Winter 2014
Travel Free
Sweepstakes and Deals That Make Us Excited about 2014
Image c/o Honolulujewelrycompany.com

4-Night Hawaii
Honolulu Jewelry is giving away a four-night trip to Hawaii including airfare and lodging. The contest is open to US Citizens over the age of 18 until May 31, 2014.  Visit contests.about.com for more info, or Honolulujewelrycompany.com to enter directly.

 

 

Two Ways to Vegas 

For those who are feeling lucky with the New Year About.com features two trip contests to Las Vegas, one by Ford's Sweepstakes, and one by Wynn's Sweepstakes. About.com has the specifics. 

  

Luxurious Miami

Image c/o http://www.forbestravelguide.com

The winner of Forbe's Five Star Sweepstakes will score a trip for two to Miami including a couples spa treatment, rental of an Aston Martin V8 Vantage vehicle, and more. The prize is worth $7,325. Check out Forbestravelguide.com for more info.

 

Calling All Sports Fans

Additionally, there are two ongoing sweepstakes for sports fanatics: GMC's Never Say Never Sweepstakes and Marriott's Greatness on the Road Sweepstakes. Prizes include $20,000 and $35,000 worth of trips to the Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl, games, as well as Marriott certificates and more. Visit about.com for more info.

Image c/o vermontvacation.com
Image c/o vermontvacation.com
 
Free Lift Tickets, VT 
Vermont & Cabot cheese are giving away 200+ lift tickets. Three entrants per week will win a pair of lift tickets to one of Vermont's ski areas - and one will win a Cabot gift package. Enter to win at Vermontvacation.com
. 

About.com has many getaway contests, and we can't list all of them here. For the full list, visit Contests.about.com/od/vacationsweepstakes; just be sure to scroll past those that expired at the end of 2013!
 
Free Australia Open
Image c/o Travelonion.com
Image c/o Travelonion.com
TravelOnion.com is offering a trip to the Austrailian Open 2015 including roundtrip air and hotel accommodation. Other listed trips include Hawaii, Alaska, the Caribbean, and Europe. Visit Travelonion.com for more details.
 
 

DUBLIN AND AMSTERDAM 

Image c/o Budgettravel.com

The Real Deal Vacation Package includes airfare from Newark to Dublin, with a return trip from Amsterdam, on United Airlines; three nights at the Aspect Hotel Park West in Dublin; three nights at the NH Tropen Hotel in Amsterdam; and flights from Dublin to Amsterdam; from $1,161 per person including all hotel and air taxes and fees. 

 
Budgettravel.com has a lineup of other vacation package deals including up to $1,700 savings per couple with 10% Early Payment Discount on trips for 2014.

 

 

SLOW FOOD TUSCANY
Image c/o Tourcrafters.it

 This 7-night gastronomic journey includes meals based on traditional regional dishes, guided tastings of Slow Food wines, one cooking lesson, and entrance fees to sights in Florence and Siena. The more frugal (and less hungry) traveler might prefer Tourcrafters' Italy By Train tour, which is nearly $1000 cheaper, but still includes a cooking class and a wine tour. Tourcrafters.it has the details.

 

 

8-DAY BEIJING

Image c/o Chinaspree.com

With nine meals, six nights of accommodation and roundtrip airfare included, Chinaspree's 8-day Beijing package for $888 seems like a steal. Chinaspree's tours, dates, and prices are listed at Chinaspree.com.

 

 

30% OFF MONTANA 

Photo: JLImages/Alamy
Austin-Lehman Adventures is offering 30% off their 5-night, all-inclusive Yellowstone tour through Travel and Leisure. All meals, equipment, instruction, guides, and park entrance fees are included, as well as a number of excursions, and accommodation. For more information or to book, please visit Austin-Lehman Adventures and mention booking code T + L Montana. More info is also available at Travelandleisure.com.

 

Maybe Next Year...
Dining in the New Zealand Trees
Image c/o yellowtreehouse.co.nz

The Redwoods Treehouse
in New Zealand was commissioned as part of a marketing campaign by the company Yellow in 2008. The result is a lantern-like venue (accessed by an elevated treetop walkway) that holds up to thirty guests. The Treehouse does not currently operate as a restaurant and is not open to the general public (this is why we've put it on our Bucket List for future years!) but it is available for private functions. For more info, visit Yellowtreehouse.co.nz.

Travelers You Don't Want to Meet

 

Buzzfeed lists the most agitating personalities to encounter on the road.
Adam Elliz/ Buzzfeed

1. The Comfort Kween 

Carryon Items: A messy bun, oversized pillow, Uggs that are clinging to life, and an attitude that won't quit. 

Reason You Just Can't With Them: It's like they put on everything they owned just to hold you up at the security line.

