Deja-Vu-cation

Question: if you’ve been somewhere before on holiday, do you keep going back to the same place, or expand your horizons and try somewhere new?  Should you?  I always want to try exciting different destinations, but the lure of places like London, Disneyland and Costa Rica, places I know I’m going to have a great time and places I know I can afford, keep calling me back.  My memories there are so good, I just want to experience them again.  But the world is such a huge and wondrous place and I want to see it all (get another pin on my map, get it?)…  I don;t know.   So what do you do?  Do you have a tendency to repeat your vacations (deja-vu-cations) or are you an I have been there, seen it, never need to go back person?  Why?

Tags: Been there, Dinseyland, habits, London, question

Vacation calories do count, but you can survive!

               I’ve been there.  That point in your vacation when you look back on what you’ve consumed and are hit with a wave of guilt and don’t even want to walk past that full-length mirror every hotel room has because you suddenly notice an extra paunch hanging over the top of your bathing suit.  And it sucks.   In my case it usually brings on a mild (okay, maybe not so mild) panic attack and the remainder of my trip’s spent venting to my travel companions just how awful this feels (I’m still apologizing for that).  Consequently, now I’ll do whatever I can to minimize that feeling (and avoid the “oh my God, will she just shut up already?” glares from my family and friends.  What I’m getting at is that too many of us think that because we’re in a new time zone, all the nutrition rules we have to live by on a normal day suddenly don’t apply and let ourselves go.  But with just a little bit of work, it is possible to survive your vacation with your waistline intact, and all without  taking away from your fun.

             This may sound ridiculously simple, but just monitor what you eat.  I’m not saying you can’t have that amazing (and huge) sundae with the glossy red cherry on top, I’m just saying don’t have one every day.  Or don’t have one after your deep-fried meat-of-some-unidentifiable-species with deep-fried-veggies and deep-fried-fries dinner.  It’s the same basic principle you’ve heard a thousand times: try to choose veggies, fruit and anything fresh whenever possible, and avoid anything that, if you ring it out, you can use the drippings to polish your new hardwood with.  I know the breakfast buffet is included in the room rate, but that doesn’t mean you have to personally eat everything they prepared, there are other guests to help with that, too.  Or if you go all out on breaky, have a smaller lunch and dinner.  The same goes for alcohol, too.  I know it’s liberating not to have to be accountable all the time, but six beers and you’ve racked up over a thousand calories, over half your daily target without your body even knowing it.  Moderation, people, moderation! 

              Regardless of how angelic your eating habits may be, if you’re doing nothing but lounging around like Jabba the Hut all day you’re gonna end up looking like, well, Jabba the Hut.  You have to move it to loose it.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to launch into some complex eighteen-step workout plan that you can do daily in your hotel room with only some minor equipment that you have to haul from home.  With luggage allowances being what they are, no one is going to haul your own set of dumbells and an elliptical trainer through security, and any article that suggests it is totally full of crap.  If you can’t get it in destination, it’s not worth it.    But this is where the simple fact that you’re on vacation actually helps with your exercise plan.

                Personally, I’m not a lie-on-the-beach-all-day-and-turn-over-at-regualr-intervals kind of girl.  Not only am I too pale for that much sun, but I also have the attention span of a gerbil.  Consequently, from the time I set down in a new city, I’m on the go, wanting to see everything this exciting place has to offer.  This translates into a hell of a lot of walking.  Be it walking around a museum or zoo or shopping mall or just walking because I’m too cheap to pay for a taxi for that short distance, I’m constantly on the move.  Unless you have a very active job back home, for most of us this translates into more movement than we normally do at our desk jobs and equals calories burned without actually having to think about it.  I had one client recently asking me to book him a room at a Cancun all-inclusive resort as far away from the buffet as possible to help him stop all the extra snack runs.  Or, as he said, at least burn some extra calories walking there.  This same client also thanked me for the gym membership he had to get to burn off what he consumed on his last holiday, but that’s beyond the point.  Make sure you wear comfortable shoes and you’ll find you don’t even notice the extra ten minutes it takes you to hoof it, but your body will.

