Creating a Travel Bucketlist

Some trips are planned, others just happen. Whether it's an on-a-whim getaway, attending a destination wedding or doing charity work abroad, impromptu trips are fun and exhilarating. Half my trips fall into the planned category, the other half into the impromptu category. There is a time and place for both. An exercise which can help focus our travel, is to create a bucket list---or list of places we want to see and activities we want to do in our lifetime. Travel planning is a good exercise because it forces us to think about where we want to go and why in advance, so when the opportunity comes up, we can take off!

Here is my Travel Bucket List.  What's yours?

1. stay in a glass-bottom, over-water hut in french polynesia
2. snorkel the great barrier reef and visit fraser island in australia [partly done & would do more]
3. bungee jump and sheer a sheep in new zealand
4. do a safari in africa [done & would do again]
5. learn to kite-board in the dominican republic or somewhere hot
6. take a spontaneous trip: as in decide on fri, leave on sat to hawaii for a weekend [done]
7. ski in the alps
8. go on royal caribbean's oasis or allure of the seas ships: zipline over the top deck and surf on the flowrider
9. do a jungle trek up machu picchu [done]
10. sip coffee, learn spanish and dance in buenos aires
11. travel everywhere in italy [partly done, a lot to go]
12. see brazil's rainforest
13. stay at the one&only in mauritius
14. go dolphin-watching in the maldives
15. island-hop in the seychelles
16. rent a scooter in greece
17. go on a summer whitewater rafting trek in Northern Canada
18. mush a dog sled
19. climb part of the great wall of china
20. spend a romantic day in paris - toasting champagne at the top of the eiffel tower & kissing under bridges on a seine tour [partly done]
21. tour south east asia
22. marvel at the architecture and design & partake in public saunas in scandinavia
23. visit wineries in bordeaux
24. taste more wine in napa [done & would like to go back]
25. visit wineries in BC's okanagan [done, but would like to go back]
26. visit wineries in washington and oregon
27. skate at rockefeller & watch the rockettes in NYC
28. stay in an ice hotel during quebec's carnaval
29. sit in a thermal bath in iceland
30. spend canada day in Ottawa and tour the maritimes [done, but much more to see]
31. attend the following euro festivals: San Fermin, Tomatina and Oktoberfest
32. see the pyramids and sphinx in Egypt
33. float in the dead sea
34. see alaska
35. watch the aurora borealis from canada's north
36. visit the following areas in cali: pismo beach, la jolla, coronado beach, mission beach
37. storm watch at tofino's wickaninnish inn
38. visit these hidden tropical hideaways

How to Travel Free

Although the notion of travelling for free does seem sketchy, it is completely possible. All it takes is knowledge and forethought. Whether you travel once or ten times per year, there are ways to be strategic about your travel spending.

If you are serious about reaping the benefits of travel, there are 3 main ways to start accumulating points, miles and dollars toward travel.

1) Get a Travel Credit Card Getting a travel credit card was one of the best decisions my husband and I ever made. Rather than get a credit card with points toward a GM vehicle or cash back, every time we spend money on our card our travel points go up. Our Travel Rewards Card has no black-out periods, an online booking portal and if you book your travel via expedia or the like, you can apply your points/cash to your purchase.

Strategy: Rather than using a combo of cash, debit and credit for your purchases, if you and/or your significant other can responsibly use your [joint] credit card, the points will accumulate much faster. Another way to collect points quickly is to make business purchases or charity donations on your card. Both regular and one-time payments add up, so if you are disciplined, using a credit card for the majority of your purchases can get you one step closer...to Paris!

If you don't already have a travel credit card, inquire through your financial institution. Many of the popular travel credit cards offer similar benefits.

2) Join an Airline Loyalty Program As mentioned in Friday's post, making a point of choosing one Airline loyalty program can be advantageous. Since most airlines are part of larger syndicates, you can reap the benefits of multiple carriers through programs like One World or Star Alliance. Try to find flights with one of the carriers within your preferred airline's alliance to amass points every time you fly.  This will allow you fly to the Seychelles sooner than you thought.

Little-known Fact: You can redeem more than just flights with airlines miles. Many airlines have a host or travel and non travel-related products to which you can apply your points.

3) Join a Hotel Loyalty Program Choosing to be an Intercontinental Ambassador or Starwood Preferred Guest has its benefits, and this too can put you on the path to free getaways. When planning your trips, seek your hotel group's properties, in other words, if the price is right, try to give your them first right of refusal.  Often joining programs such as these will give you the inside track on new property openings and discounted prices, so it pays to be loyal and in-the-know.

Read your program's fine-print: Some hotel loyalty programs offer more than just free stays. Between complimentary dinners at their restaurants, additional points towards a partner airline's miles and in some cases, free use of golf clubs, it is important to familiarize yourself with your program's opportunities so you can effectively reap the rewards.

