Tag Archives: travel tips

How to Find the Perfect Vacation Rental: Tips for Your First Time, or any Time

I’m a villa rental convert.

I wanted to do something special for my most recent birthday. But with a three-year-old at home, a weekend jaunt to Paris was not in the cards: Long flights are exhausting, and hotel stays can be tough, forcing us all onto a toddler’s sleep schedule. Plus, I wanted some time with my girlfriends. How to make it work? I hatched a plan to rent a house so that we could all spend a few days together, somewhere a bit exotic but with all the comforts and conveniences of home. We ended up with wonderful memories from our trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (which took place before Hurricane Odile hit the region in September; though the damage was significant, most hotels and villas have already reopened, including the place we stayed). Moreover, I came away with several valuable tips for first-time villa renters like myself:

My birthday dinner sunset at Villa Miguel

Know your destination’s neighborhoods—or find someone who does.
Cabo was a natural fit for our California-based group—a sunny respite for my friends mired in San Francisco’s summer fog—but I knew nothing about the area. So when I logged onto VRBO.com—a popular vacation-rental website—to start searching for a rental property, I was flummoxed by the options: VRBO’s 1,200 Cabo-area rentals are divided among Cabo San Lucas and the Los Cabos Corridor, then grouped by headings such as Costa Brava and Sirena Del Mar—all of which meant nothing to me. (I’d later discover that most of these are the names of neighborhoods or gated communities.) If I hadn’t finally thrown up my hands in defeat and called Julie Byrd, one of Wendy’s WOW List experts for villa vacations—Julie is the Cabo vacation-rental expert whom Wendy has been recommending to travelers for years—I might have booked a house in noisy, party-central Pedregal instead of in the family-friendly Cabo del Sol gated community.

Interestingly, many travelers who contact Julie Byrd with a particular villa in mind end up booking a different one based on her advice, most often because the location of the original house doesn’t fit their needs. If you plan to book a place without help from an expert like Julie—popular websites for this include VRBO, HomeAway, Craigslist, FlipKey, and TripAdvisor—make sure to familiarize yourself with the destination’s neighborhoods first. Sure, this is good advice for any trip, but it’s particularly important when renting a villa that may have been built originally as a private home without considering convenience for travelers.

Glean intel from online reviews.
These are full of essential information, especially if you read between the lines. You can figure out not just whether a villa is shabby or well-kept, but what kinds of travelers stay there and whether that beach you see in the photos is an easy stroll from the house or requires scrambling over a rocky path. (See these tips from an expert TripAdvisor reviewer on how to extract useful information from all those user reviews.)

The pool at Villa Cielito

Consider which hotel amenities are essential to your happiness.
Daily maid service? Wi-Fi? A full hot breakfast? Don’t skimp on what makes you happiest at a hotel. If making your bed and cooking your own breakfast each day doesn’t sound like vacation, know that there are staffed villas with every level of service—and corresponding price points. A different house we visited, Villa Cielito, had an indoor-outdoor living area with blockbuster ocean views that sparked destination-wedding fantasies among my girlfriends, but the bedrooms were generic and motel-like, without the knickknacks and local art that gave our own Villa Miguel a charming, homey atmosphere.

Dining and living room area at Villa Miguel, Cabo, Mexico

The dining and living room areas at Villa Miguel

Do some menu planning in advance.
I was initially attracted to the thought of cooking my own meals—until I realized the waste of time and ingredients involved for a trip as short as ours. Instead, I carried some granola and coffee from home, bought milk at a nearby grocery store, and spent the money we saved with our quick-and-easy breakfasts on a few splurge meals. Best of all was a catered dinner at our villa on the night of my birthday; my son never would have sat through a five-course meal at a restaurant, but here he was free to wander around with his toys while we dined at a relaxed pace.

Villa Miguel entryway

Stay a week.
I’d hesitate before renting a villa again for less than a week. Villas have a higher start-up cost than a hotel room but greater efficiency in the long run. It would have been more cost-effective to cook for ourselves if we could have bought and used a week’s worth of groceries. And the quirks that can make a private home so appealing—perusing the owner’s book collection, say—can take a while to discover. Similarly, don’t overextend yourself with activities. Julie Byrd advises clients to pre-book activities only in the extreme high season; travelers often discover that they want to spend most of their time relaxing at their villa, not snorkeling or mountain biking. And if you have a large group, it can take longer than you expect to get out the door, so don’t count on fitting in more than one event per day.

Choose your companions wisely…
Traveling with extended family or friends can make renting a villa cheaper than an equivalent hotel—especially if people are willing to share bedrooms, as we did—but make sure you’ll all travel well together, as there’s little privacy in a shared house. (If you’re doing the math, it’s only fair to compare a villa rental to a hotel suite because a standard room doesn’t offer space that you can share only with your fellow travelers, away from the hotel’s other guests.)

Beach entry pool at Villa Miguel, Cabo, Mexico

The beach-entry pool at Villa Miguel

…And cater to kids.
If our son’s not happy, we’re not happy; there’s nothing relaxing about a grumpy kid. An expert villa-rental agent (Wendy knows the best, so if you need a recommendation, ask her) will know which properties are best for little ones. If you’re going it alone, ask the villa owner not just whether the house is kid-friendly but what ages of kids have successfully stayed there; a two-year-old has much different needs than an eight-year-old. A property like ours, Villa Miguel, which was perfect for a toddler, would have been a death trap just a year ago (think wrought-iron railings and slippery stone staircases). Julie Byrd chose it for our group in part because of the beach-entry pool—which my son loved—and the easy access to restaurants at the two hotels in the same development.

Rent a car.
Except for city apartment rentals, in most cases you’ll need a car to explore the region around your villa. It’s a lot harder to call a taxi from your villa than it is to walk down to a hotel’s concierge and hire one. Make sure you’re comfortable driving in a foreign country.

Balcony at Villa Miguel

Get a thorough walk-through of the property upon arrival.
I later regretted rushing our house manager through his 45-minute introductory tour. At the time, it felt like a waste on a 72-hour trip. Instead, we shivered through our late-night hangout sessions, not knowing how to adjust the living room air conditioner, and one of my friends was heartbroken to discover on our last morning that the glass doors to her balcony slid all the way back into the walls, opening up an entire corner of the room; had she known earlier, she would have slept with them open every night. Hotel rooms are built so that a new guest every night can intuitively find the light switch; private homes are not.

START PLANNING YOUR OWN VILLA VACATION

Disclosure: CaboVillas.com was kind enough to provide the writer’s three-night villa stay free of charge. In keeping with WendyPerrin.com standard practice, there was no request for or expectation of coverage on CaboVillas’ part, nor was anything promised on ours. You can read the signed agreement between WendyPerrin.com and CaboVillas here.

10 Tips for a Perfect Family Vacation in Paris

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Every summer we take advantage of school holidays and head to new places with our three young kids—26 countries in the past eight years. But we also find ourselves returning again and again to favorite destinations. Paris is one of them. Since November is a perfect time to start planning travel for next summer, it’s also the perfect time to share a few valuable lessons we’ve learned over the course of several trips to the City of Light. These ten tips make our vacations fun for the kids (and adults) and largely stress-free.

In an apartment we feel like locals. Photo by Eric Stoen.

1. Try a rental instead of a hotel.
We love renting apartments instead of staying in hotels. In an apartment we feel like locals: We have a kitchen—with all the dining flexibility that it brings—and we have far more space than we would in a hotel. Plus, since there are five of us, we would require two hotel rooms, and that becomes expensive. When we spent time in Paris this summer (as part of our six-week trip through Europe), we rented a house through Airbnb, complete with a courtyard, and it was the perfect place to return to after a day of exploring.

