Travel Today

Traveling via the Amtrak train has been my mode of travel between Central California where my parents live and San Diego for the past year and a half. I love that I can just sit back, relax, do some writing on my laptop, and not have to worry about the horrid Los Angeles traffic during rush hour. (In L.A. every hour seems like every hour is rush hour).

I’ve had very pleasant experiences with Amtrak, but my recent trip had me as stressed as a cat on crack. You see, customer service is a big thing to me. Over at my customer service blog I relay my experience with a not-so-pleasant Amtrak ticketing manager. The experience won’t stop me from using Amtrak because like I said, I’ve always had good experiences, but hopefully my letter to Amtrak corporate will let them know that I don’t tolerate that type of treatment.

Now if we can just do something about the situations with the airlines…

When I worked for a tour company as an international airline reservations agent, I learned that Africa is one of the most expensive countries to visit besides Australia. It’s one of my dreams to visit the pyramids of ancient Egypt, however, I’m not going to let cost get in the way of that dream! I have seen quite a few all-inclusive package deals to Egypt that were pretty decent in terms of price.

I can just picture myself visiting the land that many of our ancestors and prophets walked thousands of years before us. As I browsed through images of Egypt at Flickr, I came across these absolutely gorgeous photos by professional photographer, Joanot …

As someone who lives in gorgeous, sunny San Diego, I don’t have to travel very far to experience the luxurious oasis of paradise. Currently I’m working on a project with a realtor and had to do some research on the prestigious and exclusive area of Rancho Santa Fe, a community about 25 minutes north of downtown San Diego. In doing that research I stumbled upon the website of Rancho Valencia Spa & Resort.

Serene and peaceful relaxation awaits you (and me!) at the Rancho Valencia Resort. Not only can you stay as a guest of the hotel, you also have the opportunity to have part ownership of one of the 12 luxurious villas on the property. It’s the perfect second home for golf and tennis enthusiasts or for those wanting resort-style living but don’t want the hassles of maintenance and upkeep of a home in San Diego.

For more information, visit: www.ranchovalencia.com

It’s Tuesday Travel Tip Day and this week’s tip comes from my brother who just returned from vacationing in Amsterdam and Rome. Here’s what he says:

“Before you travel to Europe, make sure to change your debit card PIN number to four digits. ATMs accept only four-digit PIN numbers.”

For more Euro travel tips check out the Europe a la Carte Blog (via the Budget Travel‘s Blog). Here are more budget travel tips to Europe from the Kayak Blog .

Have any tips to share from your own European travel experiences?

I got permission from my brother to share some of the photos from his trip…

Over at my customer service blog I wrote about the confessions of a United Airlines flight attendant . The flight attendant happens to be my best friend and every time I talk to her, the more I’m convinced that if I want to travel anywhere in the world in the future, I should either buy my own yacht or take a cruise.

It used to be that airline flights were so relaxing. It was part of the vacation experience to enjoy a flight with somewhat decent food, in-flight movies, and soothing music. Now we’re lucky if we even get food on a flight and if we do, we’re charged up the watoozi for it (yes, that’s a word, I declare). There’s $25 charge for extra baggage, extra long lines to check in, and sometimes you may even have to sit in the bathroom because the airline has overbooked the flight.

All of this is enough to cause a bit of stress. Just a little bit.

But regardless of all of this, let’s remember that the airline employees are trying the best that they can to serve our needs. Put yourself in their shoes for just a few minutes and think about all the angry people they have to deal with in one day. Think George Bush in a room full of Democrats.

All airline employees can do is smile as irate travelers yell at them because their flight got canceled or they can’t get a fluffy and clean pillow. The next time you feel your blood pressure rise because something didn’t go your way, take a deep breath and think that life really could be worse.

That’s not to excuse the airline companies for nickel and diming us, losing our luggage, or simply treating us like dirt. Charging us a fee just to breath is not acceptable. Ok, they don’t do that…not yet anways.

Photo Credit: Eric Chan

I won’t be able to make it down to Los Angeles after all. I should have been on the train on my way to Union Station today, but the flu bug has been trying to catch me. I’m just glad that it didn’t happen before a major trip! So, since I can’t make that trip, I decided to live vicariously through other travel writers…

I came across Adam Sach’s blog, The Vacationist. In addition to being a travel blogger, Adam is also a travel and food writer with an impressive resume of articles he’s written for publications such as Conde Naste Traveler, GQ, and Food & Wine, just to name a few.

And now I’m off to visualize that I’m in some exotic place…

For people living in the U.S., Memorial Day is just a couple weeks away - which means an extra day off. Some people spend the day remembering loved ones who served the country during the wars while other people take a quick little getaway for the long weekend. Here are my top 3 picks for quick getaways:

1. San Diego - Of course, I’m a little biased because I live here, but it’s the perfect place for a long weekend. There’s the gorgeous weather, beaches, and all the fun things to do. There’s Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, and the myriad of parks to hang out and have a BBQ!

2. Miami - I’ve never been here myself, but I hear it’s about as gorgeous as San Diego. So many shops and beaches - plus great ethnic food too.

3. Yosemite - If crowded beaches are not your thing, why not take a drive up to the gorgeous mountains of Yosemite National Park? Rent a log cabin for the weekend and take in the serene waterfalls or go hiking along the many trails.

Today’s tip, or should I say tips comes from the Lifehack blog where “Not Your Everyday Travel Tips” are offered. I like this tip the best:

“If your flight is cancelled, don’t wait in the long line in front of the ticket agent to get on another plane. Just step aside and call your airline directly from your cell phone. It’s just like cutting in line, but nobody will get mad at you. “

I have somewhat of a similar tip when renting a car from an Alamo that has those self-service check-in kiosks. If you don’t have a reservation and don’t want to wait in the long line to rent a car, simply call their reservations and make a reservation over the phone. Then you can “skip ahead” of everybody else and get your car via the self-service kiosk. I did this before and saved about a half hour in wait time.

Have a travel tip to share?

For some good Sunday reading, you might want to check out the Carnival of Travel Guide where my tips for the San Diego tourist has been featured. One of the more notable posts that I found to be of interest was Srirangapatna: Tipu Sultan’s Capital. India is already a fascinating place of interest for me and it’s nice to get such a detailed “tour” of this island town that dates back to 894 AD. For just a brief second I felt myself transported there…

Pictured here is Tipu Sultan’s masjid where he used to offer prayers. I absolutely love the architecture.

Photo Credit: ZeHawk

This blog is called “Travel Today” and my intention is to follow that advice - literally. Even if I’m not on the road, I still make the effort to travel, whether it be living vicariously through other great travel blogs like the Viator Travel Blog or watching travel videos on YouTube.

My next big trip will be later this year and the plan is to go to the beautiful Central American country of Costa Rica. Here’s a traveler’s guide video of Costa Rica I stumbled upon that makes me want to make that trip sooner rather than later…

Here are some great blogs about Costa Rica…

• Living Life in Costa Rica
• A Broad in Costa Rica
• Costa Rica Blogger