little things that make your vacation better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Staying at hotels like the Ritz Carton or similar, where there’s amazing service such as twice daily housekeeping and room service with real china, silverware, linens, etc.

$1000 for a single bed and one bathroom. No thanks.

It is not always $1000/ night.

We stay at similar hotels for the same reason though. Plus the extras and other services are amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would gladly be corrected, but as far as I can see the $20/day rate for Verizon international that's been floated around in this thread and others recently appears to be a rate associated with an old plan that's no longer available, specifically for service *in flight* on international flights. Not on the ground in country, which is typically either $5 or $10/day, depending on country.

I've paid $10/day Verizon international. (Or used my accrued free days because of the specific plan I'm on.)

I've had speed throttled on Verizon when I've gone over the daily data cap, but I haven't been charge more per day.

Yes, T*Mobile has much better international plans compared to Verizon, but Verizon isn't as awful as portrayed.

I used to have Verizon and the rest of the family had T-Mobile. We were once in the middle of a jungle on a remote island and all the T-mobile folks had cell phone reception but my Verizon cell had no bars at all. I’ve since switched to T-Mobile!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you populate your calendar with your prescheduled items, you don't need to spend as much time looking up how to get there. Apple Maps even has the public metro options built in so all easy.

I'm a frequent traveler who didn't figure this out until last year, and it was life-changing.

Wait, do you mean just scheduling a tour or museum like you would a work meeting? I've never thought of doing this but I think it could be a game changer (I made an itinerary in word which i know is not the best way to approach this). Any other tips that make the calendaring helpful or easy?

I'm the op of this suggestion. We are doing to Paris and London next week and for all the online reservations we have (Eiffel, louvre, etc) i'll the time and location into my family's shared iCal. That way my dh also has it and I'll just click on the location and Apple Maps will immediately come up and tell me how to get there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you populate your calendar with your prescheduled items, you don't need to spend as much time looking up how to get there. Apple Maps even has the public metro options built in so all easy.

I'm a frequent traveler who didn't figure this out until last year, and it was life-changing.

Wait, do you mean just scheduling a tour or museum like you would a work meeting? I've never thought of doing this but I think it could be a game changer (I made an itinerary in word which i know is not the best way to approach this). Any other tips that make the calendaring helpful or easy?

DP - I do this too, just put it on the family Google calendar. I'm a visual person and a little scattered, so it's nice to see things laid out and to have some structure to a stretch of days.

I also like TripIt a lot - you just forward your confirmation emails to their email address and it auto-populates an itinerary for you (it works really well for flight confirmations, OpenTable reservations, etc.). You can manually add stuff as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always bring my own slippers.

Same, slippers for inside the room

Also slippers for the plane.

What's wrong with the slippers the airline and hotels give you ?

Spoken like someone who only flies 1st class or stays at bougie places. Not everyone has your budget boo....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like to bring fancy snacks for the plane. I'll go to the grocery store/market and get a mini baguette, hard cheese, fruit (fresh or dried), chocolate, etc. -- nonliquid stuff that doesn't need refrigeration (I put some cheeses in that category, but ymmv). So much nicer to pull out than the airline pretzels and can serve as a full meal if needed.

On car rides, I triangulate stops by looking on Google maps for parks, then finding restaurants nearby. Everyone gets to stretch their legs before/after the meal.

I do a version of this too. I always have and supply my family with favorite snacks to pack in carryons. My DH used to insist he didn’t need this, but after I got cross with him for eating my stuff when he declined to pack what I got for him (his favorites), he has embraced it too. We take enough so if the food is bad on the plane it doesn’t matter. So nice not to have to worry about food! And everyone has their own so no quarrels about whether one kid is eating more than their share of Pringles.

I have a super-nice memory foam neck pillow I love that folds small.

I take a large capacity power bank that has saved us so many times. It is small but clutch.

I also have a great under-seat soft bag that holds a ton and doesn’t cramp my feet. That was an Amazon splurge, but really nice.

My Kindle oasis is great too, no longer have to bring my books/magazines. KU has so many mags, I no longer buy them on trips like I used to.

Which one please?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If we have afternoon flights, wash the bedding and make the beds. Make sure laundry is 100% caught up. Schedule cleaning ladies to come while we’re gone. I love coming home to a clean house and fresh bed.

+1

Me too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not always possible, but usually possible from my home city -- I try to leave LATE at night and arrive as late as possible in my international destination so I have access to my accommodations. I really hate that aimless feeling of being jet lagged with nowhere to go. My home airport has flights to London, for example, leaving from ~4 to ~ midnight and not only do I "sleep" better on the flights leaving at midnight but that first day is shorter.

This is all about international (Europe) travel with kids, but in addition to the above I bring one or two of my kids' safe meals (Annies M&C, or similar) as a treat for some day on the trip. We nearly always self cater for most meals so it's a nice break from introducing the kids to suspicious new foods. We also bring a mountain of snacks from home too. Hungry kids = grumpy kids = bummer of a trip.

