Space Goddess

Groucho Marx once said, “I don’t want to be a member of a club that would have me as a member!” Well, Groucho, I disagree! Once again, I’ve been included on a panel of travel experts for Forbestraveler.com. Here’s what Jeff Koyen of Forbes Traveler says about the list of the top 400 Hotels in the World and the people who chose them:

The world’s most distinguished travel experts pick the finest hotels

“A once-in-a-lifetime experience that sets a new standard for over-the-top luxurious hotels. This is a masterpiece. If you want to see what living like a billionaire is like—just once in your life—stay here.”

“In 35 years of hotel design and visiting, this is the best hotel experience I have ever had. Such a wonderful location and such wonderful service—it was a magical experience. I was heartbroken to leave.”

“Truly one of the most beautiful spots—and hotels—in the world. What more can I say?”

“These are just three of the many comments we collected from the Forbes Traveler 400 board of travel experts who determined the 2008/2009 list of the world’s top luxury hotels. You’re just dying to know which hotel they’re talking about, right? Well…to paraphrase the Bard, there’s the rub.

When we first published this groundbreaking list two years ago, we broke rank from the other travel magazines and websites that place great emphasis on mathematically ranking the best hotels in the world. Statistically speaking, the only way to make such a claim is to ask several thousand people for their opinions. The world’s best hotels, then, are often ranked by a sea of anonymous web surfers.

Turning to the crowd is good for certain tasks. When you can’t remember the capital of Belarus, ask everyone on the bus. Someone will probably remember it’s Minsk (a fifth-grader, no doubt). But when picking the right hotel means the difference between an unforgettable trip and an unforgiving spouse, shouldn’t you ask people who stay in luxury hotels once or twice a week—not once a year?

So, from a wide variety of industries, we assembled a board of 79  luxury-travel experts. Arianna Huffington is a renowned author, publisher and one-time California gubernatorial candidate; her fellow board member, Todd English, is a celebrity chef and restaurateur. Adam Tihany is a noted interior designer and architect who’s responsible for several high-profile hotels around the world; Tony Wheeler co-founded Lonely Planet, publisher of the eponymous guidebooks.

We were fortunate to have Erik Blachford, current CEO of TerraPass and former CEO of Expedia, opine alongside Peter Greenberg, noted travel writer and The Today Show’s travel editor. And if anyone knows about luxury hotels, it’s Matthew Upchurch, CEO of Virtuoso, a consortium of upscale travel agents, and Aaron Simpson, group CEO of Quintessentially, a global concierge service for discerning travelers.

We asked our board members to rate nearly 800 highly regarded four- and five-star hotels in seven categories. Because new hotels need time to find their rhythm, we omitted properties less than two years old; and, we didn’t include hotels that are undergoing major renovations. Our experts were promised anonymity so they could speak freely, and they had nothing to gain from any of the hotels they praised (or criticized). We then took the top-rated 400 and commissioned reviews from professional travel writers who have first-hand experience with the hotels (and did not receive complimentary stays during their visits).

The result is the Forbes Traveler 400, a rundown of the world’s best hotels, spread across six continents and presented geographically.”

I am honored to be a member of this panel! I hope you click on the link below to see the Forbes 400!

http://www.forbestraveler.com/forbes400/

Meet the other 78 members of this panel!

http://www.forbestraveler.com/forbes400/panel

Today is May 20th and we arrived in Paris this morning. Before we began this journey, Michael suggested we spend our 11-hour layover in Paris by taking the train into the city center, going to the Hermes store, and buying me one of Hermes’ fabled scarves! On our honeymoon Michael bought me a scarf at Hermes and now we are celebrating our 10th anniversary. My husband is very romantic and thoughtful and I love him more today than the day we married. I suggested that we find an inexpensive hotel close to the airport, check in, and…….sleep. Yes, age and jet lag now take priority over fashinable designer accessories!

Late night on May 20th we boarded our flight from Paris to Johannesburg and tomorrow we will arrive in South Africa!

 (In this interlude, please envision me sleeping peacefully in Business Class!!!)

