Travelling for beginners...

I'm 43 years old and I finally got to go to the USA. I was born in Hawaii and been there many times but to get to the states has been a long time coming!! So I get to go with my husband and our 17 year old sons and my husband's sister.... and this is what I learnt that hopefully will save you some time ;-)

DIETING BEFORE YOU GO HAS AN UP SIZE AND A DOWN SIZE ;-)

I went on a diet before I left. It was one of those ridiculous quick-loss ones where you eat 'air' practically every day ;-) I went on in specifically for one reason - to make sure I fit the rides. You see I am a big girl with a bigger appetite so there was no guarantee that I was going to be able to fit some things..... as it turned out - even after quitting my diet prematurely (before I got on the plane!!) I fit ;-) So tip number one - if you are going to go on a diet make sure it works (the downsize) and be prepared to have to go back on it after your holiday (due to the upsizing)!!

BUDGETING

We have friends that travel regularly and they have a formula of spending $100 a day between the both of them. So we figured we could do the same EXCEPT we hadn't figured into the equation that the children have to eat too (and making them pay for their food out of their spending money was a bit harsh ;-)) - so we quickly did some re-thinking on that one...which least to tip number two - figure out a budget that is realistic AND be prepared to make some changes all the time. The last thing you want to do is fight over money while on holiday.... that's a bit of a drag ain't it Mr M....

GET GPS

I don't know how people used to do it in the olden days - but thank goodness we didn't have to do it just recently....We almost left the airport without one due to booking problems so make sure you have booked and CONFIRMED your car booking WITH a GPS before you leave home. You may find that your GPS has a hard time breaking the male hearing barrier as I found with Mr M being not too good at listening to it (we heard "re-calculating" quite frequently) - but one thing I will tell you for free - Mr M got us to where we needed to go EVERY TIME ;-) Thank heavens for the GPS!!

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN

Some people like to turn up to things and see how they feel before making decisions which is awesome - however, tip number four is that unless you have perfect travelling conditions (weather, children, money, car, air conditioning - EVERYTHING is perfect!!) then I would suggest you plan as much as you can. I used expedia, vegas.com, and paid and printed tickets (even parking coupons) directly from amusement parks before we left the country. This cut down on heaps of waiting time in lines for tickets - HEAPs. Mr M went alittle further and had an itinerary - which was great but sometimes changes had to be made so as long as your plan has room for unexpected turns..... then it will work a treat!

ACCOMODATION

The one thing we got told to look out for was the best advice we could get - and that was to book accomodation that offers a free breakfast! Thankfully we did that and it was great - however the next time, I will investigate exactly what is breakfast as we had a range of a muffin and juice and/or a hot drink to a full cooked breakfast and two of our seven hotels had none (although one did give coupons for 20% off from a local eatery) The other thing I would make sure we have next time is free Wi-Fi - all but one had, however even with it - coverage was sketchy some days so it will pay to read the customer comments to make sure.... Why Wi-fi? For us it was so handy because I would go online every night and have a look for addresses for things that we were going to do the next day so all we had to do was input it in the GPS and after a few re-calculations we made it there...

FINALLY,

• Remember that the intention for all holidays is to make memories so do whatever you can to make sure that the ones being collected are the very best.
• Make sure you schedule in rest days or be prepared to recover when you get back because you have to make up those 'rest' hours somewhere.
• If you have been to somewhere before and travelling with people who haven't - be gracious about it and try and find something different or interesting because the people who are travelling with you are discovering things for the first time and it is ALL AMAZING!!!
• Not everyone wants to see what you do - so be prepared to go on your own...
• Take a camera.... and all the cords you have to keep it charged and all the connectors to take it off your camera and download to a laptop or an external source...
• Do what our friends told us to do but I didn't and will NEXT time - take the very bare minimum of clothes with you as you will find that your shopping will keep you dressed for some time....
• Travel with people you like and can be yourself with....
• Front of line passes are worth it at Disneyland but maybe not so needed at other places - so ask around...
• Ask around from people who are well-travelled for some more tips - you can never have enough although don't forget - no two people's experiences are going to be the same...
• Remember how blessed you are to be travelling and realise that many people you know will NEVER get this wonderful experience so be grateful for every one you have, and lastly,
• PLEASE  take me with you..... ;-)

Yours in friendship,

Mxo

What I learnt from a hole in the ground....

When I was booking tickets to go on a bus tour to see the Grand Canyon, I was surprised that Mr M had no interest in going to see a "great big hole in the ground"!! OMGoodness - seriously?? Regardless of this, my sons and sister-in-law went ahead and booked a tour to see one of the wonders of the world and I loved every minute of the trip. When I got there I knew I was going to be writing this blog - and here I am... These are the lessons I learned from looking at the this great big hole in the ground ;-)

THERE IS A GOD

I don't care what anyone else says - when I saw the Grand Canyon, that's the first thing that came to my mind - there is a God. Man, even in a million years could never produce or even replicate such beauty and magnificence. The earth opened up one day and revealed these beautiful colours which over time have been added upon... amazing!!

