Halloween and Travel Tips

Halloween was a blast as usual with the GOs dressed up in their handmade costumes from home. We became friends with a couple of gals from the sailing team and I got drafted into French braiding Emily’s hair for her softball costume. 

For me, vacation is about meeting new people and connecting. Definitely not everyone’s vacation goal!

As we’ve traveled we’ve picked up all kinds of tips… sometimes learning the hard way, sometimes from others helping us. On this vacay we gave advice to several people regarding things I considered common knowledge. I forget that once upon a time I didn’t know either. So here’s a random list of things. You probably know at least half of them. This is like a quiz to see how many of them you already knew J

* Sand Fleas, Mosquitoes and No-see-ems. These little monsters can ruin your vacation. Three things to know: First taking vitamin B complex greatly reduces mosquito’s interest in biting you. Start taking it a month in advance. Bring the bug spray and use it… bites don’t just itch, they get infected—especially in the tropics. Do NOT bring your beach towel in your room. If you must bring it in, shake the heck out of it first and either wash it or bag it. Don’t put anything on or near your bed that has been to the beach. Also, many regions have bugs that lay eggs in your clothes in the middle of the night, if you leave them outside overnight to dry… bring your clothes in at night. Be careful petting the flea-infested cats and dogs.

* Ants. Rotten little buggers! These guys come in all shapes and sizes. They will invade your underwear (not kidding), your toothbrush, your vitamins, everything. Bring new zip-lock baggies. Bring extra. Put everything the ants seem interested in inside and zip! This trip they had two types; the microscopic beige ones and the biting ones. The maid sprayed my room daily and I still had to keep everything zipped.

* Bigger Critters. First of all, don’t leave clothes on the floor. You’ll get a surprise when you put your pants on and a cricket, or worse yet a cockroach is already in there. Those plastic hangers that have two clips for skirts or pants are great for hanging a couple of items on (also good for drying clothes after you wash them). Secondly, go to the pet store and buy “diatomaceous earth.” Get the human grade, not the kind for swimming pools. This is used to kill off exo-skeletal bugs like beetles, ants, cockroaches, and… wait for it… bed bugs! It’s non-poisonous and super cheap. It is fossilized organisms with sharp little shells. When the insect crawls through it, it gets cut up like a bunch of machetes. Sprinkle it in front of the insect entry way and keep it dry (it’s ineffective once it gets wet).

The Bahamas

* Gifts. Tipping is always appreciated, but gifts from home are a big hit. Know your region you plan to visit. Find out what they don’t have. On the islands they don’t have anything. This last trip I brought a baggy of nail polish for the housekeeper. I told her she could give it to her daughters. She quickly said it would be hidden from her daughters… it was hers! Don’t bring chocolate to a warm place. It just makes a mess. But it’s greatly appreciated elsewhere. This last trip I gave one of my fancy dinner dresses away to a GO (Club Med employee). She was ecstatic. She hadn’t been home in 8 months and was running low on nice clothes. Leave behind all of your sunscreen and bug spray. They need it too.

* First Aide. Those waterproof bandages are great for preventing blisters from sandals. But, if you have a shallow wound use liquid bandage. This will seal the open skin and prevent foreign bacteria from getting in. It will also keep you from touching it obsessively. When it peels off reapply it until the skin is entirely healed. Every kit should have triple antibiotic ointment and steroid cream. I also bring sunburn relief gel which I use on bug bites.

Costa Rica

* Comfort Allowance. Short and sweet… bring a specific amount of money (I bring $50) to purchase whatever it is you need to make yourself comfortable. Examples include a fan, a better pillow, and a biggie for me is a comforter. I get the cheapest comforter I can find (if you are at a hotel, housekeeping can provide blankets), and fold it up and put it under the sheets to make the bed more comfortable. Then it doubles as a gift to the family’s home you are staying.

Antigua, Guatemala

* Say Thanks. Thank-you cards are always stuffed into our bags and used for the tipping the housekeepers who go above and beyond. But never underestimate the power of words! I was at a boutique the other day and the saleslady spent half an hour helping me pick out a gift. At the register I thanked her for her effort. The manager looked up and tapped my saleslady on the arm saying, “Did you hear her?” My gal answered, “Yeah… wow.” Understandably I was confused. They continued, “You must be an American!” Really? Is saying thank you so rare that it would stop two professionals in their tracks? They said most people treat them like servants.

