Some of My Favorite Books to Enhance Travel

And no I don't mean travel guides. My favorites are books that give me more back round about where I am going and what I will be seeing. Some are non fiction but others are historical fiction that make it more readable for some. Here are some of my favorites:

Planning a stop at Versailles while you are in Paris? The Sun King by Nancy Mitford is easy to read and is an excellent biography of Louis XIV and how and why he transformed Versailles from a small hunting lodge into the seat of the French Government. For a more extended history of the palace, try To Dance with Kings by Rosalind Laker. It covers the history of the palace till the French Revolution through the fictional story of a family and how their history is interwoven with Versailles.

Heading to Hawaii or doing an Alaskan cruise? James Michener's books Hawaii & Alaska should be on your reading list. While they are fictional, Michener always did a thorough job of historical research, so the books are very readable and it gives you a view of how these states grew and some of the challenges of the different types of people who populate the state view each other.

God Save the Queen! Heading to the UK? Read up about Her Majesty. Elizabeth, The Queen by Sally Bedell Smith was publish for the Diamond Jubilee in 2012. Ms Smith had access to friends of the Queen and there are some funny antidotes in there. Even better is The Final Curtsey, by Margaret Rhodes, who is 1st cousin to HM. Mrs. Rhodes was also a lady in waiting to her aunt, the late Queen Mother. So lots of good insider information and great informal family pictures of the Queen. Also any of the books written by the late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire about her family estate Chatsworth are a must if you are visiting "stately homes". Her and her late husband really lead the way in saving and changing the views of the great country houses of England. Plus she's Nancy Mitford's youngest sister and like Nancy, she has a very readable style of writing.

Istanbul a port of call on your Eastern Med cruise? Did you know it was previously known as Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, later the Byzantine Empire? They kept the Greco-Roman knowledge alive while the West went through the Dark & Middle Ages. Lars Brownworth's Lost to the West is a great readable history of the Byzantine Empire from the foundation of the city  by Constantine the Great to 1453 when the city was taken over by the Ottoman Turks. Andrew Novo's Queen of Cities is the story of the last siege of Constantinople.

Why do a little reading before your trip? If you are doing a tour your guide will appreciate that you did a little homework before hand and seem really interested in what you are seeing and can ask intelligent questions. Also maybe this wasn't your top vacation pick, instead of doing some low level sulking maybe doing a little swotting up before hand may change your mind that this isn't that bad. Plus if you play nice next time you may get your top vacation pick.

What's on Your Travel Bucket List?

 

Everyone should have a travel bucket list and everyone's should be different(life would be very boring if we all liked the same things). And certainly don't just copy one down from a travel magazine, base it on your own personal interests. My own personal list is rather eclectic, lots of historical site, those ooo ahh natural wonders that I want to see in person, locations that I have read about or seen on a television program.

Last summer I was able to cross Istanbul Turkey off my list. For history buffs, they also know this city as Constantinople which was a Roman/Byzantine capital till 1453. Touring the magnificent Haiga Sophia and thinking of it's long and varied history was an amazing moment for me, one that I will remember forever.

Maybe you are a Downton Abbey fan and would love to go to England to see Highclere Castle, but there are other "stately" homes that might interest you also. Blenheim Palace, the only non Royal palace in England is the home of the Duke of Marlborough. It is also the birthplace of Winston Churchill.

courtesy of blenheimpalace.com

Consider heading up to Derbyshire to Chatsworth House, home to the Duke of Devonshire's family since the 16th century.


courtesy of peakdistrictinformation.com

 

 

Is Nature is more your thing, staying close to home you have the wonders of the US National Parks, from Acadia National Park in Maine to Denali National Park in Alaska, these are wonderful choices for awe inspiring vistas right in our own "backyard". Of course an African safari in the Serengeti/Masai Mara offers you the largest concentration of wild animals you will ever see and landscapes that have inspired Hemingway and other great authors.

 

It's great adding items to your travel bucket list, but get off the sofa and go! I can't think of a better way to end this blog then to add these words of travel wisdom from Vicki Freed of Royal Caribbean,

 You never know what tomorrow’s going to bring, so travel whenever you can. Plan it into your life—it’s not going to happen by itself. So many people make excuses to put off their vacations. Not this year. Maybe when the kids are away. Just waiting for things to ease up at work. Every excuse is another obstacle between you and that feeling of wonder from being somewhere new, the thrill of exploring different cultures and the unforgettable memories that come with each new discovery. Don’t wait until it’s too late—fill up on those amazing memories now. I promise you won’t regret it.

 

 



December's Cruise Tips

I love looking at some of the lists on how to do lists for cruises. As a 35 year veteran of cruising, former business road warrior, family traveler(2-4 trips per year) and now in the travel industry, I think some of these lists offer some good advice, but here is my advice for 1st time or infrequent cruisers.

Don't get to the ship early, no you don't get some prize for being the first person on the ship. Any way if you did it would be some tchotchke with the cruise line logo on it. What you do get is to stand in line to get through security and then wait until they are ready to let you on the ship. So I say hang out at your hotel a little longer and have another cup of coffee, because you never know if that wait is going to be made longer by the Coast Guard doing a surprise inspection, or some previous week's cruisers who don't disembark when they are supposed or the computer system crashes. My associate ran into all three of these situations in one weekend of doing ship inspections! I dislike lines, so if I go a little later I usually can breeze right on.

Fly in the day before, but not for the reason you think. It is so much more relaxing way to get ready for your cruise, wake up at a normal time, have a leisurely breakfast and head to the port. Where if you fly in the same day, besides leaving your fate in the hands of mother nature and the airlines, you'll have to be on an early flight, so getting to the airport before dawn. Considering you'll probably some of the first people at the port, see above.

Over-packing, well I see this advice on every travel blog and then see the number of bags people bring, no one is heeding this advice!  Some cruise ship cabins are a little tight on storage, this goes for river and ocean ships. I sailed this summer on a 10 day cruise with one checked bag that weighed in at 38 pounds and I came home with stuff that I didn't wear. The family did a 17 day trip to Hawaii with one checked bag and 2 20" carry-on size bags. My packing philosophy is another blog topic.

Have fun and relax you are on vacation! No cooking, cleaning or laundry. Pack your sense of humor and have a great time.

The Airlines Get Their Grades for 2013

       My wife and I had to laugh this morning as we read an AP story on the 2013 Airline Quality Ratings report.  This report, which is used as a report card for the U.S. airline industry, has been calculated since 1991 by researchers at Wichita State University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  The researchers grade the the airlines on government figures for on-time performance, mishandled bags, bumped passengers, and complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

       The top rated airline in 2013, for the second year in a row, was Virgin America. Here is a look at the top 15 airlines.

2013 Airline Quality Ratings

1.  Virgin America
2.  JetBlue
3.  Hawaiian
4.  Delta
5.  Alaska Airlines
6.  Endeavor (formerly called Pinnacle Airlines)
7.  USAir
8.  Southwest
9.  American
10. Airtran
11. Frontier
12. United
13. ExpressJet
14. SkyWest
15. American Eagle

        What had my wife and I snickering as we read the story, was the airline industries response to the overall industry performance in each of the individual categories.  After reading that the rate of lost, stolen or delayed bags rose 5% last year and the the on-time performance for the airline industry was down nearly 5% to 78.4 percent; an industry spokesperson commented that the airlines were taking steps to dramatically improve performance in 2014 .  As we reflected on our own recent experience with the airlines; waiting nearly 2 hours for the airline to find our luggage after our family cruise with Disney in January, then having a 4 hour delay for our spring break flight to Florida last week with another airline, we can only wish them well, LOL!!