True Grit

I am once again blogging on my Treo. Inspiration often eludes me when I'm planted at my desk, but is abundant as I move through life.

Right now I am at my kids belt test. They both take Taekwondo and are testing for red belt.

The adults just finished their part of the test which includes, for most belt levels, board breaking. One lady, a green belt, had a hard time. Many times it will take a few attempts to shatter a board, but rarely more than 3 or 4. Today this lady tried to break the two stacked boards probably 20 times before Master Kim finally reduced her to one board.

I have more respect for that lady than for anyone else here today.

It took a massive amount of grit and determination to keep kicking. It took tremendous inner strength for kick number 10...number 11...number 12...number 13..and on and on with a roomful of family, friends and fellow class members looking on.

Training that inner spirit is a big part of martial arts training, the most important part if you ask me. How many times in your life have you needed to break a board without benefit of power tools?

How often though, have you needed to find it within yourself to try one more time? Have you ever had to overcome defeat, discouragement and embarassment to keep moving toward a goal?

It will be her example I will talk about with my kids long after I've forgotten everyone else who broke boards today..

Hola From PuertoVallarta

As I write this, it is Sunday morning at about 10am. I sat down yesterday in the business center to write an entry and I couldn't make myself sit inside any more. I wanted to get back to my beach chair and my book.

So, today I brought my keyboard down with me and am sitting on my beach chair with my book writing an entry which I will transmit when we land in Dallas tomorrow.

On Friday when we arrived we were met at the airport by a representative of Trafic Tours. Trafic Tours is the local Funjet representative. We had pre-arranged that we wanted to go do site inspections of several hotels to add to the photo tour section of our website.

After checking in and dropping our luggage at our hotel, we took off on our site inspections.

First we saw the Grand Velas. Oh.My.Goodness. What a hotel. Certainly my top pick for a return trip. (Completely different price point than most other hotels down here.)

Next we went to the Crown Paradise-Golden Crown Paradise complex. They are essentially one property divided into two sections. The Golden Crown is adults only, the Crown Paradise is indeed a paradise for families. The folks at the Golden Crown have full access to the facilities at the Crown, but not the other way around.

We also ate lunch at the Golden Crown, the food was very good.

After returning to the Marival, we took extended naps since we were exhausted from catching an early flight. We woke up, ate dinner and went back to bed.

Yesterday we basically sat here under a palapa and enjoyed the beach and our books. We ate at the Italian Restaurant last night, the food was good.. Today we are back under our same palapa near one of the pool bars. We believe the sun may actually peek out today, so we are quite excited.

Our only responsibilities today are that we need to figure out when our transfer back the airport will arrive, and I'd like to go around and take pictures here as well.

More Later

Off to Puerto Vallarta!

My sister and I are taking off for Puerto Vallarta tomorrow morning. We'll be gone until Monday afternoon.

I'm very excited for a couple of reasons. For one thing, I don't think I've ever taken such a fun trip with my sister. She is a teacher, so our busy times at work don't coincide. For another thing, I haven't been to Puerto Vallarta in over 15 years.

Can you believe it?

I can't either. Puerto Vallarta is becoming more and more popular from Texas, and I'll be visiting several resorts and taking pictures. I'll upload them to our hotel photo tours section as soon as I can.

I'll check in from the road as I experience the destination.

More Later.

The Value of $18.00

This morning began with me taking my daughter to get a dress altered at Nordstrom. As long as I was going, I decided to take two pairs of pants to get hemmed.

One was a pair of Jeans that I had hemmed, but they just didn't look "right". The hem didn't look like a hem on a pair of jeans should look. The cost to hem them properly would be $18.00. Now, I don't remember how much I spent on the jeans, but I'm guessing it wouldn't be too much more than twice that. Still, I just never felt quite right wearing them because the hem looked rather stupid.

So, I paid probably 40-50% of the price of the jeans just to have them hemmed. I'm guessing some people might think that was steep.

After we left Nordstrom, I went to SuperTarget to return some items. The items included several boxes of unopened cereal. As it happened, the total came to a little over $18.00. I'm guessing most people would have just kept the items and eventually used them. To me, $18.00 was sufficient to warrant a trip to SuperTarget for the return.

I thought it was interesting how, in two different situations, I felt vastly differently about the value of $18.00.

I suppose that's exactly how it is in vacation planning. To one person, $500.00 to upgrade to an oceanfront accomodation would be a slam dunk. To another person it would be silly.

This is exactly where the advice of a Professional Travel Consultant comes in. We can help you sort through the myriad of options and decide where your travel dollars will return the best value for you.

How much is $18.00 worth to you?

Why?

I am here at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort in Tucson Arizona. I am attending a seminar about the changing industry of the Travel Agency.

It is a lovely hotel, the accomodations are top notch. There were more pillows on the bed than even I could sleep on at one time. Very very nice facility.

What puzzles me, though, is why would someone go on vacation here?

