Monday, December 28, 2009

Time Flies

Another year gone by...where does the time go? I have spent the night planning my 2010 schedule. As I continue this quest to be a Travel Consultant I realize the importance of being well educated in the areas I want to specialize in and to travel as much as I can.

In October I did the Mexican Rivera Carnival Cruise with my Mom. We were able to enjoy a Spa Suite on the Splendor. It is a fun ship with a lot to do. If you like to have fun and party this is the ship for you! It is pink all over but that never bothered me, you are talking to a girl who loves the gaudiness of Las Vegas with all of if sparkle, glitz and glamour. That's how you feel on this ship. I don't think I was pampered as much on this cruise as I have been on others but I still had a great time. We also spent 3 nights in San Diego after the cruise because I wanted to take a Sandals Specialist Certification class. I am now a Sandals Specialist! That was a fun class, learning all about the resorts. By the time I finished that class I ready to book a trip for myself!

In November my wonderful husband and I left on Thanksgiving and headed to Santa Barbara for a night. No reservations and we ended up finding a great place right across from the beach. Our balcony room faced the ocean and we had our Thanksgiving dinner (chicken wraps and double stuffed potato’s) as the sun went down. It was a perfect evening. The next day we headed to San Diego. This is one of my favorite places to be. We spent 3 nights at the Gaslamp Hilton which I highly recommend. We had a great room and the service was wonderful. Two very good friends drove in from LA to spend Sat and Sun with us to celebrate my birthday. Have you ever had one of those trips where everything was wonderful and magical? Well this was one of those trips. I couldn't have asked for anything more. I will be talking more about San Diego in future blogs and on my website www.driftawaytrvl.com.

After that trip I thought I was ready to take a break from taking trips and cruises but after 2 weeks being home I have started planning again. So this brings me back to the beginning of my post and planning my 2010 schedule. Though most of my travel is around more learning opportunities it still gives us an opportunity to travel and see new things. So far I am off to Las Vegas, Anaheim and Vancouver. Though the only problem with this is, the first trip isn't until April! Oh well I guess I will just have to read my travel magazines and plan more trips :)

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Waiting for Vacation

Tonight I am getting things cleaned and in order, the suitcases have come down, the travel documents are all printed and I keep checking things off my list. Three more days and I am on vacation! it is taking so long to get here, I am running out of time!

I love this part of going on vacation...the anticipation. I am going on a week cruise to the Mexican Rivera with my traveling partner my Mom. We have decided to try out a mega ship so we are going on the Carnival Splendor. Us two with 3000 other people, are we crazy? Yes. But it is my quest to try all the cruise lines so I can be an effective Travel Agent who specializes in cruises.

I love to cruise. I love the energy of being on a ship, the service, the activities, the people watching (my favorite). Though I do think "are they watching me and making up stuff about me about who they think I am?" Hope it is something fun :)

Cruising gives you the opportunity to visit several places in a short period of time. It gives you the chance to be pampered. Ahhh being pampered right up there with the people watching. It gives you the opportunity to just have fun!

So as I continue to mark items off my list I get closer to putting on the orange life jacket, crammed in a room with a few hundred people with a big smile on my face.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Reminds me of cruising...

Even though this song is about giving up sailing it always reminds me of going on a cruise....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQvQm-K5cT8

Beyond the Sea Bobby Darin

Somewhere beyond the sea
Somewhere waitin’ for me
My lover stands on golden sands
And watches the ships that go sailin’.
Somewhere beyond the sea
She's there watchin’ for me
If I could fly like birds on high
Then straight to her arms I’d go sailin’.
It's far beyond the stars
It's near beyond the moon
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon.
We'll meet beyond the shore
We'll kiss just as before
Happy we'll be beyond the sea
And never again I'll go sailin'.
I know beyond a doubt
My heart will lead me there soon
We'll meet … I know we'll meet …
beyond the shore
We'll kiss just as before.
Happy we'll be beyond the sea
And never again I'll go sailin'.
No more sailin' … So long sailin' …
Bye, bye sailin'...
Move on out, captain …
So long, ensign …

All About Family




Happy Summer All!! So any exciting family vacations taking place this summer? We just took one that was a lot of fun. Now when I tell you where I went many of you will be "really...fun?" We went to Pittsburgh, PA and yes...really...we had fun.

This is a trip we had been planning for a few months to go visit Tom's side of the family for the 4th of July holiday.

I grew up in a small family. I have one sister, my Mom is an only child, my Dad's family is all in the South and we are not in touch with the few cousins we have. So growing up in our house was not full of kids & adults and lots of activities but on my husbands side of the family there are ton's of Nieces & Nephew's, Aunt's & Uncles, Cousins and lots of "family" friends.

Tom, Michael (my Stepson) and I met up in Pittsburgh. The trip turned out to be all about getting to know each other, reconnecting and seeing all the new little babies :)

On the 4th we were at Tom's Sister's Bonnie's house. Now what is so special about this is she lives on the street that the parade route is on. We had front row seats...talk about a small town feel where people in the parade were waving "Hi" to Bonnie and her family, where neighbors stop by to say hi, get a bite to eat, watch the parade for awhile and then move onto the next house. It felt like it was supposed to on 4th of July, full of patriotism, family, friends and apple pie. After the parade we visited some more and then we were ready for an afternoon nap. Travel always makes me sleepy :)

We returned that evening for more food and more visiting, what was funny it didn't feel like we were outsiders or that it had been 1-2 years since we had visited last, we just picked up where we left off.



As the sky darkened I settled into my chair right at the end of the driveway to watch the fireworks! I couldn't believe it I didn't have to drive downtown, fight the traffic, find parking and walk 20 blocks to find a good spot to watch the fireworks! There was a group of us who just "ooohhhed & ahhhhedd" with each blast....nothing like a great fireworks show. I was kind of sad to see the evening end.

The rest of the trip before the 4th and after were just as fun. I think one of my favorite parts of the trip was finally getting a chance to sit and talk to my sister-in-law. We were on a 2 hour drive back from Geneva by the Lake in Ohio and she couldn't escape me (just kidding Bonnie!) :) It was great to hear about what she is doing and just catching up.

Tom and I got to spend time with Michael which we never get enough of. Also Tom and Michael had some father and son time.

I guess what I am saying is it doesn't really matter where you are going for your summer vacation but to remember to share it with the ones that mean the most to you. Those are the most important moments of your life. Making memories, laughing, remembering and reconnecting!

Happy summer and remember...travel, travel, travel!!
The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway. ~Henry Boye

Friday, June 19, 2009

Greetings fellow travelers!
It has been awhile since I blogged, there has been so much going on. I have completed my web-site finally. The address is http://www.driftawaytrvl.com/ I hope you will check it out.

I have been thinking about travel and what that means for people. For me it can be a night away in San Francisco or a 2 week cruise. Anytime I get to pack my toothbrush I am traveling!

I remember the days of spontaneous travel in my youth. My best friend (at the time) and I decided we were going to get on a plane to San Diego if we heard the song "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd on a mixed tape I was playing in the car. We were driving from San Jose towards the San Francisco Airport hoping "Freebird" would start playing. I can't tell you how excited I was when I heard "Freebird". I think I sped up to 80 to get to SFO as fast as I could. We parked the car, got inside and headed straight to the PSA counter and purchased two tickets. We didn't have any luggage, I didn't even have my toothbrush.

As we sat in one of the airport bars we were giddy (yes I said giddy)! We were 22 & 23 years old, single and ready for an adventure. We had our drinks, laughing at how crazy we were to be doing this. I can remember to this day how excited I was to be getting onto a plane and going somewhere to have an adventure. Thinking about this really reminds me how long ago this was because you could smoke on the plane back then! Wow that was 22 years ago!
When we got to SD we went straight downtown to the old San Diego Hotel (that has since been torn down) and checked in. Then we went to the little gift store and bought toothbrushes and toothpaste. That one night in SD was full of dancing, drinking and lots of fun! Remember SD is a Navy town :)


The next day, tired and happy we boarded a plane back home, both smiling about our crazy adventure. To this day when I hear "Freebird" my stomach does a little flip and my car always wants to start heading to SFO. Such sweet memories.

Now would I do that today, would I just say "let's go"? You better believe it! But, of course, this time I would remember my toothbrush.



Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Princess Commodore Level Acheived

Learning is so important if you expect to do things right. I have dedicated this year to learning as much as I can about cruising. I want to learn about all the cruise lines and where they go, I want to know what the ships look like, how the crews treat their guests, who has the best food, best itinerary's, the list goes on.

If I had the time and money I would be on a different cruise every month. I am still trying to convince my Dad to hire me as a personal travel companion for my Mom since he doesn't like to cruise. He hasn't offered me the job.....yet.


So if I can't cruise every month then it is going to be lot of online classes, ship inspections and maybe 2-3 cruises this year. I have completed the Royal Caribbean WOW program and Commodore level with Princess Academy! My next one will be NCL University. I also spend countless hours reading travel magazines (both hard copy and e-mail), I scour brochures and read my cruise books. It is amazing how much there is to learn.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Visiting the Star Princess


I was able to visit the Star Princess when she was in San Francisco on 4/27/09. This is one of the perks of being a Travel Agent. I knew for about 2 months that I would be going and I was really excited. I love being on the ship(s) regardless if I am going somewhere or not but of course I always prefer to be "going".

I had to be at Pier 35 at 10:30am to check in. Once checked in we waited some more, until around 11:30am. Once onboard I (and some other agents I was with) went straight to the staterooms. This was all self toured so we could go pretty much anywhere we wanted. The Grand Suite was really nice. What I found funny was the Penthouse was a lot smaller then some of the Suites. The inside staterooms were larger than I thought they would be, though I would never be able to stay in an inside room, I need some kind of window and natural light.


Once we toured the rooms we went to the spa and pool areas. All very nice. I like the lap pool and the indoor pool areas. The view from the top deck was incredible. What a beautiful City to be docked in. They really should have more ships coming through this City.



We had lunch in the main dining room, being served by Princess staff, who were all very gracious having to serve a group of TA's while new passengers were boarding. I am sure they had plenty of other things they could be doing.

After lunch we only had about 15 minutes left and had to find our way off the ship. I was tempted to just stow-away and sleep on a lounge chair. Hey, whats one more person! Well no such luck on staying on the ship they made me leave. Tom met me out in front of Pier 35 and we were off to the Waterbar. It is one of my new favorite places. Great food, drinks and view! What a wonderful day it was!

Tanja & Tom

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” -
Cesare Pavese