Everyone Loves a Castle, Right?

Back when I was younger, I did my utmost to visit every castle I came upon.   I have my favorites, including Conwy Castle in Wales, the iconic Warwick Castle, and Urquardt Castle in Scotland.  I don’t mean to be anglo-centric, but the truth is that I prefer my castles to be solid and utilitarian.  The French Chateaux are amazing confections that confound me.  Even the most austere, Angers, the homes of the Dukes of Anjou, is deceptively simple with lines that appear impossibly precise. Amboise and Chenonceau are marvels of engineering and design.  But, I understand how the English lived in their castles.  I have a hard time understanding how the French used theirs.

My favorite movie is The Lion in Winter.  Peter O’Toole stars as Henry II of England, who has declared a Christmas Court at Chinon in 1183.  He brings together his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, his sons, Richard, Geoffrey and John, his mistress Alais, and her brother, King Philip II of France, for a holiday.  His family all wish to resolve the issue of succession, even if the resolution requires a little sedition.  The thing about the movie is that it makes you want to book a trip to the Loire.

Similarly, Caroline Costello found herself shopping for a trip to Paris after seeing Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, which made me think about the reasons I go where we go.  Certainly, movies are great travel porn.  Tom and I decided to take a cruise to Mexico after seeing The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.  We did not exactly find the treasure, but on an excursion into the mountains, we definitely found an essential Mexico that simply does not exist in Cabo San Lucas, no matter how beautiful Cabo is.

Tom and I watch Black Orpheus whenever it’s on, and imagine that we’re in Rio for Carnival.  I’m not sure the Brazil of Black Orpheus still exists, although, if it did, it would probably be suspended somewhere between the neighborhoods of Santa Teresa and Lapa.  I find myself, like Ms. Costello, looking at trips to Rio, although the cost is nearly prohibitive (that is, I cannot find a trip that fits my minimum requirements within my travel budget).  Maybe next year.

Unless… I keep looking at pictures of castles.  I found this slideshow of English castle ruins that reminds me of how much I love an English ruin…

Non-Travel Blogger Tackles Vacation!

My friend Biodork has taken a vacation to the Pacific Northwest.  In her blog today, you can discovery a really great way to cut airport transportation costs in Seattle, her drop-dead must do list in Seattle, and a surprise on the scenic drive up the coast to Bellingham, Washington.

I shall be following her vacation adventures, much like I follow her normal Biodork life.

Is this a tacky tourist photo?

 

Honestly, whatever it is, I want more.  I found this picture at Tacky Tourist Photos.  I might need to submit one of my pictures of Tom napping or something.  Enjoy.  

Why?

I had a less than composed moment this weekend.

One of my favorite travel companions is my stepson Ken.  I love traveling with him, because I get to see the world through the eyes of someone who sees the world dramatically different that I do.   He is a curious traveler, and he has the assertiveness of the true extrovert.  That makes him a good match for me.  I wish I was more curious.  And I try to travel with extroverts so that I am not limited by my natural Scandinavian reserve.  Last winter, I proposed that Ken accompany us on a cruise this fall or winter.   You will hear my thoughts on cruising at some point, but for now, suffice it to say that I believe that a cruise would be one of those amazing vacation experiences with Ken.  He would have limitless freedom that the small community of a cruise ship offers accompanied with the opportunity to see parts of the world that might otherwise not be readily accessible to him.  Ken is disabled, and like many disabled individuals, his finances are pretty tight.   We’ve taken him on a number of vacations, but as he’s grown older, his jobs and finances have limited his ability to travel.   This year, Ken is receiving a nice tax return in September.  And so, by planning far in advance, I thought that we might be able to make this happen.  I found a cruise that would cost him approximately $420 that leaves after the holidays (a time period that is very busy for him at work and socially).   We agreed that we would front the cost of the transportation and we would hopefully build in a short visit with his aunt who live sin Dallas.

As you can see, I built a very nice argument in favor of Ken accompanying us on this trip.