                  Many hotels, resorts and cruise ships have gyms, but do you really think you’re going to get up early to squeeze in a thrty-minute cardio session before your jungle tour after staying up a little too late last night?  Me neither.  But if that tour includes a hiking component, your workout is taken care of for you.  Or if you go into the ocean/pool and actually swim (enough to get your heart rate up) instead of just bobbing like a cost guard buoy, you’re good to go.  If activity can’t be included in your busy day, this is where it’s time to get creative.  Do some lunges or squats while waiting for your turn to use the shower in the morning.  Find the music video channel on the TV and dance around like an idiot (who’s watching?  Your spouse has seen it before.  Or better yet, have them dance with you).  Have lots and lots of sex.  Lift your carry-on bags as dumbells.   Run the stairs up from the lobby every time you get back to the hotel.  Personally, I’m fond of the dance around like an idiot option, and if you’re ever in Costa Rica, I strongly suggest Telehit, the Spanish pop is awesome!

             See?  That’s not so bad, is it?  All you have to do is remember not to overeat on the things that you wouldn’t touch without crippling guilt at home and get your blood pumping in some way daily, and you should be good to go.  I’d never say you’re going to loose weight this way – hell, it is your vacation, you’re going to eat the fun stuff – but it can keep you from gaining, so you get home at least in the same shape you were in before (buh-bye, Jabba the Hut).   Don’t forget, it takes 3500 extra calories (or an extra 500 calories a day) to gain one pound of fat, so a little indulgence is not going to kill you.   But neither will a half-hour of beach volleyball :)

Tags: BlogSherpa, calories, Costa Rica, dancing, diet, Exercise, gym, pool, Telehit, vacation, weight

Completely off topic: Cake Decorating!

I know it has nothing to do with travel, but this is my blog and I can brag if I want to   Yesterday I just completed the four-class Wilton cake decorating Course 1.  It was awseome.  So much fun, and we got some pretty awesome looking cakes out of it – I was really surprised at how fast the cakes start looking spectacular with a little training and the right equipment. Currently my co workers are loving the results.  Guess who’s bringing desert for all the family dinners from now on?  Now I get to come down from my attention-span-shortening four-week sugar high from all that licking the spoon.  Think I’ll have to go through withdrawl?   My luck I’ll just kick the sugar habit in time to start the next course.  It’s fondant and tiered cakes, and it’s going to be a ton of fun! 

The results:

Tags: cake decorating, desserts, wilton

Have you been there?

Tons of times.  I practically forward my mail there.

Yes, but it’s been a while, so some of the attractions weren’t there for me to visit.

Once, on a business trip, but I want to go back and see what I missed.

Not me personally, but one of my coworkers has, and she loved it.

No.

            As an agent, responding to ”have you been there?” is daily challenge -on a good day we can hear it as much as Hilary Swank hears “who are you wearing?” on the red carpet.   If you’re not prepared to field this one, you’re in the wrong business.  The catch is that, for the most part, the people who ask are looking into traveling to the most odd, remote and “how do you pronounce that exactly?” places on the globe.

          It always makes me want to laugh (I know, not the most professional thing to do, but really?  Do these people think about it before they ask?) when someone comes in asking for flights to Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, and, after getting the air and hotel options they requested, they hit me with “have you been there?”   No.  But I did see an episode of The Amazing Race that went there, and it looked cold.  Being an agent, personal/business travel is a huge part of my job, so I can experience as many destinations as possible, but I’m not that old (er, ”seasoned”) yet.  I just haven’t had the time to go everywhere, but I’m working on it.  My coworker Shirley, who’s been in the industry forever, really has been practically everywhere, but that’s a whole ’nother story.  

        From Vancouver, places like London, Honolulu,  Las Vegas, Cancun and even Hong Kong are all pretty logical “yep, I’ve been there” places.  We have great air connections and send hundreds of people a year.   When you come to my desk, I have a “Malaysia” business card holder, framed photo of a Cathay Pacific plane landing at the old Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong, and my filing cabinet covered with postcards.  Ask away.  I promise that I have been to most of these places, all but the ones in the postcards sent to me from satisfied clients, and those ones I have heard some really great things about. 

