually carried forward from prior years. Been dreaming of my favorite getaway space but haven’t had a chance to take it. So here I go dreaming as I was asked to share a road trip that I would like to take.

Conde Naste shared the best Road Trips in the world. Amidst the pandemic and all, I shook my head against international travel. Too many requirements. Then on a whim, I mused… hey why not? As the saying goes:

If you can dream it, you can do it
Walt Disney

7 Dream Road Trips

So I let my mind wonder to the list which includes several but my top faves are:

Highway 101 Oregon
Namibia’s Desert
Hana Highway Hawaii
Norway
Ireland
Iceland
Tuscany Italy

Tuscany, Italy

Why not Tuscany? This is my favorite place that I dream of. Renowned travel expert Samantha Brown challenged us to plan a trip that we are excited about. So as I perused the list, I selected my dream place-Tuscany, Italy. Ireland comes closely second, but Tuscany is my preferred place. I decided to pull the full details below for ease of access for both myself or any who wish to get the information. If Italy isn’t for you, then other destinations can be gleaned from them here

Tuscany’s bucolic, vineyard-dotted landscape makes for the quintessential Italian road trip. Start in Florence and cruise south on the SS22 for 30 minutes until you reach the heart of the Chianti wine region. Take your time winding through Strada and Greve towards Siena, stopping at cantine along the way (we recommend these ones). Depending on how much time you have, spend the night in Panzano before circling back up to Florence the next day, or head further south to Montalcino, Montepulciano, and the spectacular Val d’Orcia—arguably the most beautiful stretch of countryside in Tuscany.

Where to stop: Ruffino’s sprawling Poggio Casciano estate for truffle hunting and tasting; Antinori nel Chianti Classico for its Instagram-worthy glass-and-steel winery and equally show-stopping wine; Tenuta Il Greppo, where the first Brunello di Montalcino was bottled in 1888.

Where to eat: Officina della Bistecca in Panzano-in-Chianti for the best steak in all of Tuscany; Re di Macchia in Montalcino for its classic, hearty Tuscan cuisine like white bean soup and wild boar pasta.

Where to stay: In castles, always. We like the intimate, art-filled Castello di Ama in Gaiole in Chianti and the lavish, hilltop Castello Banfi il Borgo in Montalcino, which has an infinity pool overlooking the vineyards.

Your Turn

What’s your dream travel designation or road trip for this year? Do share. We would love to hear.

Cheers!

^{Italy Photo by Stan Swinnen on Pexels.com}

Traveling? Top 11 Things To Do Before You Board That Flight…

We love to travel! The warmth of new places brings smiles and memories that last. But getting to the pleasures of our vacation destination often comes with a nightmare. Travel and Leisure shared their top 25 Things to do before getting on a plane. Here are my top 11 Favs, which by the way makes business travel a breeze.

Pre-Travel Stress Reducers

Get the airlines credit card which offers perks like priority access and other rewards
Download your airlines app. No check-in and free onboard entertainment
Signup for TSA Pre-Check. Forego It’s a smart strategy for a smoother walk through and some airlines refund you the application fee
Check your bags size and dimensions. Airlines are reducing the space. Rid yourself of the headache and follow the rules before you leave home
Compile your gadgets. Being organized makes your life easier
Lounge around the departure lounges instead of sitting at the gate. Life’s simple
Wear comfortable clothing. But I dare say remember airline rules. For example Sometimes short shorts makes the morning news when tempers flare
Disinfect. Need I say more?
Reserve airport parking before you leave. Works like magic and you will walk away looking at cars circling the garage or squeals at missed flights
Grab and Go is a great idea for starving passengers. Get the app and order ahead
That wretched life-saving Mask. Don’t forget it.

BONUS

Read. Bring a book

So these are my top favs. What’s yours? Do share. We would love to hear!

Cheers!

