Los Angeles Here I come for the 3rd Time!

In my whole life, I dreamt about going to Los Angeles and Hollywood, California. It was my first time in October 2012, and I must say I did choke up and was so teary. I Saw the Hollywood sign and I just lost it. I just couldn’t believe what I was looking at. Since I was a child looking at movies, television, ads in the paper, travel ads, magazines, entertainment stuff, and all I saw was LA, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills and of course; the Hollywood sign. I knew where the celebrity central and the biggest entertainment capital of the world is.

As I was approaching the Hollywood sign above the Griffith Observatory, I cried up a storm. I was an emotional wreck. All my dreams of going to Los Angeles came true. I couldn’t believe I was close to all the stars, seeing the Hollywood Walk of Fame with all the artists, entertainers, then ending up right outside Jimmy Kimmel’s show studio set. Then seeing Capitol Records, and all these entertainment broadcasting corporation buildings. Then I saw the Iconic 405 Freeway everyone was talking about. They say that it was such terrible traffic and you are so right. So many lanes and still lots of traffic. Even the carpool lane didn’t make any difference.

In my mind, I was thinking of all the award shows, the red carpet, and I was keeping my eyes peeled and had my eyes everywhere with the hopes that I would meet a celebrity. That was highly unlikely, but It could happen and it has happened.

Anyway, my 2nd trip to Los Angeles was in May 2015, where we went through Santa Monica Beach where we hung out for a bit, then driving through Beverly hills. Seeing these huge houses where majority of them are covered in high bushes and trees, and a lot of the celebrities live there. You would see the home cleaners park their cars outside on the road, and them coming out with buckets, mops and other cleaning products, then you would see super expensive cars. This time, I did see Actor Hugh Jackman drive a black Porsche. It was definitely him. I can tell for sure. Then I looked online and it was true. We also traveled to Fresno, San Francisco, Drove on the Pacific Coast Highway, went to Newport Coast, Newport Beach.

My 3rd Los Angeles trip will be in about 3-4 months from now. I am excited to spend about 10-11 days there. I am definitely going to other parts of LA such as Pasadena, Glendale, Malibu, La Crescenta, and so many other places. I have a lot of time now to plan and I am going to be so organized. Gotta love LA. I cannot believe in just 3-4 years, I will have gone 3 times. I did not go all my life. I am really excited to be amongst the stars again.

I can’t wait to indulge into In-N-Out burger, and also the Famous Oscars Pizza Guy Edgars Pizza. Big Mamas and Papas, and amongst other great restaurants I have heard about.  I hope to see Ellen Degeneres, go to Warner Bros, CBS Studios, NBC Universal and more.

I just want to Meet Bradley Cooper, Jason Statham, Chris Hemsworth, and Channing Tatum. 🙂 Hopefully, will bump into them at LAX Airport or down a street walking or something. Now that would be awesome. I can hardly wait!

What Will I Do If I Win The $1.5 Billion Powerball?

As you may or may not know by now about USA’s $1.5 Billion Powerball lottery jackpot that is up for grabs and one or couple of lucky winners will get to have a serious amount of cash in their bank accounts, and live off only just the interest and be set for life. Even hopeful Canadians are crossing the border to get their hands on the winning ticket numbers.  Of course as well as all that cash

Now, some people dream of buying a huge yacht, a private aircraft and other super luxurious things, go to the biggest and most expensive hotel suites, spending ridiculously and buy the most expensive watches, clothing,  handbags, shoes, jewelry, and live in a super huge mansion with so many rooms, bathrooms, and spend it like no tomorrow and some will not even know what to do with all that chunk of cash. Just because someone has a huge load of cash, doesn’t mean the money should be spent on foolish things and not on materialism.

Money of this amount should be spent on the betterment of this world, to make life better, to spend it wisely on things that matter. Not of what some people’s wild fantasies could be of just being luxurious and way too materialistic.

Now that If I get a ticket and IF I win, I will donate to villages in my home country Armenia, help my family and friends, personally go to third world countries that live in poverty and donate money, food, clothing and everything to people who need it.

I will open up a community centre for people who have been victims to social abuse and those who have been bullied emotionally, mentally, physically, also people who are alone and haven’t got too many friends. I want them to have that chance to come together with others and make life better for them and to make a difference in this world, where they can come and have fun with group activities, getting to know one another. Putting a smile on these people’s faces from young to the elderly is all the payment I need. They will be the true winners at life and to give them that extra boost that everything works out for them.

Now, that is the true lottery and jackpot that is won. Making a difference in lives, making someone’s day, life, seeing them smile, being happy, healthy and so much more.

From experience in my life, I have been there. I have been a victim of bullies, social abuse and the difficulty of people accepting me because I am and look different than everybody else. I will be happy knowing I have been able to help people in need with that amount of cash.

The rest, I will use for traveling to places I have not been to, buy a nice decent size house and not as huge as a villa or mansion. Just something reasonable, then live comfortably.

At the end above all that dough, health is wealth.

What will you do with that much money? If You do win it?

Advice for Connecting flight passengers.

Travel is such an incredible thing to experience when you go from one place to another and there are some pros and cons about connecting flights versus direct non-stop flights. Although its great to see different airport hubs and to fly with different aircraft, however there can be some stressful yet frustrating moments when it comes to layovers when it comes to delays and even worse, cancellations. It is something that we do not want to hear, but sometimes it is out of our control due to discrepancies with the weather, runway delays, an unruly passenger, late passengers, aircraft issues. Whatever the case maybe.

