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McCool Travel is excited to present tips from travel experts in our 5 Minutes interview series featuring travel industry giants, super frequent travelers, and adventurous persons.
For the 23rd profile, I am honored to present Jeff Deck. A couple of weeks ago, I published a post about Fun With Typo Signs and mentioned a book called The Great Typo Hunt. I reached one of the authors and he graciously shared some travel thoughts for this spot. Any typos in this post are my fault, not his!
Jeff Deck is a writer, editor, typo hunter, and unabashed geek. His book, The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time (co-authored with Benjamin D. Herson), was a Boston Globe bestseller and broke the Amazon Top 100 Bestsellers, and was an Indie Next Notable pick. He has spoken to audiences across the U.S. and with local, national, and international media about grammar education and the importance of proofreading. Deck lives in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with his girlfriend Jane, and frequently vacations in the worlds of fantasy and science fiction.
Always in my luggage…
3 favorite home-away-from-home places…
- Portland, Oregon (great food, beer, public transportation)
- Madison, Wisconsin (friendly folk and fine curds)
- Boston, Massachusetts (my actual home until not too long ago)
A favorite travel memory is…
Both times I’ve visited the Carmel area of California (first during my typo hunt across America, second for a wedding) I’ve been absolutely awed by its beauty. I loved stopping by the side of Route 1 and gazing at the ocean, and the town in the valley has some curiously innate ward against rainclouds…
3 favorite travel brands…
- Southwest (reliable, no bullcrap!)
- Amtrak Acela (the way to travel if you can afford it)
- C&J Trailways (super-comfortable New England bus service)
3 money-saving travel tactics I use are…
- Priceline bidding
- Econo Lodge
- pitching a tent (in a Vegas parking lot, even!)
3 ways that I have fun while traveling are…
- A guiltless approach to eating;
- appreciation of the reading time during long flights/rides;
- walking explorations of new cities/towns
- (bonus) keeping an eye out for typos!
8 word (or less) travel mantra…
Listen more than you talk; appreciate little details.
My favorite non-travel website…
Most memorable souvenir…
At the Dallas stop of our book tour for The Great Typo Hunt, my co-author and I each got a wooden cast of David’s eye and cheekbone (as in Michelangelo’s Statue of David). His pupil kind of looks like a comma, so I can see the connection…
Favorite Cheap Eat
Tacos in the town square of Santa Fe, New Mexico. And the food trucks of Portland, Oregon, and Cambridge, Massachusetts (MIT campus)! They were a thing before food trucks were a thing.
Recent Discovery…
Stowe, Vermont is gorgeous; it’s overshadowed, I think, by big brother Burlington.
I am fortunate to have met…
My girlfriend Jane, the travel partner I’d always been hoping for.
I would like to meet…
Rick Steves. Jane and I have been enjoying his various European travel-guide videos, and I think he’d be a pretty fun travel buddy.
Thank you, Jeff, for sharing your thoughts with McCool Travel and may you have countless more memorable travel adventures!
Read Jeff’s blog at JeffDeck.com.
Previous 5 Minutes With post: Colleen Lanin, TravelMamas.com.
Do you want to appear in a future 5 Minute With post? Contact me directly by email (CharlesMcCool -at- gmail -dot- com).
For frequent travel deals, follow me on Facebook (McCool Travel) and Twitter (@CharlesMcCool).
A recent post had some great BBQ sign pictures. Continuing the theme of road trip photos, here are some more shots of BBQ joints from around the USA.
Have you been to any of these BBQ places? Guess where they are located. Some are famous and some are obscure. All have (or once did) great food.
Hungry? Me too!
Send your road sign or other fun travel picture to me (CharlesMcCool -at- gmail -dot- com) and I may include it in a future McCool Travel post.
For frequent travel deals, follow me on Facebook (McCool Travel) and Twitter (@CharlesMcCool).
© 2011, Charles McCool. All rights reserved.