        Honestly, I think it’s the deeper meaning behind this question that interests me.  You’re not asking me if I’ve been to Suriname or wherever because you want to know how I spend my free time, you’re asking me because you have no idea what to do there.   There was something so enchanting about this destination that compelled you to forgo today’s Days of Our Lives and come down to the agency, but yet you don’t know how you’re going to fill your days once there.  Was it just a cool sounding name, so you figured you’d drop that extra three grand you had kicking around on your coffee table and go there?  Take a moment and consider what do you like to do on vacation?  If you’re a beach bunny, Orlando is going to leave you painfully high and dry (I know Florida is a thin state, but it’s not that thin); or if you have the attention span of a gerbil (like me), an all-inclusive resort designed for nothing but peace and relaxation is going to have you pacing around like a caged lion. 

               What you really need to do is read my blog on stage 1 of the 3 stages of travel (the Anticipation).  But seriously, you need to start the research.  I will gladly sell you your trip to Leichtenstein, and I’ll tell you every shred of info I know about it, regardless of whether I’ve been there or not, but to really make your trip yours, you need to plan your days around what you enjoy.  No matter how cool the place sounds, if it doesn’t offer a chance to broaden your mind/partake in your favorite hobbies/drink yourself stupid/whatever you want to do, it’s not going to be a truly satisfying vacation.  Buy a guidebook.  Google it.  Take this trip and make it your own.  And when you come back, I’ll ask you “Have you been there?” and you’ll have a great answer.

Tags: experience, odd, travel agent, Ulaanbaatar

Zipping over Whistler

           Get this: I work in travel.  I’m all about travel.  I live and breathe tourist destinations.  And never once in my 26 years had I visited Whistler/Blackcomb, the world-class tourist destination that’s only two hours away up the Sea to Sky highway. 

             Oops. 

           What can I say, I put all my energy into far-flung locales, and completely overlooked what was right under my nose in the process.  I’d been to the nearby town of Pemberton once in grade six for a school trip, but that doesn’t really count.  But this past April I finally made up for all the years of neglect and the BF and I took a long weekend mini-break up to the soon-to-host-the-Olympics village.

             The drive up alone was spectacular, the panoramas compelling me to take lots of pictures (that I got home and was like, “oh, look, another picture of a mountain with some snow on it”).  There’s a good reason why the British Columbia tourism slogan is ”the best place on Earth” (and I’m not biased at all, of course).  The highway itself is interesting, two lanes most of the way.  They’re working on that prior to the Olympics, and there’s lots of construction where they’re widening it, but there will always be some bottlenecks where they can’t go more than two lanes due to the giant rock face on one side and sheer cliff drop into water on the other.  This highway is actually the main reason why I hadn’t visited Whistler earlier, as most of my immediate family was not comfortable driving it (the “highway of death” nickname wasn’t helping things any), but I found it smooth, scenic and effortless.   Granted, I was free to gawk at the scenery while Eric (who’s only lived here a year and had already been to Whistler multiple times) could focus on the road without being distracted, so that helped.

              We went in April because I don’t ski (the one time I went cross-country I sprained my ankle and had to be evacuated on the back of a ski-doo), and more importantly, I don’t do cold.  I live in Vancouver, people!  If it drops below zero schools close, and it takes far less than that for my sensitive hands to turn “oh my God, are you okay?” white.  Turns out that by total fluke we hit the final weekend of the Telus World Ski and Snowboard festival, so the place was packed and free concerts/free promo stuff from the suppliers’ booths/free extreme sports demos/free-wheeling drunk Australians hanging naked out of their hotel rooms at 10am.  I’m not sure if that last part had anything to do with the festival, but when I go back I’ll compare and let you know.

             The village itself is adorable, in that perfect, Disney-does-a-ski-village way (I know, I compare everything that’s cute and clean to Disney, deal with it ).  I had booked us into the Delta Suites because it was the only hotel I could find decent last-minute space at, and even then I had to use my “I’m a travel agent” card to get us in (*sigh* membership does have it’s privileges.  They’re few and far between, but I’ll take what I can get).   Our suite had two fireplaces, a full kitchen, a bed you could loose yourself in and a mountain view, way nicer than I thought I’d booked, but very sweet.

