So I just posted on how to remember which hotel room you are in. Yesterday, after 28 hours of traveling and 2 hours of waiting for my room, I finally checked into my room in Melbourne. I took the room key, got in the elevator, went to the 8th floor and realized I had no idea what room I was in! I had to take the elevator back down to the lobby …
How to remember the number of your hotel room
If you don’t travel a lot, this may seem stupid, but if you’ve ever stood in the hall and wondered which room you are staying in this time, this tip from SignOnSanDiego is awesome:
Frequent business travelers use phone cameras to help remember which
ubiquitous rental car they’re driving and the number of the night’s
hotel room.
Take a picture of your room number or car!
Travel cheap & meet interesting people
Are you interested in traveling cheap and meeting new people? Here are 8 ways you can travel cheap by house sitting, sleeping on some one’s couch, staying with local families, and so on. Probably not for the faint of heart!
8 places to see before you die
The Smithsonian just published a list of 28 places to see in your lifetime. It’s a good list. Here’s the ones that they had that are on my list to see:
One of my problems is I like revisiting the places I like such as the British Virgin Islands and Barcelona!
What’s on your list?
Have you been to New Orleans since Katrina?
I haven’t been back to New Orleans since our trip in 2004, but a friend of mine just went and said it’s still fabulous. His trip report (written by his wife) is here. Until 2004, I went at least once a year. I’ve celebrated several New Year’s Eves, several Jazz Fests, and several French Quarter Festivals in New Orleans, not to mention just random visits. It’s a great city and I’m glad to hear it’s still a fun place to visit. Hopefully some day it will be an attractive place to live in too.
One of the things that’s held us back is taking the kids. Or rather not wanting to take the kids. I was going to take them until Frank painted this picture for me … Caleb wandering down the street in the French Quarter picking up everything interesting he saw in the street. Ugh!
Napa Valley Photo Being Used on Website
One of my photos from Napa is being used by Napa Valley Schmap.
Flying with small children
I just read an excellent article about flying with small children. Here’s a few tips from How to Fly with Kids:
- Book a bulkhead row to prevent your child from kicking the seat in front of her.
- Reserve a window seat for your child. Most children enjoy looking out the window during flights.
- Use a backpack as a diaper bag; this will leave your hands free for other things.
- Pack empty bottles or sippy cups. Once you go through security, you can
buy water and juice to fill them. You can also ask the flight
attendants to fill them with water or juice.
There are lots more in the article! One I would add from personal experience is explain ahead of time how security works and what happens if they select your bag for additional screening. Jacob still thinks those security guys are mean for taking his backpack!
Yummy spinach crepes
I had yummy spinach crepes at Cafe Mason in San Francisco yesterday. They came with an awesome fruit salad that included everything from blackberries and strawberries to melon and bananas.
Just be sure you leave any crying babies at home as they are sure to let everyone know that "Crying babies are not welcome here for other customer’s precious peaceful dining moments." The waitress tried to take my menu away before I had a good picture and I said "Wait! I’m going to blog about that." 
"You and everyone else." Maybe that’s why I got such unfriendly service. Not bad, just not friendly.
Is life too easy in the Peace Corps?
My cousin Kelsi is in the Peace Corps and people have been giving her a hard time that she’s got it easy. She’s really been enjoying the Domican Republic and writing some great stories about the country and the people there. Having been in third world countries and a lot of Carribean countries, I don’t think it she has it easy. I’m really glad she’s enjoying the good parts. In her email today she shared one of the negative sides for the first time:
The first thing I saw when I got to my house in La Cienega was the hugest rat I
had ever seen being chased by the family dog. I about started freaking out on
the spot, but since it was the family´s first impression of me, I held it
together as much as I could. They reassure me that there are no rats in the
house, but I have the dog and cat sleep in my room just in case.
It reminded me of a hotel in Honduras where I was sitting at the pool and two rats tried to climb up on my chair. I pulled up my feet and let my friend continue to sleep in the other lounger. What else could you do? I certainly wasn’t going to go anywhere while they were there! I wish I’d had a dog!
Wear your shoes on a boat or else!
Wear your shoes on a boat … or this is what happens to your toe!
(Note that I didn’t wear shoes at all from Monday to Friday – not even to restaurants. Lucky it’s not my toe!)
Frank loves his new Keen H2