BREATHTAKING

One of the words that will describe my experience of seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time was breathtaking. When our tour guide advised us that "we were ten seconds away from seeing the Grand Canyon" - I was prepared to see something awesome but what we saw absolutely took my breath away. I wasn't the only one - the whole bus seemed to inhale all at once and in its place was a collective sigh/breath/wow moment. Breathtaking - as it took my breath AWAY!!

 

FEAR

The Grand Canyon will probably be the hughest structure that I am ever going to see... and I have to tell you I was fearful. I don't know why exactly but all I can say is that as the boys got closer to the edge my heart had palpitations.... ridiculous I know but the heights and breathe of this beautiful event were unbelievable.... Anyway, I say to an Indian (I loved his face!!) "it's really scarey here" to which he replies "It's not scarey!! It's only a rock!". So true and something I will remember forever - the fear was all up in my head - because the grand canyon was just 'being'...

TIMELESS

There are some things in life that are timeless... or as I learnt from the Grand Canyon, that I, as a 40 something year old am soooo young compared to these beautiful rock formations. Like the rings of a tree trunk, the layers and layers of colours in the rocks were amazing and captured a time on this planet so long ago that is mind boggling and certainly reminds you that our planet is timeless. Timeless, especially because after I am long gone - the Grand Canyon will live on - timeless!!

PERSPECTIVE & SIGNIFICANCE

From the Skywalk you can see the Colorado River and it only looks like a stream when in fact it is a significant body of water....From certain places where you stand, it can look that you are standing in the midst of the rock when you are merely on the side... The Indians called one of the places the Eagle Landing because the rock formation looks like a great big Eagle (and I think it is beautiful!!) but it took some people a long time to actually make out the shape of the Eagle - it's all about perspective! This photo is a good case in point - because in the top left-hand corner of this shot of my son is a helicopter! We really are insignificant compared to this beautiful planet!!

I am blessed to have had the opportunity to see the Grand Canyon and although I want to return, if that never happens, the lessons I have learnt from that single day in its presence will live with me forever!!

Yours in friendship,

Mxo

P.S: Happy 40th birthday Zina xx

The lessons I learnt on the Santa Monica Pier

I'm a musician at heart. So as I was strolling along Santa Monica Pier during a recent family vacation, I happened to hear a street singer singing and his voice and the tone of his guitar stopped me in my tracks.... My ears had met Ned Landin. I don't know if it was the weather, the occasion or whatever - I became a fan right there and there and bought his CD.

In the short encounter that we had - I learnt that his travelling companion (his dog Potato) of many many years had passed away so he kept a spot free for where his dog sat - so for that alone (given that I miss Simba everyday!!) I was so touched and luckily for me, he didn't have anything else to sell because after that story I would have bought the lot ;-))!!

 

A couple of days later we had a looooooooong drive from LA to St George (the photo is to show you that road was LOOOOOOOOOONNNNGGG), so we popped in the CD and I liked what I heard all over again - but this time I read the pamphlet that Ned gave out and that is where my lessons for this blog come from.....

Here is what I learnt from Ned from the Santa Monica Pier - thanks Ned.

The World Forgives

"When is started playing on the streets I was a lonely kind of a cguy and had a hard timemaking firends. I thought I would just do it for a little while. Just while I gained a little more confidence and learned a few more songs. What I discovered was a whole world of friendly supportive people. I was a really bad performer and wrote stupid songs when I started. But I discovered that the world forgives you for being bad and stupid. It just wants you to try. It rewards you for trying." Ned Landin

Human Interaction
"Even though people seem to yearn for more human interaction, folks become less and less able to sing along"

A Changing World

In the pamphlet Ned compares an event in a small town in Portugal where at the end of a hard working day, the people would congregate at a bar and while filling a room, would bust "a gut and [raise] the roof in an acapella chorus that would put any Grammy winner to shame" and when that older generation went home, it would be replaced by a younger crowd where there would be "several guitars in the room stuffed with about 80 people" and "there commenced three to four hous of an 80 person harmony in that ceturies old room before the blazing fire". This event was compared to a time when on a "Monday night ... one of the best pick-up bands in the world used to perform with folks who back up the best names in the business on tours. Every week famous folks would stop in to jam. Strangely enough, with all this talent displayed only about 20-30 folks could manage to make it out to witnesss the event from a city of 12  million..... and the night was cancelled."

Artistic express and creative application
"Artistic expression and creative application is something we all can do and is always better when we find ways to share it". I think we are squished in this culture to believing that we are not good enough and that no one will like what we have to offer so why should we try". Ned goes on to say that "If we are convinced we can't do something, we are dependent on those who package a product and convince us it will satisfy our needs".

Saving the World
To counteract this, Ned proposes a three step plan to Save the World - which I like :-) :

1. "Sing at least on song every time you take a shower.
2. Everytime you talk on the phone, doodle on a piece of paper and when it is full put it on the refrigerator and start your own gallery.
3. Keep a piece of paper with you and everytime you have an idea, no matter how silly, write it down"

He ends with saying "Trust me. The fruits of your creativity are good".

What a message! And something that I am going to start to do... How about you??

Thank you Ned Landin (www.nedtv.com, or ned@nedtv.com)

Have a listen.... and enjoy.



Yours in friendship,

Mxo

P.S: I know what Ned is suggesting because I used to teach this on a Human Development paper and know that research done on the creative flow supports these comments... ;-)