Choosing the Best Travel Loyalty Programs

Every travel provider wants you to join their loyalty program. Why?  Because they want you connect with their brand, track your behaviour/spending and think of them first when you book your next trip.  Benefits to travel companies aside, if you choose one or two loyalty programs you like, the benefits and savings can significantly add up.

The Irony In my travelling infancy, I would only consider price.  As a result, I'm part of about 15 airline and hotel loyalty programs.  I have enough member numbers and passcodes to sink a ship.   The sad part is, after 15  years of heavy travelling, I'm only now at the point where I can start taking advantage of the miles/points accumulated.  The irony is, because I never had any loyalty, I haven't been able to reap any benefits.

Be Selective Each loyalty program offers different benefits, so it is important to choose one or two airline and hotel programs that match your primary airport, preferred destinations, preferences and values.  For example, I like Fairmont's loyalty program because it has hotels and resorts where I like to travel, the brand carries a high-level of service, their great rates feature provides excellent cost-savings, I heart the free wireless and the benefits of their tiers are decent.   Similarly, I like to fly Alaska Airlines when I can because they offer $50 upgrades to business class if there is space, have polite service and fly where I like to go.

Determining the Best Travel Loyalty Program for You

• do their brand values fit with your personal values?
• where are the destinations?
• how is the service?
• what partner offers do they have?
• is there a hotel group or airline that met or exceeded your expectations more than once, if so, could it be a fit?
• do they have hotels or resorts in close proximity for weekend getaways?
• what are your business and/or leisure needs (wireless, business centre use, free gym access, etc...)?

Great Travel Loyalty Program Resources:

• flyertalk.com - an interactive community that provides up-to-date information on travel-related loyalty reward programs.
• pointmaven.com - helps you earn the most points for every trip by connecting you with offers in your destination city

17 Google Tips for Every Traveler

If you are a traveler who brings along their laptop, netbook, blackberry or iphone on vacation, these online travel tips will rock your world.  Don't smirk, yes we travel to get away from it all, but having an internet connection can be invaluable.

Here are the best Google travel tips: [items 1 - 12 were originally put together by Vagabondish, an excellent travel blog]

Type the following "search queries" into google's search bar...

1. weather - "weather city/city code" ex: "weather los angeles" or "weather 90210"
2. flight status - "flight name and/or number" ex: "ha 30"
3. currency - “amount currency to second currency” ex: "100 usd to euro"  note that sometimes this feature can be finicky, for example, a search for "100 usd to cnd" did not work, but this did "100 usd to canadian dollars"
4. get local time - "time place" ex: "time madrid"
5. identify people, places or things - heard something in a foreign language but don't know what it is?  type it into google image search.  ex: gato in spanish is cat, gateau in french is cake.
6. view airport weather conditions - “[airport name/code] airport + conditions” ex: "ogg airport + conditions"
7. convert temperatures - "[temperature] [C/F] to [F/C]” ex: "12 c to f"
8. convert distances - “[value] [first distance unit] to [second distance unit]” ex: "140 miles to km"
9. convert driving speeds - “[value] [first distance unit] to [second distance unit]” ex: "90 mph to kph"
10. find a phone # - “[person's name] [city or zip/postal code]” ex: "john smith LA"
11. find a business - “[business name or type], [city or zip/postal code]” ex: "carrefour marseille"
12. find a local restaurant - “[food type], [city or zip code/postal code]” ex: "pizza, vancouver"
13. track a package - "fedex, usps, ups code"
14. translate text - go to translate.google.com and convert words from one 'tongue' to another ex: english to spanish. Can you tell me where the bank is? ¿Me puede decir donde el banco es?
15. get directions - go to maps.google.com, click 'get directions' then enter your starting and end point, then the system will provide the walking, driving or transit route
16. get a sightseeing itinerary = still in beta, google city tours provides customizable itineraries for select cities
17. like the info on a specific webpage? get similar info by typing the following into Google's search box: “related:www.yoursitename.com”

Fairmont President's Club + Great Rates

[trip style = budget + luxe]

On the first Tuesday of every month at 9pm pacific, the Fairmont posts "Great Rates" for their President Club Members. I am a big fan of Fairmont and have booked a few of my stays with the Great Rates feature.  The majority of Great Rates range from $99/night at city & resort properties to $159/night.  These price points are incredibly low given Fairmont's regular rates.

Sample of this Week's Deals

• Bermuda, from $129
• Riviera Maya, from $129
• Tremblant, from $129

Getting the most out of Fairmont's Great Rates

• plan on the potential of taking a vacation within the two months of the posted rate
• login the night the rates are posted to get your top pick
• plan on having a little flexibility to get the rate

Fairmont Great Rates Info

• most great rates are valid for select dates within the current and following month of posting
• they go quickly (we have called within 24 hours of posting and the rate was no longer available)
• they are posted the first Tues of every month at 9pm pacific and kept on the website for a week

[If you like Fairmont and have stayed with the hotel group in the past, or plan to in the future, joining is advantageous for the Great Rates alone....and a host of other reasons.  How to join.]