McCool Travel is excited to present tips from travel experts in our 5 Minutes interview series featuring travel industry giants, super frequent travelers, and adventurous persons.
For the 22nd profile, I am honored to present Colleen Lanin.
Colleen Lanin is the editor and founder of TravelMamas.com, a site for parents who want to travel with children…and stay sane! She is the Travel Channel Leader for Tree.com, a social media site run by the company that owns Lending Tree and RealEstate.com. She is also the On-the-Go Video Blogger for Barilla’s Piccolini TV, a multimedia site for parents. Colleen is a freelance writer and teaches blogging classes. She has lived in Arizona, Minnesota, and Southern France. Now she makes her home in San Diego with her husband and two children. Learn more about Colleen and TravelMamas here.
Colleen Lanin, TravelMamas.com
Always in my luggage…
A swimsuit – no matter the destination. It takes up almost no room and I never know when there will be a pool or hot tub calling my name! If I’m traveling with others (esp. my kids!), I bring a book light so I can stay up late reading after my travel mates have already gone to bed for the night.
3 favorite home-away-from-home places…
- Hawaii
- France
- California’s Wine Country
A favorite travel memory is…
Swimming in indoor pools during my childhood travels through the Midwest with my family. It’s the little things!
3 favorite travel brands…
- Disney Cruise Line (the ultimate in customer service and providing incredible vacation experiences for all ages)
- CARES (an airplane safety restraint for children ages 1-4)
- any airline that provides free WiFi and video entertainment
3 money-saving travel tactics I use are…
- Do a home exchange instead of paying for a hotel
- Travel off-season.
- Have groceries delivered or pick them up after arrival and eat breakfast in to save time and money.
3 ways that I have fun while traveling are…
- swimming in an awesome hotel pool (preferably with waterfalls & a swim-up bar)
- visiting a botanical garden
- eating the local cuisine
8 word (or less) travel mantra…
You CAN travel with children…and stay SANE!
My favorite non-travel website…
Most memorable souvenir…
My daughter’s red satin shoes from San Francisco’s Chinatown. She has long since outgrown them but she was gaga for those things!
Favorite Cheap Eat
Pain au chocolat and café crème in France
I am fortunate to have met…
So many other family travel bloggers when I am traveling. Meeting up with others who share my passions (family, travel, writing) is such a treat.
I would like to meet…
Oprah Winfrey, Samantha Brown, Rosie O’Donnell, Bono
Colleen Lanin, TravelMamas.com
Thank you, Colleen, for sharing your thoughts with McCool Travel and may you have countless more memorable travel adventures!
Join Colleen on Twitter (@TravelMamas) and Facebook. Check out the TravelMamas blog for tips and information about traveling with babies, toddlers, and children.
Previous 5 Minutes With post: George Hobica, Airfarewatchdog.com.
Do you want to appear in a future 5 Minute With post? Contact me directly by email (CharlesMcCool -at- gmail -dot- com).
For frequent travel deals, follow me on Facebook (McCool Travel) and Twitter (@CharlesMcCool).
Happy Summer Solstice!
Yesterday’s post had some great travel sign pictures. Continuing the theme of road trip photos, here are some shots of BBQ joints from around the USA.
Have you been to any of these BBQ places? Guess where they are located. Some are famous and some are obscure. All have (or once did) great food.
Hungry? Me too!
Send your road sign or other fun travel picture to me (CharlesMcCool -at- gmail -dot- com) and I may include it in a future McCool Travel post.
For frequent travel deals, follow me on Facebook (McCool Travel) and Twitter (@CharlesMcCool).
© 2011, Charles McCool. All rights reserved.
A recent post had 8 unusual and quirky sign photos. Here are 8 more. A few of my own and a couple submitted by readers (Thank You!).
From Katie E. – in Anchorage, Alaska.
From Melissa G. – a playground in New York City.
Count the things wrong with this Stop sign. Bad color scheme, only 6 sides, left side of the street (in US), too close to the ground.