Oaxaca, MX

* Pepto and Water. Yep the horror stories about third-world water are true. If you have any suspicion about the water, don’t drink it and don’t brush your teeth with it. As a matter-of-fact don’t shower with your mouth open. Even with these drastic measures you can’t guarantee what you eat or drink otherwise is safe. No worries, just take one chewable Pepto Bismal tablet each morning. I actually prefer the generic Pepto. (Obviously make sure you’re not allergic to it or something.) 

Barcelona

It coats your stomach and prevents most bacteria from attaching to your intestines and forcing you to spend your vacay in the bathroom! Since I’ve started doing this five years ago, I’ve not gotten the travel-trots once. Take one every morning.

* Time Changes. As you scoot across the globe the time changes. I always change my watch to the current time throughout the flights, and I do not refer to what time it would be back home.

Milan

* Car Rentals. Make sure you get a car you can drive. Don’t forget that other countries like Italy have manual transmissions as a rule. Unless you can drive a stick shift, you should make sure you are getting an automatic. Also look for the bait-and-switch at the rental agencies… the person who books the rental online may not be the one who will be driving it (I reserve it, Joe drives it). To get the drivers name on it at the agency can cost you a pretty penny. If that happens, simply ask them how much that car would be renting for. If it’s cheaper (it will be) then tell them you want to cancel your reservation and then start over. Trust me they will work with you, and sometimes it’s even less than before.

Oakland, CA

* Overbooked Flights. If my flight schedule is flexible I go straight up to the counter at the boarding gate and ask them if this flight is overbooked. If it is, they will reschedule you for a different flight and give you a travel voucher that is good for one year. An hour’s inconvenience (drinking beer and wine) can equal hundreds of dollars.

Puerto Escondito, MX

* Taxi Rates. Do not, I repeat, do NOT get in a taxi until the taxi driver gives you a rate and guarantees they know where it is you want to go. Taxi drivers get lost and will charge you. They may even pretend to be lost or take you the long way.

* Mobile Passport. This is the best kept secret I have and I ask you to not share it with everyone… right now it’s not used much. Download the Mobile Passport App onto your phone. It will have you scan in your passport. You hover the app over the bar-code at the bottom of your passport. Fill in the info required by customs as your plane is taxiing into the airport. When you enter the customs area look for the Mobile Passport signs and bypass all of the lines and kiosks that take photos of you looked startled. It saves so much time it’s ridiculous. Make sure everyone in your group has it, otherwise it’s like being the fastest car on a train… worthless.

* Bring a Converter. The new electricity converters are awesome. They are tiny and have like six different currents. I’ve destroyed too many things to not have this on hand.

Florence

* Wet Shoes. If you are going someplace where it rains a lot, you will have to deal with soggy shoes. Buy a pair of those plastic shoes. I don’t care if they’re ugly, buy ‘em, bring em. Flip-flops, mud boots, and croc-style slip-ons. After sloshing through ankle deep water to get to the restaurant, it’s nice to just go in the bathroom and wipe them off. Tennies will never dry, never.

* Wet Clothes. Bring a kitchen garbage bag to put your wet stuff in for the trip home (which is almost everything J). This trip we had swimsuits from the day we left.

* Rainy Season vs Dry Season. Dry season sounds good huh? Not necessarily. The weeks prior to rainy season can be like a sauna. Check the weather patterns and pay attention to the humidity. If you have a choice between air-conditioned and not… I suggest you pony up the dough.

Stockholm, Sweden

* Luggage. When you get home, leave your bags out in the garage for a couple of days to let everything crawl out. We learned this the hard way and had to deal with bed-bugs, which can cost thousands and thousands of dollars to get rid of… unless you have the diatomaceous earth I told you to get. Then for twenty bucks you can sprinkle it all over the room that got infested… between the mattresses and along the baseboards, everywhere. A week later, you clean up the mess and viola you got rid of them! If you don’t believe me just look at the bag. It says so right on the front. Anyway leave your bags in the garage for a day or so.

Isla Mujeres

* Souvenirs. If you travel a lot like we do, this can be a time and money sucker. I make it clear to everyone that I’m not buying gifts. If I buy something it’s because it was perfect for someone, not because they expected it. The only exception is a gift for the person that took me to the airport at four in the morning and picked me up at midnight. I collect a couple of things like wine glasses. So I will keep an eye out for a pretty one as a memento. I also like crosses from different cultures, but again I try not to obsess over it. Our time is better spent immersing ourselves in the culture… and drinking wine J

* Cream and Sugar. If you are environmentally conscious it will drive you nuts to tear open a plastic wrapped packet of sugar, equal, creamer, napkin, and a stir stick just to get the sugar. If you want everything in the packet, no problem. If you just want the sugar, bring your own. That way you don’t have a waste basket full of brand new unused items. Besides their stuff is never what I want and it’s usually stale.

