Photo by snappED_up

There is no doubt that air fares are beginning to creep up again. We all know about the airlines who have already added the fuel surcharge and, more recently, baggage charges and some who even charge for snacks. When these worked the floodgates opened and airlines looked for ways to add on some more. Due to supply and demand, the “Peak Holiday Surcharge” is a common add-on for holidays like Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.

So now, yes, there is another layer of fees or surcharges that have been added to the pot. When the holiday surcharge became commonplace, it was just a natural progression to add more days, and more and more days every few weeks, until now many airlines charge for most days – some as high as $50 one way for something like the Superbowl.

When you add all these surcharges to sales tax, airport, FAA and TSA fees, this can really add up.

Thank goodness, some of the low fare airlines are still holding out – like Southwest. I love Southwest and use them whenever and wherever possible. Then there are others like Air Trans who only adds sporadic and minimal surcharges.

To see a fee added chart with the days they are added by airlines, as well as some tips on avoiding them take a look at Rick Seaney’s article on Fare Compare under the Quick Links heading.

When you have an option to not use one of these fee happy airline,  it seems to have an impact.

Sometimes when you are traveling, it is hard to stay organized. Everything gets jumbled up in your suitcase or seemingly bottomless purse. I think I have a few tips that could at least make a little order out of chaos. Two things – a small, tension curtain rod and a hanging shoe bag, both of which can be stuffed into your suitcase.

You can minimize the amount of clothes you need by rinsing them in the sink and then hanging them to dry on the tension rod placed in the shower. Some hotels have retractable clothes lines but most don’t.

The shoe bag can be hung on the bathroom door and can contain makeup, jewelry, hair care items like your brush, curling iron, etc, tooth brush, maybe even shoes!! Really whatever you want.

This way you can have things handy at your reach with no more packing and unpacking stuff every morning and evening when you do your grooming and at the same time keep your room nice and tidy.

Let me know what some of your packing tips are.

Having just come back from a little cruise, I thought I would leave you with a few tips this week so that you might benefit from my experiences.

The first deals with preparing in advance for the chance that you might experience a bout of sea sickness. If we could have spared my travel friend, Margaret, from her misery that first evening it would have made a profound difference in her enjoyment of the trip. Even if you think you would never yourself fall victim to it, it is better, as they say,to be safe than sorry. We got advice from several of the other ladies we met who had taken advance precautions. A trip to the drugstore for a patch or whatever the pharmacist had to offer would be one choice. The other was that one of the gals had bracelets special for this problem that put pressure on the inside of her wrists to avert getting sick. Next time, while I was fortunate not to be sick, I think I will be more proactive and prepare for the unexpected.

The other tip deals with watching your budget while on board. While it is true that food and SOFT beverages are included, alcohol is not. The wait staff was constantly in our face to offer Bahama Mama drinks or wine or something. And believe me, people were drinking freely at 6 or 7 or even 10 dollars a pop. I would hate to see their bills when they signed out. Fortunately, neither Margaret nor I succumbed to this so we saved a lot of money. I do enjoy a nice glass of wine or a fruity drink now and then, but we had just decided that for this trip, we would forgo the drinking, opting for iced tea, juice, milk and coffee. We are both trying to lose weight and tried to watch calories, even though I managed to gain 4 pounds!!!! Those desserts caught up with me I guess. And we really did try to monitor as best we could. But when you are out of your own kitchen, you are getting more sugar, salt, carbs, etc than you would when you prepare for yourself. But that is another topic for later perhaps.

So we are back, a little “fatter” and a little wiser. Hope you find these cruise tips helpful. If any of you have cruise experience and tips of your own, I would love for you to leave a comment and share yours too.

Going for the fancy isn’t always the best way to go. There are a lot of little hidden gems out there where one can get the authentic flavor of a locale without falling into the tourist trap. We like to veer off the path now and then and follow the locals to see where they like to eat.

