SELECT Hotels = VIP Treatment

 

As a Member of Travel Leaders Network, I have access to the SELECT hotel program. This program is made up of more than 1,700 of the world’s most distinguished and desirable premium properties, this ultra-luxury program offers VIP-worthy amenities to craft an authentic, memorable experience.

Feel free to take a look through this e-magazine featuring many of the offers available when you contact me to plan your next hotel stay at one of our SELECT properties!  CLICK ON THE PHOTO ABOVE TO BE TAKEN TO THE E-MAGAZINE! 

Destination Weddings

 

Are you engaged and starting to think about your dream wedding?   Has the idea of having a Destination Wedding been something you have been considering?   Weddings can be overwhelming to plan and when you add the extra of a Destination Wedding, you may think that it's even more overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be!! 

I can help you with your Destination Wedding & I work with expert Wedding Planners at a wide range of resorts, mostly in Hawaii, Tahiti, Mexico & the Caribbean, though other parts of the world are options.  I would love to help you plan your Destination Wedding, so please contact me to help!   

In the meantime, while you decide if a Destination Wedding is the right option for you, please feel free to enjoy my Destination Bliss e-magazine.  You can view the magazine by clicking DESTINATION BLISS MAGAZINE

When you're ready, you can reach me at:  pam@pamstravel.net  or 650-363-6156

Vacationing During a Pandemic

So I did a thing last month!!  I took my first real vacation of 2020 & I traveled successfully during a Global Pandemic.   It was AMAZING!    After months and months of seeing many of my colleagues travel to Mexico, Jamaica & the Dominican Republic with great success, I decided that it was time for a change of scenery.   2020 has been rough on all of us but when you're used to being on the go constantly with travel, dancing, sporting events, concerts and weekend getaways, the lockdown has been tough on the mental health.    My husband never stopped working, so he's been putting in his 40+ hours per week and not using his 5 weeks of vacation, which for anyone who knows me, knows that I don't waste his vacation days!   

We decided to head to a familiar and favorite place, Los Cabos.  Not knowing if this might be our only vacation this year, we decided to make it a nice long vacation and went away for 10 days!   We split our stay and spent 4 nights at the beautiful, luxury, adult-only, all-inclusive Le Blanc Resort & Spa and then finished our stay with 5 nights at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos, where I've previously stayed twice without Bill.   I have written up complete reviews on both resorts paying particular attention to Covid-related protocols that are now in place & I have also reviewed the airport experience both ways.   You can take a look at my reviews here: Le Blanc Review    Hyatt Ziva Review

We had the most wonderful time & most importantly we felt completely safe and well taken care of at both resorts, through both airports, in the transfer vehicles and on the airplanes.  

We slept in most days, grabbed breakfast and lounged by the pool.  We enjoyed room service a couple of days & felt totally pampered.  I enjoyed a hot bubble bath one night that our Butler Karla drew for me before she left for the evening.  We took in lots of Vitamin D & Vitamin SEA.   We rented a Cabana one day and watched football by the pool.  We enjoyed wonderful dinners that my husband did not have to cook.  Full Disclosure:  I HATE to cook, I do not find anything about it enjoyable & I'm lucky to be married to a man who is constantly searching and looking for new recipes & has the desire and willingness to make them happen!  We're both members of a recipe share group on Facebook and he posts in it almost daily, I have yet to share anything!   One of my travel colleagues/friends was also there with us at both resorts for a shorter stay along with her boyfriend & we were able to help her celebrate her birthday.  It was so nice to be with other people, it was nice to strike up conversations with strangers in the pool, at the coffee shop, with the wonderful servers at the resort, with social distancing of course.  It was nice to enjoy LIVE music each evening & watch Mexican performance shows.  We really didn't watch any TV for 10 days, we were pretty well disconnected from news which was a blessing a month before the Elections.  We turned on the TV a few times when going to bed, but there was nothing worth watching.  The nights were a little quiet at the Hyatt Ziva, but we were happy to play some cards after dinner, listening to our music and enjoying some wine.  

I can't stress enough how happy the Mexican people are to have tourists again.  Without a doubt these were the BEST 10 days of 2020 & we both needed the recharge badly.   Naturally, I posted several times on Facebook or Instagram while we were away with photos and details of our experiences. 99.9% of all comments were positive, people were happy to see us traveling again.  Of course, there will always be that one or two who will try to travel shame you (yes, it is a thing now in 2020 to be shamed for traveling during a pandemic), but traveling can be done safely & there are destinations that are open for business.  Traveling right now is not for everyone, some people absolutely will not travel until there is a vaccine or a trusted treatment plan and some may never travel again and that's OK, but it's also OK to travel if you feel comfortable doing so.   I was anxious, nervous and questioned myself if I was doing the right thing by traveling during a pandemic for weeks up until we left.  I was assured by other colleagues who had traveled that my feelings were "normal" in today's climate.  That helped me to feel better.  But once I was at the resort, sipping a glass of wine, eating lunch and looking out at the ocean, feeling the warm Mexico sun on my skin, I knew that we had made the absolute 100% right decision for us to take this vacation.  

If you're ready to recharge and want to getaway, I'd love to help you!  Please contact me to book your next vacation:  pam@pamstravel.net / 650-363-6156

Let Hawaii Happen!!

Travel to Hawaii will be possible without a 14-day quarantine starting Oct. 15 - enabled through a quick test (at the airport); but be prepared to pay for the "convenience"!!

