Why choose a bespoke holiday?

Why choose a bespoke holiday?

A bespoke holiday is one crafted to your needs. In most cases, it is synonymous with luxury travel and excellent service. Because I have traveled for many years, I believe some things or experiences can differentiate between a good trip and a fantastic trip. My recent African safari was one from the Elewana Collection, and here are a few reasons I chose this bespoke holiday.

The Elewana Collection is known for its unique and iconic locations. One of my recent blog posts discussed my stay at the Elewana Treetops, but each place I stayed was equally impressive. My bespoke trip to Tanzania included:

The itinerary of my safari was custom designed and well thought out. Its primary focus was to provide unique experiences in the places visited. Although the itinerary was tailored for me, I could change it at any time. All activities were well organized and timely, and options for bespoke experiences were limitless, including sunset dinners on safari, beach, and other ideal locations.

The trip included all accommodations. Because the trip covered all Elewana properties, the only check-in was on the first day. Every stay after that, we were escorted to the room by our butler. All requests went through the butler, who handled our requests efficiently and timely. It was like having a personal concierge service.

Drinks and meals were all-inclusive. Premium drinks were available for a charge, but the drink selection offered was more than adequate. In addition, the trip included all transportation to and from the lodges and camps, Kilimanjaro airport, and Zanzibar airport. All the scheduled game drives had a personal English-speaking guide for the duration of each destination.

There was no need to overpack as laundry services were available at every destination. The package also included emergency evacuation insurance. However, it did not have travel insurance. Other items not included were gratuities and tips, visas for Tanzania, and flights into Tanzania and from Zanzibar. The resort in Zanzibar provided a driver and guide, but trips to the city were at an additional cost.

If you’ve never had a bespoke travel experience, I would highly suggest one. Not having to worry about different accommodations, making travel arrangements within the country, and sorting out guides and transportation was priceless. It is so worth the expense and can be a most memorable time.

Are you interested in a bespoke travel experience? Check out my trip on Levantr and create your own bespoke travel experience. Let me know.

Travel snack ideas

Travel snack ideas

In a few weeks, my colleagues from the airline industry indicate that some limited food and beverage services will soon return for airplane travelers.  It’s always a good idea to travel with your snacks as airport food is expensive, delays are unexpected but a regular occurrence, and you may have your own dietary needs.  Here are a few snack ideas to keep in mind when you plan your travel to save you money and are healthy for you.

Fruit

Fruit is one of my go-to travel snacks.  Whole fruits like apples, pears, and bananas are great to have and travel well if packed correctly.  Cut fruit is also a great choice, but it should be fully drained of liquid and chilled the night before departure.  Another great idea is to freeze grapes, and they can also serve to keep the other cut fruit chilled.  For security screening, clear Ziploc bags are best.  Please remember that most fruit and vegetables are not allowed into international destinations. You are subject to fines, so please dispose of all your fruit before leaving the airplane to be safe.

Vegetables

Vegetables are also a great idea. Carrot, celery, cucumber, and broccoli are great choices.  However, dips will have to be in containers less than 3 ounces to go through airport security, even if unopened.  Salads are also a great choice, but they do not travel well.  If your travel is over long distances and especially in the summer months, this is not a great travel snack idea. Like fruit, vegetables are also not allowed in many countries so remember to finish or dispose of them before you land in an international destination.

Smelly snacks

Avoid smelly snacks at all costs, and remember you are traveling in a confined space.  Hard-boiled eggs are an easy snack to travel with, but I would not recommend them.  Similarly, meals like smoked salmon and tuna can also be quite smelly and not great choices for travel in public transportation.

Sandwiches

Sandwiches are another excellent choice as a travel snack.  Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are great, but if you want to make other sandwiches, it would be advisable to carry disposable condiment packages like mayo and mustard to use when ready for your snack.  Additionally, wrapping fillings like lettuce, tomato, and pickles separately makes for a fresher sandwich when you are ready to snack.

Air pressure and gas

More than anything, remember that air travel often creates gassy conditions for most travelers.  Most importantly, if you know how your body reacts to certain foods, please refrain from them on the airplane.  It creates a better environment, not only for you but for the travelers and flight attendants who have to contend with your problems. Also, many people have food allergies like peanuts, and they can be dangerous for them, so please be aware of how your snack choices may affect others.

I hope this blog post has given you pause for thought in your travel snack ideas.  Have you had any experiences carrying or having to deal with other travelers’ snack choices? I’d like to know.

5 Flight attendant annoyances

5 Flight attendant annoyances

There are many things that flight attendants find annoying. Some are more annoying than others, and some may not be an annoyance based on the individual flight attendant. The following are some that I still remember as being annoying to me. For disclosure, these are from my lived experience as a flight attendant.

1.Coffee: Having been raised and based in New York as a flight attendant, if a passenger said, “regular coffee,” I understood it to mean coffee with milk and sugar. If they said, “light and sweet,” I like most flight attendants had no idea how light to make the coffee or how many sugar packets the passenger needed. Some passengers meant just a drop of milk, and others wanted half milk, half coffee. Deciding how many packs of sugar meant sweet to a person you’d never met was a pointless guess at best. Like passengers, flight attendants are people from all over the country and the world; knowing each passenger’s specific coffee requirements was most times an exercise in futility.

2.Aisle Passengers. Most passengers prefer aisle seats because of the ability to have a little extra room. This preference was often a perception that overlooked the fact that the aisle they assumed to be extra space was the flight attendant’s working space. Airline service carts could be a hundred pounds or more and somewhat challenging to maneuver. Weighted down with beverages or food to serve the number of people on board, often proved a challenge for a flight attendant to operate. Aisle passengers often extended their body parts into the aisle, and it was not uncommon for the cart to inadvertently hit a passenger. In many cases, the passenger got angry at the flight attendant without considering that the service cart was at least 3 feet long and even higher. Hence, the flight attendant seeing over the cart, and the extended body part was unreasonable at best.

3.Touching. Passengers often think it is ok to touch or poke a flight attendant to get their attention, which is often very annoying to flight attendants. A flight attendant call light is within every passenger’s reaching distance, and using this is much preferable than to be poked. Moreover, a hand wave or similar gesture is universal regardless of language. Having your body nudged several times a flight could be rather annoying.

4.Lavatory doors. They are not automatic, and standing in front of them will not make them open. Often passengers would stand in the lavatory area waiting for flight attendant instructions on how to open the door or be told whether it was vacant or not. Bathroom doors, like every other bathroom door elsewhere, has a lock. Unlike most bathrooms, airplane bathrooms have instructions, and most often, if not in the native language, there is visual signage. Along with signage, airline lavatories also have an occupied/unoccupied sign, which in most cases are red and green and are universally understood to mean the same everywhere. To be seen as a bathroom attendant is very frustrating to flight attendants.

5.Asking “where are we?” Flight attendants walk up and down the aisle, usually positioned several feet above the window level. Furthermore, like most passengers, they cannot pinpoint locations 30,000 feet above the ground. Yes, several landmarks are apparent to some, but flight attendants do not have the luxury of sitting and looking out the window on flights, nor do they have an inner GPS. Your guess is as good as theirs.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse behind the scenes. These are perceptions of my lived and actual experience as a flight attendant. I hope they’ve been eye-opening and will make for more happy travels.