Home Away from Home for the Holidays

December 22, 2012 No Comments

Traveling for the holidays, but worried about missing out on all the festive décor, delicious food, and frosty snowflakes? Don’t worry. There are plenty hotels across the country — and around the world! –offering lots of lights, sights, treats, and sweets that will make you feel at home.

The Fairmont San Francisco

A 22-foot gingerbread house takes center stage at one of San Francisco’s most prestigious hotels. Take a stroll through the fragrant culinary concoction made from 650 pounds of candy, 12 gallons of chocolate, 7,500 pieces of gingerbread, and nearly a ton of icing. Be sure to peek through the windows at the train running through the house. After exiting this life-size Christmas staple, visit Laurel Court where guests can partake in traditional holiday foods and even a Christmas tea.

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Favorite Holiday Movies – Ours & Yours!

December 15, 2012 No Comments

There are many words used about our tried-and-true Christmas movies – emotional and moving and family-sweet among them – but one you hear less often is among the most crucial: repeat. Our favorite holly-bedecked films become our favorites through their annual December return, each year, to our cable channels and DVRs. Soon we can say all the lines along with the characters we love, from “Bah! Humbug!” to “You’ll shoot your eye out!” Thank their staying power, a staying power non-holiday movies can’t rightly claim, for their places in our hearts. Thank them also for being good, and fun, and, yes, moving. Here are a few of our chestnut-scented favorites.

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Spotlight on Indianapolis

December 1, 2012 No Comments

This week, Customer Service Agent Cathy shares some of her favorite things about a favorite city, Indianapolis!

Tucked away in the quiet Midwest, Indianapolis frequently is touted as an “up and coming” city. Perhaps surprising to many, it is currently the 12th most populous city in the United States and has many attractions worthy of your visit.

History buffs will want to visit the various war memorials, including the Soldiers & Sailors Monument, the Indiana World War Memorial, and the USS Indianapolis Memorial, among others. The Indiana State Museum and the Eiteljorg Museum are located in nearby White River State Park. The kids will love the Children’s Museum and the Indianapolis Zoo. A short drive north will take you to family-friendly Conner Prairie, where you can experience life in the 19th century.

Sporting News magazine recently ranked Indy as the 19th best sports city in the country. While in town, try to catch a Colts game at the magnificent Lucas Oil Stadium, which was host to the 2012 Super Bowl. Motor sports fans are familiar with the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400. If basketball is your thing, check out the Pacers (NBA) or Fever (WNBA) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.  Also located in Indianapolis is the campus of Butler University, whose men’s basketball team recently went to the NCAA Final Four two years in a row. The Indianapolis Indians play minor league baseball, and their stadium, Victory Field, is a fantastic place to watch a game.

If you’re more artsy than athletic, be sure to visit the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. For theater performances, check the schedules at Beef and Boards, the Murat Centre and Clowes Memorial Hall. If you can’t make it to Indy Jazz Fest in September, you can swing by the Jazz Kitchen year-round for tasty food and excellent music. The Heartland Film Festival takes place each October and is one of the fastest-growing film festivals in the country.

Overwhelmed by the possibilities? Believe it or not, this just touches on some of the many activities available in one of the best cities in the Midwest. Come for a visit and experience true Hoosier hospitality!

 

Gift Ideas for Your Tech-Loving Traveler

November 24, 2012 No Comments

If you’ve got a digital junkie in the family, we’ve got gift ideas that will keep them charged and happy all year long!

Thin is In! –If you need your gadgets to step up and do double the duty, the Logitech Ultrathin IPad Keyboard Cover not only protects your precious Ipad, but also acts as a keyboard. You can hit the deck and the keys while away. Finally you can leave your laptop behind. It pays to be thin. $100

Power to the People – A big challenge every traveler faces is keeping their many devices fully wired no matter what the location. Innergie mCube Mini 90 is your go to on the go. The small power in your pocket can provide an extra 4.5 hours on the Ipad and 15 hours on the phone front. Whether on an obscure African safari or dealing with a power outage in the urban jungle, Innergie will keep your world fully wired. $59.99

Music To My Ears – When it comes to business, it needs to make sense. It’s all about the ROI and performance potential. Logitech’s UE 900 Noise Isolating Earphones performance and multi-tasking potential is music to any traveler’s ears. If you want to zone out fellow in-flight passengers, noisy neighbors in your hotel or simply pick up verbal nuances on the company’s conference call, Logitech’s earbuds will have you singing their praises. $400