He called me yesterday to say that he and his girlfriend were planning on becoming engaged in August and that he wanted to buy her a ring, so he could not afford to go on the cruise.  I was broken hearted.  It was a silly feeling.  He’s an adult.  He’s allowed to meet someone, fall in love, and choose to buy a ring instead of a cruise.    I may have some concerns about the speed all this is happening.  And, I may wonder about the need for two people in such difficult financial circumstances to buy rings.   But then, a cruise is not a better use of money than a ring.

Or is it?

When I married my husband, we had been living together for years.  We did not feel the need to announce or engagement.  We planned a wedding in less than five days at the courthouse and we invited our best friends and our family.  Some of our family couldn’t make it, because the scheduling was so tight.

We did not buy rings.  My father gave us a generous gift (probably in recognition that I was not asking him to pay for the wedding).  He bought us a short honeymoon in Las Vegas a few months after our wedding.  It was ungodly hot, but we really enjoyed ourselves.  We stayed at the MGM Grand, and we visited the now-closed Liberace Museum where we saw the amazing car collection.. and the entertainer’s great mirrored piano.   We saw Mamma Mia when it was playing in the main theater at the Mandalay Bay.  We drove to the Hoover Dam, and stepped over the border into Arizona.

A few years later, I inherited my mother and grandmother’s wedding diamonds, and Tom and I decided to invest in wedding rings.  Even though I love my ring, and it reminds me of my Mother and my Grandmother whenever I look at it, I love travel more.  I love remembering the trips my Mother and I took together.  How we froze ourselves at Candlestick Park in San Francisco watching a very young Barry Bonds play in left field.  How we walked all over London, and Mom bought the umbrella from Harrod’s to prove it.  And how, no matter what we did when we stayed at the Embassy Suites in Chicago, we could not get the maid to stop waking us up for a “room check!” at 8:00 a.m. every morning (even if we did put out the “Do Not Disturb” sign).

These memories are pretty substantial pieces of who I am.   In a piece this past January,  Travel Blogger Ben Colclough theorized that many of us travel because “we have to. It’s in our blood, an itchy footed restless careless desire to up roots and see and do something new, to break the routine of life.”   And certainly, that is part of who I am.

There are other people who value rings over trips.   Maybe Ken is one of them.   If I were living Ken’s life, I would skip the rings and invite the girlfriend on a cruise.    I’m not, though.

 

Is this a class action?

Last week, I booked a vacation to Hawaii.  This week, I find out that the airlines are collecting government fees and taxes and not paying them over to the FAA, as Congress permitted the FAA’s taxing authority to expire.  Now, in order to ensure that they are able to keep these fees, they have simply raised fares to include the fees they were collecting.   I will need to look into this further, but if they haven’t paid that part of my ticket reflecting taxes and fees over to the FAA, I should get a refund!

Planning the Perfect Vacation

This week, the  New York Times offers some great tips for vacation planning.  Each of these helpful tips has hidden costs associated with them.  Here are my tips to combat these hidden costs.

1. Relish the anticipation.  In other words, plan early.  Think about the vacation often.  Because apparently, thinking about your vacation is almost as good as being on it.  It will also lead you to buy more things in anticipation for your trip.  You may add an excursion; or you may just buy new clothes.   You will almost certainly buy a guidebook or two.   Consider reading about your destination on the web and challenging yourself to make do with your current wardrobe.

2. Plan shorter vacations.  If you can’t get away for 14 days, go for 5 days.   This is good advice for us time-starved worker-bees.  However, it also means more money in the pockets of airlines, and less opportunities for you to save with longer stays.   It is entirely possible to see Disney World in five days, but is it possible to to see Paris or New York in five days?

3.  Remember to build in relaxation.  I used to build itineraries that ensured that I saw everything, and wasted no time in a hotel.  These vacations were fun, they were educational, and they hurt my feet!   These days, half the reason I go on vacation is to relax.  I’m probably going to pay for a balcony on a cruise ship or consider upgrading to an ocean view room.  I may well consider the hotel’s bedding in my decision.  I’m more likely to schedule an extra day of vacation from work to unpack and unwind, even though it means another day without income.  I have a friend who will upgrade to first class where possible to ensure that she doesn’t arrive at her destination cranky.  The best way to combat these costs is to realize they exist.  Make conscious decisions that reflect your travel style.   With a little research, you may be able to find a cheaper alternative to your relaxation problem.  For example, I’ve heard good reviews of the french door  interior staterooms on Carnival‘s Conquest-class ships.  They offer a french door onto a promenade type deck that is not quite private, but is also not used that often.   During a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia, my husband and I stayed at the Hampton Inn near Colonial Williamsburg.  Although the hotel was driving distance from Colonial Williamsburg, we snagged a suite for under $70 a night.  It was an extremely comfortable stay.

