GIRLFRIEND GETAWAYS -- SUMMER 2006

Advertiser Index

Click here to read the May 2006 Advertiser Index.

Arizona | California | Florida | Missouri | NevadaNorth Carolina | Oregon | South Carolina | Texas | Virginia | West Virginia | Caribbean | Adventure Travel | Beauty | Destination Spas | Hotels and Resorts | International Travel | Vacation Packagers

ARIZONA

Arizona--The Grand Canyon State.
Seize the day. For more on how to truly enjoy a fabulous girls' getaway, request your free Arizona Travel Packet.

CALIFORNIA 
  
 The Oaks at Ojai Spa.
Discover why guests return to The Oaks at Ojai again and again. It's a fun and affordable spa vacation. Ask about our special events and packages.

FLORIDA  
 
 Lee County.

Discover what's right with the world: The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel. Florida's tropical island getaway.
 
   Greater Fort Lauderdale.
Find a sunny state of mind amid 23 miles of Blue Wave beaches. Visit http://www.sunny.org/ or call 800-22 SUNNY for free Vacation Planner. 
 
  Pensacola Convention and Visitors Bureau.
From inspiring natural beauty to 450 years of history and culture, we welcome you to experience the many flavors of Pensacola.
 
  ResortQuest Northwest Florida.
Enjoy fabulous beaches, luxurious vacation rentals and all the comforts of home. Call 877-867-6185 or visit ResortQuestNWFL.com

MISSOURI

Missouri Tourism.
 FREE Missouri Vacation Planner! It's time you treated yourself to a Missouri getaway. Order your free planner today and discover all that Missouri has to offer.

NEVADA

Austin http://www.travelnevada.com/
A land of blue skiesm sweet sage and spectacular mountains.

Baker http://www.travelnevada.com/
Host community for the Great Basin National Park.

Ely http://www.travelnevada.com/
Take a ride on the Nevada Northern Railway an early 20th century shortline railroad.

Eureka http://www.travelnevada.com/
A mid-19th century silver mining center, visitors will find dozens of historic sites including the elegant Eureka Opera House.

MORE ADVERTISER INDEXES

Note:This story was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
 
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Travel Tips

Tagged
Hotels
429369

Before you buy expensive bottled water from your hotel room minibar, head to the fitness center. You'll be able to fill up an empty bottle at the gym's water cooler or fountain for free, and you don't need to break a sweat.

— Amanda Geraci
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Packing
360272

Pack a couple of mountaineering carabiners. Clip one through the handle or strap of your bag and secure it to something solid wherever you may be (to a bench in the park or in a train station, to the railing of an overhead compartment on a bus, etc.).The carabiner adds a bit of security, especially if you're snoozing.

— R. Bryan Simon
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Planning
367284

Before traveling overseas, look at your health insurance card. If it only shows an 800 or 888 number for precertification of hospital admissions, call that number and obtain the local number with an area code. Many 800 numbers can't be dialed from foreign countries. I learned this the hard way during an emergency hospital admission in Switzerland. The delay in reaching my carrier could have been avoided.

— Chris Carveth
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Transportation
379269

I prefer laminated city maps because I can circle all the things I want to see in a given day with a dark erasable marker. Once I have everything marked, I plan my route and start walking. The next day, I erase the previous day's marks and begin all over again.

— Sandy Hughes
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Planning
382251

Most hotels provide cloth shoe mitts but not polish. In a pinch, a dollop of skin cream on a shoe mitt (or even a tissue) can make scuff marks vanish and leave shoes as shiny as if they'd been cleaned by a pro.

— John Nechman
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Hotels
455346

When I called to book a hotel room in Budapest, I was offered a rate of $75 per night. After I told the concierge that I was looking for a room in the $35 range, he agreed to the lower price without much fuss. It sometimes pays to barter.

— Julie Jensen
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Packing
376278

I try to avoid checking any luggage, but the airlines are getting stricter every day about the size and weight of carry-ons. So when I pack, I put any important stuff in a plastic bag and place it in a front pocket. If I'm told to check my carry-on when I get to the gate, I can just pull out the smaller bag and board.

— Alena Kerins
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Packing
388296

Once the hotel shampoo bottles I always seem to bring home are empty, I refill them with my own brand of shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel--instead of buying travel-size containers at the drugstore. I toss them, along with other small items (toothbrush, toothpaste, nail file, pillboxes, and a comb), into a medium-size Ziploc bag, and I'm ready to go; the clear plastic lets me find things easily.

— Donna Cover
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Packing
367272

An extra contact lens case holds enough toiletries for a short trip. Squeeze a few dabs of toothpaste into one side and perhaps some facial cleanser or moisturizer in the other side. Just the right amount of each will fit for your overnights or weekends away.

— Jen Shoemaker
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Photography
378283

I always snap photographs of scenic highway markers, park entrance signs, and the like. These informational photos are put into our album to help identify the many sites that we visited.

— Betty L. Cox
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Technology
467642

Just before a trip to Spain, I emailed myself a list of addresses of the friends and family I might want to email while away. At a cybercafe, I was able to simply cut and paste the list into the address line of a new message.

— Rita Young
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Dining
356265

I carry bilingual takeout menus when traveling to countries like China, Korea, and Vietnam. When I'm at a restaurant with no menu (or one that I can't read), I give mine to the waiter so he can point to dishes they can prepare. I've learned to pack a few extra menus, as the restaurants often like to keep a copy.