            Most of our time was spent wandering the village, exploring and checking out the shops and events that went with the festival.  Our personal favorite was the dog day, where they had dog agility performances and – love this – a dog costume parade.  There was a woman in a Hawaiian shirt pushing a stroller with two pugs wearing leis and grass skirts, while the other three identially-dressed pugs followed behind, it was so cute!

             But the highlight by far of the weekend was the Ziplining.  Whistler Ziptrek  has a great setup, and, since I had ziplined before in Costa Rica and knew I loved it (the BF just went with it, he luckily had no fear of heights), we went for the higher/longer Eagle tour, as opposed to the beginner Bear tour.  We marched, in full harness-and-helmet glory through the festival crowds from the Ziptrek office to the van that took us up Whistler mountain, past the Olympic bobsled track en route.  The platforms and equipment was impressive (there was none of that ”I don’t trust this to hold all our weight” feeling), but nothing really mattered as we flew back and forth over the river to end right back in the village.   On the longest line if you made it in under 45 seconds you were going more than 80km/h, and the heaviest guy went so fast the  guide’s leather gloves literally caught fire as he tried to apply the breaks!

           It was a short journey to Whistler, but I finally get what all the hype is about, as the atmosphere in the village is buzzing and, if you’re a skier, you couldn’t ask for more options to be right at your fingertips.  It was still a lot of fun, and not once did I have to don technicolour ski pants (I mean, really, do all these people get dressed in the dark?  Or is it so they can be found by rescue crews in case they get lost?)  or waddle through the crowds in non-flexible ski boots.   We really do have a jewel right here in our backyard.  And I got another pin on the map!

Tags: BC, BlogSherpa, budget, Canada, dogs, expensive, money, mountains, scenery, ski and snowboard festival, Whistler, zipline

Wedding Bonanza

            Weddings and travel go hand in hand.  Be it destination weddings where we arrange everything from the resort to the decorations, building dream honeymoons, groups where we transport all the guests/photographer/bridal party for a special rate (assuming there are enough people to qualify) , or just flying individuals from point A to point B so they can attend someone’s nuptials, weddings are huge in the industry.  Normally I tackle a few a year in some capacity, but for the last few weeks I’ve been all weddings all the time.

                 Destination weddings can be a great way to save money, as only the people you really love will usually drop the chunk of change to fly to your exotic locale, making it not only more personal than the standard giant shindig, but cutting down the price per guest that you have to pay.  In financial times like these, the bottom line is always a concern, but few people are going to forgo the whole “wedding and lifelong commitment to the person of your dreams” concept just to save a few bucks, so they’re looking for some way to make their budget go farther, while still getting a wedding that looks spectacular.  Consequently, my company has chosen to focus on this as one of their fall promotional campaigns, so we’re all getting additional wedding training to make us even more qualified than we already were to make your wedding spectacular.         

               On top of the training, I suddenly found myself with not one but two detailed honeymoons to arrange, a wedding registry to facilitate and a destination wedding group to send to Liberia, Costa Rica for a springtime ceremony.   I’ve never before been surrounded by so much happiness combined with so much pressure to make the perfect day all they dream it will be. It’s challenging and interesting at the same time. I’m breathing cakes and dresses, watching Rich Bride, Poor Bride on TV for tips, repeating the laws of maiden name versus married name travel (whatever your passport says has to match the name on the ticket.  I don’t  care, and neither does the government, what your name is going to be) and learning what it takes to get your marriage license translated into Spanish.  The running joke with my bf is “no, I’m not hinting at anything.  It’s just work,” and luckily he’s cool with that.  Besides, he knows I’m not that subtle. 

             Maybe it is the economy sending more people abroad.  Or maybe it’s the pressures of daily life making us all need to get away from it all.  But whatever it is, my clients sure have wedding fever!

Tags: BlogSherpa, budget, destinations, economy, honeymoons, legal restrictions, specialists, training, travel agent, weddings