First of all, I really do notice that it’s lighter than the old luggage. We were easily under the luggage limits except for the intra-Burma flights, where we were just a bit over, but were not charged.

It’s easier to fit into a taxi. It also fits well into my car’s trunk when we go off for a weekend somewhere.

I like the various inside pockets and dividers. It’s easy to pack, and has small pockets to hold those tiny things you want to be able to find quickly. It also has large spaces so I can pack sizeable objects I pick up in my travels.

So far, it’s been very durable. There has been no damage nor any notable wear.

Would I buy this luggage again? Yes, no question.

Technorati Tags: Delsey Hyperlite luggage, lightweight luggage

A number of months ago, I wrote about places that are as wonderful as we thought they would be or are disappointing to us – Larger Than Life or Smaller Than My Vision. I think that places we have dreamed of for years are especially in danger of disappointing.

But Bagan was no disappointment. That first morning, we took a horse cart to watch the sunrise over the plains of Bagan. Standing atop a temple, I looked out over the seemingly endless array of temples in the rosy mist. It was an echo of the photo I’d seen as a child. As we left that temple in the horse cart, over the dusty lanes, I felt I was breathing in the atmosphere of that photo. I realized that just that experience was enough – it fulfilled the dream. Of course, we spent the next three days visiting dozens of temples and loved every minute of it, but the experience of simply being there is what stays with me most.

Technorati Tags: Bagan, Burma, Myanmar, pagan, SE Asia Travel

So before I go or when I return from a trip, I always look for a local charity or an international charity that has a project in the area.

Typically, this is an easy task. One of my favorite international charities is Heifer International. In addition to their gifts like a flock of chickens or a goat or a swarm of bees that can help people become more self-sufficient, they also have larger projects. You can choose a project to support. So last year, after our return from Kathmandu, we chose a project in Nepal to support.

I have often given to Doctors without Borders and Mercy Corps. They offer medical care in areas that otherwise have no care available as well as intervening in cases of natural disasters.

A favorite local charity of mine is the Ponheary Ly Foundation (PLF). It’s a charity started by a woman I know from the Fodors board to support education for Cambodian children. It buys school supplies and uniforms for children, augments the salaries of teachers, purchases bicycles so children can attend high school, even brings in a doctor to treat sick children.

Trying to find a charity after our trip to Burma was not as easy. As you may know, Burma has long blocked international charities from coming into the country. Indeed, in the aftermath of hurricane Nargis, they would not allow ships or planes to land carrying food, medicine and aid workers. We did eventually discover that Heifer has a project (Myanmar Agriculture and Livestock Development Project) based in Thailand that reaches into Burma to supply animals and economic development assistance to hill tribe people in Burma. While some projects are set up so you can find them directly, this one was not.

We met a woman in Bagan who had been sponsoring a child near Mandalay through Save the Children for ten years. She had traveled to Burma specifically to meet this child, a very moving experience. We also saw a building in a village on southern Inle Lake that said Save the Children on the sign, so this charity has managed to work inside this country that has traditionally been rejecting of outside help. The picture to the left is of a Save the Children building in Sankar Village, Myanmar.

Some people prefer to takes gifts of school supplies to local schools or medicine to local clinics. These are all ways to give back to people who have so generously shared their lives with us.

Technorati Tags: doctors without borders, Heifer International, International Charities, Mercy Corps, Ponheary Li Foundation, save the children

It’s been a while since my last post here. I have to admit that I got caught up in planning my next trip to my favorite part of the world, SE Asia. Finally, I decided to visit Burma. I won’t go into all of my machinations about whether or not to go, as that debate spanned some twenty years, but I do want to tell you about my experience booking this trip.

When Burma first opened to tourism over two decades ago, they allowed only group tours to enter. At first there was a strict limit of 7 days in the country. As time went on, the rules loosened gradually, but even today by far the majority of travelers to Burma go as part of a tour group. If you aren’t going as part of a tour group, they would prefer that you have a travel agency just book your itinerary for you.

