When we travel to a city, like Paris, London, Honolulu, San Diego, or even San Jose del Cabo, etc… we almost never rent a car for a couple of reasons. Number one is that most of these cities have great public transportation systems and driving and finding parking is a real pain in the neck. Additionally, when we stay in big city hotels or condo resorts, most of them no longer offer free parking and there usually isn’t any parking close to them as well. In fact, we are currently staying in Honolulu for 12 days, and the resort wants almost $70 per night for parking. That’s more than twice the cost of a rental car.

For these types of trips, we will use a hotel shuttle or Uber to get to the resort and not have to worry about the expense of the rental car, parking and of course, insurance. In places like Cabo, the insurance can be more than twice the cost of the rental car. You can read about another cost saving on insurance, especially for Cabo, here. During our Honolulu trip, we used Uber to get to the resort and back and a couple of short Uber trips as well. When we want to do a full day trip, we will just rent a car for the day. We wanted to visit a Plumaria farm on the north side of the island and stop off for a pineapple taste at the Dole facility, so we rented a car for the day. On another day we wanted to visit a botanical garden and wanted a car for that day as well.

Before our trip, I used the different travel apps to see which one give me the best options for one day rental locations that were close to our resort. Maybe a 5-10 minute walk away. I settled on Expedia for this trip and booked a car for one day trip for $61 and for the second day trip I was able to get an economy car for $41 per day. Just for fun, I visited the concierge desk to ask about daily rentals and was referred to a local company but they wanted $140 per day for a car. I also checked at the in house rental car desk at one of the hotels and they wanted $135 per day for the car. So, we did two different car rental days for less than the cost of the one recommended by the hotel.

On the other hand, if visiting a country where we are doing a road trip, like we did a few months ago to Australia and New Zealand, we stayed at locations that did not charge for parking and booked our rental in advance after researching the best rates. Australia and New Zealand also have more restrictive insurance rules and you have to purchase their required insurance on your rental car. You cannot use your credit card or travel insurance to cover the car rental.

On our road trip to Banff in February, we were learned that you had to have all weather tires, and they recommended all wheel drive vehicles to drive into Banff National Park between October and May. So, we found a rental company in Coeur d’Alene, where we could leave our personal vehicle and rent an all wheel drive car for a safer trip through the Canadian Rockies. In this case, we also splurged and paid for the full coverage insurance because of the increased danger of driving on snowy, shushy or icy roads. Fortunately we did not have any problems and could have done that trip without the insurance, but the peace of mind and the all wheel drive was worth the expense. It’s not always just about saving money to win the car rental game it is also about having fun on your trip without the worries.

Another way that we have won the rental car game is when we do an African Safari. On our first safari, we rented a van and drove throughout Kruger National Park each day. A great trip, but on subsequent trips we found it was more relaxing to just book the trip with a safari company and leave the driving to them. We saw more wildlife and it made the trip more fulfilling. We would recommend that you look in to a safari from Robin Pope Safaris or from Gracepatt Safaris. We would be happy to help your book a safari.

I hope these ideas will be a benefit to you in your upcoming trips.

What I noticed was something that we did not even plan for; daylight savings time. The clocks in Australia spring forward on Sunday the 6th of October. Luckly for us we are flying on Saturday, not Sunday, so I won’t have a nasty surprise.

Fortunately, none of my flights on this trip are on a Sunday when the clocks are moved ahead in Spring and back in Fall.

How upset would I have been to show up at an airport on a Sunday morning and found that I missed my flight because everyone else turned their clocks ahead by 1 hour and we didn’t notice because we were on vacation and not watching the news.

I do suggest that you make a note in your planner/calendar so that you know when they change time in your country or the country you are flying through or to. Keep in mind that when we in California are thinking about turning our clocks back in the Fall, in the Southern Hemisphere, such as Africa, South America, Australia and New Zealand they are moving their clocks forward because it is Spring.

Here in the US & Canada, we spring forward on 2nd Sunday in March and fall back on the 1st Sunday in November. There are exceptions to daylight savings times in the US. It is not observed in Arizona, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and the Nothern Mariana Islands.