Additional tip: We always stay in the 7th arrondissement. It has the markets of Rue Cler as well as the Eiffel Tower, both of which are landmarks that make it really easy to find our way back home from anywhere in the city.

The Musée de la Chasse is fun and quirky for kids. Photo by Eric Stoen.

2. Search out smaller museums.
The major museums like the Musée d’Orsay and the Louvre are absolutely worth visiting (see my next tip), but there’s much more to explore in Paris than just the big-ticket attractions, and you’re missing out if you don’t take the time to suss out the unusual and unique small spots in any city. They are often less crowded, just as interesting (if not more so), and easier to see with kids with naturally shorter attention spans. Two of our favorite small museums are the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature and the Musée Marmottan Monet. The Musée de la Chasse is fun and quirky for kids: There are a lot of interactive animal-related displays in a setting that reminds me of a Wes Anderson film. The Monet Museum lets kids get up close to amazing Impressionist art (without the crowds) and to see Monet’s progression as an artist—something you don’t necessarily see at large museums that focus on major works.

Additional tip: Save the museums for a rainy day. Even when the weather is bad, the smaller museums are rarely crowded.

One of the highlights of our summer trip was a private tour of the Louvre with Paris Muse. Photo by Eric Stoen.

3. If you’re going to a major museum, book a kid-friendly private tour.
One of the highlights of our summer trip was a private tour of the Louvre with Paris Muse. Not only did we avoid most of the lines and crowds, but the kids had a great time completing word puzzles and being led on a treasure hunt that included a wide spectrum of Babylonian, Greek, French Medieval, and Italian Renaissance art and antiquities.

Additional tip: There are numerous groups that lead kid-centric private tours, including Paris Muse and Context Travel. Search on TripAdvisor for “Paris Activities” to see tour reviews, or check Wendy’s WOW List of Trusted Travel Experts to find someone who can arrange special activities wherever you’re traveling.

4. Think picnics.
Every summer that we return to Paris, we find ourselves having more and more picnics, both for lunch and dinner. We’re able to sit and enjoy wine while the kids run around and play—and the breads, meats, cheeses and tarts bought from local markets can’t be beat.

Additional tip: Bring a thin linen blanket from home (which, in addition to being perfect for picnics, can be used as a towel or a sarong) and buy disposable plates, cups and utensils at the local supermarché.

5. Walk. A lot.
The Métro is great for reaching farther-afield areas of the city and for giving legs a rest, but the biggest mistake that first-time visitors to Paris make is that they take the Métro from major site to major site and miss out on the neighborhoods and the transitions between arrondissements. There are great parks, churches, cafés, and shops outside of the major tourist areas, and some of our best days have been the ones when we did the most walking.

Additional tip: We like picking a destination in the morning or the night before, taking the Métro there, exploring that area, and then slowly walking back to our apartment in the afternoon, buying things for dinner along the way.

Whether you’re into pizza, baguettes or pastries, you can find a cooking class for it in Paris. Photo by Eric Stoen.

6. Learn to cook.
We’ve always loved macarons. So this summer we learned how to make them with Cook’n With Class in Montmartre. Our kids were involved in every step, from preparing the dough and fillings to final assembly—and, best of all, they got to take home everything that they made. Whether you’re into pizza, baguettes or pastries, you can find a cooking class for it in Paris. And it doesn’t even take up a whole day—a short course is a perfect morning or afternoon activity.

Additional tip: If you find a class that looks great for your family but is geared to adults, ask the school if they can offer you a kid-friendly version.

7. Become regulars.
On Rue de Grenelle near Champs de Mars there is a little Italian restaurant. We’ve eaten there six times over the past two summers, and every time is better. When they see us they seat us right away. They anticipate the kids’ drinks. They give us extra appetizers, sweets, and after-dinner liquors at no cost. We always get the same waiter and expand on our conversations each time, as much as possible in French. It makes for a much better experience than simply being one-time visitors. The same holds at boulangeries, where the lovely lady behind the counter would anticipate our pain au chocolat order every morning, or at the local fresh fruit market, where they gave us frequent discounts for not-really-noticeable produce blemishes—but only after we had gone there several times.

Additional tip: Always try to speak French. Even if it’s just one or two sentences that you quickly looked up on Google Translate, it gets you a better level of service than walking in and assuming that the staff speaks English.

One of the best carousels for spearing brass rings is at Luxembourg Gardens. Photo by Eric Stoen.

8. Stop at every carousel.
There are a lot of carousels in Paris. Every one is different, and our kids love all of them, so we never say no when we’re passing one. The brass rings are always a highlight because you don’t see them in the U.S. very often anymore. There’s rarely a wait, and it’s a nice chance to relax after a lot of walking.

Additional tip: The best carousels for spearing brass rings are at Luxembourg Gardens (by the playground) and at Champs de Mars park, near the Eiffel Tower.

My kids love the Jardin d’Acclimatation. Photo by Eric Stoen.

9. Skip the big amusement parks.
Forget Disneyland Paris. Head to the Jardin d’Acclimatation instead. It’s a much more authentically Parisian experience, easier to get to, and a lot less expensive, with a small entry fee and then pay-per-ride attractions. Go early, before the park gets crowded.

Additional tip: Bring swimsuits and towels. Our kids love the water area.

My daughter and I have a tradition of walking around the Eiffel Tower area at least one night during our trip. Photo by Eric Stoen.

10. Stay up late.
A few years ago when we landed in Paris, my wife and two of the kids were jet-lagged and went to sleep early, but my oldest daughter and I felt wide awake. So we quietly left the apartment and walked all around the Eiffel Tower, the Champs du Mars, and the Trocadero area for two hours, including several trips around the Trocadero carousel. It was great one-on-one bonding, and we got to see more Parisian nightlife than we usually do. Since then, it’s become a tradition for the two of us: We always head over on our first night, and then once or twice a week after that.

Additional tip: I especially enjoy walking at night after it’s rained. The reflections are magical.

Meet our writer

Eric Stoen, the founder of Travel Babbo, travels around the world constantly with his three kids. Wendy met him when he won Condé Nast Traveler’s Dream Trip Contest a few years ago and was so impressed with his travel savvy that she invited him to contribute to WendyPerrin.com.

Where to Find Deals Between Thanksgiving and Christmas

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‘Tis the season to snap up a great travel deal if you’re able to sneak away between now and December 18 or 19. Every year, during the slow period that falls between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays—a time when most people stay home—resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico offer significant deals in order to fill rooms. Sometimes you’ll see third, fourth, or fifth nights free, or even complimentary meals or airport transfers. The best way to find these deals is to ask an expert who has solid relationships with resorts in the area—that will translate to offers and perks that are not available to the general public.

For inspiration on resorts and hotels, check out our Insider’s Guide to Finding the Perfect Caribbean Resort. And then contact Ask Wendy for a WOW List–recommended Caribbean expert. You’ll be marked as a VIP and get a trip like this. For Mexico, reach out to WOW Lister Zachary Rabinor, who will know to treat you as a VIP when you use Wendy’s trip request form for him. You can learn more about him via the reviews of his trips written by other travelers.

If you can’t get away till Christmas/New Year’s, no worries: You’ll find availability, and a few nifty deals still, in Mexico, and here are some unexpected travel ideas for that time of year too. The next window for super deals is the second and third weeks of January.

Curtain Bluff, Antigua

How to Take Better Safari Photos of Elephants, Lions, Zebra and More

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On my first safari I was very disappointed with my wildlife photos. I missed shot after shot because I wasn’t prepared—it seemed like everything caught me by surprise. Several safaris later, one of the most important lessons I learned from shooting with professional wildlife photographers is that anticipating an animal’s behavior is key to creating attention-grabbing images. Knowing what’s likely to happen next gives you the time to think about your settings, compose your shot, and wait for the magic to happen. Even a few seconds of lead time can mean the difference between a photo that’s meh, and one that will make you proud.

