Of all the things I need to spend money on when I travel, a rental car is at the bottom of my list.  I just want something that I can rely on to get me to the places I want to visit.  I’ve found that I can usually do a quick search with Expedia and find a car rental in most cities for about $20 a day.  At those rates, I don’t give a car rental a second thought.

I wish I could say the same for renting a car in Florida.  For some reason, Florida car rates are in a league of their own – Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, Orlando all run between $50-70 a day.  With these rates you might find yourself staring at the screen saying, this can’t be right!

Fortunately, these prices are merely a wish list for the rental agencies and there are ways to avoid paying the astronomical prices with a few extra minutes of searching. This is what I’ve learned from my travels to Florida — don’t rent without first combing the web for car rental discount codes.  When I rented a car in Ft. Meyers, FL a few months ago, Googling “car rental discount codes” instantly saved me $60 off a 3 day car rental.  (more…)

One of the benefits of traveling with a group of women is that you can divide the major expense of a hotel room by sharing.  With the proper preparation, sharing a hotel room with a group of girlfriends can be fun.  Just keep in mind that, like you, everyone has their own nightly ritual before they go to sleep. 

Even in our little group of four, we have an early sleeper, and an all night talker (or two), and then there’s me, who likes to relax with a good book.  I usually stake out the side of the bed nearest a lamp.  With this kind of diversity, you have to be prepared.  For us, that means taking eye shades and having ear plugs on hand.

It used to be that eye shades were strictly utilitarian and came in only one color - black.  Today, eye shades have evolved into a kind of sleep fashion statement.  For a great selection of sleep masks check-out Cris Notti’s collection at crisnotti.com. 

Here are a few of my favorites:

Regular readers know that there are few subjects that dominate my thoughts like chocolate. When it comes to finding places with chocolate, I’m usually the designated driver.

I ran across a handy tool that’s sure to be put to use on our next girls trip. It’s called ChocoMap.com and – you guessed it - features chocolate cafes and shops around the globe.  Choose a city and click on one of the little pushpins to find that great place that serves decadent Mexican Hot Chocolate or hand-made truffles.

Check it out at: http://www.chocomap.com

You can count the number of hours I’ve spent in cooking school on one hand.  Unless, of course you want to count my 7th grade Home Ec class.  One of my favorite culinary classes was a “pastry & tart” class I took at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont.  Vermont’s climate lends itself to baking - and for you bread purists - is the home of King Arthur Flour. 

In the Culinary Institute’s pastry class I learned how to make a few tarts, including a crème Brulee tart with a classic pâte brisée crust.  The most useful advice from the pastry chef was:  “when you’re in a pinch, just use Pillsbury’s refrigerated all-ready pie crusts – we’ve found no one notices the difference!”  I’ve used this short-cut ever since.

If you want to incorporate some culinary education into your next girls getaway, here are a few resources to check out:

InfoHub: In-depth directory of culinary packages organized by state for the US and by country for the rest of the world.
website

Shaw Guides: Not quite as organized as InfoHub, but another good source for culinary packages.  website

Active Gourmet Holidays: Very nice resource for culinary holidays in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.  website

Here are a couple of “gourmet retreats” within the United States:

Napa - Gourmet Retreats at CasaLana: This B&B near Copia offers a series of 3-7 day cooking classes. Guest chefs from nearby Culinary Institute of America teach some classes.  Book early – most spring classes are already sold-out.  website

Santa Fe: Stay within walking distance of the Santa Fe Plaza at the Inn on the Alameda; classes held at the Santa Fe Cooking School.  website

Only want to devote 1-2 hours of your getaway to cooking? Try a Whole Foods class.
If you’re traveling to a city with a Whole Foods Market, chances are they offer classes.  Check out their current calendar of classes and book a class with your girlfriends. website

After having lived in Texas for nearly 15 years I’m almost ashamed to say that I’ve never vacationed on the Texas coast.  This year we corrected that oversight and spent Christmas week down at South Padre Island.  Call it beginners luck but we found a nicely furnished condo on the beach overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.

Best known for its wild Spring Break parties, we weren’t quite sure what to expect for crowds during this time of year.  We were happy and somewhat relieved to find that this time of year attracts mostly families and those euphemistically known as “Winter Texans”.

My husband spent a few hours scouring the vacation rental sites before sending me a few candidates for consideration.  He found a couple possibilities, but he can’t help it if he’s design impaired.  I pulled up Trip Advisor and after about 10 minutes found what I was looking for. 

With Trip Advisor, I was able to search for “South Padre Island”, and see a list of lodging choices sorted by popularity.  The detailed user comments not only helped us make the best choice but also provided useful insider tips.  We stayed at the Suntide III condominiums (ranked #1 by popularity) and our experience was consistent with the Trip Advisor comments.  Our condo was nicely furnished, extremely clean and the property had good shared amenities (pool, tennis courts, beach access, etc.). 

When relying on Trip Advisor comments, I keep in mind that owners give themselves good comments so I focus on those with at least half a dozen comments about a place to get several perspectives. 

Good news for those of us who prefer to carry-on bags when we fly – the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has recently relaxed its carry-on rules to allow some liquids.  We can even carry on water bottles again!  

According to the new rules, you can carry on travel size (3 oz or less) shampoo, conditioner, lotion and other toiletries so long as they all fit in a clear quart-sized zip-top bag.   I’ll be stopping by Target or Walgreens to stock up on some mini-bottles for my upcoming trip to Los Angeles.  If you can’t find what you want locally, minimus.biz specializes in travel sized products.

From the TSA site:

• Travelers may now carry through security checkpoints travel-size toiletries (3 ounces or less) that fit comfortably in ONE, QUART-SIZE, clear plastic, zip-top bag.
• After clearing security, travelers can bring beverages and other items purchased in the secure boarding area on-board aircraft. 
   

I’ve been on dozens of girl trips over the years.  It doesn’t matter how many you’ve been on, it always seems to be a challenge to get everything together.  I thought I’d give you my checklist of things to do to make your trip as easy and pleasant as possible.

In our group, we always take turns being the organizer.  This is important for many reasons. First, everybody gets a chance to pick their favorite spots.  Secondly, the workload gets passed around every year.  Finally, if you don’t like to plan, you only have to do it once every few years!

We’ve found it easier for scheduling to pick the same month(s) every year.  (more…)

I’ve always been a carry-on person when it comes to flying.  The less luggage the better.  I guess it’s due to one too many trips with lost or delayed luggage, but in any case, I’d sooner skip the wait at baggage claim and be on my way to the fun stuff. 

So the recent changes to carry-on rules have just made my traveling a little more complicated. Because the recent terrorist plot in England was planned with liquid explosives, we can no longer carry-on some of the things we take for granted.   

I checked the rules at the TSA and here’s the current list of items not allowed in a carry-on bag when flying within the United States:

No liquids or gels of any kind are allowed.
That means no: 

• water bottles or other carry-on drinks
• moisturizers, suntan lotion or facial toner
• shampoo, conditioner or hair gel
• tooth paste, perfume or contact lens solution

No items that could be used as a weapon.  list

It doesn’t mean you can’t pack these things in a checked suitcase, but I’ll have to decide which is less inconvenient – checking luggage or buying new toiletries on every trip. 

[ Via  U.S. Transportation Security Administration]