For New Zealand, they spring forward on the last Sunday in September and fall back on the first Sunday in April.

Australia is a bit more complicated because the states of Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Christmas Island do not participate in daylight savings time. The states of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT (Australian Capital Territory), and Norfolk Island spring forward on the first Sunday in October and they fall back on the first Sunday in April.

The European Union observes daylight savings time on the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October.

Daylight savings time is also observed in Paraguay, Chili, Cuba, and Haiti.

The bottom line is to either never fly on a Sunday or to make sure to think about daylight savings time when your are flying on Sundays.

The best time to book is generally about 1 month out. If you are shopping, start a month or two before that time and track prices for the best buy.

The best time to book is usually on a Sunday, but that is not the best day to start your trip. In fact, that is often the most expensive.

The best day to start your trip is often on a Thursday since everyone else is probably booking their flights to leave after work on Friday because of their work schedule. You can save some money if you can convince your boss to let you take an extra vacation day on that Friday which will give you 10 vacation and travel days, but only 6 days of vacation time.

Being retired makes your options even better. I almost always book my flights so that I really don’t have a layover along the way. I try to plan out the airports along the route and stay a couple of days at each “layover” so that I can stretch my legs and see a new city. Of course, that does mean that my trip may take 2 weeks or more, but being retired, I don’t have to worry about my boss having a problem with me being gone for an extended vacation. Last year we booked a trip from Sacramento, California to Nairobi, Kenya with a stopover in London. Our connection from London to Nairobi was 10 days after arriving in London and we spent the 10 days in Ireland. Our return connection from Nairobi to London gave us a week in London to see the sights. No layover, hanging out at the airport for 4-5 hours, waiting for our connecting flight.

Now that we have done the extra research about Real ID, it is time to double check our passports to make sure that we have at least 6 months on our passports beyond the time we will be traveling and that we have at least 2 empty pages for passport stamps and visa stamps for each country that we are visiting. Along those same lines, since we are headed to Kenya and Tanzania, we need to go online to order our mulit-visit visa, now called an ETA for Kenya. Did you know that now most people can renew their passport online? Click here for more info.

We will not be getting our Tanzania visa before we leave home. We don’t want to send them our passports and hope we get them back. Also, there is more than one type of visa to visit Tanzania. There is one for people who are transiting the country. At the time of this writing, that is about $30. For those who are visiting Tanzania, the fee is about $100. Also, they want newer, clean, crisp $20 dollar bills, or in the case of the transit visa, a couple of $5 dollar bills to go with your $20. Also, if you are with a guide, they won’t believe that you are transiting the country so make sure to have the $100 in clean cash.

Another thing to think about when we discuss getting a visa was that most countries listed the United States on a short list of countries that did not have to apply for a visa to visit that country. Things are changing. Many countries, such as New Zealand and Australia, now require us to apply online for an ETA. An Electronic Travel Authority. You need to do this before you leave home, so don’t forget to check the countries you are visiting to make sure you are good to go.

While waiting for the visa and your eta’s, it is time to get started on shots. Some countries require you to have your shot card with you as well as a document from your doctor that shows you have received certain shots, such as a yellow fever shot, depending on which country you are visiting or have visited in the recent past.

When we went a couple of years ago, we had to get a series of shots, some before the trip and a final one after we got home. So, I called Kaiser to set the appointment with the Travel Nurse to discuss what shots and meds that we may need for our trip.

Don’t forget that you need to consider the re-entry process when we return to the U.S. The first choice for many people would be to get the Global Entry paperwork done before hand, but for us that means going to San Francisco to do the interview. A pain in the back side. Also, after you fill out the documents and paying the fee, you can still end up waiting months before you get your conditional approval. We applied in May for an October trip. Still no joy and it is already September.

After you get the conditional approval, you need to sign up for the interview. Unfortunately, it could be several more months before you can go in for your interview. If you have your conditional approval, you can get an interview on the fly if you return from an international trip and land at one of the several dozen airports that allow it, you can do your interview there after you disembark. When landing in an international terminal follow the signage directing you to CBP officers who can complete your Global Entry interview during your admissibility inspection. Click here for info on that process.

