Lisa's Travel Guidebook

As I sat on the plane coming home Friday night, I realized that I really have gotten around in my life! Most of you know that I LOVE traveling, and I really think I've been lucky to visit as many places I have, especially in the past year or two, which has included everywhere from Charleston and Savannah to Chicago and New Orleans, and of course the latest Texas trips. There's just something absolutely fantastic about being somewhere completely new and getting away for even just a few days to escape the daily grind. Plus, there are so many amazing places out there to see, I figure I better get a head start now before I settle down!

Well anyway, every good thing has a downside, and mine came Friday night in the form of a terrible airline and delays out the wazoo. So, I decided to pass on my traveling wisdom so that maybe you can learn from my recent traveling blunders and successes. and if you have any tips, post them too! :)

ok so without further ado... here are
Lisa's Do's and Don'ts of Traveling:

DO invest in an iPod or something similar. I can't STAND the low buzz of airplane cabin noise. It makes it impossible to relax or get to sleep or anything remotely close to avoiding travel stress. my iPod has definitely been the most useful Christmas present ever. also perfect for the gym :)

as I stated earlier, DON'T fly on AirTran! AirTran would have been a do if this were just based on the way down. I was willing to forgive the hour delay due to the ambiguous "mechanical difficulties" since it meant getting a new plane with free XM radio! but then on the way back, every flight connecting through Atlanta (their hub) was about 2 hours late. Had I not flown standby on an earlier flight, I would have missed my connection and been stuck overnight like my company traveling companion and the rest of the people waiting in AirTran's 50 foot long customer service line. And the the thing that bothered me the most about it was that the woman that helped her never even apologized or acted surprised it had happened. Instead, she very methodically gave her the hotel discount card and her morning flight's boarding pass and sent her on her way. and it was then that I realized how easy it is to become complacent. I don't know about you, but I refuse to do business with a company that lets mediocrity become commonplace! and that is why AirTran is now on my DON'TS list. now I know why they are so cheap.

DO get some local flavor while you're away! now, when I'm traveling, I have three restaurant criteria: no chain restaurants (why eat somewhere I can eat at home?!), no restaurants in shopping centers (nothing good can come of this), and no Mexican (personal preference :Þ). so, my criteria ruled out a lot of places to eat, but when I was intrigues by the non-descript exterior of the "Magic Time Machine Restaurant," we decided to give it a try. And let me just say I will NEVER forget the experience! it was quite possibly the oddest place I have ever eaten. click here to get an idea what I'm talking about... but anyway, an adventure is always a good thing, and we definitely got quite a laugh that night, especially at all the "code yellows" and the crazy characters, like our waiter, "Jethro Bodine". actually, the night was entirely hilarious up the point when my co-worker commented that if I have as many criteria for men as I do restaurants, that may be why I'm still single! grrrrr. ok so maybe that was kind of funny... :)

DON'T spend all your time in the hotel! again, make sure you get some local flavor! there's no point in just sitting around, and what good is being homesick?! it doesn't help you get home any faster! I vote have as many great experiences as you can while you're away, even if you're traveling for business.

DO find the best local mall! okay so I know there are malls everywhere and that kind of goes against my rules, but Dallas had all 3 of my favorite stores in the same mall complex, and NONE of them are available in Virginia Beach! yes, after visiting Macy's, Sephora, AND The Container Store (and finding cute Nine West heels to boot), I was a very very happy girl. And again, my co-workers were quite amused at my excitement, but I told them as long as they assured me they were laughing WITH me and not AT me, it was all fine :)

DON'T trust hotels when they say they have special amenities! After the "swimming pool" of San Antonio's Microtel Inn and the "exercise room" of the Dallas Fairfield Inn (by Marriott no less), I will definitely be picking just from pictures from now on. grrrrrr.

DO unpack right away. Take a lesson from me and don't spend two weeks searching through luggage in the mornings to find things you use every day! (oops!)

DON'T be that person on the airplane! you know who I mean-- the ones with the screaming kids, the ones that put their seatbacks so far back they're looking the row behind them in the eye, the ones who freak out about EVERY bump and air travel in general, and the ones who should realize that if they're going to USE two seats then they should have BOUGHT two seats!!!

DO have a good time while you're away! No matter what you're traveling for, there's nothing like a little time to relax and unwind. thank god I came home to a weekend, because I'm so relaxed that I'm not even dreading going back to work tomorrow!

Anyway, in some last Texas notes, there were definitely some things that were scary about this last week's trip (seeing my first roach!), some things that are still unexplained (why are Texas men always winking?!), some things that are definitely keepers (meeting at Starbucks every morning instead of going right to work!), and some experiences that were just hair-raising (literally! the humidity was a killer!) but, now it's back to the daily grind, so I am off.

as usual there are some pics below. and sorry this got so long! I didn't mean it to! the story of my blog, right? :) anyway, hope everyone has a great week!!!