Good morning, it is now May 21st and we cleared South African Customs. For the next several posts, our friends at Wilderness Safaris will describe our activities:

Wednesday       May 21 2008 

Situated in the exclusive Sandhurst suburb of Sandton, The Saxon, a boutique hotel and spa, combines ethnic African elegance with personalised attention to detail. It became home to Nelson Mandela after he was released from prison, and it was during his stay that South Africa’s former President edited his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. Off the main entrance there is a boutique shop, piano lounge, smoking library and dining room, where world-class chefs ensure personalised cuisine. The wine cellar serves as an exclusive dining area for couples or small groups. The Saxon has 24 suites of various sizes, and 5 Presidential suites, all incorporating a strong element of African art, with latticed shutters covering large bay windows looking out over the gardens or pool area.

Each suite features large screen televisions, VCR and DVD player with surround sound system.  There is a magnificent nine hundred and twenty square metre swimming pool, pool terrace where sundowners can be served and an Olive Bar. A full menu of spa treatments is offers at the Spa and Studio using the most up-to-date equipment and there is also a fitness centre. Website:         www.thesaxon.com

Apply for a Passport or review the one you have.  Now wasn’t that a great, simple resolution? No food to weigh, clutter to organize, or daily aerobic exercize!

You may recall the fiasco that ensued when people suddenly realized they needed to have a passport to travel to destinations that previously only required a certified birth certificate, etc. Our Senators and Representatives even had appointed staff members whose sole function was to assist you in expediting your passport application through the issuance process. Next, Congress delayed the implementation date of the new law requiring valid US Passports for travel in the Western Hemisphere by auto or ship. Anyone traveling by air has needed a passport for quite some time.

Now Congress and the Department of Homeland Security are at it again. The latter wants the law implemented some time this summer while the former slipped some verbiage into an omnibus spending bill requesting the law not go into effect until June, 2009. Now, add in the reaction of the countries/islands you are planning to visit and you get total confusion. Many small Caribbean countries are unaware of the proposed delays and are currently requiring travelers to carry a valid US Passport. In short, you can get several different “opinions” on whether you’ll need a passport for your travel and the catch is that this is not a multiple choice test.

I can assure you from experience that within the US and in countries abroad I’ve received different answers to what seemed to be simple questions. For example, when flying internationally, how many carryon bags can a person bring? Oh, and what constitutes a carryon bag? Since the suspected bomb assembly scare occurred in London, the Brits have banned travelers from carrying more than one “carryon” (Is a purse a carryon? It depends on the agent checking you through security, the agent checking your boarding pass, etc). Now we are allowed to carry 2 bags in Great Britain. The problem is that sometimes these changes in law don’t filter to the “Powers that be” at airports who actually can keep you from boarding a plane.

I’ve heard people explain that they aren’t planning to leave the US in the foreseeable future. If I could accurately foresee the future, I’d pick next Saturday’s Powerball numbers and retire! Why wait until you’re ready for a vacation outside the US, then find that you need a passport and because of the beaurocratic nightmare of the passport process, you won’t be able to secure one?

Other things to consider for those of you smugly gloating because you already have a passport: When does your passport expire? Most countries require you to carry a passport that is valid for AT LEAST six months after your travel dates. How many blank pages do you have in your passport? Many countries require Visas and that you present a certain number of BLANK Visa pages in your passport.

So, do yourself a favor—get a Passport or renew your Passport today!

On Sunday, September 16th we’ll celebrate Great Getaways’ 15th anniversary at an Out-of-This-World Bash at ARTichokes, 10557 Mission Road. In addition to delicious food, fine wine, award-winning musicians, you’ll meet Carolyn Wincer of London, England, Director of Astronaut Sales for Virgin Galactic; Dean Johnson, Executive Vice President of Creative Leisure International, purveyor of luxe vacations; and Cathy Larson, Director of Sales for Holland America Line. Also, be sure and say hello to Heidi Denecke, winging her way to join us from the Ritz Carlton Kapalua, Maui; Susan Huston, Director of Sales for Crystal Cruises, and Becky Powell, Business Development Manager for Virtuoso.