To increase your chances of taking pictures you’ll love, look for these behavioral cues, have a little patience, and good luck!

Lions

Lions in the same pride are incredibly social creatures that like to play with, groom, and cuddle each other. Be on the lookout for lions joining other lions that are already sitting down.

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Want an image that’s filled with drama? Photograph a lion when it yawns. When it tips its head back its teeth are exposed for a look that’s satisfyingly fierce.

lion yawning safari Photo by Susan Portnoy

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

When a lion starts to yawn over and over again it could mean that it’s about to stand up. Have your camera ready, you might catch a long, lanky stretch.

lion stretching safari Photo by Susan Portnoy

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

If you come across two lions that were mating but you just missed the deed, don’t fret. At the height of their courtship, lions make whoopee every 20 minutes over several days. They’ll give you plenty of opportunities to take a winning shot.

lions mating safari Photo by Susan Portnoy

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Cheetah

If there is a termite mound, fallen log or boulder in its path, nine times out of ten a cheetah will climb it. The smallest of the big cats, they like to use the height to search for prey or to see if there is any danger lurking nearby.

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Zebra

For a zebra, rolling in the dirt is like a yawn: When one starts the others are sure to follow.

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Zebras fighting, whether in play or in shows of dominance, make wonderful photographs. Look for two zebras chasing each other, forcefully nudging one another in the shoulder, or nipping each other on the muzzle for signs that one or both may rear up.

zebras playing safari Photo by Susan Portnoy

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Buffalo, Waterbuck, Wildebeest and Impala

Just like zebra, other safari animals including buffalo, waterbuck, wildebeest and impala, enjoy a little play fighting too. Add their impressive horns and you get quite a show.

impala locking horns safari Photo by Susan Portnoy

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Buffalo and giraffe

Buffalo and giraffe make it easy to capture a nice portrait. Both are highly curious and tend to stare, giving you a few extra seconds to compose your shot before they look away.

buffalo with bird safari Photo by Susan Portnoy

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Babies

You won’t be surprised to learn that babies love to play. Watch for inquisitive youngsters to chase after birds and each other—and, apparently, there’s nothing more amusing than a parent’s tail.

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Elephants

Bull elephants, especially those in musth (a period when their testosterone levels are very high) like to show others who’s boss, even when they’re not. Pay attention when one male approaches another. Signs of aggression can be seen in raised tusks and an I’m-cooler-than-you shake of the head.

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

If you come across elephants milling about and kicking at the soil with their toenails, watch carefully, they may throw the loosened dirt on their bodies with their trunks in a behavior called “dusting,” which protects them from the sun and biting insects.

elephants dusting safari Photo by Susan Portnoy

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Like dusting, mud baths also protect elephants from the sun and insects. Catch an elephant near some mud and prepare for spraying, wallowing, and some great mud-caked faces.

elephants at water hole safari Photo by Susan Portnoy

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Elephants use their trunks to caress each other in greeting, to wrestle with while playing, and during displays of dominance. Be on the lookout for close-together elephants that are facing each other with their trunks raised, and you might be at the beginning of a great interaction.

elephants locking trunks safari Photo by Susan Portnoy

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Hippos

Hippos are grouchy creatures that prefer visitors to keep a distance. Whether it’s another hippo or a different animal entirely, hippos will give unwanted company an impressive open-mouthed warning that exposes their banana-sized teeth. If that doesn’t chase the culprit away, a lot of splashing or a fight may ensue.

hippo in water safari Photo by Susan Portnoy

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Little bee-eaters

Little bee-eaters are beautiful and quick as lightening. Trying to capture them in mid-air is not an easy feat. Thankfully they will return to an elevated perch again and again while hunting, affording you the opportunity to photograph them as they lift off and land, and not worry about trying to follow them in flight.

little bee eater bird safari Photo by Susan Portnoy

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Hyena

Hyenas are fascinating to watch at any time, but they’re especially photogenic when they eat. Be ready for “friendly” squabbles when they’re dining on a carcass.

Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Read more from Susan Portnoy at her own site, The Insatiable Traveler, and follow her at facebook.com/Insatiabletraveler and @susanportnoy.

London Heathrow Layover: Great Hotels for a Stopover at LHR

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Question:

Hi Wendy,

We’ve got a 20-hour layover at Heathrow in spring 2015. We’ll be landing at 7 p.m. London time, and we fly out the next day at 3 p.m. We’ll be staying overnight and would love a good rest and possibly to see Windsor Castle. Do you think there would be time for this? If not, what would you recommend near Heathrow for an enjoyable stay?

Thanks,

Taffy

Answer:

There are several historic manor-house hotels near Heathrow. I’d recommend you dine and sleep at one of them, then the next morning head to Windsor Castle—you might even stop to see Eton College and the Magna Carta Memorial as well—en route back to Heathrow. That’s my kind of airport layover!

The expert on London Heathrow layovers is Jonathan Epstein of Celebrated Experiences, one of my Trusted Travel Experts for the United Kingdom. Jonathan lays out these options at various price points (with all rates inclusive of breakfast and taxes):

$$$$
Cliveden House: This estate dating from the 1600s is the former home of Lady Astor. You’ll feel like you’re sleeping in Downton Abbey. It’s got 376 acres of extraordinary formal gardens and woodlands, including a maze. If you book through Jonathan, you get a guaranteed upgrade at time of booking, as well as an historic tour of the house. Rates start at about $625/night.

$$$
Pennyhill Park. This has a world-class spa and a two-Michelin-star restaurant, Latymer, that’s considered one of the best dining experiences in the U.K. Rooms are large and full of character. Rates start at about $450/night.

$$
Great Fosters. This country house dating from 1550 was one of Elizabeth I’s hunting lodges and comes with exceptional Tudor gardens. Rates start at about $300/night, but if you book one of Jonathan’s preferred rooms in the Main House for about $400/night, you get a complimentary transfer to Heathrow.

$
The Runnymede-on-Thames. This is a contemporary riverfront four-star hotel with a spa and both an outdoor and indoor pool. You can even rent an electronic riverboat and drive yourself down the Thames. Rates start at about $200/night.

If you really want to get to Windsor Castle, I might suggest opting for Great Fosters. That’s because if you choose Cliveden you’ll want to spend your morning exploring the gardens, and at Pennyhill Park you’ll want to spend it in the spa. Wherever you stay, though, Jonathan can have a driver pick you up in the morning and take you to Windsor Castle and Eton College en route back to Heathrow. Beats staying at the airport Hilton or Sofitel, eh?

If you connect with Jonathan via the black CONTACT button below his photo on his Insider’s Guide here, you’ll be marked as a WendyPerrin.com V.I.P. traveler, and you’ll get the priority status and trip-monitoring service that go with that. Enjoy your layover!

Fascinating Rules of Etiquette From Around the World

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Always cover up in mosques in the Middle East. Never pick up food with your left hand in Africa. Don’t snap photos of locals without asking permission. This is some of the travel etiquette you may already know. But there are plenty of unusual customs around the world that you probably aren’t aware of. Here are a few fascinating rules for how not to be an ugly American, crowd-sourced from some of the most well-traveled people I know: my Facebook friends. Enjoy the whirlwind trip around the globe!

“In Bulgaria, shaking the head YES (up and down) means no, and shaking the head NO (sideways) means yes. Makes for some confusing question-and-answer sessions!”
—Kristen Gill

Istanbul, Turkey. Photo courtesy Crystal Cruises.

