Vactions Close to Home!

Traveling doesn’t mean you have to go very far. Going four hours is a big and exciting vacation

for us. I look forward going to Missouri every six months. I call this going on vacation, even though we only stay for two or three nights. We have family down there who I love going to see and we always do so many fun things. We have a doctor there that we have to see at least every six months. It’s a great reason to go and we make the trip a little more often than we would otherwise. I always love and look forward to it. It gives our family a little get away while seeing our family and a chance to get away from the house for a couple of days.

Even if we don’t have an appointment there in December, we always make sure that we

Try to get there. We always go down there with some other family members and go down

to the St. Charles Christmas Festival. We always have a blast and have started a great tradition.

There’s old time shops on cobblestone streets that that you can shop for unique gifts. The best part is walking down town where they are actually roasting chestnuts on an open fire. You bundle up warm and treat yourself to cookies and hot chocolate. You will see Christmas characters walking through the streets and carolers singing Christmas songs. I’ve never seen anything like this before. It is amazing!!  And this year there was even a parade in the morning with everyone in it.

Every year there seems that there’s something new added to it, like Olaf was there this year. There seems to be more and more people there every year.  It is a great relaxing get- a- way from all the holiday craziness. It’s a really neat thing to see, especially at nights because they have everything lite up so neat and it will definitely get you in the spirt for Christmas. Then my three other cousins go and look at Christmas lights in a big part of town close to their house. They always have amazing lights and each year they have something different and you’re not seeing the same thing over and over. These lights remind me somewhat like the ones we go see in Dubuque but ten times bigger. But I love the flashing lights and the objects that move over top of you.

Just remember that traveling doesn’t have to be considered far away and some big huge extravaganza. It can just be going an hour away and be called a vacation. I look at vacations as getting out of your house and staying somewhere for at least a night.  I go on a lot of small vacations such as going to Missouri, Manchester; my old town and staying with family etc. A vacation is doing something that is relaxing and enjoyable!

Travel Agencies

Are you and your family booking your first vacation and not sure where to start? We’ll, have you

ever thought about going through a travel agency and getting their help. Travel agency are very helpful.They help you with your whole trip from booking the flight tickets to your itinerary. Yes they do cost, but you want to make sure that you have an awesome vacation planned and they will even help you get the best deals on things that you might have not found on your own.  They are especially useful to go through when you are going out of the country.

So how a travel agency works is that you schedule an appointment to meet. Then you go in and you tell them your basic information; where, when and how long you want to go on this vacation. Then they will get different plans together and have you return to the office and together, with their help pick out what you think will best suit your vacation needs. They will arrange your flight such as when you fly out and your layovers, your housing, and then your schedule your vacation itinerary; what will be done each day and what time each event will occur.  They will also help you out to find the most fascinating and enjoyable places to do for that destination, for the most reasonable prices. Especially, if you’re going to a place that you’ve never been to.

Travel agencies work out fantastic and you don’t have to do anything except pick out what set of plans that you would like to do. The Agency does everything and book everything for you. They are very helpful, although some people just have a hard time paying the extra money because they already have all of the other expenses, and some agencies tend to be pricy. But this would be a really good thing to think about and look into the next time you are planning your next vacation.

Carry on Bags

Are you thinking that you are going to be stuck on that tight compact airplane for hours and

hours thousands of miles up in the air? We’ll, have you heard of taking a carry-on bag? Carry-on bags

could be very useful when you are traveling. These are bags that you can take on the plane and keep with you for the entire trip. These bags have things in them that that will help to entertain yourself so it makes the trip go faster. The most important things that everyone should make sure they have in it is; their license, cell phone (especially for emergencies), your pass port (if you’re traveling out of the country), keys and any medications you take. Then you can still bring other things to provide entertainment such as: books, puzzles or a computer which will pass the time.

There are several types of bags that people would take depending on their occupation, age or reason for traveling. It depends on whether you’re a businessmen, a college student/regular student, or just a regular traveler. These people would take different things in their bags depending on if they are going    on a business trip or going to see family or friends, or going on the vacation of their dreams. It also depends on the interest of the person.

                A business person may bring their brief bag that would have a computer in it, along with belongings for work that would be needed to be completed before they reach their destination. These have awesome dividers so they can still keep their things organized. They are usually going on a business trip and probably need to get things prepared for it, so this would allow them to be able to bring this bag on the plane so they can get it done before the arrival. This bag will also keep them organized.  Also, it will still have a spot to put their necessities in and keep them secured. 

Then you’ll see college students or even just regular teenage kids bringing their book bags on. College students could put their books from school in it if they are loaded with school homework and want to work on it to free up their time when they do get home. The book bags these days are able to hold laptops and they can do their school work on them and still have something for entertainment. But if you plan on listening to music make sure you bring head phones and keep it down because you don’t want to annoy or distract the person sitting next to you. Other things that they can put in their book bag is an iPod/phone, etc. A negative effect to this is that some of the book bags are a little bigger and don’t fit very well on the plane so you’ll have to make sure that you have the right weight and dimensions information for carry- on. 

But it’s ok too just bringing a small bag such a purse or something in to put your necessities in. Just remember, whatever kind of bag you are thinking of taking along, it will have to meet the dimensions that security provides, and that it meets all the requirements of the airline. For example, if you’re bringing a drink on the plane, it can only be so many fluid ounces and has to be closed and put in a zip lock bag and you will be required to have all of your medications in a bag. Also, make sure you don’t have anything dangerous. Just be cautious of what you take along and check into the airline rules before you head to the airport, because going through security is really tough.