Most speed limits are divisible by 5 (such as 25, 60). I like to find these unusual examples. The previous post had the 5 1/2 MPH sign.
I do like to know where my food comes from.
Bumper sticker, on a jeep (of course).
Yep, a real license plate. On a different jeep. I am thinking that Jeep drivers may have the best sense of humor.
Send your road sign or other fun travel picture to me (CharlesMcCool -at- gmail -dot- com) and I may include it in a future McCool Travel post.
For frequent travel deals, follow me on Facebook (McCool Travel) and Twitter (@CharlesMcCool).
© 2011, Charles McCool. All rights reserved.
A recent post about selecting good seats on flights has good information for selecting airline seats when you make a reservation.
Often, though, I see better seats when I board the plane. If another passenger has not reserved that seat, then surely I can move there. Right?
Well, NO! Airlines usually will not let you sit where you want. Exceptions include flights without seat assignments (like Southwest and flights between Hawaiian islands) and flights with many, many empty seats.
I recently looked at my notes from last September when I flew nearly every other day with JetBlue’s all-you-can-jet pass. I jotted down that I moved up to row 1on 3 of my first 4 flights.
from flickr.com
- Here are some tips to move to a better seat.
First, look for better seats on your airline’s website. For JetBlue, passengers can check in online 24 hours prior to departure. I always look at the seat map and pick a better seat, if available.
Second, passengers can pay a fee for really desirable seats. Using JetBlue again (note: alas, JetBlue does NOT pay me for all of these mentions), passengers can pay a little extra to sit in a seat in rows 2 through 5 and emergency exit rows. These seats have more pitch.
Third, before boarding the flight, I usually ask the gate agent if there are better seats than what I have. I learned that JetBlue held on to row 1 seats for needy passengers (elderly, families, injured). I would kindly ask if I could be assigned a row 1 seat. I did not keep track of my success rate–but it was between never and always.
Fourth, when boarding the plane, if I see a better seat, I ask the flight attendant if I can move there. This is how I moved to row 1 on 3 of my first 4 JetBlue AYCJ flights. In fact, I did not think of changing seats for my first flight, due to the excitement–after all, I conducted my first interview, met the pilot and other AYCJers.
- TIP: I usually pack light and wait until the very end to board. When I am the last passenger to board and there are empty seats up front, flight attendants will almost always let me move there. Especially when there are still a couple dozen people trying to stow bags further back.
Fifth, as soon as the cabin door is closed, I will move to a better seat. I do not move to one of those premium (extra fee) seats but if I see an entire empty row, for instance, I will move there.
I hope these tips will help you be more comfortable on future flights because friends do not let friends sit in undesirable airline seats…
Charles McCool is an independent consumer travel advocate.
For frequent travel deals, follow me on Facebook (McCool Travel) and Twitter (@CharlesMcCool).
© 2011, Charles McCool
McCool Travel is excited to present tips from travel experts in our 5 Minutes interview series featuring travel industry giants, super frequent travelers, and adventurous persons.
For the 21st profile, I am honored to present George Hobica.
George Hobica
He is the mastermind behind Airfarewatchdog.com and a friend to anyone who wants cheap flights. As you surely know by now, Airfarewatchdog is one of my favorite sources for air travel deals. George appears frequently on television and radio and is a former travel writer (Travel and Leisure, National Geographic Traveler, Real Simple, and other magazines). He is from Boston but now lives in New York City.
Always in my luggage…
my own pillow and Bose noise canceling headphones
3 favorite home-away-from-home places…
- Fire Island, New York
- London
- Fairmont Battery Wharf, Boston
A favorite travel memory is…
I was on a media trip to Bangkok with a bunch of grumpy travel writers; as I was about to check out of the Oriental Hotel, my floor butler presented me with a hand written thank you note and a little gift. I assumed it was something he was told to do by the management but in the car to the airport I discovered that the grumpy writers, who had the same floor butler, received no gift.
