Another Word For Travel

05/09/2024

October trip update - 5 star hotels booked. Total cost $0 out of pocket.

My trip in October I'll be going to Sri Lanka, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait. If you checked my previous posts, I got my flights, including business class tickets, to all these places for $128 out of pocket. Next was to book hotels.

Sri Lanka = 60K Hilton points
Oman = 93K IHG points
Bahrain = 30K IHG points
Kuwait = Free Night Certificate with Hyatt

So total cost of this trip for flights and hotels = $128. The excursions, transfers and food will all be out of pocket, but won't cost that much given where I'm going. So the whole trip will be less than $1k. As I always say you can travel in style for cheap when you learn the points game!

04/03/2024

Group Trip release day is finally here!!!!! I'm so excited for all three of these trips! All three of these trips have limited booking so if you are interested, contact me with your deposit ASAP! You can reach out to me at [email protected]. Only deposit receive will reserve your spot.

Here's the details:
Trip: Ghana/Senegal/Gambia
Trip Type: Active/ Cultural

Dates: April 30 - May 11, 2025

Cost: $4,700 with flights from New York, $3,500 without flights, $200 Gambia excursion

Deposit: $400 nonrefundable

Inclusions: Hotel (5 star), flight from Ghana to Senegal, some meals and transportation

Exclusions: Ghana/Gambia visa, tips/gratuity, meals not already included, international flight if not picking flight option.

Pricing based upon double occupancy. Will be a single supplement.

Description: This is the journey to your roots and the journey home. We will discover our roots by visiting the door of no return in Ghana and Senegal and discovering our true name in Kumasi. For a limited number of participants, we will journey to Gambia where we will have the opportunity to walk with lions and visit Kunte Kinteh island and the village of Juffureh, the village which was depicted in the book/movie Roots. We will also have the opportunity to have clothes made by your personal tailor :-)

Trip: Wellness Retreat
Trip Type: Relaxing, educational and inspiring
Dates: June 19-22, 2025 (Juneteenth Weekend)
Where: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Cost: $955
Deposit: $100 nonrefundable

Pricing based on double occupancy. There will be a single supplement

Inclusions: All inclusive hotel, meals/activities included, seminars and more

Exclusions: tips/gratuity and flight

Description: This is a wellness weekend to recharge, rejuvenate, reinvigorate and reprioritize. There are possibilities to expand your stay before or after.

Trip: Experience Cartagena
Trip Type: Active, Turn Up

Dates: October 9-13, 2025 (Native American/Indigenous People Weekend)
Where: Colombia
Cost: $1,100
Deposit: $150 Nonrefundable

Pricing based on double occupancy. There will be a single supplement.
Inclusions: Hotel, excursions and some meals

Exclusions: some meals, tips/gratuity and international flights

Description: This is a 5 day/4 night trip that will take us to visit Palenque - a village that was established by African who escaped from slavery in the 1600s. We will throw a beach party on the islands of Baru, Playa Blanca, Rosario and Cholon. Finally we will visit the mud volcano where we will see Afro-Colombian villages and take a bath in the natural volcano.

04/02/2024

Skylodge/Starlodge in Peru

At Another Word For Travel we always we design experiences. lWell this is one of the more unique ones! Skylodge/Starlodge are the only hotels in the world that are built into a mountain.

Getting there
Of course you first have to get to Cusco to even doing this. From there, the tour company will pick you up and take you to Ollantaytambo (or you can take the train straight there).

Once you get there, you get a safety briefing and then you are on your way! It is a 2 hour vertical climb (not hike) up Mt. Comon. I've done quite a bit in my life but this ranks in the top 3 in terms of difficulty. We had a mountaineer in our group who has summitted Mt. Everest 13x and even he said it was hard. For most of the climb you are pulling yourself straight up. For me as a short person it was even harder. But you get there! Also to note: there's a much simpler hike to the starlodge that's only 20 minutes.

The pods
So you have to walk up to then walk down into your pod. The pod was nice! Comfortable, not cold and the views were amazing. So the bathroom situation - I'll let you scroll through the videos to see 🤣. I didn't have any problems going and it was a nice view while I did my business.

You have to climb up to go to dinner or breakfast. Dinner wasn't bad but for breakfast it was harder because it was slippery from the night rain. The food was fantastic!

Getting down
To get down we had to hike up some more and then it was an easy zip line down.

Final thoughts
I'll save my lessons for another post, but I absolutely loved it. I would do it again, but I would do the star lodge.No climbing and it comes with a hot tub, shower and running toilet. I still think if you are an outdoor person you gotta do Skylodge first otherwise are you really an outdoor person?