I wanted to travel according to my own plan so I really had to work to get the travel arrangements I wanted. I usually book all of my own flights and all of my own hotels over the internet. For Burma, this was a real challenge. Because most email is blocked in Burma, emails to hotels may never be received. E-mailing is often an exercise in frustration. I was able to book one hotel directly via e-mail; another I found a Thai booking site where I could reserve and pay by credit card in advance – a great advantage in a country where credit cards are basically unusable. And my third hotel I was able to book via a phone call to The Leading Hotels of the World.

Air tickets were harder. There is no way to book intra-Burma flights online. Indeed, it was impossible to find a current timetable, let alone one for a month or two away. Eventually, I found a posting of what flights flew last week. I have a travel agent in Bangkok I’ve used for booking intra-Asia flight when needed. I wrote to him, and after several weeks of trying, he told me he was unable to book my flights. At that point, I emailed a travel agent in Yangon. They were able to tell me the times of the flights and book them.

And no one told me that there are no non-stop flights among all of the major cities. Of our three internal flights, two had stops on the way. And there are few choices about when to fly. It is not uncommon to have only one flight a day between two of the four major destinations in Burma. So our time in each place was a little different than we had originally planned.

Still, we did eventually get all of our hotels and flights and we had a wonderful time.

But I learned that a country that would prefer that you not travel independently can make it difficult for even the most stubborn independent traveler!

Technorati Tags: Bagan, Burma, Inle Lake, Mandalay, Myanmar, Rangoon, Yangon

Have a plan B, and do your research so you know your options. Don’t expect that airline personnel will necessarily know the best alternate routes to your destination or that they will know which other airlines fly to your destination.

Utilize your status with frequent flier and hotel programs

When there is a problem, consider what kind of leverage you might have. Being a member of the airline or hotel loyalty program is helpful, but it’s even more helpful if you are a premium member. If you have often stayed at a particular hotel, you can use that as leverage. When I say leverage, I don’t mean making threats “I’ve been staying here for years – if you don’t take care of this right now I’ll never stay here again!” If I were the hotel manager I have to admit I’d be saying to myself that I could only hope the nasty customer wouldn’t return!

Instead, take the approach that you have been a good customer and that you are sure the hotel wants to take care of the problem. Take the approach that you are working together to take care of the problem.

Airline problems are often due to weather delays or equipment delays. Conventional wisdom says to try to take flights early in the day so you can catch a later flight if necessary. Of course, that is not always possible. On my way to a meeting in Montreal, we landed in Washington DC for the connection to Montreal. There were thunderstorms in Montreal so the flight was delayed. It was getting late, and I expected we might not fly that night. I called an airport hotel, the Hyatt, and they had no space. At the time I was a diamond passport member, so they assured me they would find a room for me.

Soon, it was clear to me that the plane would not fly. I went to the Red Carpet Club and asked that they book me on the earliest flight out the next morning. I utilized my Red Carpet Club membership, my United Premier Executive status and my hotel loyalty program status, all of which paid off. I had a good night’s sleep and my flight to Montreal in the morning was as smooth as can be. The flight was overbooked – so if I hadn’t gotten my reservations as early as possible the previous afternoon, I wouldn’t have gotten on that flight.

How can you make your delay more pleasant?

We were flying from Kuching, Malaysia to Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur several years ago, when our flight out of Kuching was delayed. I wasn’t too worried, as I figured that there must be frequent flights from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok, so we could just get on the next flight. Fortunately, we were flying in Business Class on Malaysian Air, so I knew they would accommodate us.

When we arrived in KL, I went to the Malaysian Air desk to get on the next flight, only to find that it was 5 hours later! My guess about how frequent the flights must be was way off. I checked on some other connection options, but turned up nothing. So what could I do in the Kuala Lumpur airport for all that time? Go to the Business Class Lounge.

Here is a real advantage to flying a premium class even on relatively short international connections.

