Category: Uncategorized

Travel Food

One of the best things about travel is eating.  While not quite the best meal I had in Athens, Greece, this picture is from Orizontes, a hill top restaurant with arguably the best view of the city.  The restaurant can be reached by cable car or you can take the stairs and the steep path.  I made the mistake of walking up and riding down.  I would recommend not doing that on a hot and humid evening. Better to ride up and walk down if you would like. While the food is just average, the view is unbeatable.

Truth is, travel food can be hit and miss very often, but even the experience of dining in another setting is worth the risk.  I try and make a list of potential dining locations prior to my trip.  By this method, I can have some options and do some research.  Sometimes it is good to trade food versus view and other times you are willing to forgo the nice scene and just enjoy an exquisite meal.  The more research conducted prior to the trip, the more you can narrow down the options.  Of course, it is also true that people have different tastes. I have dined in restaurants that have had horrible reviews but found my experience quite different. So, while research is definitely worth the time investment, a traveler should always be open to making their own judgements.

Airport Lounges

One nice luxury, that sometimes can be a necessity, is access to an airport lounge. I have had some unexpected layovers and flight delays that became much more tolerable because I had access to a lounge. Fortunately, as an Army reserve officer, I have the added benefit of the USO. In fact, there are some USO airport facilities that can rival an airline lounge. Of course, USO airport facilities are only for military personnel and veterans, but I definitely recommend you check them out if you qualify.

For the airline lounge, which can be an expensive membership proposition, there are several ways to handle it.  Some offer pay per use access, and that can be a good arrangement if you have a long layover.  I will be traveling to the middle east later this year and will have a long layover at an airport at which I do not have lounge access. In this situation, I plan to pay for day use at an Air France lounge (which includes the use of showers). For me, those shower facilities, along with the food and drink options, make it well worth the day use fee.

Some credit cards come with airline lounge memberships, and, if you travel extensively, they may be well worth the annual expense. These cards, such as the Ritz Carlton Card, charge around $450 per year but they also come with additional perks such as Global Entry application fee reimbursement, travel credits, hotel credits, and other worthwhile perks. If you do not want to pay the high annual fee of one of these cards, you can opt for other cards, such as the United Rewards Card, which comes with two day passes each year.

A Live Well Lived…

Perhaps you heard about the Vermont janitor who left 8 million dollars to his local library and local hospital.  While many hold the story out as an heroic example of frugality and I do admire his investing savvy, but I have to admit I felt a bit sorry for him.  According to the article, “before his death on June 2, 2014, Read’s only indulgence was eating breakfast at the local coffee shop, where he once tried to pay his bill only to find that someone had already covered it under the assumption he did not have the means.”  Maybe this was all that he needed, but then again, maybe there were many other experiences that he might have enjoyed.

I believe life is about balance and money is merely a tool.  I have to question, why would an individual work an entire life only indulging in “breakfast at the local coffee shop” and then leave the money to a hospital, where executives and medical staff generate many times the income of this janitor?  Did he not want to experience an around the world trip, or driving across country in a sports car, or even giving the money while he was alive to various philanthropic causes and experiencing the real impact of the giving firsthand?  There was so much more which could have been done with his life and money.

He does leave a very interesting and admirable story, but I will always wonder, “what was the point?”  Life is not about hoarding stuff in our garage, or even stuffing money into our portfolio.  Life is about living.  Maybe he had everything he needed in life, maybe he was content.  However, I could argue that he missed out on really knowing what this life has to offer.  Maybe he was content because he did not really know what was out there to experience.  Ignorance may be bliss, but I believe experience is much more blissful.  We don’t have much time on this planet and I for one certainly seek more than breakfast at the coffee shop.  I certainly don’t disparage his gift or his legacy as it is still a powerful message about assumptions.  We should never make certain assumptions about others regardless of what we may see on the outside.  Still, I seek to balance wealth accumulation with actual living.  I hope the hospital patients and library patrons appreciate his gift but I would imagine that most will never even know about it.

Trail Runs

 

Since I would like to see every country in the world, I have to stay somewhat healthy. I like to run but I am not exactly a marathoner. I have completed two marathons, Miami and the Space Coast Marathons in Florida, but I prefer half-marathons. The most difficult half-marathon I have completed is the Xterra Trail Run National Championship outside of Ogden, Utah. The race is held at Snowbasin Resort with the low point at 6,133 feet and the high point just shy of 7,300 feet and about 2,200 feet of climbing overall. It was tough and I was slow, but I wasn’t last.

Marriott Rewards Card

In this section of the website, I would like to toss in some advice that has served me well in my travels.  For this first one, I would like to send kudos to my Marriott Rewards Credit Card.  I have carried the card for about 5-6 years now and not only does it provide a free stay each year (which more than pays for the $89 annual fee), Marriott loyalty pays off in the form of Silver, Gold or Platinum levels.  With the card, the Gold level is fairly easy to obtain and I finally should obtain Platinum status this year.  The Gold and Platinum levels provide free breakfasts, executive lounge access and room upgrades.  Now with the Starwoods merger, the benefits are even greater as Starwood matches your Marriott level. In addition, Delta Airlines offers Starwood Platinum elite matching so that members receive: Priority Check-In, Priority Boarding, Unlimited Complimentary Upgrades and the first checked bag free. Therefore, Marriott Platinum leads to Starwood Platinum which leads to Delta perks.