I would say for preparation, get good upper body/leg strength and try to get your body used to activities at higher elevation. We were climbing at 10,000+ feet, which for me is not bad but can be very difficult for someone who is not used to high altitudes. You also have to carry your own bag up so be prepared to carry at least 10-20 pounds. If you are deathly scared of heights....I would do the star lodge. It's still high, but getting there is very easy and you don't really have to worry about climbing heights.

I came in rainy season/low season and it has been absolutely perfect hiking/climbing weather. It only rained at night and it's low on tourists so it makes for a much better experience. Any questions?

12/01/2024

Using flight positioning during travel planning

You do not have to always fly directly into your preferred travel destination. Using flight positioning can help you 1.) save on flights and 2.) help you experience more countries for less.

How to do it
First step...Find the flight the flight deal
The places I pick always start here. It doesn't mean I'm going to actually go to the country, it just means I have found my positioning place. For my birthday trip, I'm using the 45k point flight deal to New Zealand I found last November. I've been to New Zealand before, but New Zealand is a great place to position yourself for Oceania and Asia travel. You can catch a flight to Cook Island for a flight to Fiji for around $200. A flight to Australia is can be had for around $150 or less. New Zealand is great for travel to Asia as well. While the flight times are longer, the cost is substantially less ($300-$400). If I were to book straight to any of these places, it would be in the thousands of dollars. This way I'm getting to my destination for a couple hundred.

A lot of people will be looking to travel to Europe this summer; however, with the Olympics in France, the cost is going to be astronomical. Your best bet will be to 1.) find the best flight deal to Europe and 2.) then look for cheap flights to your destination. Flights inside of Europe can be had for $100 or less sometimes.

*If you like this kind of info, I'm thinking about doing a webinar regarding tips and tricks of booking travel. Let me know if in the comments if you would be interested*

08/01/2024

I've gotten several requests to open this tour up so I am opening it up for 6 people. Once I receive the deposits, I'm closing it right back down. I've already added a surprise to the itinerary and I got a few more in me! Lol. Our group trips are fun, educational, adventurous and an experience of a lifetime. This one you don't want to miss.

10/10/2023

It's Prime Day! I'm sharing my curated list of travel must haves . From things you need to help you pack efficiently, to travel aid kits and travel electronics I got you covered. Many of them are deeply discounted during Prime Day.

*FYI I am an Amazon affiliate partner and may get a share of the sale of your purchase (at no cost to you.)*

https://www.amazon.com/shop/raretravel_esq?ref_=cm_sw_r_mwn_aipsfshop_aipsfraretravel_esq_TQSYA9C45K36AXJ20ZZE

31/08/2023

Trip to Vietnam/Silver Medallion Status Giveaway...

Last week we went to Vietnam for the weekend. Left Friday night and got back Monday. Yes, it is possible to travel all the way to Vietnam (and South Korea) in just 3 days. I'll do my "what I learned" in another post. One of the reasons I flew all the way there was to collect Platinum status on Delta. I needed 18k MQMs and the trip got me more than that 🙂.

One of the perks of Platinum status is being able to gift 2 Silver Medallion Status to anyone. So that's what I'm doing this week-giving away Silver Medallion status to two people.

No strings. No collecting your information. No selling you anything. Just good flight living!

Comment below where you would travel if you had the opportunity and money is no object. I'll leave this up until Saturday and use a randomizer to pick a winner. I'll have this up on IG, as well and of course send this to my clients.

What comes with Silver Medallion Status? Free bags on Delta up to 70lbs, free complimentary upgrades (I've gotten First Class upgrades before) and a host of other goodies.

25/07/2023

Go ahead and book this for your sweetheart for Valentine's Day 2024. Plenty of other dates open.

21/06/2023

For my cruisers - Royal Caribbean is coming out with a brand new ship next Summer (2024) perfect for 3 and 4 day cruising. I've been able to take a look at the ship and it is AH-MAZING. It leaves out of Port Canaveral and cruises to the Bahamas.

If you are interested in booking, hit me up!

12/05/2023

Trip Release Day! These two trips I'm very excited about and can't wait for you to join. These are extremely limited for capacity and are filling up fast.

Kenya Safari and Gorilla Trekking in Uganda
September 26 - October 3, 2024
*We leave for this trip from NYC on September 25 and arrive in Kenya on September 26.*

This trip takes you to the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya where we will have a 3 day/2 night safari. We will visit the Masai Mara tribe and overnight in a luxury safari camp. During this time of year is one of the best times to see the Big 5 (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and African buffalo) along with tons of other animals. After that we fly to Rwanda where we will get a Kilgali city tour and visit the Kigali Genocide memorial centre. Thereafter we proceed to Uganda and trek through the Mgahinga Mountains where we will begin our gorilla trek and camp in a luxury lodge.