 

2. The Seat Hogger

Carryon Items: NyQuil, slip-on shoes that keep slipping off, Jeggings, and a total lack of spatial awareness.  Reason You Just Can't With Them: At some point they will end up drooling on your shoulder.

 

For more, check out Buzzfeed's full list.

 Let's Travel! Radio
About Let's Travel! 

Let's Travel! is a radio show and website that gives visitors and listeners the insider's take on travel. Come explore the world of travel and culture with us at www.letstravelradio.com.  

The Tattler, radio show and website are produced by Susi Raphael and Michael Zufolo.
This Is Your Year. 
                            Image c/o media-cache.pinterest.com

Traveler's Choice, 2013

Image c/o Tripadvisor.com
Image c/o Tripadvisor.com

 #1 Destination, Havana, Cuba  

 

Havana's glowing reviews are inescapable. "Beautiful buildings, late 50s cars everywhere, friendly people and perfect vistas," one Tripadvisor reviewer wrote of the city. On its Havana homepage, Tripadvisor describes its Traveler's Choice 2013 winner as "a city trapped in time." Whether you prefer to hot-step it in a salsa club, tour a cigar factory, sip a mojito in one of Hemingway's haunts, or roam through Old Havana (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), this city promises to please. Moreover, Havana is no longer as difficult to visit as it once was. The New York Times writes, "Depending on who you are, Cuba can be as open as any other Caribbean island - or it can be a restricted destination that could cost you thousands of dollars in fines." Check the Times or WikiTravel for how to get there, and Tripadvisor for ideas of what to do and where to stay after you arrive.

 

Top All-Inclusive Resort

Image c/o Tripadvisor.com

 

"Every aspect of our stay was extraordinary: food, service, beautiful beach. Quiet enough to relax but stimulating enough not to get bored," one reviewer writes of Iberostar Grand Hotel Paraiso in Playa Paraiso, Mexico. Iberostar has a "Grand Collection" conglomerate of hotels, but the spa-resort in Playa Paraiso won Tripadvisor's Top All-Inclusive Resort in the World for 2013. "Your wish is our command," the website boasts. With over 2100 'excellent' reviews on Tripadvsior, that claim might have some truth to it. Book at Thegrandcollection.com.

 

Give Back in 2014

Image c/o Givekidstheworld.com

 Give Kids The World  

While most families visiting Orlando are watching "Wish Upon A Star" fireworks, kids at Give Kids The World Village (GKTW) are watching their wishes come true. Give Kids The World is a 70-acre, fantasy resort in Florida that provides a special vacation home for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. The center provides access to local attractions as well as venues of its own; as the website reads, "It's a non-profit Village where children, whose last Wish is to visit central Florida's theme parks, stay with their families for the time of their lives." 

Give Kids The World depends on volunteers who, fulfilling approximately 1,200 volunteer shifts every week, add immense meaning to their Florida getaways. Learn more and apply to be a volunteer at Gktw.org/volunteer.

 

 For ways for the whole family to volunteer anywhere from Orlando to Africa, visit Myfamilytravels.com's list of options.

Make Memories Last

We've all been there: you've returned from your adventures abroad, and you swear you're going to compile you various ticket stubs, crumpled napkins, and photo montages into a scrapbook. And then it doesn't happen. However, a lack of time or motivation need not stand in the way of you memorializing your trip. Here are some creative ways to preserve and present your travel memories.

 

Travel Shadow Boxes

Image c/o Pinterest

 

Destination Cook Books 

Image c/o Photobucket
  
"Travelling is all about the senses: seeing, hearing, feeling and, yes, tasting!" Chantal at Cocorosa writes. " I always love to bring recipes and cookbooks home from the amazing food that I have tasted and see my favorite Cities in my kitchen." She also suggests a collage wall to showcase travel photos. We like the way this girl thinks! Check out her ideas at Mypreciousconfessions.blogspot.com. 
 

 

Photo Wall Collage 

Image c/o Photobucket

Travel Journals

Cyd Converse presents a number of travel photo journaling ideas on Babble.

Image c/o marthastewart.com
Travel Keepsake Kits
And, last but not least, Martha Stewart suggests that you throw all of your mementos into a box stored on your bookshelf, and then make the box look pretty. She'll tell you where to find the boxes, paint, and stencils for her painless DIY project. More on Marthastewart.com.

 

International Greeters

 

For travelers who want to tour like locals, there's no better way to travel than with locals themselves. Founded in New York City, the Global Greeter Network now connects volunteer "greeters" in cities across the world to eager travelers for local forays that the guidebooks might miss. For ways to meet greeters in your next destination or to become a greeter, visit Globalgreeternetwork.info. For a recent review of the greeter experience, read "Touring...With Those Who Live There" on takingthekids.com. 

Image c/o globalgreeternetwork.info