Diglossos

Crime Doesn’t Take a Holiday

Peregrine — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:58:01 +0000

It’s a simple and basic fact: You may go on vacation, but crime does not. Just because you decided to take a holiday in some lush paradise, don’t assume that criminals don’t exist there. (It may be that they just have better tans.) You should expect to have a great time and enjoy your stay, but you also must expect to guard your safety nevertheless.

Don’t go crazy. You don’t have to walk around as if you’re in a Marvel comic story. Just keep in mind that whatever you do at home to maintain your safety, you also should do away from home – perhaps you’ll need to do a little more depending on where you are. In some cases, this could help you avoiding a life-or-death situation.

Don’t be afraid. In Don’t Let Them Rob You of Your Holiday, we share some tips to avoid crime, and we’ll give you advice in case you do fall prey to some villainous character. We have you covered.

Travel safely out there!

Don’t Believe the Hype

Peregrine — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 16:42:53 +0000

When planning a trip and choosing a hotel or resort most of us review websites and choose only those places that have high rankings or many stars. One question, though: Just what do those rankings or stars mean anyway? What are their standards? Is a 3-star the same regardless if we’re looking at Forbes or Michelin?

Well, the fact of the matter is that not all rankings are alike. In fact, no two rankings are the same. What matters to one reviewer may not mean anything to another. You may think that five-star ranking for a Miami Beach hotel will mean that they have a bunch of complimentary services, but it could simply mean that the hotel staff goes above and beyond to make you feel at home. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s an all-inclusive place.

So, how do we read between the lines? How do we make sure that what we want is what we get? Easy. Do your homework. “OK, but what should I be using for research?” you ask. Funny you should ask because in Look Beyond the Rank, we give you some helpful advice. Your selection is only a click away.

Bon voyage!

Come Fly with Me

Peregrine — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:04:24 +0000

Remember when going to the airport wasn’t an endurance test? Do you miss those days when planning for the two-and-a-half hour trip from Miami to New York meant leaving your house an hour before the flight time and not arriving at the airport 3 hours before? Do you lament that not too long ago you didn’t have to pay for your in-flight meal, and it really was a meal? Well, get over it. Those days are over, and we have to accept the fact that we won’t see their like again.

Instead of brooding over it, we should consider what we can do to make the trip more pleasant. After all, the reason we fly is so that we can get to our vacation destination and take it easy and have fun. What we should do is find ways to make them as easy or as painless as possible. Yes: Make a NetJet flight out of an American Airlines coach experience. So, how do we do that? In Ramble On we cover some simple and even money-saving ways to travel and make the best of the patience-eroding world of airline travel.

Look, we do know why you fly, and it shouldn’t be the equivalent of CIA rendition. You want happy memories. You want simplicity. You want peace. We hear you, and we’re here to help.

Bon voyage.

…And Then the Rains Came.

Peregrine — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:02:58 +0000

It happens. You plan the most amazing vacation, or you finally get to travel to a place you’ve always wanted to visit and you’ve got a whole outdoor itinerary planned…, and it rains from the moment you land until you leave. Suddenly, you feel like the Detroit Tigers trying to complete just one baseball game in New York (or Texas).

There’s no need to get upset. After all, what can you do anyway? Besides, when you think about it, part of the reason for taking a vacation is to get some rest and relaxation. So, relax. Check out our latest article, Mother Nature Regrets…, and rest easy. You’ll get that fun, and you may be pleasantly surprised by how much that turns out to be.

So what if it rains? Make the best of it.

Bon voyage!

A Weighty Issue

Peregrine — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:54:50 +0000

For some, vacation is a great time get away, unwind, and let go. No obligations. No schedule. No rules (for the most part. But what do you do when you’re also in the middle of a fitness or weight loss plan?

Well, to be quite honest, nothing changes there. Just because you choose to get lost does not mean that you also lose your mind. After all, you may be gone for a week or a month, but life does not stop. You still have priorities. You will have to return home and get back to your regular life. Don’t forget that your time away is a time to regroup, recharge or disconnect for a little while. This is not a permanent situation.

You can still have that time off and work in a fitness plan. The key is that you do plan. Check out Have Your Vacation and Eat, Too! for tips to keep you on track. You don’t have to get up at 5am, but you do have to set aside time to work out. You don’t have to eat your regular Atkins bar or drink the SlimFast shake, but you do have to mind what you eat. It’s easier than it sounds, and the payoff is great. After all, you don’t want all the progress you’ve made to evaporate. The only memory of your vacation you should have should be of good, happy times – not the regret of messing up.

Bon voyage!

Brace Yourself for Fun!