This tour includes: 3 day/2 night safari in Kenya, 3 day/2 night gorilla trek in Uganda, plus Rwanda city tour, international flight from New York, flight transfers from Kenya to Rwanda, transportation, hotel and safari camp accommodation and most meals.

Journey Through Morocco
November 29, 2024-December 6, 2024
*We leave for this trip on November 28 to arrive in Morocco on November 29*

This is a journey through Morocco. We will visit Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes, Volubilis, Fez, Beni-Mellal and Marrakech. There will be guided tours in Casablanca, Rabat, Fez and Marrakech with a lot of great shopping and exploring in between. There will also be optional tours available. Hotel stays will be at the Sofitel Jardins Des Roses Hotel Rabat, Marriott Hotel Jnan Palace in Fez, Sofitel Marrakech Lounge and Spa and the Sofitel Tour Blanche Hotel Casablanca.

This tour includes hotel accommodations, international airfare from New York, some meals, transportation through Morocco and guided tours.

To reserve your spot you must pay your deposit ($700 or $400). Trips will close once I reach capacity. I hope to see you on either trip!

09/05/2023

Travel Tip Tuesday...
Free tickets to Hong Kong

The Hong Kong tourism board along with Cathay Pacific is giving away free flights (excluding taxes) to Hong Kong. They have been giving them away in phases and the US phase opens May 18.

They are only giving away 3200 tickets, so set your alarm in order to get your tickets. Here's the website.

https://wow.hongkongairport.com/tickets

19/03/2023

For those who book award flights, Delta has some AH-MAZING award tickets on sale right now for Thanksgiving travel. These are flights to Bali and South Korea (not to be confused with North Korea). Priced without award tickets these flights are $1400. With award flights, this is $100. Also, you can get a Delta credit card with a point bonus of 90,000 so that would cover your plane ticket expense. Sounds like a win-win to me.

13/01/2023

Here it is: 2023 Egypt/Jordan Trip Details!
When: December 27, 2023 - January 4, 2024 (8 days/7 nights)
Price: $1,752 per person not including international flights; $2,670 per person including international flights
Deposit: $400

What's it include? All excursions including transportation and English speaking guide; 5 star hotel accommodations in both Egypt and Jordan; flight from Jordan to Egypt; visa fees; some meals, service charges and taxes.

If you ever been on a trip with me, you know we cover a lot of ground. This is an excellent way to introduce you to the beauty of Egypt and Jordan!

Questions? I got answers!

26/11/2022

Great Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale with Tap Portugal ( good airline with free checked bags)...
Europe and Northern Africa on sale with flights leaving January 2023 through November 30, 2023.

04/10/2022

Travel Tip Tuesday...
This is for the credit card point folks. Three of the leading hotel brands are going crazy with their credit points right now-Marriott, Hyatt and IHG (I'm waiting on Hilton to come through). Co-branded credit cards are a great way to get hotel stays for free and with the escalator rates you can really rack up hotel points fast.

*As a reminder never get into credit card debt for travel. Make sure to pay off credit cards monthly. *

26/07/2022

Travel Tip Tuesday:

So there is a new transcontinental budget airline called Play.

If you remember a few years ago there was a transcontinental budget airline called WOW. WOW was based in Iceland and offered low cost flights to Iceland and Europe. We LOVED WOW. The seats were comfortable and the flights were insanely cheap, although like most budget airlines you had to pay for all the extras like baggage, food, etc.

We wanted a cheap trip to Europe for August and I looked up Play. It's gotten good reviews so far and the folks from WOW have had a hand in creating Play. We were able to get a flight to London from Baltimore for $563-the cheapest traditional flight was $1400.

From London you can hop around Europe pretty cheaply. We plan to hop to Portugal and found flights for $79 round-trip.

So if you are okay with budget airlines, this might be an option for you.

21/07/2022

Travel tip Thursday:

If you want to travel during Thanksgiving, now is a great time to buy a flight. A lot of places are on sale (or at reasonable) prices. For example, I found a nonstop flight from New York to Milan, Italy for $341 ($468 with checked bags).

My preferred way to check for the best flights is Google Flights. Put your departure airport in the "From" field and then in the "To" field put a broad area like Africa, Europe, Asia, Middle East, etc. and search for the best price.

20/07/2022

" Information for Traveling with Young Children

The Department recognizes the importance that families place on sitting together when flying. To make sitting together easier when flying within the United States, the Department has issued a Notice encouraging U.S. airlines to do everything that they can to ensure the ability of a young child (age 13 or younger) to be seated next to an accompanying adult (over age 13) without charging fees for adjacent seating. In addition, the Department offers the following practical tips that families may use before, during, and after air travel."

https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/family-seating

The Department recognizes the importance that families place on sitting together when flying. To make sitting together easier when flying within the United States, the Department offers the following practical tips that families may use before, during, and after air travel.