The Business Class Lounge at Kuala Lumpur Internation Airport is lovely. We sat down and looked around. They have comfortable seating, lovely food, good champagne, and a spa! I have to say that was the most relaxing time I’ve ever had waiting for a flight. We had arrived hungry and cranky from a delayed flight that caused us to miss our connection, and by the time we left the lounge to take our flight to Bangkok we were relaxed and content. We filled our time with a visit to the spa, champagne and good food.

Next : Managing illness or minor accidents while traveling

Technorati Tags: airline reservation problems, hotel reservation problems

When one hears of the hazards of travel, people think of really awful things – plane crashes, tsunamis, typhoons or hurricanes, earthquakes, or being caught up a violent insurrection. But most hazards of travel are much more mundane: delayed or cancelled flights, lost luggage, a hotel that doesn’t have your reserved room, food poisoning or a broken ankle.

Managing Airline and Hotel Problems

Ask for what you need

Most of the hazards of travel can be managed quickly and easily given a bit of flexibility on the part of the traveler. Things to remember… being pleasant and in a problems-solving mode will get you much farther than being angry, demanding and nasty. I know that people in the US often say that nothing will happen unless you get angry. This is not true in Asia. And frankly, I don’t think it’s helpful in the US or Europe. Getting angry or making a scene is considered a major embarrassment – to you.

You reduce your chances that people will work with you to solve the problem. I am not suggesting that you be meek and not ask for anything, but ask for what you need politely and firmly. Be willing to negotiate. Ask for something they can give you. So, if your luggage has not arrived with you, demanding that they produce your luggage immediately is of little use. If your luggage were there they would have given it to you. Instead, ask for what they can provide. “I need to buy X and Y and have my clothes laundered at my hotel.” “I need you to deliver my luggage to me at this hotel as soon as it arrives.” Utilize others to help you with the problem. The concierge at your hotel may well be willing to call and follow up with the airline, for instance. Note that if you are traveling in a premium class, there will often be an airline employee designated to give you special assistance.

If you check into a hotel and need (and were assured of) a non-smoking room and there is not one available, be persistent. Let them know you must have a non-smoking room. What kind of room do they have available that is non-smoking? I have had hotels move me to another type of room to accommodate me. In one case, I could have that room for only one night, and had to move me to another non-smoking room the next night, so they discounted my whole stay. I was pleasant but insistent, and the night manager was very helpful. He went and checked on various rooms so that we were not delivered to a non-smoking room that smelled of smoke.

Let the process work

I remember arriving in Yogyakarta, Indonesia after a transpacific flight, a few hours trying to nap in the terminal at Changi, and going through customs and immigration in Jakarta. We arrived exhausted and wanting nothing more than to get to our hotel and take a shower… and our luggage did not arrive with us. The representative from the hotel who met us, just shrugged and said “Garuda always does that. You luggage will get here this afternoon.” Somehow I did not find that reassuring. I was not yet experienced enough in the ways of international travel not to fret, but the woman was right – Garuda often left people’s luggage in Jakarta and our luggage did arrive that afternoon.

What are your options?

I was trying to book a flight from Kuantan, Malaysia to Singapore. I had booked the last non-stop flight on Silk Air from Singapore to Kuanatan before low season started, so I knew there would be no non-stops to get me back to Singapore. As I expected, the agent routed me though Kuala Lumpur. But as she worked on the reservations, she said to me that there are no seats available on the flight from KL to Singapore. I found that hard to fathom. I had her check several options for me, then asked her, “what are my options?” “There are some first class seats on that flight.”
“And how much more are the first class tickets?”
“Twenty dollars.”
“I’ll take it.”

It would never have occurred to me that “no seats” meant no seats in economy. That flight turned out to be one of my most memorable first class fights. It was on a brand new Boeing 777, configured for three classes of travel. As we boarded, a flight attendant bounded down the aisle to lift our carry-ons into the overhead bin. The fight was just under an hour, but we were served a hot duck entrée and Dom Perignon. We joked that we easily drank the price difference in champagne.

In our next post we’ll talk about having a Plan B!