Also, since our Pre-Check was expiring, we had to renew it because of the long delay in getting Global Entry.

The second option is using the app on your phone called Mobile Passport. We continue to use this second option while we wait for the government to get back to us.

One final thing to think about is that because child trafficking is a huge problem around the world, many governments are also requiring you to have your child’s birth certificate, along with passports. Better to be safe than sorry, carry a legal copy of your child’s birth certificate when you travel.

Since writing this blog post, lots of countries are now requireing you to get an ETA  or ETIAS to travel to their country, including Kenya, Great Britian and much of the European Union.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors – Permission Letter

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel

In fact, I like to take a maximum of about a week’s worth of clothes no matter how long the trip. I like to keep my suitcase down to less than 30 pounds; it is a backpack suitcase and I want to be able to hop on or off a train or the metro without an issue.

A pair of pants or shorts don’t take up too much space in my suitcase, but 7 days worth of underwear take up much more space than an extra shirt or an extra pair of pants. I don’t mind wearing the same pair of pants or shorts for a few days, but I don’t like to wear underwear for multiple days.

Generally, if we are staying in hotel rooms, I would bring my light weight, quick drying, underwear and wash them in my room. On our next trip, my wife and I will spend a week in London followed by a 2 week photo safari in Africa. The first week is not really an issue since we have access to a sink every night in our hotel room. On the safari, we are not sure of our accomodations yet, but we could be staying in tents and moving every day or two.  It is not like I can leave wet underwear hanging in the tent or even in our room while we are on safari since we will be at a different camp the next day. With fast drying polyester based underwear, they be dry overnight, but not cotton briefs. Yes, TMI, but you have to think about those things when you travel.

The other problem is that we will spend summer days in London and winter days in Africa. Different types of clothes for the very different climates.

I could ship my Africa wardrobe to London and carry the clothes that I want to wear in London in my suitcase. Before we leave, I could ship my London clothes home and carry my Africa wardrobe for the rest of the trip. That is an extra expense but it would be a solution. As noted above, the other option will be doing laundry every night or two.  I don’t want to do laundry every couple days for the whole 3 weeks. I have another idea in mind that will give me the space in my suitcase for gifts and cut down on laundry.

I remember that mom always said to wear clean underwear just in case I get into an accident; but I have seen enough of those TV shows where they just cut off your clothes to get to your injuries. So, I figured that I would set aside old and almost worn out underwear throughout the year and take them on my trip. Rather than washing them in the evening, I can just toss them out along the way. So, instead of bringing 7 sets of underwear, I will bring 14 sets of underwear and by the end of the first week, I will have room in my suitcase for gifts.

Starting on week two of the trip, all of the worn out underwear will be in the trash. The 7 sets that I go to Africa with will be the ones that are easy to wash and that are quick trying. I can easily wash them out each night and they should be dry by the morning.

What do you think of this plan?

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors-Permission Letter

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

]]> https://jackstraveltips.com/packing-light-more-options/feed/ 0 2603 https://jackstraveltips.com/speed-up-your-return-into-the-u-s/ https://jackstraveltips.com/speed-up-your-return-into-the-u-s/#comments Fri, 10 Aug 2018 20:30:59 +0000 https://jackstraveltips.com/?p=2594 Many of you already use TSA Precheck when traveling domestically to speed the process of boarding aircraft. You can often use at foreign international airports too.

Some of you use Global Entry for international travel to speed up the process of getting through Customs, especially when you return to the U.S.

Did you know that there is another option to speed up the process of going through passport control when you return to the United States if you don’t have Global Entry?

It is called Mobil Passport. No, it does not replace your passport or Global Entry, but it does replace filling out the paper form upon your  return to the U.S. so that you can move more quickly through the Customs and Border Control process. Best of all, is that it’s FREE.

