London 2012: Here I Come

Just finished watching the Closing Ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. A little sad, as I have loved the Olympics equally as long as I've loved to travel. The big two-week family trip to Florida when I was 7 that hooked me on the love of travel came just weeks before I would find myself glued to the TV nightly watching the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games.

Watching Carl Lewis win Gold also established my love of running. So it seems the summer of 1984 clinched two of my biggest lifelong passions (travel and running) and one of my joys that I get to experience every two years (the Olympics).

It's also a bit sad that out of the three Games held in North America since I entered college and thus an age that I could make a decision to travel to the Olympics, that I've only been to one: Atlanta. No Salt Lake City and no Vancouver.

But I'm determined to change that in 2012 when the Summer Games are in London, the only city to ever be host to three Games. I'm sure a ticket to tennis at Wimbledon will be impossible, as will football in one of England's glorious grounds. But the thought of the opportunity to spend even a couple of nights in one of the world's greatest cities in the Olympic atmosphere is priceless.

Reuse those water bottles on your next trip

What’s the most important thing for a trip, especially one that requires lots of walking in warmer temperatures? The obvious – and correct – answer is water. You don’t have to be a marathon runner to know the proper consumption of water is vital to making it through a trip. Eight ounces of water per hour – basically a full water bottle every two hours or so – would be ideal when hiking the streets of New York or the trails of Colorado.

And it's not just when on a trip that requires a lot of walking. Making a nine-hour car ride to the beach? Throw in a case of water bottles.

But if you’re a frugal traveler like myself, you don’t want to buy water bottles every two hours when walking the streets of Rome. My philosophy that has worked quite well is to buy one bottle at the beginning of a trip and fill it when and where I can: water fountains in a museum or even a bathroom sink. In Rome, there are fountains everywhere for this exact purpose. I always start out the day with a fill from the bathroom or kitchen sink wherever I’m staying. Throw it in my backpack and I'm ready to go.

Of course with all the chatter about the reuse of water bottles being dangerous, some will frown upon this.

These rumors – I call them rumors because apparently some of the “water bottles cause cancer” claims were actually based off a student’s thesis – claim reusing water bottles is dangerous because they contain DEHA, which some consider to be a potential carcinogen. But the American Cancer Society debunks that.

The American Cancer Society on its Web site states: “ … DEHA is not inherent in the plastic used to make these bottles, and even if it was the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says DEHA ‘cannot reasonably be anticipated to cause cancer, teratogenic effects, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity, gene mutations, liver, kidney, reproductive, or developmental toxicity or other serious or irreversible chronic health effects.’ Meanwhile, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), says diethylhexyl adipate ‘is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans.’”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said these packages are safe for reuse. That’s all the reassurance I need.

Of course one interesting fact about reusing plastic water bottles has been mentioned: They can be a health risk in that improper cleaning – or lack thereof – could lead to the ingestion of harmful bacteria. And I guess if you fill from a water fountain that has had a 7-year-old’s mouth all over it that could be a bit gross.

But I’m willing to chance it.

And one more positive to reusing those plastic water bottles instead of buying a new one every couple hours: the U.S. consumes water from some 1,500 plastic bottles every second. That's insane. Why do you want to fill the landfills with those bottles?

Don't judge a hotel review by its cover

I had a friend e-mail asking about the best source for hotel reviews. My personal favorite is Trip Advisor, but that’s not really the reason to write. I highly recommend using sites such as Trip Advisor and Yelp for great user reviews from travelers and locals alike on the best in hotels, restaurants, shopping and sites.

But please don’t base your final decision off one review. I find that especially true when researching hotels. I used the following example in explaining to my friend that concept.

In researching hotels for San Francisco a couple of years ago, one of the most recent hotel reviews was a complaint about the hotel based on the soap products. Yes, that’s right, soap products.

I am not a luxury traveler so maybe I don’t understand how the proper free soap products at a hotel can make any difference. But this woman went on and on about how pathetic this hotel’s service was simply based off the wrong soap brand.

Needless to say I quickly skipped to the next review that gave me more important information: how clean the room was, the friendliness of the staff, which rooms to avoid because of street noise during the night. That’s the kind of information that really helps me make a decision.