* RTIC or Yeti. Getting one of those Yeti-type double insulated cups or thermos’ is well worth it. Especially the screw-top because you can drag it everywhere, throw it the beach bag, etc.. Load it with ice and beer, soda, margarita, or wine… and I guess water if you need it ice cold. They’re not cheap, but worth it.

Sophie the Yoga teacher, The Bahamas

Well that’s all I can think of for now. Did you learn anything new? Let me know if you have any other tips for me and my readers.

Wine and Musicians

The jumbo jet from Paris arrived Thursday with a new group of exhausted tourists. The diving will change a lot now. The boats will be packed with French divers. They don’t have a good reputation in the diving community. Arrogance and the belief that you already know everything there is to know about diving is a terrible combination. We shall see. We took diving off again today and worked out on land. I have this routine of speed-walking throughout the resort and going up and down every set of stairs… great way to burn off the white chocolate bread ;)

Last night we went to the wine tasting course at the club. There was ten of us around this amazing table loaded with food for wine pairing. They even had a giant Serrano ham, which is really expensive, but lasts a long time. Fernanda, our sommelier, was great at starting us off with looking at the color, then the still aroma, followed by the aroma after it’s swirled. Then of course was the tasting; a simple sip, a swirling sip, conversation, another sip. Club Med is famous for its mediocre wine, so I was pleasantly surprised when they pulled out real wine. I brought wine from California, so I’m safe… in case you were worried. 

We were excited to find our spunky dive-master in the wine tasting. She and her boyfriend added a fun twist to it all.

It’s been a couple of days now since the French arrived and they have brought a great energy to the Club. They brought their children, so little ones are running amuck. It’s fun to watch the way they all interact. The teens are boring as usual. They strut around slowly and don’t acknowledge anyone except each other. Today a teen tried to order a margarita at the beach bar. The bartender (a girl, barely 21 herself) said nope. The teen said, “It’s for my mom.” The bartender leaned closer and pointing at the girl’s bright yellow bracelet said with a smile, “I don’t care if it’s for your dad, or your Grandma, your under age and you’re not getting a drink with alcohol in it!” I had to laugh at the girl’s frustration. She ordered a virgin margarita.

One of our ‘excursions’ is going to the airport. It’s a ten minute walk. They have a building that’s been closed every time we go there, a tiny gift shop, and a bar. The biggest road on the island (two-lanes) goes between the airport and the bar and gift shop. When a plane comes in the airplane crew walks over and an instant game of dominoes is played. This is an intense game here. They are very theatrical as they slam the dice cup down as hard as they can, and shout encouragement and complaints at each other. The other day one of them stood up and yelled, “Call 911! I need help!” This was met with laughter. When the flight crew isn’t around they sit around and watch T.V. together. There’s nothing like watching real life blooper shows where kids wreck on skateboards and cars skid on ice to make us all bond.

I have to pause from my writing right now to gaze out to sea from my Club Med barstool perch at La Pinta…………….. What a beautiful setting. It’s actually a little chilly, but I’m still in shorts and a tank-top, and bug spray. That brings me to a subject I plan to do a separate blog post on; travel tips for beginner travelers. But not right now.

One of the major highlights of this trip is the two French musicians we met on the flight over. They learned Kenny Chesney’s ‘No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem’ and played it for us the other night. The crowd loved it. Then they played Margaritaville, another hit. The singer asked me if I could help him with a song they wrote. He was concerned about the English words he’d used. I was happy to help, but it turned out to be harder than I thought it would be. I’m not at all poetic, and really don’t understand music lyrics either. It’s probably why I like country and Christian… they make sense. I was able to help with some grammar though. Tonight they played it for the very first time and it was great. Kind of a soft romantic sound.

Columbus Isle, Lots of Diving

Well seeking shelter turned out to be impossible… we got soaked running o our room. The sad part was the Club had set up all the pretty tables with white table cloths for “White Night.” The tables got drenched and the dinner under the stars by the pool had to be abandoned. So we all made do with eating in the restaurant after all.

Joe’s birthday turned out good. He loved the island chocolate stout. He tried to hide when the entire GO staff came over and sang happy birthday after marching through the restaurant clapping and yelling. They presented the cake, he blew out the candles and that’s another year of life. 

Our buddy Bill is here with us so he was enjoying all the female attention to our table. He’s such a flirt! He’s got about ten girls he’s sweet-talking, but Joe got the ladies attention for his birthday pose!