You can have both Global Entry and Mobil Passport but you must decide which one you will use to enter the US.  Keep in mind that if you have completed and activated your Mobil Passport, then you have already started the passport control process and you will have to go to the Mobil Passport line. You cannot go to the Global Entry line as they will end up sending you to a supervisor to deal with you trying to enter the country twice. That could mean quite a delay in getting through the process.

You could fill out all of the info in Mobil Passport while on the airplane and wait until you enter the passport control room to decide to go to Global Entry or complete the process with Mobil Passport based upon the shortest line. You will still need to wait to receive the response on your phone before getting in the line.  Either way, the line will be much shorter than the very long line for those who didn’t get set up with Global Entry or Mobil Passport before their trip.

Now, back to Mobil Passport.

It is pretty simple. Just go to Google Play or the Apple Store to download the app, scan your passport into the app and fill out some info. You can put your whole household on one phone.  I would suggest that you do it on your phone as well as your partner’s phone, just in case one of the phones is lost or damaged on your trip. The info will be held on your phone and it is password protected.

When you return to the U.S., turn on your phone and use the app to answer the questions that you would have answered on the paper form that the flight attendant may have given you. You will receive a QR code to be scanned by the Customs and Border Protection system.

It is pretty straight-forward. In fact, after you have landed and are headed to the terminal on the taxi way, just turn on your phone, open the app and answer the questions. You will probably have your QR code before you get off the plane and you will be ready to go. The info is good for 4 hours. Make sure you do this before you start responding to your emails or you may not get the QR code response before you get to Passport Control.  Remember, you cannot go to the Global Entry line after you have sent your info to Customs and Border Control with your Mobile Passport as they will end up sending you to a supervisor to deal with you trying to enter the country twice. That could mean quite a delay in getting through the process.

For more info, click here.

They are only live at 24 airports and one cruise terminal so far. Keep in mind that you will go through customs at the airport where you first debark when you return to the U.S. For example, if you land in Dallas and change planes to go on to Sacramento, you will go through customs in Dallas, not Sacramento. Look for that airport below.

Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors-Permission Letter

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

]]> https://jackstraveltips.com/speed-up-your-return-into-the-u-s/feed/ 2 2594 https://jackstraveltips.com/planning-a-trip-to-africa/ https://jackstraveltips.com/planning-a-trip-to-africa/#respond Wed, 28 Mar 2018 20:07:16 +0000 https://jackstraveltips.com/?p=2583 We are planning another trip to Africa for July 2018.  This will be a 12 day photo safari in Kenya and Tanzania to see the great migration in the Masai Mara that we have seen on TV on the National Geographic Channel.

The best time is between July and August. If it is a warm year, then July is great. If not, you need to wait until August. Of course, to plan ahead, you must decide before you really know what the weather will be, so plan it and hope for the best weather, but enjoy it either way.

Just a few dozen years ago, this would have been a very dangerous trip because of the rampant poaching. Thanks to the Mara Triangle Conservancy, that is no longer the case and we are looking forward to an exciting, but not a dangerous, trip.

For this trip, we want to do the safari during the beginning of the migration, rather than in the middle of it. We will not see as many animals, but that just means that we will see a few thousand animals rather than hundreds of thousands of animals. That being said, it will be summer in the northern hemisphere at home in California, but winter in the southern hemisphere in Africa.

Of course, we cannot fly to straight to Nairobi from the U.S. yet. Just in case you are interested, there will be a direct flight from JFK to Nairobi starting in October 2018 on Kenya Airways. It would be a very long flight, about 15 hours or so. We prefer to break our flights up into flights of 10 hours or less. Also, since we will be flying into Nairobi to start our photo safari, we need to find the best routing to and from there. Based upon my research, the best option is to fly round trip from London to Nairobi. Therefore, we will fly from California to London, and then on to Nairobi. With that in mind, we plan to add a week long visit to London on the way to Africa. We would have preferred to do 3-4 days in London on the way to and from Africa to break up the flight both ways, but it did not fit our schedule. So it will be a very long, long trip home. Probably about 36 hours of travel time. Drive from Arusha Tanzania to Nairobi, Kenya, then fly Nairobi to London, layover, London to Dallas, layover, and finally Dallas to Sacramento.