Now, for those of you who don’t frequent travel forums, you might be wondering what to look for. Well, the most important thing to me is consistency. If one person says the check-in counter staff was rude but the next 20 reviewers rave about the exceptional service they received upon arrival, I’m going to chalk that up as either an isolated negative experience or a reviewer who is just a bit too sensitive.

Pay attention to trends. If five out of 10 reviewers say the room had a musty smell to it, I’m going to assume this property is questionable at best, and probably has inconsistent cleaning staff, is possibly under renovation or some of the rooms are better than others. I would then weigh the positives of this place against this uncertain negative. If I decide to stay there, I make sure I inspect the room and ask for another one if I don't like it.

When we traveled to Rome nearly five years ago, I did a very exhaustive search on Trip Advisor for a hotel that offered the following: Good location, clean room and a decent price. I found all those at a property located three Metro stops from the Spanish Steps. The location wasn’t the best; the train shut down for construction each night at 10 and there weren’t an abundance of restaurants in the area. But for a quick three-day trip to Rome that saw us rising early every day, it was perfect.

The hotel, in fact, was perfect to me despite the majority of reviewers saying the staff was rude and even tried to rip them off with false charges from the room’s mini bar. We actually did encounter false charges for using our mini bar. But they were more than happy to wipe the charge from the bill following my explanation of using the refrigerator to store leftovers.

My point in all this? Don’t judge a hotel off one review, or even three. There are still rare properties out there that don’t have too many reviews to use to form an opinion, but I usually find those to be in smaller towns I might only be staying a night in while passing through town on a car trip. Let the masses form an opinion for you.

Ernest Withers exhibit at Memphis Pink Palace

Just came across an interesting event listing in my newspaper, The Daily News. I've slacked off a bit on Black History Month Travel Tips lately. And since a lot of my followers are in Memphis, here's a local exhibition you could consider.

The Pink Palace Family of Museums will present “I Am A Man” through Oct. 24 at the Pink Palace, 3050 Central Ave. The exhibit will show the Ernest Withers portfolio, which documents prominent civil rights leaders in the 1950s and 1960s. For more information, call 320-6362 or visit www.memphismuseums.org.

New credit card law's effect on travel

So new credit card rules have gone into effect today. I don't know much about them, honestly. But I did come across an interesting article on Consumer Traveler that lists five ways the new law will affect travelers. It basically boils down to hidden fees, foreign transactions, elimination of rewards, etc.

Here's the link:

http://www.consumertraveler.com/today/5-ways-the-new-credit-card-law-will-affect-travelers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tripso+%28Consumertraveler.com%29

Delta adds Memphis-Toronto service

So Delta Airlines has announced it is adding daily service from its Memphis hub to Amarillo, Texas, Indianapolis and Toronto. I’m a bit indifferent about the flights to Amarillo and Indianapolis. As a Memphis resident, I believe it’s always good news when the airline that dominates Memphis International Airport adds more service here. But because of a recent announcement from Air Canada, I’m more interested in the Toronto service.

It wasn’t that long ago that Delta stopped its nonstop service between Memphis and Toronto. Possibly seeing the void, Air Canada a few weeks ago announced it would add nonstop service between Toronto and Memphis, beginning May 17. I wondered – and hoped – when that announcement was made that it would be good news for Memphis, possibly creating a competing option in Memphis.

And it seems that time has come with Delta’s announcement. A month ago, there were zero options to fly nonstop from Memphis to Toronto. Today, there are four daily flight options. The flights aren’t exactly cheap: Roundtrip on Delta is $498.30 and Air Canada is $498.07. I used May 18 as a departure date with a return on May 21 (The Air Canada service begins May 17 but May 18 is the first day that two flight options are offered).

Hopefully these two carriers will, at least on occasion, have sales on the flight thanks to the minor competition. We’ll see.

Booking cheap airfare

TRAVEL

Frugal Traveler: Booking a Flight the Frugal Way

By By MATT GROSS

Published: February 16, 2010

The Frugal Traveler sifts through the many booking sites out there, and outlines the steps he takes when booking a flight for himself.

http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/click-it-and-ticket-booking-a-flight-the-frugal-way/