Technorati Tags: airline reservation issues, airline reservation problems, hotel reservation issues, hotel reservation problems

I figured it was durable, as it’s what the pilots and flight attendants picked up off the baggage carousel. That was fabulous luggage!  I carried it all over the world and brought back treasures from many places. Once the large case was filled with puppets from Indonesia, another time it carried a Persian carpet. I don’t think I ever had anything break in that luggage. Indeed, the luggage was still going strong when I had to retire it when airlines required that luggage be unlocked or have TSA locks on it.  That just didn’t work for hard sided luggage.

That rule changed just before a trip to Asia, so off I went to the luggage store to find some zippered soft-sided luggage. I was worried about durability, so I chose the most heavy-duty, durable luggage I could find, which was Pathfinder.  I also chose to get the largest allowable suitcase, 28-inch, as well as a standard 26-inch so I could continue to bring home lots of purchases from my trips.  I bought red, so I could find it easily. That worked for the first few years, then more people started buying red luggage.  The Pathfinder has, indeed been durable. No zippers have broken, and there has been no damage to the material other than the usual dirt. I remember watching my luggage being loaded onto a plane in the pouring rain but nothing in the cases even got damp. 

Getting the large suitcase has been a mixed blessing. Trying to get the luggage for two of us – two of each of those cases plus a carry-on each – into a taxi is not easy.

Since I purchased that luggage, airline regulations about weight have changed. The luggage was indeed, heavy-duty and heavy.  I decided I needed something lighter. And I wanted smaller cases so that traveling with them would be easier.

So today we went out and looked at luggage. There are now hard-sided luggage with zippers – what a great idea.  We looked at some by International Traveler.  I like the looks of it, I like the interiors, I like that it expands – what a great idea for hard sided luggage! It comes in lots of colors – most of which are too light to be practical – but there are the standard red and black (yawn). This brand also makes luggage that comes in prints – cow, giraffe and zebra, for instance.

Next we looked at some Delsey. They make a wide variety of styles of soft-sided luggage in their Helium line. All of the Helium luggage is lighter than our Pathfinder, but there is variation in weight among the many styles.  The one disadvantage I found in many of their cases is the “suiter” which is not practical for my packing and just takes up space.  I also don’t like the cases where half of the space is taken up with the outside pockets. Tell me what do you ever put in those outside pockets?  The only thing I’ve ever put there has been the straps that can clip the suitcases together. I consider the pockets to be wasted space.  But it seems impossible to find soft-sided luggage with out the pockets.

After much deliberation, I decided on the Delsey Hyperlite. It has no suiter inside, and the outside pockets don’t take up inside space. It is expandable, which is a nice feature.  It comes in four colors, all of which I consider ok.  So – last decision – sizes. I opted for the 22 inch expandable, which is a legal carry-on and the 25-inch expandable. Both of course have wheels and handles. I’m looking forward to my first trip with my new luggage. I won’t have to weigh my suitcases to make sure the large one isn’t over 50 pounds, and getting the cases into a taxi will be easy after years of traveling with the big suitcases. I’ll let you know how they hold up to the airline’s handling.

Links to both the International Traveler and Delsey Hyperlite.

Delsey 40274XX – Helium Hyperlite Expandable Carry On Expandable
Delsey 40277XX – Helium Hyperlite 25″ Expandable Trolley

International Traveler 24″ Wheeled Packing Case
International Traveller – Shiny Giraffe 24″ Expandable Hardside Rolling Suitcase
International Traveller – Shiny “Moo” Cow 24″ Expandable Hardside Rolling Suitcase

Technorati Tags: delsey helium luggage, international traveler lightweight luggage, lightweight hardcase luggage, lightweight luggage

First of all, it helps to have a context for bargaining. In cultures where bargaining is done, it is a part of the social discourse. It is expected that you’ll bid back and forth and come to a mutually agreeable price. Think of bargaining as similar to other scripted social interactions. “How are you?” “ I’m fine, and you?”

Start low so you have room to trade bids when the vendor comes back with a higher bid. Don’t start with the price you want to pay.