We invite you to preview our items that will be available at our Silent Auction to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. We hope you’ll bid on items to create wonderful memories for you and hope for those whose memories have been erased and lives forever altered! Click  below on “Let us tempt you”
    LET US TEMPT YOU!

Greetings from Las Vegas! No, this is not some cheap postcard sent to you by Aunt Tilly and Uncle Gus on their annual Senior Citizen trip to Vegas!

I am here attending Virtuoso’s Annual Travel Mart, a conference of travel consultants and vendors, where we share trends, ideas, new products, and ways to help your dreams become reality. This is an intense week—Great Getaways has 774 one-on-one appointments with execs from cruise lines, tour companies, hotels, resorts, and, of course, space travel (Go Virgin Galactic!!!) over a period of 4 days. Every 4 minutes from 8:00 AM through 4:00 PM we have a 4 minute meeting with a vendor. It’s like speed dating on steroids—resulting in the mating of wonderful vacation ideas with you, our client!

Yesterday we had 2 keynote speakers, Dewitt and Terry Jones, the former a photographer for National Geographic and the latter, his brother, the founder of Travelocity. What an amazing combination of talent!!! In fact, they spent a significant amount of time talking about turning imagination into “imaginaction”. Have they been reading Great Getaways tagline or what??? You don’t remember our tagline? Okay, one more time, then of to bed to dream of wonderful vacations— our tagline is “Imagine…Create…Experience!” Sweet Dreams from the Bellagio! Ciao!

I know you wake up every morning and rush to read my blog—which has been frustrating to you, of late, because I’ve only been blogging about once a week! Anyway, I’m sure you recall the blog entry of June 10th (Party! Party! Party!) where I invited you to Great Getaways 15th Anniversary Bash at ARTichokes in Mission Farms, 10557 Mission Road. If you don’t remember that entry, I’ll wait right here while you go back and read it…

Now that you’ve refreshed your memory, let’s continue: 15 years is a big deal in the travel industry! Companies come and go; some ideas that sound good thrive while others fade. Our industry has weathered all sorts of events, some unfortunately of our own design. Those of us who have grown and prospered are the ones that have returned to our roots; we are NOT order takers or glorified reservationists; we advise; we counsel; we use our vast pool of experience to benefit you and the journeys you take.

On that note, I once again invite you to join us to celebrate our anniversary, to share your own memories of a life well lived, and to create some new ones. My mother has so many memories of her many journeys around our world, but, unfortunately, many of those memories have been stolen from her by the insideous disease, Alzheimer’s. As I’ve watched Mom’s lapses of memory, her increased irritability and confusion, I grieve the loss of the mother I remember. She was so active, organizing reading groups and book clubs long before Oprah made it trendy; she followed the stock market, daily charting her investments; she went to the theater regularly and supported her favorite restaurants (Don Roth’s, The Cheesecake Factory, and The Bagel to name a few); and Mom was passionate about politics—that is, as long as the politician was a Democrat! (I still remember the birthday card I gave my mom that said, “Some said you’re so old, you voted for Lincoln” and inside it read, “But I know you’re a Democrat!”).
That vibrant woman has departed and what I see now is just a shell that houses glimpses of the woman that raised my brother, sister and me.
So, it is with great honor that we will have an amazing silent auction at our 15th anniversary celebration in support of the Alzheimer’s Association! Feast your eyes on some of the goodies that could be yours if you are the highest bidder:
A Mediterranean Cruise courtesy of Celebrity Cruises; 3 nights at the chic Azul Blue in Mexico courtesy of Creative Leisure; 3 nights at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua, Maui; a 3-night Mexican vacation courtesy of Classic Vacations; an original painting by Becky Pasha, one of the owners of ARTichokes, an orginal piece of artwork by Richard Stern (www.sternartworks.com); a selection of books courtesy of Rainy Day Books; tickets and a parking pass to a 2008 Royals game courtesy of David Wolff and Nancy Hipsh; haircolor and styling by Kim Jegen of Beauty Escentuals; and more!