The Montreal plane came in. It was fun to see all the new guests arrive with their heavy jackets and show up on the beach an hour later in swimsuits. Today was sunny and lovely. We took the day off of diving and spent the day lounging on the beach instead. 

It’s always a source of entertainment to watch people on the beach. We’ve had several older couples warn us very seriously about the “under-toe.” They clearly have never been to NorCal… I can’t imagine the ocean being this calm back home, ever. We stared hard at the water, thanked them for their advice, and raced each other into the surf (actually surf is an exaggeration for the gently lapping water). Since that moment, we’ve had a few days of mild surf to actually play in… you know the kind where you actually take your shades off.

A school of silvery fish got very excited when we tossed the little clumps of kelp away from us. They immediately swarmed around our legs to see if we were going to toss them some goldfish. Not real goldfish, but the orange fish-shaped crackers you get from the wooden bowl at the bar! I kept them busy tossing them sea-weed, but they went crazy when Joe returned with the crackers. That’s when I got out. Hungry fish rubbing themselves against my legs isn’t my idea of a good time.

The first show of the season was Tuesday night. It was mostly a Cabaret, but they always add a bit of comedy. As soon as they put five chairs on stage with one actor we knew it was our cue to escape. Those other four chairs are filled with four suckers from the audience… we’ve been up on that stage enough times to last a lifetime.

The next morning was more diving. We did our first drift dive with Club Med. You get in the water, drop to the coral wall, and let the current take you for a ride. Each diver has a blow-up buoy, so when your dive is done you simply fill your buoy with air and wait for the boat to come pick you up. Unfortunately getting to the boat ladder in a current is a hellacious workout. Then I have to hang on while taking my fins off (which seem to suddenly be glued to my feet). Then I have to remove my BCD on the ladder as it surges back and forth. The tank attached to my back yanks me from side-to-side. I kept my regulator in my mouth to guarantee an oxygen source. Unfortunately the dive master didn’t see that, so he grabbed my BCD I’d just taken off and yanked it out of the water. Good thing I don’t have false teeth! They would’ve been bouncing across the dive boat or sinking to the bottom of the sea.

The next dive was more reef-sharks. I asked about the tons of shark and got this explanation. The lion-fish have been steadily destroying the ecosystem of the Caribbean for years now. When in the Turks and Caicos we saw this on our dives. Zero sharks and thousands of lion-fish. The Bahamas have been proactive. About once a week they go lion-fishing. When they get into the marina, they clean them and toss the heads into the water. Apparently fish heads are a shark delicacy! The marina swarms with sharks during cleaning time. So now the Bahamas have a healthy shark population.

Going to Columbus Isle, Club Med

The flight from Sacramento to the remote island of San Salvador was basically uneventful. Sac—Chicago—Miami. We stayed the night in Miami at the Sheraton Airport Hotel. I recommend it. It’s an older hotel, but the beds were super comfy and clean. They have a restaurant, so getting dinner is a cinch. The mahi-mahi tacos were to die for… or maybe I was starving? The view is really nice--one side has the airport and the other is a combo of the golf course and Miami.

The next day we had a flight to our island. The only flight for the week. It left at noon so we had a little too much time to kill at the hotel and the breakfast was a bit spendy. So, off to the airport. The problem is that Bahamas Air has so few flights, they don’t even open for check-in until 2 hours before the flight. Almost everyone on the plane was going to Columbus Isle-Club Med. That’s always fun because it’s a festive group. 

Once we landed on San Salvador the bus took us to the resort one mile away. We were the first guests of the (official) season, which put the 600 person capacity Club at about 65 J This is the main reason we book this first week. They literally cannot have any more than one plane-load of people from the US. On the following Tuesday the next plane comes in from Montreal. Then Thursday The big jet from Paris will arrive and the club will be hopping. It will still only have 400, but it will seem like more.

We’re enjoying having an almost 1:1 ratio of activities staff for the moment. This is really awesome when we have a double-decker catamaran to ourselves… almost. There’s about 8 divers on the boat. First dive we saw so many reef sharks I lost count. They were very curious about us and followed us around to see what we were going to do. A grouper came up and tried to work up the courage to let me pet him, but he couldn’t do it. I respected his boundaries and made a friend. He followed me for the rest of the dive like a cat who wishes it had the guts to climb up in my lap. A large turtle went by with the scuba doc and his wife filming it’s every move. It was cool they got video of it, but it wasn’t cool to follow it so closely.

