Wishing you and your family, the Best of Holidays and a Safe and “Happy New Year”.
Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo para toda la familia, les decea,
Maritza Kirsten and Family/Familia K&E INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL!!!!!
Archive for December, 2007
If you have travelers on your Christmas list, here are a few ideas from the people at Discover Card.
Lingo Voyager 12-Language Talking Translator, $199.95
This portable, pocket-size talking interpreter translates, displays and correctly pronounces over 240,000 words and 27,000 phrases in 12 languages. It translates English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic. The travel companion also features an English dictionary, phone book, calculator, calendar, currency converter and a 200-city world time clock with an alarm. Available at The Sharper Image® and other travel stores.
Traveler’s Noise-Cancellation Headphones, Starting at $69.95
When you’re on an airplane, it can be a great comfort to shut out distracting noises and cancel out disturbing ambient sounds. Advance “quiet place” technology is great when listening to CDs and MP3s and watching DVDs. An airplane jack adapter is included. Available at The Sharper Image and other travel stores.
Travelon® Wheeled Carry-on, $99
Since all your belongings can be seen through the View-Thru™ window, this 14-inch wheeled tote bag makes it easy to find what you’re looking for—without having to dig. The roomy main compartment is large enough for a change of clothes and full-size toiletries. The bag has 15 pockets, including compartments for a water bottle, books and other essentials, a padded cooler pocket and a removable cosmetic organizer. Available at Magellan’s Travel Supplies.
Personalized World Map, $99.95 to 169.95
Allow wanderers to record their travels—past, planned and hoped for—on this large color map, that can be personalized with up to 50 characters (including spaces) of your choosing. Available at SkyMall.com.
Digital Photo Wallet, $59
Forget paper photos that wrinkle easily. Instead, try this leather wallet featuring a removable digital photo viewer. The rechargeable viewer stores 55 color images that can be easily transferred through the USB port. Available at Brookstone.com.
SeeID DeepPocket Safety Wallet, $24.95
This slim leather pocket wallet is the safest way to travel with cash and cards. The “no-lift” money clip holds up to 20 bills. The clear-view window allows you to quickly flash your photo ID as you navigate through airport security. A Velcro strap secures money and cards. Available at The Sharper Image.
Resources
Try these Web sites and retail stores for other great gifts for travelers:
Tumi (tumi.com)
Brookstone® (brookstone.com)
The Sharper Image (sharperimage.com)
SkyMall® (skymall.com)
Magellan’s® Travel Supplies (magellans.com)
Rand McNally(randmcnally.com)
L. L. Bean (llbean.com)
And for your favorite globe-trotter who happens to travel with his or her pets, check out the items at the Pet Travel Store (pettravelstore.com).
Happy Holidays…and Happy and Safe Traveling!!!
December is inspiring a number of up-and-coming destinations lists.
CheapTickets.com’s Value Travel Cheapometer focuses on budget-friendly destinations for 2008. Destinations are grouped by the month when you’ll see the most affordable rates. For instance, Paris and Athens will offer the best value in January, while Venice will be affordable in March. Las Vegas in June is on the list, as is Aruba in November.
The New York Times’ 53 Places to Go in 2008 lists cities and countries all over the world. Destinations range from mainstream (South Beach, Miami) to very off-the-beaten-path (Iran).
ResponsibleTravel.com predicts that Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia will become more popular in the New Year. The list is based on reader interest on the ResponsibleTravel.com website, and in cases such as Colombia, features places that are increasingly accessible as more tour operators begin to offer trips there.
Happy Holidays and Happy Traveling!!!!!!!!!
Packing need not induce panic. If you plan a careful list in advance and review it as you’re as loading up your bags, you can avoid distress at home and disaster on the road. The Web makes it easy, as you can find all kinds of packing lists online, and even tools that can tailor a list specifically for your trip.
- I like the lists provided by Traveller’s Tale, Rick Steves, and Travelite. You can find plenty more lists that are specific to certain types of travel (e.g. Search for “infant packing list” or “Inca Trail packing list”).
- Packinglistonline.com allows you to create a personalized list based on criteria including trip length, destination, gender, age, activities, accommodations and transportation types, destination temperature range, and travel with kids. I created several and found the lists quite helpful, particularly for thinking of specific items needed for activities like camping in a tropical climate or city sightseeing in the cold.