Scan the Man – Time is money, but in today’s world space is too. One can’t afford to carry a boatload of docs or brochures home. So, slip VuPoint’s Magic Wand Portable Scanner in to your purse, briefcase or knapsack and capture images, menus, brochures or business docs all in a matter of minutes. With the wave of the wand, store up to 32G on microSDHC cards for easy storage and transfer. Now you have room to shop. $99

Next! – Whether packing for business or pleasure purposes, space and weight is always an issue. If leaving the laptop behind, but still in need of backing up precious photos and videos, slip Nexto DI Digital Photo Storage into your carry on to capture those images and memories while keeping the weight at bay. $399

Green with Envy – Netbook? Notebook? Tablet? If you can’t decide, opt for the Hybrid Tablet/Notebook HP Envy X2. HP Envy X2 gives you the best of both with a slide and detachable touch screen and an action packed window with an eight hour battery life for long haul flights and long layovers. If you’re waiting for the wave of the future, it‘s here this holiday season. $850

Reduce Holiday Travel Stress – 5 Tips!

November 17, 2012 2 Comments

For lots of people, the holidays mean more than family, gifts, and fun… They mean TRAVEL STRESS. Usually it centers around missing a train or plane, but can include not being packed in time, not packing the right things, or getting lost in a strange place… But a few easy ‘prep steps’ can reduce the possibility of these nightmare scenarios from becoming your reality.

Since many of us are on a tight budget,  saving money is step one to reducing holiday travel stress. Several travel insider sites, including farecompare.com, agree that Wednesday is the best day to travel if you want a good deal. Travel consultant Peter Greenberg believes Wednesday is the best day to BUY your tickets too, suggesting that midnight is the best time to plunk down your greenbacks, due to the competitive nature of the various airlines.

Relax Maxie, no taxi! That’s another way to say have a good plan for getting to the airport. Sounds easy right? It might be if you live close to a major airport and your flight isn’t too early… But sometimes that’s not that case. Sure, you can try to convince a friend or family member to get up in the wee hours to drive you there. But sometimes that’s not an option, and that’s where we come in. At ParkSleepFly.com,  we offer affordable packages that let you spend the night at a hotel, and then leave your car there during your trip. Parking lots often fill up over the holidays, so the peace of mind of a guaranteed reservation is a huge stress-reducer. Get a good night’s sleep, take a quick shuttle trip to the airport, rest easy knowing your car is secure, and enjoy your trip!

Back to the pricier issues of flight and hotel. There are lots of great travel search engines (Kayak, Expedia, and Orbitz to name a few) that publish low fares and allow for comparisons among airlines and hotels. Timing is key on these sites too, as a recent search for first class tickets from LA to New York proved. Staring first with Kayak, all the one-way fares on major airlines were approximately that same price, except the first flight of the day on American Airlines, which left at a decent hour and was significantly less expensive (just over $800, vs $3,000!). Don’t wait until the last minute and hope that these fares will magically be there waiting for you; Start your search well in advance of your target travel date – The bargains may influence your plans and save you a bundle. Also, check out the chat-rooms of travel sites such as Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Travel Forum or Fodors for great tips from fellow bargain hunters. Also check out travel books from your local library – a free excuse to start dreaming of your tropical getaway while it’s still snowing at home!

Get your suitcase out of storage ASAP. Don’t worry if your trip is weeks away. Find a spot in your bedroom and open up that suitcase. Each time you do laundry, set aside a favorite pair of jeans, seasonally appropriate attire, even spare undies. In no time you will have packed without realizing it! Bonus points for only using a carry-on, as you won’t have to stand around after that long flight or stress about the possibility of lost luggage, and you’ll save money on baggage fees. If you do have to check bags, try to carry one change of clothes in your carry-on, just in case. For more useful packing tips check out this post.

And on the eighth day, they invented earplugs. For just a few dollars, most local drugstores sell earplugs that come in a handy carrying case and cut out plane (and airport/bus/random people) noise. They are re-usable, can be rolled up into a ball, and are worth ten times their weight in gold. (Click here to compare earplug options.) If you can spend a bit more, look into buying some noise reducing headphones. While not as compact as earplugs, they can do wonders for your need to sleep.

Do you have tips that might help ease our readers’ way this holiday season? Share them in the comments!