“In Turkey, shaking your head means, ‘I don’t understand. Say it again.’ To say ‘No,’ click your tongue and toss back your head. This is useful to know when you want to say ‘No’ to the avalanche of vendors who assault you in Istanbul. Shaking your head will only make it worse.”
—Inka Piegsa-quischotte

“In South Africa, ‘just now’ means sometime in the near future—not immediately! (‘Now now’ means immediately.)”
—Sunit Sanghrajka

“When the French say, ‘Thank you,’ it often means ‘No, thank you.’ You are expected to insist.”
—Benoit Gateau-Cumin

“In the United Kingdom, ‘What a delightful idea!’ means ‘No, not in a million years.’”
—Ileana von Hirsch

“If you like your friends, spit on them! The Masai tribe of East Africa greet each other by spitting on each other. When greeting an elder, they spit on the shaking hand before offering it.”
—Sunit Sanghrajka

“In the Arctic, with the Inuit people, always remove your gloves/mitts to shake hands.”
—Thomas Lennartz

“In South Korea (and I’m sure in other Asian countries), it is very rude to keep your hands in your pockets when speaking with someone, particularly in business transactions. Bill Gates was vilified recently for doing this.”
—Lisa Gill

“In France, when dining, keep your hands not in your lap but on the table. It’s the opposite of the USA, where you keep your hands off the table and in your lap.”
—Howard Lewis

“In France, when entertaining at home, you offer seconds of each course. Except the cheese course. Offering/accepting seconds of cheese is a major faux pas.”
—Benoit Gateau-Cumin

When greeting a Parisian friend, a kiss on each cheek is customary. In Geneva, three kisses. In Brussels, four! The kissing order is L-R (Paris), L-R-L (Geneva), L-R-L-R (Brussels and the boonies). So you know…
—Bob Preston

Montalcino, Italy. Photo by Brian Dore.

“In Italy cappuccino is a morning drink. It is gauche to drink it in the afternoon or evening: Switch to espresso.”
—Angela Nickerson

“At pubs in Ireland, if you sit at a table, people will leave you alone and give you space. If you sit at the bar, you will have conversation and craic (pronounced crack)—meaning, a good time.”
—Jonathan Epstein

“Never pour yourself a drink in Japan. Serve the others and wait until they serve you.”
—Debbie Pappyn

“Don’t tip or blow your nose in public in Japan.”
—Gary Leff

“Gift giving is very important in Japan. Be sure to take gifts with you. You never know when you might need one.”
—Angela Nickerson

“In Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Burma, do not touch adults on the head and do not use your feet to point at objects.”
—Sandy Ferguson

“In Asia when exchanging business cards, always exchange with both hands, study it for a moment, then nod. Of course, your cards should be in the language plus English.”
—Vivian Deuschl

“Russia is the land of superstitions! No knives, scarves or clocks as presents. No shaking hands through a doorway. Never acknowledge a pregnancy (really – no showers, no nothing). No whistling in someone’s home. Always give an odd number of flowers.”
—Gwen Kozlowski

Not all flowers make good gifts—check local customs. Photo: Billie Cohen

“When gifting flowers, check to be sure what flowers are no-no’s in various cultures around the world. Some flower types are not well received, as they represent death, and color matters.”
—Katey Hartwell

In India, always use only your right hand for eating, receiving, and giving things. The left hand is to be used for only personal things such as wiping after going to the bathroom and handling items that have touched the ground, such as your shoes.
—Sunit Sanghrajka

“When flagging down a taxi in Peru, extend your arm out level and wave downwards towards your body. Putting your open palm up like as a stop signal is considered very rude, and raising your arm skyward just looks fanatical.”
—Clark Kotula

“If you are visiting a Himba village in Kaokoland, Namibia, never cross the imaginary line between the holy fire and the headman’s hut. This is a major insult and will make the visit more than a little unpleasant.”
—Chris Liebenberg

“It’s not a custom, exactly, but it’s a pet peeve of mine: Don’t expect everyone you see in a country to speak English!”
—Benét WIlson

Be a smarter traveler: Follow Wendy Perrin on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

How to Use TripAdvisor to Choose a Hotel

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Note from Wendy: Peter Volny, a WendyPerrin.com reader based in Fountain Hills, Arizona, has traveled to 127 countries, doing extensive homework on TripAdvisor for most of those trips, and has posted nearly 400 reviews on the site himself. That combo makes him something of an expert when it comes to knowing how to use other people’s TripAdvisor reviews to plan a great trip. There’s an art to being able to quickly glean the best intel from such a massive collection of reviews, praise, complaints, and advice. So I asked Peter to share some of his most effective hotel-searching strategies.

I must be addicted to travel. I’ve now been to 127 countries and have already booked trips to another 12 so far for 2015. My wife and I have been very fortunate in life and stay in the best hotels and resorts, so perhaps we are more demanding than most, but I believe that the following tips apply to everyone, regardless of category of establishment. In fact, in the USA, we have stayed in motels that were spotless and wonderful, whereas some very expensive five-star hotels have left a lot to be desired. Here are my tips for using TripAdvisor to choose the best hotel for your particular needs:

Explore the different hotel filters.
Once my wife and I have decided on an area to visit (such as the six-week trip to Switzerland, Northern Italy and the Riviera from which we just returned), we go to TripAdvisor to research hotels. They break your hotel choices down by price, class, style, brand, neighborhoods, and even amenities, plus drop-down menus for each, which gives you many ways to select the one that suits you best. You can also see rates from Expedia, Hotels.com, Travelocity, Booking.com and Priceline.

Study the photographs.
Here you have two choices: the professional photographs supplied by the hotel, and those posted by guests. The ones supplied by the hotel may have been taken when everything was brand new—or staged and even retouched—whereas the most recent guest photos tend to be more currently accurate. Both are helpful, but look at as many as you can to form your own opinion. Sometimes we have reserved a sea-view room, then realized from looking at the guest photos that the hotel’s photos were taken from the rooftop with a long zoom lens. This is a personal thing, but my wife and I like stand-alone showers and hate those half-glass bathtub screens they use so much in Europe, and this usually shows up in guest photos but not in hotel photos. Cabinet and drawer space is another thing that hotels typically don’t show, but guests tend to show where there is enough space or it’s far too skimpy. In fact, guests tend to highlight deficiencies, which of course the hotel would never do.

Read the reviews—and consider who wrote them.
We look at several reviews before deciding. We also put more credence in reviews from other Americans, Canadians, or Australians, since their standards are similar to ours, as opposed to a review posted by someone from a country that may not be as developed. Similarly, we tend to discount hotel reviews from people who live in the same city as the property being reviewed, since we wonder whether those people are friends of the owner.

Consider the hotel’s own responses to reviews.
Finally, we always take into account whether and how the establishment responds to reviews, both positive and negative. A response indicates to us that the owner or manager cares what its customers are saying. Earlier this year we stayed at a place where we were very unhappy with aspects of the bathroom. The manager posted a response explaining the reasons and saying that he would look into rectifying the situation. Last month we stayed in a five-star hotel where there were several problems, one being that the waiters were astonishingly rude to the guests. The manager posted a response that denied these problems, indicating to us that they don’t care. Even if the guest is wrong, there is a polite and positive way to respond; if they insult the guest, this is a pretty good indication of the kind of service you can expect.

Wendy’s Favorite Small Hotels in Paris for 2014

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Question:

Hi Wendy,

What are your favorite small hotels in Paris right now? Left Bank preferred. Budget generous but not outrageous.

Thanks,
Lary

Answer:

Funny you should ask, Lary. I’m headed to Paris myself next month and need to book a hotel!

hotel duc de saint simon paris hotel room

The Hôtel Duc de Saint-Simon is one of my longtime Left Bank favorites. Photo courtesy Hôtel Duc de Saint-Simon.