Virgo Wellness Reset…

Virgo: Wellness Reset and Holistic Spa in Arizona

We know what matters to you the most Virgo — your health and wellness. How else could you get everything done, you overachiever, you? So take a moment to give yourself the best spa package and fine dining to match with a desert getaway in the heart of Arizona. This world famous resort has an Aqua circuit like no other, with state-of-the-art amenities to boost your body’s ability to heal and overall well-being. Take advantage of the sound healing classes in the evenings to give you the ultimate night’s sleep, and then wake to practice yoga on the lawn. In between, you’ll have the chance for a massage, a reiki session, and a deliciously rejuvenating smoothie by the pool. With gorgeous weather for most of the year, you get the maximum amount of Vitamin D in this sunlit state, so you’ll be sure to feel the lasting results of good health even after you return home.
Travel and Leisure

What’s your sign? Mine is Virgo. Read where you should plan your trip based on your own Zodiac sign

Travel! You Only Live Once…But Be Careful How

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is img_5748.jpg

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough
~Unknown

Travel. See the world. Party. Think about you and making you happy. That’s what they say. But think about that. Do those things bring meaning? Let’s examine this philosophy closely.

Travel. Oh to see new places and bask in the ambiance. A change of pace incites creativity and value for the things that exist. But in your haste to travel, make sure you spend time basking in the culture of another’s land. Understand the host culture. There are always do’s and don’ts. Foreign Language may be a problem. If you’re not prepared, you won’t be able to communicate. For example, once during my business travel, I ordered bacon through room service and got something totally different. Another time during an international conference a colleague wanted to order hot dog during lunch. She indicated to the server “caliente woof, woof”. Bet you didn’t know that means hot dog (well at least by her definition). As hilarious as that was, she received her correct order.

Be Happy

Be Happy. Think Only About You. Well-intentioned but life is more than you. We must collaborate in order to co-habitate. Everything we do affect those close to us–be it family, friend or foe. So think before you act.

Remember, life is about living. But live in such a way that those who interact in your space are positively affected. Definitely something to think about, and remember… only what you do for Christ will last.

Cheers!

2021 Holiday Book Gift Guide…

A Book is a Gift you can open again and again
Garrison Keillor

Gifts For Your Personal Growth

That Perfect Getaway Read

Gifts To Motivate, Encourage And Inspire

Do you think of retirement as a dead-end road to the Departure Lounge of life? Think again! Retirement, A New Adventure is full of ideas how to live an active, fun and enriching life in retirement. There are things to do, skills to learn, new technologies to embrace, people to meet, places to explore. What sets this book apart is the stories it provides from real life experiences of the author and others; stories that range from silly to serious, revealing how satisfying life in retirement can be.

**Guide To Writing Job Winning Resumes Paperback**

Books For The New Entrepreneur

**101+ Empowering Quotes For New Entrepreneurs**

MOMENTS: MOTIVATIONAL AND INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHTS

Books For The Food Lover

The Sways Of Poetry

Books For The Child Reader

Love To Travel? Inherit An Ancestry 2nd Passport From Any Of These 5 Countries…

Travel is love. Travel is a dream come through for those who love to fly, set sail, or some even trek to heights untold. Mount Everest anyone? Well here is some good news! To avoid the hassle of getting a visa to enter enjoy your getaway vacation, Travel and Leisure surprised us with the list of countries you can gain a second passport from. Our grandparents or great-grandparents who came from any of these wild destinations just upped our inheritance. Take a look:

Italy
Ireland
United Kingdom
Spain
Germany

Take a deep look at your ancestry and see if you qualify. Then get packing!

Cheers!

Traveling To A Place I’ve Never Been…

Corona Air Travel to a place I have never been.

6 Feet apart on the ground.

Masks, face covering and all as orders came for businesses to reopen

Next day mandatory

Embarked on flight observing the usual.

Full flight. Clumped together

White paper bags distributed on entry with tiny pack of cookies and bottled water.

The usual. No changes there

I can see the signs

Less crew to come.

With safe distancing, there’s nothing they need to do besides the initial guidance in preparation for take off

And even then, that’s automated

Three hours later, the friendship State I arrived.

Big airport. Masks everywhere

Until I get to my mountainous destination

Scanty. A few masked ones. The rest on their own.

Free to wander. Free to decide.

Spread the germs

Get the germs

The virus

Will it ever end?

Second leg. Flight empty except for a few dozen passengers

I arrive at my seat.

