With the Vancouver 2010 Olympics getting closer by the day, I have been considering going to them.  Since they will be in Canada, my home country, it might be the one chance in my life to go see the Olympics live.

I’ve already bought the time off of work for the two weeks that the Olympics will be on, and have been saving up money just for those two weeks. But, I haven’t decided if I’m going to drive there or fly.

I have made an appointment later on this week to speak with a travel agent about my options.  I am a little leery about flying, as I have never been in an airplane before.  But, I will talk to the travel agent and get her opinion on the whole thing.

Though the Olympics are still quite far away, I just can’t wait until I get to go.

My family and I took a short term missions trip to India last summer and one thing I can say is that these people really know how to cook. The people were great and welcoming and were some of the friendliest people I have ever encountered, and I can’t say enough how I really liked their food.

Indian food over here is nothing like the real thing. I have been to authentic restaurants before and it is still not the same as eating it in India. Maybe it was the atmosphere or the fact that we just met some really great cooks, but I still say there is nothing like it anywhere in America.

My mom and dad both agreed with me that the India food was so much better than you could get in the States and I missed the food while we were still flying home. Our hosts for the trip were gracious enough to teach us a little bit of cooking, but we know if we want the real thing again, we need to start planning another trip.

I recently won a trip to Newark from a program on the radio.  I had to answer a few “tough” questions and then compete in some mud wrestling events.  Sure, these tasks got me out of my comfort zone, but the trip that I ended up going on was worth it.

We flew from my hometown to Newark.  From the airport we were whisked away in a Newark Airport Transportation limousine off for a night of fine dining and an afternoon of shopping.

I had never experienced the feeling of living the lifestyle of the rich until we were driving around town, drinking champagne.  It was like no other experience that I had ever had, and I loved every minute of it.

But, the day was over quickly, and we were back at the airport, waiting to fly home.  I hope that I will be able to do this again someday – it was the time of my life.

We are taking our two children to Disney World during their Easter vacation break from school. They do not know about it yet, and I am trying to wrap up all loose ends before we leave. Things such as car rental Orlando companies needed to be contacted and arrangements needed to be made for us to have a car.

It had been easy booking a hotel for our stay and we found an all inclusive one that would suit our family’s needs just fine, but booking an Orlando car rental proved to be a bit more difficult. Yet, I am determined to do it before we leave.

I actually called the hotel and asked for suggestions. They were really good about giving me information on some car rentals Orlando. The girl I talked to seemed more than happy to help me out and she actually offered to make some arrangements for me and said she would call back with a confirmation number. Now, that is what I call service.

While I was in Europe, I was amazed by the number cheap car hire Spain companies that I saw. I thought it must be very profitable for there to be so many of them and I wondered at all the competition and how they actually made money at it when there was a car available for you on every corner.

I was even more amazed when I saw the same type of cheap car hire France. I had originally thought it was maybe something that was unique to Spain, but I actually found them all throughout Europe. It got me to asking all sorts of questions. Some were answered and some were not.

What it really made me think about was whether there was a market for cheap car hire back in the Americas. When I got home, I did some research about different car rental companies and it ended up that it would not be a good business venture for me.

My friend and I are planning a trip to Las Vegas in the spring. We have both worked hard and saved up a lot of money, so we wanted to reward ourselves with a fun trip. I, being quite a frugal person, was looking for any Las Vegas hotel promotions that would save us some money. I know if you travel at certain times of the year, rooms will be cheaper, but I wanted to see if there were any online booking codes that offered discounts.

I came up with a lot of codes showing various hotel promotions. This was good as well, but was not exactly what I was looking for. I did print off some of the promotions coupons that would still be valid when we went, and continued on my quest for a discounted room.

We had previously decided that we would love to stay at the Mirage, so I did a search just on that hotel. I did end up finding some Mirage offer codes which gave discounts on rooms, food and entertainment. I went ahead and booked the room and took advantage of the Mirage discounts.  I am now patiently awaiting the arrival of trip time – it seems so far away.

Last year, my parents relocated to Spain, where they are successfully running a holiday rentals business. I am planning a trip there this Christmas and I am excited because I have not been yet. I hear that I have so much to see and so many wonderful people to meet.

My parent’s business involves villa rentals and they are hoping to expand it in the near future. I know that this trip is not just for pleasure and that they are going to try and convince mw to move there and help them with the business. I think it is a great opportunity, but I have my life here and it would be hard to give that up.

Part of their plans for expansion involve motorhome rentals. They figure it would give tourists more of an opportunity to see more of the Spanish landscape and to learn more about the country. I think that this is a great idea and I may have to rent one while I am there just to test out how great it would actually be.

As for me moving, I can’t say that I never will because I could very well fall in love with Spain. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

My friend Janet just came back from an adventure in Orlando.  Now, I call it an adventure because she had never been there before.  So she had to do a bit of research before she went on her trip.

The first place she looked was the Disney World forum.  There she found out that Universal Studios would be within her reach - and she made a plan to go there.

She was also looking for a hotel that was family friendly and not too expensive.  She did a lot of research and found that almost everyone suggested that she try one of the Disney World Resort Hotels - there were hundreds of glowing reviews.

Once she did get there, their family had a blast.  They created memories that her kids will cherish for years to come.  Now my kids are trying to tell me we should go - at least we have someone to help us with our travel plans…

If you are ever looking for hotels in Auckland, I have two suggestions for you.  Both of the hotels below we have stayed at and have had excellent service at both.  In fact, if you are in Auckland I would suggest you stay at both - and get two different experiences in one fabulous trip.

The Airedale Hotel Auckland is a nice hotel if you have a tighter budget.  Though the price is reasonable, the staff is excellent and the rooms are clean and comfortable.  You can find all the amenities that you might need.  I stayed there on my last business trip to New Zealand and I loved it.

The other hotel to checkout is Heritage Hotel.  I stayed there on the previous business trip and it was a completely different experience.  The hotel is grand and ritzy.  Since this hotel is a little more upscale you are not only treated well, but you are treated like royalty.  There is everything you can imagine for amenities and the food is exquisite.  This was my favorite hotel yet, though it strained my budget each night I was there.

Next time I take a trip to New Zealand I am going to try and stay at each one.  That way I can have both experiences, but keep the costs down.

I recently went on a trip to Brazil with a couple of buddies.  After booking our tickets and making all the arrangements, Steve had a good suggestion: 

?Maybe we should get some travel medical insurance.? 

You know, it didn?t sound like a bad idea.  We made an appointment at an insurance company. 

I was a little confused about the need for travel insurance.  The insurance broker explained that regular medical insurance covers you in the U.S. but not when you are traveling abroad.  It can cover everything from emergency medical procedures to a simple trip to the doctor.  All of us purchased the travel insurance just before we went on our trip. 

I am so thankful that we did. 

David had some abdominal pains after the first few days on our trip.  We took him to the hospital and it ended up that he had a ruptured spleen.  The insurance covered his visit at the hospital and the surgery.  Had we not had the insurance, we would have had a huge medical bill to pay. 

All I can say is Thank goodness.