One of my longtime Left Bank favorites—because it is well-located, charming, and a good value for your euro—is the Hôtel Duc de Saint-Simon, an 18th-century townhouse in the 7th arrondissement quite close to the Musée d’Orsay. A couple of four-star finds in the Saint-Germain-des-Près quarter are the Hotel d’Aubusson, in a 17th-century residence close to the Seine, and the Hotel de l’Abbaye Saint-Germain, an oasis near the Luxembourg Gardens. Another hotel I recommend in the 6th arrondissement—to those needing a budget-friendly three-star—is the Hotel des Marronniers, on a charming, quiet street dotted with art galleries. Rooms are small and the elevator tiny, but the garden courtyard is lovely for breakfast, and the hotel is just a two-minute walk from the Saint-Germain-des-Près Métro stop.

Beyond the Left Bank, Le Pavillon de la Reine hotel is getting a lot of buzz. Photo courtesy Le Pavillon de la Reine.

Lary, next time you feel like branching out from the Left Bank, consider staying in Le Marais—a trendy neighborhood that is practically the new Saint-Germain-des-Près—at Le Pavillon de la Reine. A gem of a hotel right by the Place des Vosges, it’s getting a lot of buzz nowadays.

Readers, I’d love to hear: What’s your favorite hotel in Paris right now? And, since I always want to try new places, where should I stay when I’m in Paris in November? Merci!

How to Pack for a Family Vacation

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Note from Wendy: One of the biggest, saddest obstacles to international travel with kids is the perception that you’ll need to haul around a ton of luggage. It’s a misperception, as Eric Stoen, the founder of Travel Babbo, shows us. Eric is a frequent international traveler whom I met when he won Condé Nast Traveler’s Dream Trip Photography Contest, and he uses many of the same strategies I use when packing for my own family.

This past summer we took a Disney Cruise from Venice to Barcelona and then, with suggestions from the kids (and a little research on TripAdvisor), kept adding on European destinations post-cruise. What started as two weeks in Europe turned into six weeks. Those six weeks included everything from a formal night on the cruise to operas in Salzburg to hiking and swimming, with temperatures ranging from the 90s in Turkey to the 50s in Austria at night. We were still able to pack everything for two adults and three kids (ages 4, 6, and 8) into just two suitcases and two carry-ons. Here are our packing suggestions—based on this trip and many others—and they work just as well for a one-week trip as for a longer vacation:

1. Use packing cubes. In our case, each adult gets two and each kid gets one. These allowed us each to pack enough clothes for four to five days each (which was sufficient, given that we would have laundry access at several points during the trip or could do laundry in hotel sinks and bathtubs when necessary). The cubes have the added benefit of neatly organizing our clothes, which comes in handy when we are in non-connecting hotel rooms and need to place each person’s things in the correct room.

We packed everything we needed for two adults and three kids (ages 4, 6, and 8) into just two suitcases and two carry-ons. Photograph by Eric Stoen.

2. Pack empty duffels, and be prepared to ship things home. We packed two empty duffels in our suitcases and filled both (with souvenirs and new school clothes for the kids) over the course of the first four weeks. In Austria we bought boxes at the post office, loaded them up, and mailed them home. It was inexpensive, and all of a sudden we had empty duffels again for shopping at our remaining destinations. We always have to bring back several bags of Batticuori cookies from Italy, after all!

3. Limit your colors. It’s often said but bears repeating: Take clothes that mix and match.

4. Forget formality. Hauling around a sport coat for six weeks that you’ll use on only one or two nights doesn’t make sense. My son and I were fine in slacks and button-down shirts for both the “formal” cruise dinners and the operas. The girls found it easy to make a few skirts and dresses fit any occasion.

5. Eliminate shoes that aren’t practical. Does anyone really need more than three pair of shoes on a trip? Each of us brought one pair of comfortable walking shoes, one pair of flip-flops or sandals, and one pair of slightly nicer shoes for dressing up. No heels: If it can’t be worn on cobblestone streets, it wasn’t allowed in the suitcases.

6. Bring kid medicines. We bring an assortment of medical items that may not be easy to locate in foreign cities. Our emergency kit consists of Pepto-Bismol and Tums for kids, Band-Aids, Neosporin, hydrocortisone, and children’s ibuprofen—the chewable pills, not the liquid. Every trip we (unfortunately) need to use most of those items at least once.

7. Don’t forget sun hats and sunscreen. If we forget sun hats, we have to buy them at one of our first stops. It’s not fun being somewhere like Ephesus for hours with no shade.

8. Take a linen blanket. We find ourselves at the beach frequently and often have impromptu picnics in parks. A large, thin linen towel or blanket works for both: It’s a towel for wet kids, or a picnic blanket. It can also double as a skirt/sarong for the occasional church that doesn’t accept visitors in shorts, and it can be used to pack breakable items on the way home.

9. Don’t spurn electronics. Books are great at home, but on the road we rely on lightweight iPods and iPad Minis. They’re lifesavers on airplanes, as well as at long European dinners when it takes 45 minutes to get the check.

Once our extra duffels were filled, we bought boxes at the post office, loaded them up, and mailed that stuff home. Photograph by Eric Stoen.

10. Remember packing and repair supplies. We bring a small kit with scissors, packing tape, blue gaffer’s tape, and a Sharpie. We use these for everything: shipping boxes, labeling cups, wrapping fragile souvenirs, taping up shampoo tops before flights, and on-the-fly repairs.

What’s your best family packing tip?

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Madrid Airport Layovers: How to Make the Most of Them

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Sometimes you just can’t avoid an airport layover. When you find yourself facing a long one, use it as an opportunity to add a great day trip to your vacation plans. It’s easier than you think to escape the airport for a few hours and get a taste of the cultural capital in which you’ve landed. In this series, we talk to experts in some of the world’s most popular airport hubs to get their suggestions for how to make the most of your time on the ground. For Madrid, we asked the city mavens at Context Travel to whip up a few itineraries for those passing through.

The Basics

How to get out of the airport: Madrid city center is just 12 kilometers from the airport, so you won’t waste too much time in transit when you could be exploring the city or savoring a delicious Madrileno meal. These are your options for getting out and getting back.

Taxi: A taxi to the city center is your most expensive but arguably the most convenient option. It will cost you 30 euros (about $38), which is a flat rate adopted by all official taxi companies. Count on 20 to 25 minutes of travel time, and more during rush hour.

Metro: You can access the city metro from terminals T2 and T4. It runs about every five minutes, from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. It’ll take you about 12 minutes to get to the city center (more if you have to switch to a different line). Single-journey tickets are between 4.5 euros and 5 euros (about $6), depending on your final destination, and they can be purchased in the metro station (www.metromadrid.es/en).

Bus: Airport bus 200 runs from 6:36 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. Tickets can be purchased on the bus, cash only, for 5 euros each way. Expect 40 minutes travel time, making this the slowest method of transport.

What to do with your luggage: Lockers are available to rent, in 24-hour intervals, in terminals 1, 2 and 4. Cost varies by locker size (small 4.22 euros, medium 4.82 euros, large 5.42 euros), and additional lockers are available for suitcases, bicycles, guitars, and other large objects.

If You Have a 7-Hour Layover

Taking into account airport security, baggage claim, travel time from and to the airport, and arriving back at the airport two hours before your next international flight, this option gives you approximately four hours in the city.

First-time visitors to Madrid should plan a stroll through the city center and historical district. Start at Puerta del Sol, the heart of the city, with arteries leading to the various barrios. Admire the square’s large city hall building, then make your way toward the Opera House and the Royal Palace, which you can gaze at over coffee on one of the peaceful terraces just behind the Opera House. Zigzag through the narrow streets to the Plaza Mayor, a regal 17th-century square lined with shops and cafés. If you still have energy, keep walking into the Huertas district and you’ll come to Plaza Santa Ana, where you can enjoy a beer and some basic tapas at one of Hemingway’s favorite haunts, La Cerveceria Alemana (Plaza Santa Ana 6; +34-91-429-7033, www.cerveceriaalemana.com/). If you prefer a guided walk instead, Context Travel offers an introductory historical walking tour in this area, Madrid Through the Centuries, led by a local scholar. Got kids in tow? Context has a special version of this tour just for families.