Remember that when it gets down to the final bids, you are likely talking about a few cents. Don’t bargain as if your life depended on getting the lowest possible price. Bargain with a smile. Be pleasant even when you are saying, “that’s too much.” Remember that you both want the same thing, the seller wants to sell you something at a price you’ll both be pleased with, you want to buy something at a price you’ll both be pleased with.

What Should I Start With?

So how much less than the starting price should my first offer be? There is no hard and fast rule. Sometimes you should offer as low as 10% of the asking price; sometimes you’ll be lucky to get 10% off the asking price. It helps to have some idea of what the item is worth. If you’ve wandered around a bit, you’ll have an idea of what other sellers are asking for the item. If you’ve been to a store with fixed prices and have seen an item, you’ll have a better idea of what it is worth.

If you are really nervous about bargaining, you can always simply ask if you can get a discount or if the seller will give you a “special price.” The seller will almost always offer you a lower price, which you can then either accept or can make a slightly lower bid. You won’t get a rock-bottom price doing this, but it can be a way to start learning how to bargain.

You can ask the price of anything with no obligation to buy, but once you start bargaining, you are obligated to buy the item if you and the seller come to a mutually agreeable price.

The first sale of the day is considered good luck, so sometimes sellers are willing to come down farther in price for that sale. After you pay, the seller may touch all of the items in the stall with the money you paid. I always enjoy this little ritual and laugh with the seller about the sale being good luck.

Always Know You Can Say No

When you are bargaining for an expensive item and you can’t come to an agreement, it is ok to say no thank you and walk away. Sometimes that will inspire the seller to come after you and offer a lower price, sometimes not. But you can always return later and resume your bargaining.

There is no need for a common spoken language to bargain. I’ve often bargained for items with a calculator passed between us. Perhaps the most important currency in bargaining is goodwill and a smile.

Technorati Tags: independent travel bargaining, se asia bargaining, tourist bargaining, travel bargaining

As a city person, seeing the starts is very special. There is so much ambient light that when I look in the night sky, I am lucky to be able to pick out a few constellations.

When I was a child we used to go to a place way out in the country in upstate New York. My father took me out into an open field, to show me the Milky Way. I was amazed at how many stars there were spilling out in all their splendor across the night sky. What a revelation it was – to see something that is always there but seldom seen.

The times when I’ve seen the Milky Way as an adult have been too few and far between. But I have some favorite travel memories of the stars.

In Morocco, we stayed at a tiny oasis in the desert. I walked outside at night and away from a bright light they had as a marker for travelers and I could see the stars in the velvety sky… the Milky Way spread out before me.

I have a memory of flying into Tahiti after midnight. We took a ramshackle taxi to our hotel. I remember how grubby the cab was… the windows were greasy, but I could see lights. It took me a while to realize that the lights I was seeing were stars in the Milky Way! The view out the taxi window was straight into the middle of the galaxy. One night, we went out onto our dark balcony and drank champagne to the stars in honor of Dom Perignon’s description of champagne: “It’s like drinking stars!”

The most recent view I had of the Milky was from the beach in Kauai. I was taken by surprise by the stars… what a treat to see the Milky Way again! It was like a surprise visit from an old friend.

Technorati Tags: light pollution, milky way morocco, milky way tahiti, milky way traveling, travel memories starry skies

The flip flops I’ve been wearing all this time are Teva’s and they are just basic black that go with anything and are comfortable enough to walk a fair distance in. Since buying these it seems like all I can find are sissy women’s flowery flip flops without the same durability as I’ve had with these.

Since these flip flops have definitely seen better days, I had to find a pair to replace them. Thankfully, I found these flip flops from Merrell. Since I’ve been wearing Merrell’s for years I really trust this brand and thankfully they make a flip flop (or thong as they prefer to call it) for women that are sturdy and functional. For men, I found a nice pair of Montrail flip flops, another brand I own and trust. And for a nicer pair to wear to the restaurant at night, I found these wonderful Keen flip flops. I’m ready for Honolulu now!

Technorati Tags: flip flop women, North Face Base Camp flip flops, travel flip flops, travel sandals