Arizona is a desert. It is forecasted to be 107 degrees here today. That's no typo...one hundred and seven degrees. Nice weather if you're a biscuit. Granted, this isn't the prime time of year to be here. During winter months, when it is frigid in other parts of the world, it should be downright delightful here.

Weather notwithstanding, I can't understand why someone would come on vacation here rather than go to Mexico or in the Caribbean at an all inclusive. Let me explain.

Airfare to Tucson from Dallas is about the same as airfare to Mexico, even including the tax. The room rate at the hotel varies wildly based on the time of year. During the peak times of year you can expect to spend somewhere in the $200.00-$300.00 dollar per night range, not including tax.

Then, once you arrive, the expense really starts to add up. This resort isn't within easy distance to other restaurants, so unless you either rent a car or hire a taxi you will eat at a hotel restaurant. I suppose the food is good enough, but the prices are HIGH! You can expect to spend $30.00-$40.00 dollars per person per meal, not including tax or drinks. I surveyed the room service breakfast menu and you could spend $20.00 per person easily.

They have a great looking kids club here. For a mere $65.00 per day per kid, your kid will have a great time.

I stoppped by the spa. As you can imagine, there are a wide variety of wonderful spa treatments available. The price are 30-40% higher than you would pay for the same treatments at a spa in Mexico. For instance, just a run of the mill 50 minute massage will set you back $125.00.

I haven't been able to see how much the drinks (alcoholic or non alcoholic) cost that seem to be consumed in copious amounts by the pool. I strongly suspect that would add quite a bit to the tab as well.

Even if, after you add all these items up, the cost was similar to an all inclusive resort in Mexico, the psychological process of having to spend spend spend constantly would be draining. I believe, however, that if you added everything up that Mexico would once again be proven to be an outstanding value.

Not only is it a great value, but the people are exceedingly friendly and welcoming. The service is usually outstanding.

I think I'll head to Mexico next weekend! (I really am, I'm going to Puerto Vallarta with my sister next weekend.)

More Later.

The Honor of Referrals

We are quite honored that by far the largest percentage of our business comes from repeat clients and referrals from existing clients.

This morning I got a call where the traveler said that her friend had told her to call, that we had done a good job for him and now she wants us to do her trip.

Hearing that never gets old.

A referral is the best thank you of all!

Working from home today...

So far this morning I've published the latest in our series of podcasts. Today's episode is with Keri Rutherford of Palace Resorts. I must admit I learned quite a bit I didn't know during our staff training with her last month. For instance, I learned that kids up to 17 years of age stay free at Palace Resorts.

Anyway, my plan today is to do a great deal of website work as well as the normal office work.

I hope you're planning a fun weekend!

Thinking Outside The Office

Last night, we had our monthly staff meeting. Our general routine is that we go to a great restaurant and have a representative of a supplier in to talk to us about their product and train us on the latest and greatest.

Last night we went to Nicola's in Plano. Our guest was our local representative of Iberostar.

We have a great time getting together outside the office and enjoying a great meal. This practice also gives us a built in time to cultivate relationships with the various suppliers who help us create memorable vacations for our clients.

After last night's meeting, I zipped over to the nearby Starbucks to meet with a client. We are planning an independent European itinerary with some very unique traveling considerations and it was imperative that I meet with both of the travelers, one of whom has a challenging schedule. During the hour we met we were finally able to make some important itinerary decisions.

On Saturday, I'll meet with a bride considering a destination wedding. We chose Atlanta Bread Company here near my house. They live in Carrollton, and I live in Addison, so it didn't make sense for us both to drive to Plano to meet on a day that I wouldn't otherwise be there.

These offsite meetings are usually very productive and a win win for both sides of the table. Neither of us has to drive as far, and it is a more casual atmostphere than meeting at the office with me on one side of the desk, them on the other.

On the other hand, I have to anticipate and bring any reference materials we might need. Most things I can access online though, and I'll only meet somewhere with wireless Internet.

But, I must now close because some of my work does indeed need to be done at the office and it is 9:30 in the office and I am not yet there. :-)

More Later.

"Travel Carbonates Life"

I heard this wonderful phrase spoken by Rick Steves yesterday. I think it is fitting, don't you?

I mentioned before that I will be traveling to Europe in the Fall. Originally my Dad and his wife were going to travel with me. Now, they have decided to go on a cruise in Europe this fall that would conflict with our trip. So, it looks like I'm on my own.

My husband told me to try to find someone to go with me. I've enjoyed traveling with my niece before. I'd love to travel with my best friend who lives in California. Both are otherwise engaged and no one else is in a position right now to go with me.

I've decided, however, that this is fine with me.

I think experiencing so many new things alone will give me new things to write about and speak about. Should be interesting, to say the least. If someone pops up able to go with me, fine. Otherwise I'll just go by myself. I'm actually excited about it.

I will tell you, however, that even though I am 41 years old I fully expect my dad to freak out. I guess you never get over being someone's dad.

Daddy, I'll be fine. I promise to call.