Now that you have seen our general plans, what should you be doing to get ready if this was your trip. You could call your travel agent and describe the trip you wish to take and let the agent gather the appropriate information that is needed to set up the trip. Keep in mind that you should plan on paying the agent for doing all the work to put the trip together.  If you don’t want to do that, then it is time for you to do some work to gather all of the info needed to set up your timeline for the various steps along the way.

My first step would be to check with the State Department and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to find out what requirements the countries require of a visitor. Things like a visa, shots, passport, etc…

You are probably are thinking that you have a passport and don’t need to worry about that. Did you know that some countries won’t let you visit if you have only a couple of months left on your passport? Did you know that some countries won’t let you enter if you have a brand new passport? Did you know that some countries require you to have several blank passport and visa pages available for them to use. So, do your homework. I could tell you what I found for Kenya and Tanzania, but since that information does change and I have no idea when you will be reading this post, I suggest that you do your own research.

While you are on the State Department’s website, you will see links for Travel Advisories, passports and international travel. We will start on the International Travel page. On that page, click on the Traveler’s Checklist link and go through their checklist. The first thing they say to do is to research the entry/exit requirements for the countries you will be visiting.  For example, we will visit Kenya and Tanzania.  You can click on them to see what issues to be concerned about.

Of course, the State Department recommends that you register for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive updates if there are problems in the country where you plan to visit.

Why is this important? Because if civil war breaks out, you may want to cancel your trip. That brings up another issue, which is travel insurance. In fact, that is almost as important as the entry and exit rules for where you plan to visit. You need to talk to your travel agent about your travel insurance needs before you make any reservations. Especially if you want to be able to purchase a policy to cover you if you have pre-existing health conditions that may cause you to have to cancel the trip. Please take the time to learn more about travel insurance here. When you are ready to purchase a policy, your travel agent will handle it for you. If you are doing your own trip planning, click here to order a policy.

Now that I have done some of the needed research, I need to double check our passports to make sure that we have at least 6 months on our passports beyond the time we will be in England and Africa and that we have at least 2 empty pages for passport stamps and visa stamps. Along those same lines, we need to go online to order our mulit-visit visa for Kenya since we fly into Kenya, drive into Tanzania then back into Kenya before flying home. We will not be getting our Tanzania visa before we leave home. We don’t want to send them our passports and hope we get them back.

While waiting for the visa, it is time to get started on shots. When we went a couple of years ago, we had to get a series of shots, some before the trip and a final one after we got home. So, I called Kaiser to set the appointment with the Travel Nurse to discuss what shots and meds that we may need for our trip.

Don’t forget that you need to consider the rentry process when we return to the U.S. The first choice would be to get the Global Entry paperwork done before hand, but that means going to San Francisco to do the interview. A pain in the back side. The second option is using the app on your phone called Mobile Passport. We chose the second option.

Once all of that is in process, we can finally book the trip and buy the travel insurance. I will talk more about that part of it in a follow-up blog post.

Just in case you were wondering about why we are going to Kenya and Tanzania, it is so that we can see the great migration.  You know, the migration of hundreds of thousands of animals that you have seen on the National Geographic Channel.

The bottom line is that we are turning more dreams into memories. You should be doing the same.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors-Permission Letter

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

How To Find Cheap Flight for Your Stag Do Weekend?

Have you ever watched a travel show and noticed the advertisements for Viking River Cruises? Well, many of the beautiful scenes in their advertisement are of downtown Budapest. We spent a few days in Budapest in 2016 before embarking on a Viking River Cruise from Budapest to Passau, Germany. Check out our blog post on our visit to Budapest.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors-Permission Letter

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

]]> https://jackstraveltips.com/finding-cheap-flights/feed/ 0 2479 https://jackstraveltips.com/adapters-vs-converters/ https://jackstraveltips.com/adapters-vs-converters/#respond Mon, 04 Sep 2017 23:47:36 +0000 https://jackstraveltips.com/?p=2450 Something that worries almost all first time travelers to Europe or England,  has to do with which of their electronics will work and which ones won’t work.