If You Have a 9-Hour Layover

Madrid is home to some of the best museums in the world. Spend your on-the-ground time surrounded by the creative genius of Velazquez, Titian, and Goya at the Museo del Prado (Calle Ruiz de Alarcón 23; +34-91-330-2800; www.museodelprado.es/en), or pay homage to Spanish history at Picasso’s monumental tableau Guernica at the Reina Sofia (Calle Santa Isabel, 52; +34-91-774-1000; www.museoreinasofia.es/en), which houses countless other modern masterpieces as well. Afterward meander through nearby 350-acre Buen Retiro Park. Finish your foray with a little window shopping in either the elegant Salamanca district or up-and-coming trendy Chueca before saying adios to Madrid and heading back to the airport.

How about a massage? High-end Spanish spa chain Elysium Travel Spa has an outpost in terminal 4 (+34-91-746-6280). The airport also has VIP Air Lounges, where you can shower (towel, slippers, and shower gel included), eat, watch TV, use Wi-Fi, and flip through newspapers and magazines (prices start at 25 euros). If you didn’t get any sleep on the plane, check out Air Rooms, which can be rented overnight or for three- or six-hour periods during the day (Terminal 4; +34-93-375-8600; www.premium-traveller.com/en).

More Layover Solutions:

Amsterdam Airport Layovers: How to Make the Most of Them

Beijing Airport Layovers: How to Make the Most of Them

Barcelona Airport Layovers: How to Make the Most of Them

Great Paris Hotels for an Airport Layover at Charles de Gaulle

London Heathrow Layover: Great Hotels for a Stopover at LHR

Tokyo Airport Layovers: The Best Way to Spend Them

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

How to Use TripAdvisor to Find Great Things to Do

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Nine years ago, when I used TripAdvisor for the first time—for a two-week drive around New Zealand’s South Island— I used it just to find places to stay. As the site has evolved, my use of it has evolved too. I’ve now posted 120 reviews and, during a recent six-week trip to Europe with my wife and young kids, I tapped the site virtually every day. This is how I’ve learned to use TripAdvisor to plan excellent vacations.

How to Find a Hotel

Once I know where I’m going, I do a quick search for, say, Salzburg hotels, and then enter my rough dates to see room prices. When I find a hotel that looks good, has decent rates, and seems to have availability for my dates, I click into the reviews and sort by “Families” at the top. I have three kids, so I want a hotel that lets at least three of us stay in one room and that, ideally, has connecting rooms. This can usually be quickly ascertained by scanning the reviews.

If I don’t find an attractive hotel by eyeballing the results, I’ll go back to the main listing of all hotels and sort at the top by “Family-Friendly” (you’ll find this among the “I Like” buttons or under the “Style” menu) and usually by location as well, if I know the area of town I’m looking for (e.g., City Center). I don’t usually sort the results like that when doing my primary search because there’s always the chance there’s a great hotel that, for whatever reason, isn’t in those Family-Friendly rankings. But in a city with hundreds of hotels and multiple areas to stay, this strategy can quickly highlight the best property for us.

How to Find an Activity

We took a Disney Cruise through the Mediterranean this past summer. For each port stop, I went to TripAdvisor and searched for the city to find its main information page (like this one for Venice), and then chose Attractions. Once there, you’ll see an Activities tab toward the top of the page. I quickly read the reviews of the one or two top-ranked companies or individuals, looking particularly for mentions of young kids. I then clicked through to the tour company websites (links are usually available on the site), and emailed them with our dates, group size and ages of the kids, and asked for proposals. As a result, we had great private tours in Venice, Athens, Ephesus (Turkey) and Malta, all at lower prices (on a per-person basis) and with far more flexibility than if we had booked shore excursions through the cruise line. In Athens we were practically alone at the Acropolis in the late afternoon—all of the large cruise excursion buses had come and gone by that point. The Activities listed on TripAdvisor usually include private day tours but also foodie tours, cooking classes, boat trips, free walking tours and Segway tours—options for families that they may not otherwise be aware of.

In Paris I searched through the TripAdvisor Activities listings for the top tour operators, and again looked for reviews that mentioned young kids. I ended up booking walks through the Louvre, the Marais, Notre Dame and Montmartre with Paris Muse and Context Travel as a result. We all loved those walks. They added both fun and educational dimensions to the days, and in the case of the Louvre, gave us a very kid-friendly way to see the world’s most popular museum during peak tourist season—without having to deal with lines or crowds.

How to Find a Restaurant

In Venice our hotel emailed me a list of its top 15 restaurant recommendations. I brought each one up on TripAdvisor, mapped it in relation to the hotel (by using the maps on the right side of the screen and choosing to view hotels and restaurants), and read through reviews. If people described a restaurant as being formal or having really slow service, I nixed it. I put together a short list of three restaurants that sounded perfect for us, and the hotel made reservations at each.

The view from our room at the Penzion Mayer in Bled, Slovenia. Photograph by Eric Stoen

How to Change Things Up Mid-Trip

This past summer my family spontaneously ended up in Bled, Slovenia, because of TripAdvisor. We had planned a week in Salzburg, but with constant rain we weren’t able to enjoy the city much. So I grabbed a map of Europe and looked for a destination no more than 250km (a couple of hours in a car) from Salzburg. I found Bled and a few other cities and went through the above steps, looking for a destination [city/city rep] that had an available, family-friendly hotel at a good price, and that offered activities that sounded interesting for families. I emailed the top three listed hotels for Bled and only one had availability, so I booked it. In the reviews, several people had mentioned enjoying good meals at the hotel restaurant. Normally I would have evaluated other places to eat, but in this case I liked the idea of a (very short) walk to dinner. The meal, and the entire impromptu trip to Bled, were surprise highlights of our summer.

How to Get Answers to Travel Questions

It’s relatively hidden, but at the top of the main TripAdvisor site, under More, is the Travel Forum. I use this all the time. Whether I want information on day trips from Paris or the dates of the 2014 Yi Ping Festival in Thailand, I can find it there. I don’t think I’ve ever searched for anything that hasn’t been previously asked and answered. Google search results often point to the Travel Forum anyway, but I usually head there directly to see more (and better) results. Of course, now I can also Ask Wendy.

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Join Me for #TripChat, TripAdvisor’s First-Ever Twitter Chat

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As host of TripAdvisor’s first-ever Twitter party, I cordially invite you to join us this Wednesday, October 1, from noon to 1:00 p.m. Eastern. We’ll be chatting about how to make museum visits truly memorable.

TripAdvisor recently announced its list of the top 25 museums in the world, as well as the top 25 in the U.S. and in dozens more countries and regions around the globe. What makes for a great museum experience (besides a fantastic collection)? What’s your favorite museum ever? Which one is on your bucket list? And, when it comes to the world’s most important—and biggest—museums, what are your hard-earned tips for navigating them? As I wrote in 5 Ways to Save Time and Money at Top Museums, I personally like to suss out hidden side entrances and go at night.

I know you have many tips of your own to share, and I can’t wait to hear them! So please join us on Wednesday at noon. Just follow @TripAdvisor, @wendyperrin, and #TripChat.

Unexpected Ways to Use Your Frequent Flier Miles

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I had the good fortune to spend this past weekend learning from some of the smartest frequent-flier mileage and loyalty-program bloggers out there, at the Boarding Area Conference (aka BAcon) in Las Vegas. For those not familiar, Boarding Area is a network of sites that share information, news, and advice for frequent travelers (from families to business folk); it was created by frequent-flier legend Randy Petersen (who also founded Milepoint, FlyerTalk, and InsideFlyer). And since I was sitting in a room all weekend with people who know how to get the most out of loyalty programs, I sought out some advice for the rest of us. We all know that frequent flier miles are more than just a way to earn free flights, but we’re not always sure when else to use them and what other perks are worthwhile. So here goes: four unexpected ways to use miles to make your next trip amazing.

