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!

 

 

One year from today the Kings will be at Kings Pool and we’re told the locals will have their ears flapping! Translation: Michael and I will be on safari in Botswana next year! Our first stop will be Kings Pool, a luxury tented camp in Northern Botswana, known for its elephant herds. Don’t let the word “tent” scare you! Remember, my definition of camping is staying at a Holiday Inn with a black-and-white TV and no pool (the TV part could actually be a valuable antique now!). These “tents” are permanent—they have thatched roofs, plush beds, plunge pools and private viewing areas (salas). From Kings Pool we head to Vumbura Plains (similar accommodations, plunge pools, etc) and our final camp visit will be Mombo, considered by many to be the best game viewing in Botswana. Mombo has lots of “cats” and is known for its lions. From Botswana we’ll wing our way to Mauritius and enjoy 3 nights at the Oberoi http://www.oberoihotels.com/mauritius/turtlebay/oberoi-mauritius/overview/index.asp?leftinfo=1&leftitem=1.

 

We planned the itinerary and our friends at Wilderness Safaris http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/ and Oberoi Hotels & Resorts http://www.oberoihotels.com/ turned it into a reality. Thank you, Gordon (at Wilderness Safaris), Sharon (Oberoi USA) and Jennifer (Oberoi Mauritius), for your detailed planning and guidance!

Because we’ll celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and my 60th birthday in 2008, we decided to plan a special journey. Can you imagine what it’s like for two travel fanatics to decide where to travel? We played with many ideas—all of which remain on our list of “to savor” or to “savor again”: cruising Antarctica; trekking Bhutan; safari in India with a few days in the Maldives; North Island of the Seychelles; a couple of weeks in Tuscany and Sardinia; and gorilla trekking in Rwanda. We also considered inviting our friends and clients to join us wherever we finally decided to experience. The votes are in and Botswana won and we decided this is “OUR” vacation; if we had others join us, we’d don our “travel consultant/tour guide” hats and that didn’t seem to fit well with words like “anniversary,” “celebration,” and “romantic!”

We’d be happy to share our custom designed itinerary with you so you, too, can indulge yourselves in the amazing beauty we call “Africa!”

One last comment: ever wonder what Africa looks like from Space (come on, folks, I AM THE SPACE GODDES after all!)??? Here’s a photo taken from Apollo 17 as it headed towards the moon: 

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!

Okay, I think I’m safe! It’s 10:18 PM and I had a wonderful dinner thanks to Michael’s wonderful cooking. I’m pleasantly full and feel almost sure I can venture into the realm of great restaurants without the urge to raid the refrigerator or binge on cookies!

At Great Getaways we’ve been collecting names of restaurants we’ve enjoyed when we we’re globe-trotting ( or just neighborhood skipping, for that matter!). I would love to create a list of all of our favorite finds—known or off-the-beaten path; however, I need your help! Please email me (barbara@greatgetaways.travel) or post a reply on the blog of what restaurants are your top faves.

I’ll start:

Trattoria 4 Leoni, Piafzza della Passera – Via dei Vellutini, Florence, Italy www.4leoni.com. A great casual dining experience a few blocks from Palazzo Magnani Feroni, a few minutes walk from the famous Ponte Vecchio. Great food and off the tourist route. Frequented by locals (so I’m told and so it seemed). Our dessert was most impressive—a flaky pastry that was decorated with our names written in script in delicious, edible chocolate! Be forewarned–this was not a regular menu item. Our host had called ahead to set up this surprise. What a pleasure it was to eat my words!