Backpack in hand and rollercase

I was assigned to sit next to another passenger

I looked around. Why?

The flights empty for crying out loud!

Lovely lady. Kind. Helped me get ‘settled’ into my window seat

Except…. there’s no window.

Oh that’s weird.

A window seat with no window, hmm

Of course I couldn’t settle

One of my pastimes while traveling is to stare out the window

I read. I write. I plan. I stare. Eyes fixed until the earth beneath disappears behind the clouds

Then I gaze at the morning’s sunrise, midday sun or evening sunset

At nights I just stare at the lights until they are gone

Then I zoom into the plane’s flicker against the night sky.

Absolutely love

But then back to my story.

My kind neighbor who looks like a mayor’s wife who bakes cookies and welcomes all at Christmastime agree that I can make haste to the window behind.

No flight attendant in sight. I settle in.

Flight ready for takeoff they asked me to elevate the seat back

The sure demise of a previous passenger

I wiped the place clean … well as clean as I could without looking like a germaphobe

Settled in.

Look around at a passenger dressed in spacesuit

Extra precaution I’d say

Hungry …. had not eaten from morning and airport snack counters closed for obvious reason

I slaughtered a pack of biscuits brought from home

I usually sleep during take off but was too ravished to nap.

I dived in and ate and ate until the pack of biscuits disappeared

Now I await the 3 hour flight to a place I’ve never been

Travel Afar: A Moment’s Notice…

It seems like a Dream. But many are ready to board at a moment’s notice. I can name a few…

Success Strategies

By the way, wanna come?

Leyan was out with her friend buying last-minute items for the apparent Silhouettes of a trip to Europe, when suddenly they asked if she wanted to come. She thought about it. Being away from work for a few weeks she had nothing planned. Like a Trill without thinking too long she turned and said…oh why not.

Immediately they called to book travel arrangements and the next day she was off. Coincidence…don’t you just love ’em?

Have you ever done it? I mean thought about doing something way out of the blue at a moment’s notice? Here, we are not thinking about life situations where you have no choice such as sickness, and others. We’re talking here about just getting up and going somewhere that will benefit and relax you …

Just Because

Just because you’re you. May I challenge you to try it one day…

View original post 34 more words

Travel’s Road Trip. This Summer Night’s Dream…

Because the greatest part of a road trip isn’t arriving at your destination. It’s all the wild stuff that happens along the way.
Emma Chase

Eric Rosen shared in Travel & Leisure Magazine, an article titled Will we be able to travel this summer? Who in the world can imagine such an atrocity? How can we not travel? What…then… will we do with the kids?!

How Can We Not Travel?

Yes, but quiet down. Lets be reasonable. How can we travel during a worldwide pandemic when we have no clue about a virus that is invisibly floating around like an obtrusive enemy? We never know who may get it next. It’s no respecter of persons from Presidents, Prime Ministers and major leaders within societies worldwide. No one seems to be exempt.

But then… as we approach summer, and the approvals have been given to calculatedly reopen, our eyes aghast as we picture the way to go. As travel expert Samantha Brown promised Travel will come back. Now there is hope as Rosen gives points about travel’s return from the experts.

This Summer’s Musings From Travel Experts

Experts mused that:

Destinations will open ‘soon-ish’
Cleanliness is top of the mind…a commodity per my own personal experience the Tale of Travel as things Reopen Amidst Corona enlightened proof of, as travel returns
Road trips on the rise
Wellness and open spaces (i.e. parks, Museums, RVs etc)
Airlines present bargain fares and flexible flight changes in their attempt to boost a comeback to flying
Transformational getaways after all the time we have had to reflect. We want to start the move to get our personal lives back on track. The ultimate goal? To reinvent ourselves. Ascertain our future, and take stock.
Personal travel for family and friends for events such as weddings, grandparents birthdays and more becomes a nostalgic necessity.

The Rise Of The Road Trip

From the list, my personal fav is the traditional Road trip. Predictions are… it will rise this Summer due to cheap gas, lack of money due to the Corona effects, and tour partners customization and tons of collabs to produce the perfect deals.