In a little town called Dunnellon, Florida, right along SR 41, we found a spot called The Front Porch. It was about as down home as you could get but I am telling you, finding a parking spot was hard to come by. Hand painted scenes on the walls and colorful rocking chairs gave it character. Even the walls in the restrooms were painted to resemble on old fashioned out house. Kind of a hoot, really.

As crowded as it was, we only had about a five minute wait to be seated. The folks who worked there were about as laid back as you could get. But friendly and courteous and downright neighborly. It was quite a diverse gang of patrons there too from a guy with a mullet and tats to two little old ladies in their Sunday going to the meeting fancy dresses with matching hats.

They had a nice little selection of menu items that I don’t often see these days- like okra and beets. But we’d had heard about the pies, and that was what we had come for. We decided to have the Cubans, not that original- I know. But then came the pies.

Roberto chose the Key Lime. It has been one of his favorites and as they were soon leaving the South, he had his last piece. He liked it.

Jenn went for the coconut cream. It was just full of fresh grated toasted coconut in the filling and the meringue and she dug right in.

Me, I went for the Lemon Meringue. Not as tart as I would have liked but very lemony and the meringue was a mile high.

It was fun exploring and we were glad we took the time out to have lunch there.

I am always looking for a way to travel and keep to a budget. Have you ever received in the mail that you have won a free trip? We all know that that is usually never the case and there are strings attached. Right. Well, I got one for a free 3 day, 2 night cruise to the Bahamas for two, which in my case is with my ever ready travel buddy, Margaret.

Turns out, the “string attached” to this freebie is that you have to take a look at a time share in south Florida. Since I already live in Florida, there is no way I need that. But what the heck.

While this is not a way I would generally like to do it, we decided that we would do it anyway. We have to get there, but for us that is a drive in the car sharing gas, and we have to pay the port tax in the Bahamas. So if this is halfway decent, we had a few days on a cruise ship and a day of shopping at the Straw Market in Nassau. Whether this turns out to be a good idea or not we shall see. When I get back next week, I will let you know. Meanwhile, if you don’t mind the annoyance of looking, it is a free trip.

I will be going into Canada this summer when I head up to Vermont to visit Jenn and Roberto and figured I should check to see if my passport was still good. It feels like a long time ago that I renewed it. Fortunately, I still have almost another year and a half on mine.

But I did a little research anyway to just see what I will need to do. It’s not that difficult to get a new passport or to renew one. It takes some time though, usually 4-6 weeks, and money, about $100 for a new one, and a little less to renew. A passport lasts for ten years. Forms can usually be gotten at the post office and pictures can be taken readily at AAA or even some drug stores. You could easily do a quick online search the the places in your local area.

As long as your current passport is in good shape, you are still using the same name, and are over 16, you could renew by mail using a DS-82 application that you can download. If some of these criteria are not the case for you, you must apply in person. To get step by step instructions, needed forms or the location of the passport agency in your area, click here.

Have passport – will travel.

For me the last few years of monthly trips to St. Augustine to visit Jenn and Roberto have been at the top of my list. Compared to Ocala, Florida, St. Augustine has had so many more and varied things that I enjoy – the architecture, the history, the food and the beach.

The three of us have had many walks on the beach during the last nearly three years. Here we are on Easter Sunday taking another walk on the beach with Pepino and MiniP. A perfect day, a sunny 85 degrees, a cool breeze, the sound of the ocean and the sites. Wish I could tuck the sounds and smells into this post for you too.

We walked for near two hours today. It was a wonderful family moment, but a bittersweet one too. Because this occasion marks our last walk together on this St. Augustine beach before their big move!!

Till we meet again in Vermont……..

Photo by emilio labrador

Over the last few months I have heard from several people who have had special situations requiring some degree of assistance at airports. One involved an elderly parent traveling alone and not being able to walk from one gate to another while changing planes, the next was having two young children traveling unaccompanied by an adult and the other was having a person coming into the states from another country who was unable to speak English. All different scenarios, but each presented a specific need for special assistance. These are but a few examples that I have heard about myself and I am sure there are many more situations where people have some disability or need for some kind of help to make their journey easier, safer and less fearful.