I also find kid-friendly activities that aren't classic tourist destinations, like a rec center with a pool, or a locals-focused nature center. These are usually cheaper and less crowded than big destinations, and to a kid might be just as fun. We had an absolute blast at a pool in London last summer, and at a science center in Norway this winter. We also regularly hit up local playgrounds.

NP. Can you please share how you find these places, and the specific info for the London pool and Norway science center? Both destinations are in our near future! Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm always amazed at people who do laundry on vacation. Vacation is NOT having to do laundry.

We sometimes do laundry when vacationing in the US (domestic) for 2 weeks. Doing laundry halfway so we pack less clothes.

Washing machines are usually pretty large so we do one wash and one dry and it's fine.

[Anonymous]

Mine are more for family trips:
I really like planned outfits for my kids. Make fun of me all you like, but I enjoy being on a family "trip" more when they coordinate. I have them all lined up in travel cubes.

I pack all the snacks. Handing my toddler a cheese stick or a pouch has saved the afternoon many times. I get creative with the snacks too. For dh and I there's always chocolates and iced coffees.

When it's DH and I on a vacation:
-We go to exotic places and I like to arrange a driver and tour guide. Getting through customs in a corrupt country is 10x better with a tour guide. I've even seen them palm money and then we skip lines. It's like the wild wild west out there. It's also helpful when we don't speak the language and the locals are not likely to speak English.

DH and I use the airport lounges. They have areas to change in, snack and even get massages when you arrive. Useful more for the long haul flights of 15 hours versus the shorter European flights.

I grew up staying in 5 star hotels and am not that interested in it now that I'm an adult. I'd much rather stay in some hut on a safari. If I wanted fancy sheets and my slippers, I would just stay home. Ritz is only marginally better than a Marriot in my mind (and dh's), but obviously a lot of other people feel differently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm always amazed at people who do laundry on vacation. Vacation is NOT having to do laundry.

YES! I have a separate bag so that nothing touches. And then halfway through we convert one bag to be the laundry luggage. If I do laundry on vacation, I'll arrive home with all the clean clothes wrinkled- no thanks. I'd rather do laundry at home than have wrinkled clothes. I enjoy laundry though and overseas dryers are terrible!! They just don't dry clothes well and then my whole hotel room has clothes drying. Bleh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We throw money at it. We bring a nanny, fly first class, hire a car to pick us up from the airport/home, have restaurant reservations the first day, hire guides, sometimes hire a private chef, get our home deep cleaned while we're away, etc.

the topic of the post is “little things,” ma’am. “be very wealthy” is not a little thing. anyone can throw money away - tell me something actually clever and useful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Staying at hotels like the Ritz Carton or similar, where there’s amazing service such as twice daily housekeeping and room service with real china, silverware, linens, etc.

$1000 for a single bed and one bathroom. No thanks.

It is not always $1000/ night.

We stay at similar hotels for the same reason though. Plus the extras and other services are amazing.

Are they $500/day amazing? Seriously what do you get for that money? Who wants twice-daily housekeeping?

I’ve only stayed in a very high-end hotel one time, and it absolutely was not worth the money. Yes everything was a few degrees bigger and nicer, but definitely not an amount that justifed the extra money.

Unless you’re paying for a view, a feature that adds something like a balcony, or a location that is otherwise inaccessible, I just cannot see how a super expensive hotel is doing anything except burning your money.

Oh there was one big difference at the fancy place - the hotel desk staff/conceirge knew our names and greeted us. I actually thought that was quite creepy and could have done without it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine are more for family trips:
I really like planned outfits for my kids. Make fun of me all you like, but I enjoy being on a family "trip" more when they coordinate. I have them all lined up in travel cubes.

I pack all the snacks. Handing my toddler a cheese stick or a pouch has saved the afternoon many times. I get creative with the snacks too. For dh and I there's always chocolates and iced coffees.

When it's DH and I on a vacation:
-We go to exotic places and I like to arrange a driver and tour guide. Getting through customs in a corrupt country is 10x better with a tour guide. I've even seen them palm money and then we skip lines. It's like the wild wild west out there. It's also helpful when we don't speak the language and the locals are not likely to speak English.

DH and I use the airport lounges. They have areas to change in, snack and even get massages when you arrive. Useful more for the long haul flights of 15 hours versus the shorter European flights.

I grew up staying in 5 star hotels and am not that interested in it now that I'm an adult. I'd much rather stay in some hut on a safari. If I wanted fancy sheets and my slippers, I would just stay home. Ritz is only marginally better than a Marriot in my mind (and dh's), but obviously a lot of other people feel differently.

Ha, I like you. You must have cute vacation photos.

Do you have any other tips where splurging makes a big difference worth the money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always bring my own slippers.

Same, slippers for inside the room

Also slippers for the plane.

What's wrong with the slippers the airline and hotels give you ?

tell me you are wealthy without telling me you are wealthy (and i am weathy enough that a lot of hotels have slippers I stay at but i stil lsay this!)