3 favorite travel brands…
- Jet Blue
- Fairmont Hotels
- American Express
3 money-saving travel tactics I use are…
- after making a hotel reservation, I always check back to see if the price has gone down, even up to the day before arrival
- same with airfare if flying on JetBlue, which refunds in a travel credit without a fee
- check airfares frequently before buying because they fluctuate like the stock market.
3 ways that I have fun while traveling are…
- take lots of photos
- find time to take a walk in a park
- use miles or points to upgrade
8 word (or less) travel mantra…
Always have a plan B (even though most travel goes without a hitch)
My favorite non-travel website…
Most memorable souvenir…
– see above travel memory response
I would like to meet…
Isadore Sharp, founder of Four Seasons Hotel Group
Thank you, George, for sharing your thoughts with McCool Travel and may you have countless more memorable travel adventures!
Join Airfarewatchdog on Twitter (@airfarewatchdog) and Facebook. Check out their blog and sign up for airfare alerts for your favorite airports (HIGHLY recommended).
Previous 5 Minutes With post: The Trip Chicks.
Do you want to appear in a future 5 Minute With post? Contact me directly by email (CharlesMcCool -at- gmail -dot- com).
For frequent travel deals, follow me on Facebook (McCool Travel) and Twitter (@CharlesMcCool).
A great way to reduce lodging expenses when traveling is corporate rentals.
Corporate rentals are fully furnished apartments that are rented for a month or more to people on long term work assignments or who are relocating.
from texascorporatehousing.com
When units are empty, however, travelers can rent corporate apartments on a short term basis. (NOTE: some states may REQUIRE apartment renters to stay a minimum of 30 days).
Typical rates are $99 for one bedroom apartments, which is a great deal compared to hotel rates and layouts. Always look for special rates. I once rented a three bedroom apartment in South Florida for $39 a night.
Amenities include community centers, pool and spa, tennis and activity area, and more. Since corporate rentals are temporary communities, the property usually hosts weeknight events including happy hours and BBQs (NOTE: these are FREE!).
A major benefit for travelers is that most renters are working during the day so you can have the pool and activity areas to yourself. Great for families!
Did I mention that many properties offer complimentary grocery shopping? Nice amenity!
Oakwood is the largest temporary housing provider with over 25,000 locations. ExecuStay is a subsidiary of Marriott so you can earn points with your short term apartment rentals.
To find other agencies, enter “corporate rentals” or “temporary housing” or “corporate apartments” in google or other search engine.
With less cost and more space, corporate apartments are a winning combination.
Charles McCool is an independent consumer travel advocate.
For frequent travel deals, follow me on Facebook (McCool Travel) and Twitter (@CharlesMcCool).
© 2011, Charles McCool
Once upon a time, selecting a seat on a flight used to be easy–you would tell the reservation or gate agent window or aisle.
More people began flying and passengers started sitting in the middle seats. Airlines increased the number of seats on their craft. The pitch–space between the seats–decreased while the average passenger size increased.
From aerospaceweb.org
From suffocatingtraveler.com
Booking air travel is now essentially a do-it-yourself process, so savvy passengers should know how to select better seats on flights.
Most airlines allow passengers to reserve seats online…
… but how do you know if it is a decent seat or not?
Because most seats recline but some do not.
The pitch can vary among seats even on the same plane.
There are some convenient resources that review and grade airline seats.
SeatGuru.com is the “ultimate source for airplane seating, in-flight amenities, and airline information.” It shows cabin diagrams for planes for airlines all over the world. The diagrams are color coded–red for bad seats, yellow for some drawbacks, and green for good.
Two other sources are SeatExpert.com and AirlineExpert.com.
Because friends do not let friends sit in undesirable airline seats…
Charles McCool is an independent consumer travel advocate.
For frequent travel deals, follow me on Facebook (McCool Travel) and Twitter (@CharlesMcCool).
© 2011, Charles McCool