When you are making your reservations and if you are dealing with a traveler who has some limitation or disability, ask for special services. They can send a  transport or wheelchair and quickly escort you through the terminal to the next gate, and they can help you arrange for an escort pass so you can go through security to the gate with those small children or loved ones on both ends of the trip.  Just knowing that help is available can give your traveler more freedom to take those trips and give you some peace of mind.

On an earlier post I had mentioned about traveling with one of those special money belts that can be worn around your waist under your clothing to keep your cash, credit cards, etc. safe from those who would like to take it from you. When you travel alone you may be more conspicuous as a target so I would remind you to take that precaution.

Recently, in just surfing, I came upon another similar idea for you ladies, or really anyone, who has access to a pair of old pantyhose. If you do not have a place to purchase the zippered money belt that I spoke of, another alternative would be to use the leg of a pair of panty hose. You could just place the money and cards in it and then tie it around your waist.

If you are also carrying a little purse, I would leave a little cash there to pay for tips, cab fares, and little odds and ends you may want to purchase en-route with out exposing to anyone about your little secret stash.

                                                                                  Photo by xraven1

When I was growing up taking lots of family vacations just wasn’t part of my family’s budget plan. My parents worked very hard all their lives raising my brother and me and we had everything we needed, but we just didn’t have a lot of wants – like vacations. And that was alright.

In later years, once we kids were out on our own and dad finally was able to retire, they were fortunate enough in their golden years to travel a little bit. My parents were always social and had a network of family and friends living around them and fortunately their vacations took on the form of group trips organized by our church with these family and friends – on the bus. This was perfect for them. They never had the worry of mapping trips, driving on unfamiliar roads, figuring out how to book hotels, planes or any of that. They just signed up and away they went. And they had wonderful times, visited many and varied places and collected lasting memories. I am so happy that they were able to do that. I had terrific parents and they sure deserved a little fun and excitement together in their lives.

That got me to thinking – about buses.

Just about this time, I came upon an article written by Peter Greenberg while paging through a recent issue of AARP Magazine touting the advantages of bus travel in the here and now. Whether you are going to join a group on a planned tour like my parents did or just using the bus as a means of transportation on your way to your own planned trip, going by bus may just have an attractive appeal.

In general, you buy your ticket, hop on while your bags are stowed, with no extra baggage fees I might add, and take your place in a roomy, leather reclining seat. Sometimes, I used to catch a bus home on breaks in my college days, when I didn’t have my own car, and found it actually quite pleasant. The bus made regular stops where we could stretch, grab a bite to eat and while on board, get to see a lot of just beautiful scenery along the highways and through those quiet little towns. I loved it.

Maybe if you are in a hurry, this might not be the ideal choice. Yet, if you figure in driving to the airport, parking in a satellite lot, catching the little van to the terminal and then going though all the lines before waiting to board, that all adds up too. But face it, we are all so much in a hurry to do everything that just the idea of slowing things down and enjoying the trip sounds real good to me. Even better, some of the intercity buses, like Greyhound or Peter Pan and others, looking to compete with trains and planes, are adding such amenities as wireless access, cell phone reception, drop down videos screens and even attendants who will serve you a snack or beverage. Pretty cool, huh!! Another advantage is that the fares are really very reasonable. Only down side that I can see is that for now at least, the bus still does not serve every route and you might not find service to the place you need to go. But if you can make your connections, be prepared to save big.  Greenberg said that a typical round trip from New York to Boston, for example, might cost $225 on American Airlines, $124 on Amtrak and drum roll please, $42 on Greyhound.

If you are curious about looking into bus travel, there are a few sites where you can plug in your route and get a comparison of various bus companies and fares, some with package deals as well.

BusJunction.com

GoToBus.com