All in all, here’s hoping this summer will be one of traditional memories for you and yours; or at the very least, provide treasured memories to last a lifetime.

Happy travels!

Cheers!

The Tale Of Travel As Things Reopen Amidst Corona. How They Protect Us…

“Any kind of crisis can be good. It wakes you up.” Ryan Reynolds

“When are you available to travel?” I was excited about the business opportunity but was apprehensive about traveling in the midst of the Pandemic. Two weeks later at the first sign of approval to reopen, I agreed to the visit. Questioned by many about my experience being among the first group of persons to travel as things slowly yet cautiously reopened, I decided to share my experience.

Traveling During A Crisis

Ground Travel

Uber anyone? Yep there’s Uber but that too came with it’s fair share of exposure so I got a ride to the airport. Things changed. It was spooky. Being a big international airport, the number of persons traveling was noticeably low. No surprise here.

As I made my way to the departure lounge, most shops were closed. Customarily, I’d saunter to the bookstore to get a book that I’d customarily finish reading during my 3-hour flight. No such luck. The cemetery of closures spooked the air.

Boarding

As I approached the Gate to board, the announcement came in droves. Ladies and gentlemen we have made a few changes.

6 Ft. apart as Social Distancing was required
Passengers were encouraged to get a meal or refreshment before embarking on flight as they have curtailed their in-flight services
Passengers were asked to scan their own boarding pass (self-explanatory indeed)

No choice but to follow the rules laid out. As I looked around, my own mask affixed, there were a few individuals wearing what I’d refer to as spacesuits. Their own way of taking extra precautions. Others were adorned in masks of many colors with many showing their personality. Yet there still remained a few whose faces were bare. The simple and obvious protection was missing.

In-flight

During our walk to board the aircraft we were constantly reminded about safe distancing and on entry were presented with a white-gift-bag, which later I discovered contained a small bottle of water and a tiny pack of cookies / assorted biscuits. A sign that no food would be served as flight attendants also attempted to protect themselves. Later it was pleasing to note that they did collect garbage.

As I sat down, I found two others passengers in the same row as me (a, b, c). I pondered the question… why would there be so many precautions taken as we boarded, yet it was a still a full flight. Luckily the young lady next to me decided to cover her face with her sweat shirt and went to sleep. This gave myself and the other passenger close by a sense of ‘semi-precaution’.

Hours later we landed and I disembarked and ran to my other flight with the same procedures being repeated. This time I was thrilled that I was able to move to another seat because there was room for true safe distancing.

Off-boarding

After yet another 3-hour commute, I disembarked, received temperature check by security and made my way to pick up my car. Apprehensive about driving because I wasn’t sure of the precaution taken by the rental company. Not much to worry about as I was one of only two persons in the entire area. I picked up my car and armed with gloves and cleaning wipes, I wiped down the inside before driving away.

Hotel Stay During Pandemic

As I arrived at the hotel, I was greeted at the front desk with a letter stating services reduced. It read that my room was fully stocked and that I should leave garbage bins by the door to be emptied and returned in the mornings. Cleaning and in-room services were reduced, if any at all. I complied. No problem for me as I resigned myself to taking care of my room as I did at home for the next few days.

Things Are Different

By the time of my return trip, things were different. By then, masks were mandated to be worn throughout the airport and in-flight. Passengers became annoyed if they saw anyone with mask pulled down. Personally, I tried my best to snack and drink while wearing my mask. It became a true work of art (smile).

Looking back my trip was indeed memorable. As I reflect on the changes brought on by the pandemic and how businesses and society dealt with keeping a safe distance, I pray this will pass soon.

For me, my next trip might by a road trip to ensure true safe distancing. But for sure life goes on and we have to do what we can to survive.

Stay safe y’all.

Social Distancing. 21 Things To Do…

With the influx of the pandemic worldwide many regular activities have come to a halt. Kids are home from school. Businesses have closed or implemented work-from-home with only a skeletal staff in office. Things are just basically at a standstill. What can you do when the work stops? When maintaining Social Distance confines you to your home? Beauty Bites and Radical Transformation Projects gave a few tips. Here I share my personal favs of 21 things that you can try: