From the Inside Out

As my plane landed in Dallas today, I was greeted with a pleasant thought. My next trip will not be for business; it will be for fun! At the end of this month, Gary and I are heading to New York for an extended weekend trip. Since my work schedule won’t allow me to go on a real vacation until October, we’re jetting to NYC for a quick getaway.

We’re staying at the W Hotel in Times Square (my favorite hotel chain). It’s located in the heart of the theater district, with museums a few blocks north and downtown a quick subway ride away.

During our stay, we’re going to check out Wicked, the popular musical currently playing on Broadway. I’d also like to stop by ground zero, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center/Top of the Rock, Central Park, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

For those of you who are familiar with New York, what else should be on my list of things to do? I visited the Statue of Liberty on a previous trip. Are there any other tips you can share or “must see” places I should go? If so, please leave a comment!

Gary’s blog, Car of the Day, follows his never-ending obsession with automobiles.  It provides an entertaining look at his favorite car picks and includes reviews, commentary and recommendations.  My blog today offers a different take on his theme.  It’s about the “rental car of the day.”

One of the interesting aspects of travel is the variety of rental cars you get to drive.  When I obtain a cool car, it’s like winning the lottery.  Other days I end up in a minivan (which translates into hell on wheels).  The one constant is that it’s always different.  I never get the same car twice, even when I travel to a city repeatedly.

A couple of weeks ago, I arrived in San Jose on Sunday near midnight.  After waiting an obscene amount of time for my luggage, I trekked to the rent car shuttle area.  Fifteen minutes later, I hopped off the bus and located my car (one of the benefits of being a frequent traveler is not waiting in line; they have your car ready when you arrive).  I walked up to the designated parking space and saw a convertible Volkswagen Beetle.  At first glance, I thought it was a cute car.  Moreover, I could put the top down the next day and enjoy the pleasant California weather.  “Oh yeah,” I thought, “this could be very cool.”

Aha, not so fast!  The Beetle has a cute exterior, but it stops there.  The trunk is microscopic, which is a terrible feature for an airport rental.  I couldn’t get my single (not oversized) bag into it.  “Okay, no problem.  I’ll just put it in the back seat.”  I tried to move the driver’s seat forward to throw the bag in the back, but the seat only moved a few inches.  By this time, it was after midnight (or 2 am central time), and I began to get frustrated.  I tried to adjust the angle of the seat.  There was no button or easy-to-use lever, only a large round knob you had to spin manually in order to recline backwards or forwards.  Seriously, what genius thought that was a good idea? 

After twisting the knob all the way forward, I still couldn’t move it enough to get my bag in the back.  At this point, I’m mentally cursing the person who assigned this car to me.  Finally, I just gave up and put my bag in the passenger seat. 

The next morning, I was in a better mood, but I quickly found more flaws with the Beetle.  It was sluggish and had limited power (2.5-liter, 150-hp inline five-cylinder).  The interior was sparse (dare I say cheap) with minimal features.  The stereo was terrible.  I couldn’t pick up my favorite station, AirOne (a great alternative Christian station in the Bay area).  Finally, the car had a few bad blind spots.  It was cute, but not practical as a rental — thumbs down!

This week I returned to the rent car facility to find another Volkswagen waiting for me.  Only this time, it was a VW Rabbit. As a young girl growing up in the 80s, I wanted this car.  There was a character I liked on a television series who drove a convertible rabbit, and I have been fond of it ever since. 

My bag fit easily in the cargo area, making it better than the Beetle from the start.  The interior is basic, but most of the features you expect in a vehicle of this class are there.  Plus, it has no annoying spin knobs on the seats.  The horse power is still lacking (2.5-liter inline five-cylinder engine, which generates 170 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque), but it’s slightly better than the Beetle.  Visibility is good.  It handles nice and gives a comfortable ride (it’s not a Mercedes, but the German engineering can still be felt). 

All in all, I’d give this car a solid thumbs up – for a mid-size rental. Of course, nothing beats that C-class waiting for me at home. 

Are you planning a trip this summer? If so, you should check out TripAdvisor.com. It’s a travel community that features real advice from real travelers. With 15 million reviews and opinions, TripAdvisor is the best place to go to get the scoop on destinations, attractions and hotels for your next trip.

TripAdvisor is the first place I go when planning a trip. No matter what my destination is — Hawaii, Rome, London, Florence, NYC — TripAdvisor has become my personal travel agent. By using the site, I can find the best locations to stay and the highest rated hotels in those areas. I’ve been using it for a few years now, and it’s never failed me.

Booking travel on the Internet is convenient, but it can also be a crap shoot. You never know what you are getting until you arrive at your destination. It’s easy for companies to make their hotel rooms and facilities appealing on the Internet — online pictures can be very misleading. I’ve been burned a few times with hotels that didn’t live up to the descriptions and photos on the Website.

The thing I like about TripAdvisor is that it offers reviews and photos from real travelers who actually stayed at the hotel. They tell you the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s a great way to narrow down the list and find the best places to stay. When you are ready to book your stay, TripAdvisor links you to discount booking sites (i.e. Expedia, Orbitz, hotels.com) so you can get the best rates.

So, the next time you plan to travel, go to TripAdvisor first. You’ll be glad you did.

Even though I haven’t seen the movie, it seems that “The Bucket List” has influenced my thinking lately.  When I look back on my life, I want it to have meaning.  I want to follow my dreams and take time to do the things that are important to me.  So much of life is spent managing responsibilities.  It’s a shame.  If you aren’t careful, one day you will reach the end and realize it’s too late to do the things you put off until “later”.

Pablo Picasso said, “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”  There are many things I still hope to accomplish and places I’d like to see before I die.  As such, I’m starting a new series that will appear periodically on my blog, “My Top 5″.  This series will cover a variety of topics, including my top 5 accomplishments, hopes, dreams, etc.  It will serve as a reminder of the things I still want to do with my life.  Maybe it will also inspire others to create a list and start checking things off.

Today’s blog entry focuses on the top 5 places I’d like to visit before I die.  I’ve already marked a few places off the list (Hawaii, Rome, Florence, London, Paris), but there are a few elusive locations that always seem to be out of reach or too difficult or too dangerous:

1.  Jerusalem — this is the all-time, #1 destination of my dreams.  As a Christian, it would be the most amazing experience to tread the city I’ve read about my entire life.  Being able to visit the place where Jesus walked and the hill on which He died — unreal. 

2.  Egypt — for a long-time, I’ve been fascinated with Egyptian history.  Visiting this country and seeing the pyramids and temples would be an amazing experience.  Riding a camel might be fun too…smelly, but fun.

3.  Greece — Athens and the Greek Isles…need I say more?

4. New York — I have to admit that I visited NYC once, but it was a long time ago.  I was sixteen and went with a group from school.  We participated in a national competition held at Rutgers University.  The funny thing is I haven’t been back since then.  As much as I travel for business, I thought I would have gone back by now.  I’ve had trips scheduled to NYC, but something always happens to prevent me from going. 

5.  Australia – I’ve had two opportunities to visit Australia for business, but that’s not really the way I want to see this country.  I want to visit it with Gary, and I think it would be awesome to dive near the Great Barrier Reef.  Maybe I can get my scuba certification soon, and then we can go.

Well, that’s my “Top 5″ for today.  What are your “Top 5s”?

NOTE:  Today’s blog is dedicated to my Mom who celebrated her birthday today.  Love Ya, Mom!

As a frequent flyer, the Black Diamond Project is an effort that I applaud.  In the Salt Lake City airport, they are currently trialing a new security screening process to make lines shorter and faster.  The security checkpoint lanes are modeled after ski icons - green for beginners, blue for intermediate and black diamond for experts.  Pretty cool, huh?

After surveying passengers, the TSA learned that many had similar concerns and frustrations associated with the security screening process.  Passengers with kids, who need extra time, didn’t want to be in the same line as frequent travelers.  Business travelers who know the rules and don’t need to be told to take their shoes off or remove their laptop from the bag want to move through the security checkpoint quickly with minimal delays. 

Business travelers tend to travel lighter and are more efficient when going through security checkpoints.  This new process could help save them from being slowed down by infrequent travelers.  For people like me, it promises a nice reprieve from the frustration of being stuck behind clueless people who don’t know what they are doing or who take forever to go through the checkpoint.

If you are familiar with how ski runs are labeled, the system is the same.  According to Earl Morris, who heads up TSA’s airport security operations in Salt Lake City, “The Green lanes are used primarily by families, who often feel stressed in the traditional lane trying to get through with their kids, strollers and other stuff. Often these folks haven’t gotten the proper level of attention they deserve. People who don’t travel much and groups also select this lane.

The Blue lanes are for casual travelers who understand TSA procedures to a degree but may not travel all that frequently so they take a little more time. The black diamond lanes are for expert travelers who understand the system by the nature of traveling a lot and are totally prepared for the checkpoint. The goal is to ensure that TSA provides the proper level of service with customized needs of the traveler in mind. Security is improved by improving the process, taking the pressure off in the lines, eliminating the hassle factor and calming down the passenger.”

Kudos to the TSA security operations in Salt Lake City!  I hope this pilot is successful.  I’d love to see it rolled out in other airports across the country.  I believe Denver is also trialing a similar program. 

Now if I could get the airlines to consider a “business traveler” section on airplanes, life would be sweet.  I know…I know…that’s unlikely to happen, but a girl can dream, can’t she?