1. Plan special events

“Airline miles and hotel points are often best used to book travel, but sometimes there are other ways to get big value out of them. We used SPG hotel points to get luxury box seats at a Cubs game at Wrigley field for my husband’s birthday one year and that made the trip to Chicago very special!”

—Summer Hull, Mommy Points

2. Put premium cabins within reach

“What many people don’t realize is how lucrative award tickets can be. Casual travelers tend to think of using their miles and points for domestic economy travel, but international premium cabins are more approachable than you might think, and don’t require that many more miles. I used 135,000 American AAdvantage miles per person to book Cathay Pacific first-class tickets for my mom and me for her birthday last year. That was an incredibly special experience—and something that wouldn’t have been possible for us without airline miles.”

—Ben Schlappig, One Mile At A Time

3. Upgrade your hotel stay

“Airline miles aren’t nearly as good for upgrades as they used to be (US airlines tend to charge cash—as much as $600 each way—in addition to miles for international upgrades) but hotel points can be a great way to upgrade. Hyatt is especially generous in this regard, charging just 6,000 points per night to confirm a suite when you pay a standard rate for a regular room.”

—Gary Leff, View From the Wing

4. Give someone an amazing gift

“One of the best ways to use miles/points is to give them to others by booking flights and hotels for them. To us this is one of the most rewarding uses of miles and points because we can share first-class flights and five-star hotels with family and friends who would never otherwise be able to experience luxury travel.”

—Daraius Dubash and Emily Jablon, Million Mile Secrets

5. Bring a friend on a business trip

“Autumn is peak time for meetings and conventions. It’s also a smart time of year to use your miles to bring a family member or friend along when attending one. Due to a decrease in demand for air travel during the fall “shoulder season,” it’s one of the easiest times of year to redeem miles at so-called “saver” rates. So redeem 25,000 miles and bring along someone special for a long weekend before or after that meeting in New York or Chicago or San Francisco. It’s a great way to spend some time together and have at least part of the trip subsidized by your company or client. ”

—Chris McGinnis, TravelSkills

In what unexpected ways have you used your miles? Tell us below.

Don't take off for China without checking your passport—it needs to be valid at least six months past your departure date.

The One Tool You Can’t Travel Without: A Valid Passport

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Go check your passport right now. Go on, we’ll wait.

Do you have more than six months between the date of your next trip abroad and the expiry date? If not, then you are asking for trouble.

Everyone thinks that their passport is good for ten years, but that’s not really true. Your passport is good for about nine and a half. That’s because various countries require that you have anywhere from three to six months left on your passport in order to enter. If you don’t, they might not let you board the plane or get through immigration once you land.

Terry McCabe, a travel agent with Altour, reminded us of this essential travel tip just the other day. “A friend called me last night from the airport almost hysterical because she couldn’t get on the flight,” Terry said. “And just now I was on the phone with friends who traveled to France for a month; their daughter was not allowed on the flight back home because her passport was expiring in three months.” In both of the above cases, Terry had not been the one to book the airline tickets; if she had been, the travelers would have certainly been reminded to renew their passports.

Since the acceptable time window can vary widely from country to country, bookmark the passport section of the State Department’s website, where passport-validity rules are listed by destination. Your passport must be good for six months past your departure date if you want to visit China, Russia, and the U.A.E., for example, but if you’re spending time in the U.K. your passport only needs to be valid during the time you’re there. And then there are the 26 Schengen Borders Agreement countries: If you’re entering any one of these member states (which include Austria, Italy and Norway; see the whole list here) for short-term tourism or a business trip, then your passport must be valid for three months past your departure date. But once you enter one Schengen country, you won’t have to show your passport again when you cross the border into another.

If you’ve just checked your passport and realized that time is running out, the State Department site also has information on how to renew—it usually takes four to six weeks but can be rushed in three weeks, and in some cases eight days. My younger son’s passport expires next May, we’re flying to Europe this November, and you can bet I’m renewing it right now.

Airfarewatchdog Founder George Hobica: Interview with an Expert Traveler

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George Hobica accomplishes two things that mean a lot to me as a traveler and as a journalist: First, the website he founded, Airfarewatchdog.com, solves one of the most frustrating challenges of travel by offering customizable low-fare alerts for any route you choose. Second, his own high standards as a longtime reporter mean you can rely on the intel sourced by his entire team, whether they’re relentlessly hunting down the best deals or delivering travel news. But George isn’t one to rest on his laurels. Recently, Airfarewatchdog (which, full disclosure, is owned by TripAdvisor, where I am Travel Advocate) ventured into new territory, launching a beta version of a hotel-deal-finding feature. We’ll be watching closely to see how that develops. In the meantime, we asked George a few revealing questions about his own travel experiences and about some valuable tips and strategies we can all use.

Job and title:
President and Founder, Airfarewatchdog.com

Most memorable travel moment:
When I first started travel writing, I was a last-minute replacement on a press trip to Bangkok with two very seasoned and grumpy (and rather cynical) travel pros, who wondered who this interloper was. We were staying at the famed Oriental Hotel and my floor attendant couldn’t have been nicer, so we really hit it off. Just before check-out, he presented me with a handwritten thank-you note and a small gift—a pair of silk shoe bags, which I still own. On the way back to the airport, thinking that his gesture was one of those things that hotels tell their employees to do to impress visiting travel writers, I remarked to my colleagues, who also had the same floor attendant, “Wasn’t that a nice gift and note?” One of them snapped, “What gift? What note?”

Most embarrassing travel moment:
When I was 18 and on my very first cruise, I was discovered by the fire department in a storage room on board the Queen Elizabeth 2, while making out with a crew member who had earlier invited me down below for a drink in the crew bar. There was no fire, and I can only speculate as to why the alarm was sounded soon after we began snogging. True story. I blush.

Name one thing people would be surprised to find in your travel bag.
My goose-down travel pillow. I never go anywhere without it. If I could only bring one thing when I travel, that would be it.

Touristy spot that’s actually worth it, and the trick to doing it right:
Venice. Just go in the off-season, even in winter.

Non-touristy spot people might not know about (or thought much about visiting) but should add to their must-visit list:
Lanai. Many visitors to Hawaii give it a miss, but the two Four Seasons resorts there are worth the trip.

Name two indispensable apps you use when you travel:
I fly a lot on British Airways and American Airlines, and their apps are the last two I’d delete from my iPhone. They both offer a high level of functionality and cool features.

The travel gadget or gear that has saved your life…or your mind:
The second thing I’d never leave home without is my Bose noise-cancelling headphones. They drown out jet and wind noise and crying babies, and reducing noise helps you relax during flight. In fact, one morning on the way to JFK I discovered I’d left them at home and told the taxi to return so I could grab them.

Choose any two travel-world bloggers and tell us the most important thing you’ve learned from each.
I’m not just saying this because this is being posted on WendyPerrin.com, but with whom else would I begin but Wendy Perrin? I learned from her many things, including the importance of putting yourself in the hands of expert travel agents to plan out-of-the-ordinary trips. I also learn a lot of insider stuff from Peter Greenberg’s blog.

Name one way the travel industry can do better.
As an airfare guy, I’d love to see an airfare search engine that allowed you to plug in a departure date and a return date and then spit back 50 or 100 of the cheapest destinations for just those dates. Southwest experimented with this for a few days last year and then quickly killed it.