4.  Limit technology.   Technology and travel always carry hidden costs.   Your cell phone may not have international coverage.  You may need to pay extra for internet access.  However, you may also not be able to afford to stay away from your voicemail and email.  I recommend planning your contact with the real world in.  Because I run my own business, when I go on vacation, there is no one to handle emergencies.  And emergencies always happen.  My solution is to ask callers to call  a google voice number if they have an issue that cannot wait for me to get home,  leave an out of office message on my email, and under promise connectivity.  I also do my best to tell my clients about my upcoming absence.    Finally, I plan time into my vacation to ensure that I can access my messages–usually sometime on the afternoon of the first workday I’m gone, and every other day after that.

5.  Lose yourself in an activity.   Seemingly contradicting item number 3 on the list, the New York Times suggests that you use  your vacation productively.  In other words, buy an excursion.  Enroll in a class.  Great advice, as long as you have the cash to add that gourmet cooking class onto your trip.  To save cash, you might want to challenge yourself to find free or cheap things to do.  For example, I go on photography walks.  Tom and I go to national parks (which are nearly free, because Tom is a senior).

6.  End on a high note.  In other words, do something big on your trip.  But consider how pressured you might be to do everything big.  And what is big for you?   Tom and I had a trip out east that was highlighted by visits to family.   On our recent trip to Grand Marais, Minnesota, we went out to dinner at a nice restaurant once and hit the Fourth of July fireworks on our last night.  The fireworks were fare more memorable than the meal.  And when we visited my brother in Pasadena, there were far too many big items, but the one I recall the best was getting my big brother’s help in framing the perfect picture of the Rose Bowl.  

Should I Go by Car?

Generally speaking, the average traveler will find it cheaper to drive than fly for a vacation if the destination is two days’ or less drive and there are at least two travelers.   The formula I use to determine whether I should fly or drive is as follows: If,  Airport Parking or Transportation + Airfare + Car Rental< Cost of Gas + Cost of Hotel + Food, then, we fly.

Consider a vacation for 10 days from Minneapolis to New Orleans for two people.

Flying costs the following:

$120 parking/airport transportation

$600 airfare (I usually see airfare to New Orleans at about $325 per person, but it is possible to pay less)

$200 car rental (you can do without a car rental but if you want to leave the city, you would need to book a tour)

_______

$920

Driving costs:

$334.80 gas (2668 round trip miles, driving a 2006 Suburu Forester, according to Cost To Drive)

$320 hotel (average $80 per night per 8 hours of driving.  New Orleans is almost 20 hours from Minneapolis, and we average four hotel nights)

$100 food (Tom and I are pretty cheap on car trips.  We try to stay at hotels with breakfasts and we make the best of convenience stores)

_______

$754.80

I did not include the opportunity cost involved in losing two extra days of valuable vacation time.  That sometimes makes a difference, especially if you work for yourself or you have very limited vacation time.

As you can see, driving almost always makes sense if it’s a two day car trip and more than one person is traveling and opportunity costs are not included.   When it’s a three day car trip, you may find flying more economical.

For example, Miami is a three (or four) day car trip from Minneapolis (1775 miles or almost 30 hours one way).   The cost of a car trip would be:

$480.08 gas according to Cost To Drive

$480 hotel (six nights at $80 per night)

$150 food

______

$1,110  

Airfare would have to cost approximately $400 per ticket for it to make sense to drive from Minneapolis to Miami on a vacation for two.  Since airfare between the two cities generally fluctuates between $270 and $370, flying is almost always cheaper than driving.  Considering that the opportunity costs of six days of transportation are much likely to be greater than the opportunity cost of four days of transportation, flying becomes even more attractive.

And remember, you cannot drive to Hawaii.