Bring me something.....

For my fifth tip I have decided to share what my wife and I discovered on our trip to Seaside, Oregon. As with most tourists we always want to relive our trips. We have bought t-shirts, hats, an occasional bag or bumper sticker and this does let us have something that brings back memories of our travels.

However when we were on our engagement trip in Seaside we ended up in this cool little gallery. They had lots of nifty (and expensive) art pieces. We kept talking about a few pieces and how we would love to hang them in our house. Then as if in a cartoon, a light bulb popped on over our heads and we said in unison "why not just buy that instead of stuff that we will never use". And we did, and hung the piece up in our living room, where every day we would see it and think back on our wonderful trip.

This has led us to buy a cool print or art piece on each trip we have taken (I have even been inspired to take artistic photos for framing around the house). From Hawaii and St Thomas, we have prints of pieces by local artists. From Disney, we have maps and an upscale print, as well as reproductions of original posters for attractions like the Matterhorn. Some of these pieces may be used in our nursery, as we are hoping to infect the little one with the travel bug at an early age.

This will allow us to be able to decorate our house in the paraphernalia that we have accumulated over a lifetime of traveling. I mean really, would you rather be the cool family with the awesome collection of African figurines, or just another guy with a Tijuana t-Shirt?

5 Fave Friday-Top Hotels

These are five of the best hotels that we have stayed at.....so far.

5. Orlando Airport Hilton- You can sum this up with two words...excellent service. Every staff member here just exuded a level of friendliness and competence that you seldom see in a busy property like this.

4. Paris Hotel and Casino Las Vegas, NV- This is a sentimental favorite as I got married here. The grounds were great and we have a ton of gorgeous pictures. If you are in Vegas check it out.

3. Hotel Monaco Portland Oregon- Great location, friendly staff, beautiful room. Located near lots of cool restaurants, clubs, shops and for my wife Powells City of Books.

2. Disney's Grand Californian Hotel Anaheim, CA- True this could be summed up as another Disney attraction. However I have stayed here several times and it is truly a relaxing experience with some elegant touches that will appease everyone in your family.

1. The Inn at the Market Seattle, WA-A recent find. We have only stayed here once but it made a huge impression on us. It is steps from the world famous Pikes Place Market. Minutes away from the waterfront and right were everything is happening (Seattle Art Museum, Benaroya Hall, Washington Convention Center, Pioneer Square). The Staff was helpful, and courteous without being phony. The rooms were clean, maneuverable, and pretty. We plan on making the trek back to this little gem in the near future.


This was a very difficult post because I have had many great experiences in hotels of various levels and price ranges. If you have any hotels that you would like to bring to my attention let me know in the comments section.

What Can Brown Do For You?

(or for that matter, what can FedEx do for you?)

#4 -- My fourth tip for domestic travel is consider shipping some of your medical supplies or other items ahead of time to your hotel. I've done this on a couple of occasions, when luggage space was at a premium or if I was staying somewhere for an extended period of time. It would also be a huge help if I were traveling alone and wanted to cut down on the amount of stuff I had to lug around.

You'll need to check in advance with your hotel. This probably works best in a large hotel with a concierge, or a smaller boutique hotel that prides itself on service. Don't assume that this is a service they will offer or allow, as many hotels may not have ever come across this kind of request. You definitely don't want to count on them accepting and holding your package, only to get to your destination and find out they refused it.

Also be sure to ship with a tracking number (that's where UPS or FedEx has it over the regular mail -- more expensive but worth it). That way you'll not only be able to check progress before you leave home, but also see who signed for it and when it arrived. Very helpful if you check in and no one knows what you're talking about!

This is not only a great way of saving luggage space, but with the new baggage fees in effect, and limits on weight and number of checked bags, it could end up saving you a lot. This is also good advice for anyone traveling with young kids, who tend to require lots of STUFF (ie diapers, formula, etc.). Save money by buying this stuff at home, rather than paying the resort price. That will leave you more money for those awesome oversized sunglasses and that t-shirt that says "I've been to California and all I got was this t-shirt."