When we came up for our surface interval we saw a pilot-whale right in front of the boat. This is actually more in the dolphin family, but it sure looked like a whale. The captain stopped the boat and gave it some space. It frolicked around at the bow while we all hung over the sides like little kids. It was so exciting. I'm bummed I didn't get a photo. The next dive was even better because it was shallower. I was amazed at how many different schools of fish we saw simultaneously.

The remodeled Columbus Isle has a new restaurant called La Pinta. It’s in the Spanish style of tapas.  It has a stunning bar overlooking the turquoise ocean (which is where I’m sitting typing this). Even better, it has a wine room! Yes, a wine room. Can you feel the tremor in my fingers as I type this? We booked a wine tasting session for Friday night. It will be an hour of food pairing and tasting in the glass enclosed wine vault.

I already bribed the sommeliers by bringing them a taste of my wine from NorCal J Joe’s birthday is Tuesday the 23^rd. He’ll be 60, so I want it to be special. One of the sommeliers is going to go to town and get some chocolate stout beer for me. I think Joe will be thrilled.

We’ve really enjoyed getting to know the G.O.s (guest organizers). They’re such a unique group of people from all over the world. Most of them are young and all are multilingual. They share the guest’s passion for travel. One of the things to expect at any Club Med is guest talent. We happened to become buddies with the Evon the singer, and Manu the guitarist while waiting in line at customs. They play a lot of English and American hits, though they are French. We’ve convinced them to learn Kenny Chesney’s song; “no shirt, no shoes, no problem.” I’m dying to hear them play it. They swear they’ll have it learned by the end of this week.

We dove again today. Trying to take advantage of the almost empty boat. Next week will be crowded. Our dive was great again… lots of shark and various schools of tropical color. I spotted a large lobster. It was crystal clear and no current. We just hung there in the water enjoying the moment.

A storm is coming in now, but it should clear out by Thursday, I hope. So right now the wind is whipping my hair around my face in a most annoying manner. I think I will stop and seek shelter J

Southern Lazio; Lunch in Cassino, War in Venafro, back to Rome

After Visiting Monte Cassino we drove down to the town of Cassino (dating back to the Volsci people as early as 5^th century B.C.) and had lunch at Civico Sociale. Great food and a fun history of its own. As for the Civico Sociale story: "Years ago, two kids who came from troubled families in the south of Italy were taken to foster care in Cassino. They lived in Cassino for many years, went to school there and made friends. When they were approaching their school leaving exams, the family they had lived with decided to take the chance and help them open a restaurant, so that they didn't have to go away to work.

Three years later, their Civico Sociale restaurant is an acclaimed successful story. Not only they're fantastic in the kitchen and at tables, but they also share a full committed philosophy of engaging with producers who care for the environment (they serve so called 0km products, meaning food that comes from farms and producers nearby, often organic and biodynamic) and for social and legal fairness, therefore buying many products from farms which were established on lands confiscated to the mafia and camorra criminal organizations and which were given to cooperatives of young workers." (Vanessa Ianni)

Once we were well fed we departed for Venafro. Here we visited one of the most fascinating war museums I’ve ever seen, Winterline. Almost everything in the museum was found by the owner Luciano Bucci. When he was a young teen he asked for a metal detector, not a skateboard. Over the years, Luciano scoured the war-torn mountains of this WWII battleground known as Winterline. 

He made the decision to not make his museum a political statement, but a view into the daily life of all the soldiers, regardless of which side they fought for. His findings are grouped into clusters on lifelike mannequins representing different scenarios. 

The artistic detail is amazing. His museum has earned him worldwide respect amongst veterans, and he proudly points out the gifts from men who’d fought in this arena. He even replicated the art he discovered in a cave on the walls of his reconstructed cave inside the museum.

Vanessa drove us back to Rome (after we walked through ancient Venafro with Luciano to get a gelato). My brain was numb with information. I told her I would have to wait until I got home to blog about this three day whirlwind tour. 

The drive gave us some time for her to explain how her tours work. The amount of tours we did in three days can be done by you if that’s what you want. I would prefer a slower pace, but the entire region wanted to be in on the “Travel Writer from California.” I didn’t have the heart to tell them I wasn’t that important.

ItalyIndeed has designed itself to meet that niche of people who want to go on a tour of their own choosing. In other words you pick where you want to go: Abbeys, crypts, ruins, museums, cathedrals, wineries, hikes, castles, truffle farms… whatever you want to see. Vanessa can arrange tours throughout Italy, but my focus was this charming region of Southern Lazio. I will be back, of that I’m sure. Next stop... Bahamas in October.