- Packlistonline.com allows you to create and email yourself a personalized list. Simply browse the site’s list of 500 items, check the ones you want, and hit “show the packlist.” You’ll then be emailed your specific list. It can take a while to get through and many items are labeled with British terms (”trousers” instead of “pants”), but the list is so extensive that it’s unlikely you’ll forget anything important.
Next year, adults re-entering the U.S. by land, ferry, or small boat will be required to present either a passport or a government-issued photo ID and proof of citizenship (e.g., a birth or nationalization certificate). Proof of citizenship alone is required for children 18 and younger. The rules are slated to take effect on January 31, reports USAToday.com. For now, cruise passengers are exempt from the passport requirement, but cruise ships do require both photo ID and proof of citizenship.
Air travelers have been required to have passports since January 23 of this year, though those requirements were relaxed over the summer due to massive passport processing delays.
| Our Top Ten “Different” Hotels from Side Step Travel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Coming up with this list was hard. While there are many very unique hotels out there like a giant Beagle, this tinylake-top barge, and even these sewage pipes, not everyone will find these to be desirable living spaces. So, below you’ll find a list of my “Top Ten “Different” Hotels ” broken down by price-range. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family
This year has been a great year for traveling and it’s been a year of firsts for me as far as travel planning goes. This year brought me the honor of booking my first “Baby Moon” for a great couple. They’re having their first baby (a boy) so they took the opportunity to spend some romantic time together on a cruise to the Bahamas.
I also planned several honeymoon trips this year, the first was for a couple from Chicago who dreamed of having a romantic Italian honeymoon. Before their seven day Royal Caribbean cruise, they got to spend time in Siena, Como and Venice before they embarked from Venice to visit different ports in Italy and Croatia.
Another couple, also wanted to go to Italy for their honeymoon, they decided to stay two days in Genoa before they cruised on Costa Magica. They even received a complementary additional night stay in Genoa! What a wonderful beginning to their new life. A Colombian couple, visiting the US for the first time also decided to sail for their honeymoon and will be sailing on The Sovereign of the Seas this December for a romantic getaway. I must say it was a very romantic year, and I’m very honored to have had a part in making all of their dreams come true.
It was also a year of exciting trips to Italy by my faithful group of traveling ladies (their prior trips have taken them to Alaska, the Caribbean and to the Mediterranean). This trip they visited Italy, Greece and Turkey and I was told they had a great time, so much so, that they are already booked on another Mediterranean cruise in April 2008, so they can visit the ports they have not seen as yet, such as Venice, Pisa, Croatia etc. These ladies make me proud, one of them is my mother, they have the will, they are all seniors with a mission, “Make life fun, travel all the time as long as you can” good for them, I salute them.
Some of my clients/friends also enjoyed going to Las Vegas, I had several groups celebrating birthdays and just celebrating going to Las Vegas and making the slogan “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” their war cry. I was told they had a great time.
Another young couple, after having a set of twin boys, wanted a nice get away so they could enjoy themselves and get some rest, so they went to Aruba and were able to relax and enjoy themselves and had some time for romance before going back to their life back in New Jersey with their beautiful daughter and the boys, the best of luck to them and their little family.
This year I also meet a very nice lady, who gave me the opportunity to plan a cruise to the Bahamas for her and her friends to celebrate her birthday. I thank her for the honor and the opportunity in making her birthday celebration much more enjoyable.
My clients have enjoyed trips to Hutchinson Island, Marco Island and Disney World as well as Chicago, the Caribbean and many other points, this year. I have the chance to visit Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Samana, Panama and many other places in my quest to find the best and most beautiful spots to recommend to my clients. I have been on family trips with Carnival Cruise Line, become a “Secret agent” for Royal Caribbean and joined Cruise line International (CLIA) so I can provide the best information to all of my clients.
To close the year, I have a family sailing on the MSC Lirica from Fort Lauderdale to enjoy the end of the year and the beginning of a great new year on the high seas. Let’s make the next year a year of adventures, near and far, let’s discover this great country of ours, and go to far away places. Let me be your source of information and inspiration. It will be my honor to be of service and to provide the best service in the industry. Excellent is not created, excellent should be a given.
Wishing you and your family the best in the New Year. Health, happiness and good fortune now and for all the years to come.
Your friend and Travel Agent,
Maritza Kirsten K&E Travel
(407) 913-8345
mkirsten@mktravelclub.com
Helping Travelers to Dream…..Travel……and Share!!!
Keep Safe…..Happy Traveling!!!