So, come party with us (casual attire, of course—comfort IS important!), enjoy the food, the music, the art, and the event, and bring your credit card or checkbook! I promise you’ll have an out-of-this world good time!

Gasoline to drive to the Celebration: $5.00
Money for Babysitter $25.00
Bidding on the oodles of luxuries in support of Alzheimer’s Association: Priceless!

What does one tenth of one percent look like? In my world when I envision .001 I see Judi Chaitman, Vice President and Manager of Great Getaways. Judi has been selected as one of the TOP TRAVEL SPECIALISTS in the world by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine (August, 2007 edition)! This marks the SEVENTH (7th) year Judi has received this amazing honor! Wendy Perrin, Consumer Affairs Editor of Conde Nast Traveler, annually selects the best of the best in the world of travel providers. This is a tall order by any stretch of the imagination because, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are over 88,950 travel “agents” in the US alone!

Sorry to sound bossy—just consider me your “Travel Mom”! Like a regular mom I have your best interests at heart. I’ve suggested for years that everyone should get a passport and the zoo that we fondly call the passport application process is proof positive you need to get a passport! Having a passport is like the way we used to think about the American Express card (not anymore, thank God!) with their slogan, “Don’t leave home without it!” It’s official, it’s uniform, and it is accepted all over this planet as proof of citizenship.

So, what are you waiting for? Download an application at www.travel.state.gov

Need a certified copy of your birth certificate for the passport application? While you’re ordering one, I suggest you order two and keep the extra one in a safe place. I promise the day will come that you will once again be asked for a birth certificate for some yet to be invented government form, and, voila, you’ll already have one!

Also, be sure to check the entry requirements of the country(ies) you’ll be visiting. Many require that your passport be valid for 6 months past the date of your visit. Others require multiple blank, facing Visa pages (which you might not have because you’ve used them on previous journeys we created for you!).

Create 2 photocopies of your passport and take one copy with you (not in the same place you store your real passport) and leave one copy with us (or should you, for some reason not understood in the world of logic, use another travel company, give them a copy–hopefully, they’ll know to keep it safe for you!). If that moment we all fear, the loss of our passport, does occur, then having copies will expedite the replacement process.

There, now don’t you feel better? See how your mama loves you! Now, brush your teeth and go to bed. That’s what I’m going to do!

  Please, please, please click on the image to preview the ultra cool Save the Date card we’re sending for Great Getaways 15th Anniversary Bash!

Now, for those of you who aren’t susceptible to my pleading here’s the info in readable text:

SAVE THE DATE FOR OUR OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD 15TH ANNIVERSARY BASH!  SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH AT ARTichokes IN MISSION FARMS

 If you tell me you can read the image to the left without enlarging it, I want the name of your opthamologist! It reads:

The Leawood travel agency that gives you the luxury of experience is turning 15! Treat yourself to a night of experience at ARTichokes, Leawood’s premier art space in Mission Farms, Sunday, September 16, 2007, 7 - 10 PM, ARTichokes, 10557 Mission Road, Leawood; Light Hors d’ Oeuvres; Cruise & Vacation Silent Auction to Benefit Alzheimers Association; Sponsored by: Great Getaways, Virgin Galactic, Holland America Line, Creative Leisure, ARTichokes, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, SPACES magazine

No need to read on because I know you’re anxious to put the date in your calendar, pda, or perhaps create a tasteful tattoo reminder!

 

 

This morning I decided to work from home, and, in this case, blog from home, which allows me the opportunity to dress in jeans and a t-shirt (definitely beyond “business casual”!). Today I’m in a short-sleeved lavendar tee that says “I Need My Space” with the NASA emblem below the words. From that play on words my mind drifted to Virgin Galactic’s tagline, “Space is Virgin territory” and from there I asked myself, “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a Space like this?”

I have definitely been bitten by the Space bug. I believe that my training at the Kennedy Space Center moved me from passionate to  passionately and wildly interested in Space, our universe, black holes, solar flares—all sorts of things that occupied very little space in my head in years gone by.