— Charles Locher
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Road Trips
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I take each of my grandchildren on a road trip the summer each turns twelve. The trips range in length from two weeks to a month and require careful packing. I've learned to put our clothes and any snack items we'll need in large plastic bins that fit in the back of my minivan. We each bring a small bag and pack it every evening with items we'll need for that night and the next day: no lugging heavy suitcases in and out of motels or hotels.

— Patsy Maddox
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Planning
379263

Once we know where we're going, my girlfriends and I divide up the list of things we'd like to do on our trip and put someone in charge of each item on the list. Then that person does the legwork by finding directions and prices, making reservations (if necessary), and researching nearby places to stop for a snack or a meal. Our method means that no one person is doing all the planning.

— Carol J. Leisch
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Air Travel
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When looking for the lowest airfare, I've found that in some cases the best rates pop up when searching for one traveler instead of two. Recently, I wanted to buy one-way tickets from New York to Orlando for two people and came up with $87 per person. But when I selected one traveler, the fare dropped to $72.

— Yoshi Matsuda
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Planning
366274

Before exchanging foreign currency at the airport, find out if there's a departure tax. At the Bangkok airport, we were very upset- as were travelers around us- to find we had to pay a fee before continuing to our gate. Unfortunately, by that point everyone had cashed in their baht, so the options were a conveniently located ATM, a credit card, or an exchange booth with notably poor rates. When we described this incident to friends, they told us of a similar experience when trying to leave the Dominican Republic.

— Parisa Montazeri
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Photography
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Create your own postcards by writing on the back of photographs that you've taken and developed while still on your trip.

— Connie Van Brocklin
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Safety
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I agree that the anti-seasickness medication for cruises, Bonine, is excellent and effective; but there is a budget way to buy it. The primary ingredient in Bonine is meclizine (25 mg). While a package of eight Bonine tablets costs just over $4 at a drugstore, you can buy a bottle of 100 generic meclizine (25 mg) for about the same price. This is an over-the-counter (no prescription needed) item, but you usually have to ask for it at the pharmacy counter.

— Lila Held
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Planning
339278

Before booking your next ski trip or reserving a table for dinner, find out what your credit card company has to offer. American Express sometimes has discounts on lift tickets; MasterCard has offered buy-one-get-one-free at local restaurants; and Discover Card has access to deals to Universal Studios. Check out americanexpress.com/offerzone, mastercard.com (be sure to click on Promotions), and discovercard.com.

— Connie A. Yu
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Planning
338271

I have the words "hotel" and "taxi" on my cell- phone speed dial. On a trip, I change the numbers, but leave the preprogrammed titles the same--instant access and no more little slips of paper everywhere.

— Isabel Burk
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Shopping
354275

Check out grocery stores in Europe for bargains on wine. On our last trip to Italy, I found a 1993 Banfi Brunello in a small market for $16. If I could find it at all in my local wine shop, that same bottle would cost more than $100. I only wish I had listened to my husband and bought all three of the bottles the store had.

— Stacy Shaw
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Photography
366274

Accidentally reformat your camera's memory card? As long as you don't overwrite the disk by shooting more photos, those original pictures are still there. Buy another card to use in the meantime, and then, when you get home, either purchase a file-recovery software program (about $35) or take the card to a camera shop and see if someone there can help.

— Julie Mancini
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Car Rentals
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I always have problems locating my rental car in a large parking lot. Now I bring along a brightly colored bandanna and tie it to the antenna.

— Tamara Johnson
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Loyalty Programs
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Pay close attention to those newsletters enclosed in your frequent-flier statements. They usually contain special offers and promotions that can earn you double or triple miles if you stay at a certain hotel or eat at a certain restaurant.

— Kim Borisenko
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Family Travel
368271

Create an ID page for each of your children before you leave on a trip. In addition to vacation contact information (hotel name and phone number), include the child's name, a current photo, home address, phone, date of birth, Social Security number, passport number, hair color, eye color, height, any identifying marks, blood type, allergies, medications, doctor and insurance phone numbers and ID numbers, immunization schedule, and fingerprints (these don't change, so investing the time to have a set made is worth it). If the unspeakable happens, the ability to hand over instant, concise information to authorities may prove invaluable. Update it before every trip.

— Robin Flannery
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Planning
380251

Before leaving for a vacation, I print out all our reservations and directions, and I create a contact sheet for emergencies. Then I gather all the papers together, punch some holes, and place them in a folder that has a middle section for three–holed papers. The side pockets hold brochures, business cards, ticket stubs, receipts, and maps that we collect along the way and want to bring home for our scrapbook.

— Sonal Gupte
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Family Travel
335282

Having spent a number of years working for Norwegian Cruise Line, I learned that a dinner roll helps to settle the stomach when seas become rough. The less liquid sloshing around unimpeded, the better. And if you forget your motion-sickness pills or wristbands, fear not, as the purser always has medicine available for seasick passengers.

— Jim Polanzke
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Hotels
447317

If you plan to leave a gratuity for hotel staff, follow our friend Phil's good advice: Give it at the beginning of your vacation, not at the end. He introduces himself to the housekeepers early in the trip and hands them a nice tip. Guess who always has plenty of coffee and fresh towels?

— Lou Stover
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Car Rentals
358263

Don't rush off the car-rental lot. Before driving away--especially in foreign countries where the controls might be unfamiliar-test the headlights and brakes, and look for the extra tire and changing tools. I once had a rental with malfunctioning brakes in Mexico and caused a minor accident--one that could certainly have been avoided had I checked them properly before leaving the lot.

— Doreen Stelton
Tagged
Hotels
442361

If you can't sleep due to the heat in your non-air-conditioned hotel room, take a cold bottle of water and place it on your pillow, in the crook of your neck. It will cool your whole body down.

— Tony van Hasselt

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