Look into the future and describe one aspect of travel, or the travel industry, that you think will be different in 20 years:
I think that eventually we will see an end to the archaic laws that prevent true globalization of the airline industry. If Fiat can buy 100% of Chrysler, why can’t Singapore Airlines, if it wished, buy 100% of Delta? Current laws restrict ownership to a minority interest. I also think in 20 or 25 years we will see something like Star Alliance Airways or Sky Team Airlines—in other words, true global airlines that can fly anywhere they wish and combine with anyone they wish.

Most effective thing you’ve ever said or done to get an upgrade or a special perk while traveling:
This doesn’t work very often, but one day I was in the United lounge at JFK waiting for my flight, and I heard my name paged. That day, as most times I fly, I was well dressed—on this occasion, a dark suit, tie, and nice shoes. I have never had status on United (and still don’t) but they upgraded me to first class. Everyone else in the lounge was in the usual attire—jeans, dirty sneakers, some gym shorts and tank tops. I’m well aware that computer programs assign upgrades by frequent flyer status automatically, so who knows—I suppose an airline employee can fiddle with a computer if they wish. I certainly didn’t question the reason. Anyway, it certainly never hurts to dress respectfully while flying.

To make friends, I always carry…
Pens for the flight attendants. Want to make your flight attendant smile? Hand out some Uni-ball Vision Elite pens (they don’t leak in pressurized cabins).

Overrated:
AirBnB

Underrated:
Talking to strangers on planes is underrated.

If you were in my car during a road trip, you’d hear me singing…
“Me and You and a Dog named Boo” by Lobo. “Traveling and livin’ off the land.” The corniest road trip track ever.

The airplane movie that, unexpectedly, made me bawl was…
The Kite Runner, among many others. I will never watch that movie in flight again. Too embarrassing!

When I travel, I’m not afraid of…
crashing

…but I am afraid of…
the middle seat in economy class. I’m platinum on American and at my age and size, flying eight hours in an economy class seat is eight hours of squirming, slouching, shifting and just trying in vain to find a comfortable position.

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Twitter: @airfarewatchdog and @georgehobica
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Facebook: facebook.com/Airfarewatchdog

My first cruise, when I was four and Doug was three.

Things to Know Before Booking Your Family Cruise: Tips From a 12-Year-Old

19 Replies

Hi. I’m Charlie. I’m 12 years old, and I’ve taken nine cruises on five different cruise lines. You might think cruise ships are pretty much the same, but they’re not. If you want your kids and yourself to enjoy a family cruise as much as possible, here’s my advice.

1. Get a cabin that’s on a higher deck toward the stern.

Everything that’s interesting for kids and families is always at the back of the ship. So get a cabin that’s very close to the aft staircase and no more than three or four decks below the pool, buffet, and kids’ club. If your room is at the front of the ship, you’ll spend most of the day walking back and forth across the ship, and if your room is on a low deck, you’ll have to wait for the elevator.

This was a good cabin because it had a sofa bed.

2. Get a sofa bed rather than high-up beds that fold out of the wall.

A sofa that turns into a double bed, even if you have to share it with your brother, is better than two single upper berths. It’s easy to fall out of an upper berth, especially kids like my brother Doug who move around a lot when they’re sleeping.

Dad ended up sleeping in this upper berth.

3. Always get a balcony.

Without a balcony, rooms are crowded with four people in them. And you need a balcony so you can always see the sunrise and sunset and have nice light in your cabin, and so you can go out and get fresh air and enjoy the smell, and so you can see the place you’re visiting when you come into port.

Everyone who doesn’t have a balcony always wishes they had one.

4. Get a large pool with a water slide.

Some cruise ship pools are salty, so bring swim goggles. If the pool has a water slide, check the height limit because your kid might be disappointed if he’s too short.

We waited till Doug was tall enough for the water slide before we went on the Norwegian Gem.

5. Do not sign up for the early dinner seating.

A lot of parents make this mistake. The early seating means your kids will have to leave the pool at 5:00 so you can get to dinner by 5:30, and your kids will be stuck eating in the restaurant, which is boring and takes forever. Every kid would rather eat in the buffet because they can get food they know they like. (A possible exception to the rule is Disney ships because the restaurants are awesome.) Always sign up for the late seating because you can take your kids to the buffet at 6:30 and take them back to the kids’ club at 7:00, and then eat on your own at the late seating.

Doug in Animator’s Palate, which is the best restaurant on Disney ships because Nemo characters come to life and talk to you.

6. Make sure there’s food by the pool.

Sometimes you don’t even need to go to the buffet for dinner because you can get food by the pool at dinnertime. On Holland America we could eat hot dogs, hamburgers, and ice cream for dinner by the pool. But Disney was great because they had themed food stands with different types of food, like Flo’s V8 Cafe or Pinocchio’s Pizzeria, where we could eat in a beach chair in our swimsuits.

7. Get a kids’ club that’s open all day long.

Some kids’ clubs close for two hours at lunchtime and dinnertime, even though your children don’t need two hours to eat lunch or dinner.

My first kids’ club on my first cruise, which was on Celebrity Cruises.

Some cruise lines have much better kids’ clubs than others do. Norwegian Cruise Line’s and Disney Cruise Line’s are especially good, and if you’d like to find out why, you can read this about the Norwegian Star and this about the Disney Dream that I wrote when I was nine.

A kids’ club is always better when your kid can check himself in and out of the club. This makes life easier for both of you: Your child doesn’t have to be stuck doing something in the kids’ club that he doesn’t want to do or missing something he’d rather be doing somewhere else on the ship, and you don’t have to interrupt what you’re doing to pick him up at a certain time.

If you can check yourself out of the kids’ club, you can always go play shuffleboard.

Also, get a kids’ club where your kid isn’t the oldest in his age group. If your child is in the 6-to-8 group and he’s turning 9 soon, he might be bored with the little kids.

8. Choose a ship that has scheduled activities for parents and kids to do together.

On Norwegian Cruise Line there’s at least one family activity on the program every day that parents and kids do together—like a scavenger hunt or “Family Challenge.” It was great because our family competed against my cruise-ship friends’ families. On Royal Caribbean there was only one family competition the entire cruise. There were things like 3-on-3 basketball tournaments and mini-golf contests, but for adults only, even though kids would enjoy those things much more than adults.

Royal Caribbean has the most elaborate sports deck.

9. Don’t worry about what sports are onboard.

If you want a giant sports deck, choose Royal Caribbean, but you don’t really need one because every big ship has some good sports to choose from. They all have basketball, shuffleboard, and Ping-Pong, and most have mini golf.

Schooling my mom in Ping-Pong on the Disney Wonder

10. Don’t get stuck wasting time on embarkation day.

Embarkation day sucks because the kids’ club isn’t open till nighttime, and there are no activities on the ship. Embarkation day is a good time to explore the ship with your kids and find all the places they’ll be at a lot, so your kids learn where they’ll want to go later and how to get there. Also, it can take a few hours for your suitcases to be delivered to your cabin, so make sure your kids pack their swimsuits in their carry-on luggage so they’ll have them for the pool.

On embarkation day, have a swim suit in your carry-on.

11. Collect a souvenir from each port.

When you’re back home, whenever your kid sees each souvenir, he’ll remember the place where he got it. But don’t buy something like a teddy bear that says “Mexico” on in it. Instead buy something that was handcrafted by locals or is unique and you can find only in that place. For instance, in Honduras I got a metal fish made from an oil drum and an old ship’s hull. And in Belize I got a marble turtle that you wouldn’t find anywhere in America.

In Jamaica we watched this man carve my name into the wooden bird statue I bought from him.

If you’d like my advice about which cruise line is best for your family, you can ask me below. Also here’s my advice for the Disney Wonder from my own travel blog.

Charlie Baker is Wendy’s 12-year-old son. He has traveled to 23 countries and has kept his own blog, NotAnotherTrip.com, since he was eight.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

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