They want to know if they need an adapter or a converter.

Let’s start with basics. In the USA, we use 110 volt AC appliances, except for electric ranges, electric water heaters and electric heating and air conditioning systems. Those use 220 volts AC.

In most of the rest of the world, they use 220 volt AC appliances.  I should also point out that AC stands for Alternating Current.

Our cars and most electronics use DC or direct current but you don’t need to worry about that. Why, because when we charge our electronics we use a USB plug or a plug with a built in converter that will convert either 110 volt AC current or 220 volt AC current to the appropriate DC voltage for our phones, cameras, tablets or our laptop computers.

With that background, lets move on to talk about adapters vs. converters.

An adapter is a device that allows you to plug your American appliance or charger into a foreign plug. A converter, converts the electricity coming out of the wall from 220 volts to 110 volts.  Newer adapters do have a limited converter to convert the 220 volts AC to the 5 volt DC voltage for the USB outlets.

As an aside, none of the adapters shown in this article will work in South Africa or Swaziland. If you are going to South Africa, make sure to pick up the appropriate adapter for that country. They use a type M plug down there. You can order type M adapters from Amazon.

This is an old travel hair dryer with a small round switch that allows you to use it with either 110 or 220 volt systems.

Back to the discussion of the need for adaptors or converters.

In most hotels and cruise ships, they have a 110 volt circuit in the bathroom for an electric shaver. Don’t plug your hair dryer into that slot. Many cruise ships don’t even want you to bring along a blow dryer or a flat iron for pressing your clothes. They tend to overload their circuits. Facilities that are set up to handle the electrical load, generally provide blow dryers in the cabin or the hotel room. It may not be the one you are used to using, but it will do in a pinch.

Don’t plug your hair dryer into an adapter either, unless you have a hair dryer with a switch that will move it from 110 volts to 220 volts. You will burn it up. As for your curling iron or blow dryer, since you could not leave home without it, why not just buy one from a store in Budapest when you arrive. You can get one for about 20 Euros. Then you won’t need to use one of your adapters.

If you need a converter you have dozens of options. Here is a link to one, and

here is another option that you can get on Amazon.

Most of us don’t carry converters any more. We just carry adapters for the country we will be visiting. I always carry more than one so that my wife can plug her phone or tablet, etc. in on her side of the bed and I can plug mine in on my side of the bed.

Just make sure to pick them up from Amazon or your favorite retailer before you leave home. You know your battery will be dead when you arrive unless you remembered that on most international flights that there are generally 110 outlets or USB outlets in the plane. Sometimes they are under the seat, so that you can keep your device charged up. If you don’t already have transportation waiting for you at the airport, you will want to use your phone to order up Uber or Lyft to get you to your hotel.  You did remember to order an international plan for your phone before you left home, didn’t you??? Go to the Tips page for more tips.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors-Permission Letter

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

]]> https://jackstraveltips.com/adapters-vs-converters/feed/ 0 2450 https://jackstraveltips.com/budapest/ https://jackstraveltips.com/budapest/#comments Fri, 25 Aug 2017 18:49:06 +0000 https://jackstraveltips.com/?p=2443 Budapest, Hungary

Why do YOU want to go to Budapest? I have been there and I know that it is a wonderful city to visit. Plenty to see and do. Very friendly people. But unless you are an avid traveler, most people don’t have Budapest on their list. Yes, they have Paris, or London, or Lisbon, or Madrid, or Rome…

I will admit that, although I heard great things about Budapest, the reason that we traveled there was to take a Viking River Cruise from Budapest to Passau.  That cruise is called “The Danube Waltz”.  They have a similar cruise, called The Romantic Danube that goes between Budapest and Nuremburg. Viking River Cruises has several trips that start or stop in Budapest, but I really liked the Danube Waltz because of the interesting stops along the way. It looked to be a great itinerary, and it was.