More later!

Few Word Wednesday

Four weeks, and I'll be eating a $5 churro with this view in my sights.

Expect the unexpected.

#3. If you have any dependency on any type of mobility device (i.e. wheelchair, walker, crutches, cane, or anything else I might have missed) you should practice the boyscout motto: Always be prepared. Even if it is just having printed out a list of medical supply dealers near your destination that can do repairs.

I have learned this the hard way as on not one but two separate occasions I have had wheelchair issues. My last one was a simple flat tire. Simple if you are at home with your vehicle in the driveway and your spare chair in the garage. Not so simple when you are getting ready to go see the fireworks and have a nice meal. Luckily I was at a great and amenable hotel who made every effort to assist me in-house trying to inflate my deflated tire. When that failed they quickly looked up a repair place and hooked me up with one of the park,s loaners (which was shall we say a love seat on wheels--I only if I had a picture to show you, too funny).

This was the point where I said never again will I be stuck in a horseless chariot as my small, zippy chair gets a chance to see California without me. I now travel with 2 spare inner tubes, a tire-changing kit (available at a local bike shop), compressed air tire inflator (have you tried to fully inflate an inner tube lately? much more difficult than you would think), a few Allen wrenches, a screwdriver, replacement screws (if known what sizes), and a travel sewing kit. It may seem like overkill to have all of that taking up valuable luggage real estate but if you need it you will feel like a super-genius for having it (if only those Wile E. Coyote cartoons were real -- you could just dial Acme and in 5 seconds it would arrive).

Just remember one thing I have learned over the years. If it can happen it will, and usually at the most inopportune moment. With just a little preparation you can combat the gremlins that want to wreck your vacation.

Tip #2 getting from the airport to the hotel. There have not been as many choices for people with mobility issues as there are now. There are car rental agencies that can get you a vehicle with hand controls (with at least 48 hours notice see car rental post). You can hop a taxi which will set you back in the fundage department. Or you can do what I do and make a reservation for an airport shuttle. I have used both Supershuttle and Disney Magic Express and they are both pretty nice, clean, and as safe as you can get on a California freeway. You do have to let them know if you require a wheelchair lift as not all of their buses have them. The shuttle lets you sit back and relax as their driver navigates the chaos that is the SoCal highway system. It is reasonably priced and you might even get a deal booking a package.

I plan to go a bit more indepth in a later post about getting around Anaheim itself using the ART system as I am still checking out all the little intricacies of the system. Until Tomorrow.....

Will that be paper or plastic?

So I am now about thirty days out from my trip to Disneyland. We have received the itinerary it has been mailed to us by the wonderful Mary at AAA Travel (she puts stickers on it so it is very festive when we receive it) and now it is time to do some of the logistic work to make the trip smooth sailing.

With this in mind I have a couple of tips that we have found very useful. #1 is the Disney gift card. This was dropped into my brain by some very hardcore Disney-o-philes a few years ago. If you are on a budget (and who isn't) it will make you stick to it. Disney gift cards make carrying cash, credit cards, or travelers checks unnecessary as they can be used at most places in a the parks as well as around most of the Disney owned hotels. You can get these nifty little cards at any Disney Store, or at the parks or online. I have been told that if you lose them they can be reissued (although you need the directions from the back of the card so make a copy). If you have kids who want some independence in their spending you can get specific amounts and dole them out as the trip goes on (perhaps on a per day basis). This would allow you to make limits on the amounts they have without stifling them. And when its gone, its gone.

What we have done is figure out a per day amount of money for food multilpy it by the amount of days we are there and then split it between two cards. This allows one of us to find a place to set while the other goes and places the order. Also important to know is that most of the Downtown Disney places will not take it as they are all independent from the park itself (except the World of Disney Store they do take it).

I will be giving out a tip or thing of interest every day as part of National Blog Posting Month. Tomorrow maybe transportation :)