- Hawaiian has matched United in planning to offer pre-departure COVID-19 testing for their passengers. Hawaiian Airline’s partnership with Worksite Labs gives exclusive access to drive-through PCR testing ($90/results within 36 hours, or $150 day-of-travel express service) from dedicated, conveniently located labs near LAX and SFO. It's expected that the Droplet Digital PCR shallow nasal swab tests – a “gold standard” COVID-19 screening that meets state of Hawai‘i guidelines – will be available around Oct. 15.

- United has partnered with GoHealth Urgent Care at SFO, and testing will be available from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. daily to offer rapid tests to their Hawaii-bound passengers for $250 per person (or to save money, opt to use a self-administered sampling kit from a firm called Color, which requires longer lead time and costs $80 plus shipping).

Hawaii guidelines are not completely clear yet though and will need to be updated and clarified before booking any flights to avoid any possible unpleasant surprises.

Hawaii has lined up partnerships with Kaiser Permanente, CVS and Walgreens to provide necessary pre-departure testing on the mainland.

According to Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green, the state’s point man for the testing plans, apparently - in addition to the standard deep nasal swab tests - Hawaii will also accept results from Abbott Labs’ Abbott ID Now test, which uses a swab from the front of the nose and produces results in less than 15 minutes.

Hawaii is currently also negotiating with the company Vault which provides saliva tests (especially for children under 12).

Stay tuned for more changes to undoubtedly come...

As always, you should work with your trusted Travel Professional to book your trip so that we can keep you apprised of all new developments!!

Luggage Tips!

Have you ever wondered what you should or shouldn't do when it comes to your luggage?   Well, I am here to share with you a few very good tips!

1.  Make sure you have a Luggage Tag.  On that Tag, be sure to include your name, email address and phone number.   Do NOT include your home address as you could be setting yourself up to be a target of a home robbery while you are away.   I know some people will use their business cards as their luggage tag & this works well as long as you know the business address is secure.

2.  It is also a good idea to put a piece of paper INSIDE your luggage with the address of your destination along with your contact information just in case your luggage becomes damaged and/or the tag is lost.  

3.  In the digital age, this is super easy - take a photo of your luggage and even of the contents.  If your luggage does become lost, the photo will help the airline or cruise line when trying to locate the lost item.  It will also help should you get to the point of needing to file an insurance claim should your luggage be lost forever.

4.  Always lock your luggage.  You can purchase TSA approved luggage locks.  With these locks, the security folks can open your bag if needed, but they can lock it back up again.  If you have a non-TSA approved lock & security finds reason to open your suitcase, they will break your lock & then your suitcase and contents are vulnerable the rest of the trip.   If you don't lock your suitcase at all, that is an open invitation to any person who may come into contact with your suitcase along the journey.  Don't make it easy for thieves! 

5.  This should go without saying, but do not put anything valuable in your checked luggage.  Medications, electronics, camera equipment, jewelry & anything else of value should always be with you in your carry-on luggage.  Consider leaving anything of great value at home & really determine if it's really necessary for your trip.  

6.  In the Covid-19 traveling era, try to keep your carry on bag "simple".  You want to minimize any contact that others could have with your luggage.  Try not to over-pack, you want the TSA agents to have a clear visual through the x-ray machines, if they don't they will want to unpack your bag to see what the item of question might be.  

Hope these tips help you when packing for your next trip!

When you are ready to plan that next trip, I would love if you would reach out to me!  I'd love to make your trip as memorable as possible.

 

30 years ago, I walked into my 1st Travel Agency job & the ride has been amazing. Never imagined that my 30th year would be marked by a global pandemic that brought the traveling world to a screeching halt, but alas here we are. Travel is slowly starting to pick up & I plan to celebrate this milestone with my 1st vacation of 2020 very soon. I have had many colleagues and a few friends travel recently to Mexico and have heard nothing but wonderful things! The planning has begun and we will return to a favorite destination, Los Cabos. I need to work out all of the details as I would like to experience a few properties that I have not experienced before so that I can report back to everyone about protocols from place to place!

I am hopeful that this business & industry that I love so dearly will be showing great recovery by this time next year!! When you're ready to travel, I will be here to help you plan! With 30 years under my belt, you can trust that I will see to it that you have a wonderful vacation & makes plenty of wonderful memories.

Today I was reminded that life is short, a classmate from High School passed away this week after suffering from a stroke on Monday. We're not OLD!! I have no idea of her health, but it's a great reminder that we all need to do what we can to stay healthy, build our immune systems, do what makes you happy because stress & unhappiness is not good for your health & don't forget about your mental wellness. I know personally that these last few months have played a huge toll on my own mental welfare & this vacation will be the absolute best medicine!
 

Travel-State Dept Global Health Advisory Update

 

Yesterday the U.S. Department of State issued this update to the Travel Advisory page.  Previous to this, the U.S. was under a Level 4 Travel Advisory, which meant that international travel was not advised.  It was never a travel ban, but simply meant that the U.S. Government may not be able to help you in a foreign country as their Embassies could be closed, there may not be any repatriation assistance should borders close, etc.

Because so many parts of the world are beginning to open up to foreign travelers, the U.S. has now removed the Global Travel Advisory & has reverted back to a country by country assessment of the current travel situation.  It is important to know that a country may be classified as a Level 4, but that doesn't mean that the entire country fits the unsafe criteria be it due to crime, health reasons, etc.   It's important to read the advisory completely to determine if a particular destination that you may be considering is considered safe for a visit.

Though we have a long way to go before the world is open to U.S. Citizens, still many are banning Americans due to our current number of Covid cases & hot spots, but this is a hopeful start of the Global Travel Economy's recovery.

When you are ready to travel the world, I am here to help you.  Together we can work on a trip plan that excites you while also keeps you comfortable with safety in mind.