Whenever we book a trip like a river cruise, we don’t want to worry about missing the boat, so we plan for a couple of extra days to decompress, make up for missed connections, and to even get some time to visit a new destination. The other part of our planning involves getting our phones ready. That means adding the international plan on both my phone and my wife’s phone. Making sure that I have the apps that I want to be able to use. For example, we want to have Gate Guru, Uber, Delta or the particular airline we are using, Tripit, Viator, Big Bus Tours, Rick Steves audio tours, and the metro app for the cities we are visiting. I also want to have Google Earth or something with a great street view that works on my phone. As I noted above, both phones are set up because one will not work. At the airport in Budapest, mine did not work, so we used my wife’s phone to order up the Uber driver to get us to our hotel.

The other thing I do in preparation, is to use the street view on Google maps to “walk the streets” in my destination city so that I know the area. I also look at the routing from the airport to the hotel so that I know if my Uber or taxi driver is actually taking me to my chosen destination by the shortest route. If there are any videos available online I will watch them before we go as well.  I also look for Delicious Destinations for info on the great restaurants in the city.  I especially like Wolters World videos. I will also check out their facebook page as well to ask questions about the destination. Another one that I like to view is Rick Steves. I have their current travel guides for the places that I plan to visit. I also have watched every video that he has published. And as noted above, if he has a walking tour for a city that I am visiting, I will have it on my phone as well.

Now, if you are not a real seasoned traveler, you may not want to go it alone and you may want a complete package in place before you leave home.  If I am taking a river cruise, I always use Viking River Cruises and they will put the whole trip together for you. That includes airfare, transfers from the airport to your hotel or the cruise boat you are traveling on, and back to the airport to home. All you really need to do is get to your local airport and get from there back home. Viking will do the rest. Their people will be waiting at your destination with their red signs directing you to the bus that will take you to your boat. Nothing could be easier. Also, if you are like me and want a little down time before the cruise, they have pre-cruise additions that will give you that opportunity. A great way to see the city before you start the cruise. They are also flexible enough if you want to do your own thing before or after the cruise. There is a small fee for that and you will have to handle your own transfers, but with Uber, that is not a problem.

When we did our Danube Waltz cruise, we spent 3 days in Budapest before the cruise, and then 3 days in Saltzburg and 5 days in Vienna after the cruise. They provided the airfare before and after the cruise so all we had to do was make sure that we arranged for Uber to get to our hotel in Budapest before the cruise and that we got to the airport in Vienna after the cruise.

Now, back to Budapest. We stayed at the Leo Panzio Hotel. A small boutique hotel just down the street from a metro stop. We prefer small hotels over huge hotels that make it look like we are still in the US.  I always make sure that the hotel we use is close to a metro stop as well as a Big Bus stop if they have a tour in the city we are visiting.

In Budapest, everything was in walking distance for us so we didn’t even use the metro. We did take the Big Bus tour and got off and on whenever we wanted to. We also got a dinner cruise on the Danube from Viator so that we were able to fully enjoy the city, day and night.

The list of places to visit in Budapest is more than you will be able to see in 2-3 days, so don’t worry about what you missed. Just plan on visiting again. Maybe take one of the other Viking River cruises. Keep in mind what you will tour with your cruise and plan to see the other sights in town.

Here is what to expect on the cruise; “Today we visit highlights of the once separate towns of Buda and Pest, starting with Pest’s National Opera House and historic Heroes’ Square. In Buda, walk along Castle Hill to Fishermen’s Bastion and Matthias Church. Enjoy lunch aboard your ship, with the rest of the day to explore on your own. You may wish to visit the Art Nouveau Gellért Spa, or one of the many other lavish facilities in this “City of Healing Waters.” Return to your ship for a traditional Hungarian farewell dinner.” With that in mind, I would want to visit the central market, the Citadel, the Parliment Building, and don’t forget to look for the Ronald Reagan statue near Liberty Square.

So much more to share, but I will sign off for now. Time to plan my next trip to Budapest.

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Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors-Permission Letter

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

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