When I was 9 years old I came home from school very upset. When my mother asked what was bothering me, I complained, “You never take me anywhere!”

With a puzzled expression, Mom said, “Barby (I ditched the “y”, the “i” and the “ie” in favor of Barbara many years ago!), how can you say we don’t take you anywhere? That’s just not true. We’ve taken you to Florida several times, California, New York, Canada, New England, Wisconsin, and we’re going on a cruise to the Caribbean in December!”

“So…” my swift and challenging reply, “All my friends go to Starved Rock and you’ve never taken me there!” Gotcha! I made my point, jutting out my bottom lip, smirking, with hands haughtily on my hips!

Starved Rock State Park is approximately 95 miles west-southwest of Chicago, along the Illinois River. It was (is???) a popular getaway for Chicagoans. I have photos of my parents, brother, and sister at Starved Rock on a wintery day making a big snowman. But, do I get to go there? Hey, no fair! You guys went before I was born!

I must have hit a nerve because within a few weeks our family headed to Starved Rock with my sister, age 14 at the time, whining “Do I have to go?????” I didn’t let her disdain dampen my anticipation. We were going to STARVED ROCK where I was sure my every dream of the perfect vacation would be fulfilled! Actually, I remember very little of the two nights we spent there other than it felt like a very, very long time and my family has never allowed me to forget my pleading, “Can we go home yet?” Obviously, “fitting in” with my classmates meant more to me than knowing I had seen the Statue of Liberty, the Henry Ford Museum at Greenfield Village in Michigan, eaten freshly caught trout in Wisconsin, ridden the Teacup Ride at Disneyland, or attempted numerous times to dig my way to China on various Florida beaches! Please, please understand my point—Starved Rock State Park is a wonderful destination and it only helped me to begin to realize how fortunate my life experiences had been–even at the tender age of 9!

By the time I graduated high school I added two Caribbean cruises, many more trips to Florida, New York, California, Hawaii Canada, two visits to Israel, and a journey to Europe. My father, an importer of screws, nuts, and bolts, traveled all over the world and he loved to take our family to all sorts of exotic locales. Whether I suffered from entitlement or ignorance, it took me years to treasure the experiences I had. When I was 11 we were in Paris, staying at the Ritz, and I was very whiny and jet-lagged. For some reason, my room was down the hall from my parents, rather than our usual “adjoining rooms” (don’t you love it when I talk “travel!”) and, one day, upon leaving their room, I knocked on every door that separated them from me. To this day, I still remember the sounds of “Oui?”, “uno momento,” “Si?” as I brattily weaved my way down the hall. So, if you were staying at Hotel Ritz in November, 1959, and when you opened your door, nobody was there, I confess it was me—I promise I haven’t ever done that again and have deleted that adolescent behavior from my repetorie! 

Fast forward to 15 years ago, I had a life crisis that forced me to examine where I was, what was important to me, and how I wanted to proceed on this journey of living. I looked over my resume to see if there was some common thread in my varied career paths: graduate of Northwestern University, travel, school teacher, travel, hospital administrator, travel, real estate sales, and travel….hmmm, anything standing out to you? 

From an amazing childhood and adolescence filled with traveling to faraway places, I continued this passion as an adult. I loved discovering destinations new to me as well as spending time at some familiar favorites—I cruised countless times, beached it, city stayed, toured, flew, railed, and drove. All I had to do was remove the “a” from avocation!

I’m often asked what my favorite destination is and I reply that my #1 is usually the last place I’ve been. In all honesty, I have several favorites and my current #1 is Africa–East Africa and Southern Africa; India; the Galapagos; and Italy (including Sardinia!). Closely following those destinations would be China, Thailand, Bali, Tokyo, London, Crete, Bora Bora, and St. Petersburg. I could go on and on—in fact, I have!

Did you notice that I didn’t list Space as my favorite? That is only because I haven’t been there YET! I definitely want to experience Space, and, perhaps, my helping you travel to Space will assuage my impatience to explore our universe!