Peregrine — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:20:16 +0000

What do you do when you’ve suffered an injury, and you still want to take that vacation? Well, provided that the doctor okays the trip, you should be able to do a lot of things you would like to do – within reason. Ultimately, you have to be practical about things. If you planned on doing some parasailing, you’ll have to change those plans because of the broken arm. Ditto for the rock climbing if your knee’s in a brace. Regardless, you can still do other activities and have just as much fun.

The rules are simple: Be careful. Be practical. Be nice and play fair with others. Your injury was not caused by the flight staff, and you do not get a pass to treat people like road kill because you’ve got a cast. In Travel Through the Pain we’ll look at what to keep in mind and how to manage that journey through your destination and through the pain.

Grab those magazines and board games. It’s time to go!

No Pain, No Gain

Peregrine — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:28:22 +0000

Sometimes we cannot escape Fate, and that means that just when we were looking forward to a nice vacation lounging on the beach with a drink with a frilly topper we get blindsided by injury. The worst is that there’s little that you can do. After all, you can’t put off your recovery until you return. You have to find a way to deal with the circumstances, but you can still go on that vacation – provided your doctor approves. Basically, what you’ll need to do is a little more planning.

Peregrine is no stranger to injury. In fact, she is recovering from an injury that knocked her on her back and took her out of commission for two weeks. Of course, this curtailed a few plans, and it inspired her to write “Traveling with Injury: What To Do When Your Body Don’t Love You.” Have no delusions: If you’re in a body cast, you’re not going anywhere. However, if you’ve suffered a less-debilitating injury, and you can do your rehab anywhere, you do have some options. So, go ahead and make some plans for a restful period and enjoyable recovery.

Bon Voyage!

The TSA Killed My Mom’s Travel Bug

Peregrine — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 21:36:16 +0000

OK. To be fair: My mom is not the easiest traveler. She’s pleasant enough, but she gets rattled easily. I’d like to say that this is due more to her getting older and becoming pickier, but I’d be lying. She’s always been a challenge. Yet, she has a point: Security leaves a lot to be desired since most people who work in the business are not technically and technologically savvy (and are in need of some kind of gastrointestinal curative). Playing catch-up with criminals is a losing endeavor.

However, why should that spoil your fun or need for adventure? Security measures will not go away simply because we wish them to go to the same place we exiled Milli Vanilli. What to do? Accept. Find coping mechanisms. Look forward, not directly ahead. This, too, shall pass as soon as your bags clear the conveyor belt. To help you gain some perspective and get a handle on those emotions, our latest article, Fly! Be Free!, provides some travel tips. We look forward to seeing you walking down the aisle again.

Plans Are Nice, but the Vacation Is Nicer

Peregrine — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:48:50 +0000

I hear great stories about the adventures people have when they travel to new places, but I also hear the stories about the “bad” vacations: “X was late getting up; so, we missed the bus to Valhalla and had to settle for Olympus instead. It just ruined everything.” Uh-huh. Yes, I have actually heard, “We had to stay in Paris instead of going to Nice because we missed the first train.” I kid you not. Of course, I had to ask, “You do know that there are more trains scheduled during the day?” Regardless of this, I was told that it did not matter. There was a schedule to maintain, and deviating from that wrecked the entire plan. Okay then.

Well, this is when you have to pull aside your friend and give him/her a reality check. Wasn’t the whole point to have fun? Wasn’t it a chance to enjoy time with your special someone? Weren’t you hoping to take in something different? We can get consumed by our plans and obsess a bit much. At some point the plan becomes the objective, and we lose site of the reason for making the plan. In hopes of saving your friend’s mind and relationship(s), we provide some tips for enjoying that vacation in spite of The Unforeseen. Go to “Plans Are Just Guidelines Anyway…” In our Where Travelling Minds Meet section, and learn ways to improve the experience in spite of the obstacles to your plans. Remember: Vacation is a time to take a step back and enjoy time with friends or family or to have some time on your own. Embrace it.

News: The Philippines Is a Hot Place

Peregrine — Fri, 07 May 2010 00:48:00 +0000

So, Amotik recently had to travel to the Philippines for work, and he thoroughly enjoyed himself. The problem is that he shared all these great pictures to entice us and to inspire envy, but he never wrote a story… until now. I’m happy to write that Amotik has finally written his story, and he shared it with us. No matter how much fun he had, though, we did notice that it’s mighty warm over there. That’s regardless of visiting a volcano. We hope you enjoy Amotik’s story as much as we did. The only thing is: You’ll really want go. Now. Take our advice: Go in a cool month.

See Amotik’s article about Taal Volcano in Tagaytay, Philippines in Where Traveling Minds Meet.