I am here to give you advice on what to do when you have a flight that is delayed and you have to make it to your next flight within the hour or 2. whatever duration it maybe that cuts very close to your departure time to your final destination. It can be a nerve-wrecking, panicky moment when you hear your flight is delayed for 2 hours and you have to make it to your next flight and you have about an hour or so time gap in between. It makes anybody nervous and anxious.

When you know you are going to be delayed, right away without waiting, go to the desk counter where you see staff from the airline and explain your situation to them that I have I connecting flight, I will not make it for that flight because of the delay. You must do something for me, reissue another boarding pass for a later flight from that Airport hub. When you do that, your flight is automatically protected and they will know you are connecting.

Always show the airline staff your travel itinerary and give them an understanding of your situation. It can save you hassle in the long run and you are secure to arrive to your final destination on the same day. It would be terrible to lose time during your travels due to connecting flight delays.

That is why I mostly recommend people taking direct non-stop flights rather than layovers. I have learned from experience twice and both times were so stressful and my palms were sweating. I know sometimes people have no choice but to have layovers whether or not its one stop, two stop, 3 stop connectors. It is absolutely exhausting to find terminals, gate numbers, and you have to literally run because you are on a tight schedule. I can definitely relate. It is not a pleasant thing to go through, especially when flights are so close with each other in time.

I remember once I had 50-55 minutes to make it to my next flight when I flew to USA. The airports in USA are so spread out and huge, I had to switch terminals because one was from international to domestic, took a shuttle which took about 5-10 minutes to get to, and then followed by a long hallway to my gate and then I had to stop for a bathroom break, then by the time I got to my gate to sit down, not even 1 minute later they started to board my flight. I was completely exhausted, hungry and frustrated. I was almost going to cry. I was by myself which stressed me out even more.

Since then, I have never taken connecting flights and always looked for itineraries which has direct. I don’t care. I will pay more for my airfare, I will not go through what I went through. It was absolutely crazy.

Have you been through nightmares and frustrations with Connecting flights?

Safe travels!

Residential Area’s and Fireworks. There is a place for Everything

We all know when Holiday’s approach that people venture out to buy their own fireworks to blow up and they find the thrill to do their own fire show on celebration days on their streets where there are homes, other residents, vehicles, trees or whatever else there can be. It is a fun and awesome thing.

Although Fireworks can be pretty and exciting to see, however it can also pose as a danger as well. especially in residential areas where it is unsafe and it can become that way as well. One wrong move, if the fire goes the wrong way or the spark, something serious can happen such as, damaging a home, cars, trees and even worse and ultimately can hurt/injure somebody and then having to live with the agony afterwards.

There is a place for everything, and fireworks are not meant to be blown up in residential area’s. It doesn’t matter if people have been doing it for years, and how professional someone can be with it, but I am sure there are wide open areas where you can go. I am not telling anybody what to do, but it is for your own safety and for everyone around you. It can be dangerous.

I get so petrified every single time a celebration day comes along. It should be illegal and banned from residential areas. I know some people still do it in places that it is banned. I do not understand why people know the laws and still have to do things and endanger themselves and others around them. Some people are so selfish. They only think of themselves and the thrill they seek, but it doesn’t matter if it hurts and affects other people’s well-being and they think they are the only ones on the street who live there. Things have to change. People need to look out for each other, especially when you are surrounded by other residents and homes.

I am not telling you, not to have fun, but come on, people should know better than that to not do it where its unsafe.

Please be responsible, and do it elsewhere.

Thanks and all the best.

Our Ultimate 1308 Miles of California Getaway

A couple of weeks ago on May 21st, 2015 after a long wait and anticipation, Our ultimate California getaway had arrived when I went with my Family. We were so impatient and anxious to get to Toronto Pearson’s YYZ Airport to take our Air Canada Flight AC 789 to Los Angeles Airport LAX at 8am when it took off. As we submitted my boarding pass to the Air Canada attendant and as we made our way to the Aircraft and grabbed our seats, we were absolutely excited for the 5 and a half hour flight, which to us did not feel long at all, as we are used to flights. We arrived at 10:10am LA Time, so we had the full day ahead.

As soon as the aircraft attendants announced that we will be landing momentarily to LAX and as we saw the Los Angeles Buildings in Downtown while landing, the hills, valleys, and the beauty of LA, we began to get more excited then ever and then I said to myself, it is about to get real now. So much is waiting for me to discover, my family to see, my cousins wedding to attend to, Facebook Friends whom I met for the first time, and covering so much ground in so little time. 10-11 days went by like a dream.

It was an incredible time when we went through towns and cities, and firstly after getting our rental car, we made our way to Newport Coast, where we stood the night, taking the 405 Freeway, where then we began driving north to Fresno where my cousin got married, and reunited, and united with family and friends, then after Fresno, we made our way to San Francisco passing through San Jose, Oakland, and many other towns. After San Francisco, we ventured out to Highway 1 Freeway 101 which is the Pacific Coast Highway. It took over 8-9 hours to drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We made a stop in Santa Barbara for a night, Then we stood in Northridge Area, visited Santa Monica Pier and Beach after that we went back to Newport Coast where we ended our trip with more family time. On May 30th we returned our rental car, then at 10:20pm we departed Los Angeles LAX airport to arrive back to Toronto on May 31st, at 6am in the morning our time.

In Beverly Hills, we were on our way to Santa Monica, where I saw Actor Hugh Jackman driving a black Porsche when he was getting out and stopped on one of the streets in Beverly Hills close to Carmelita Ave with the tall Palm Trees around the homes. All the cars were either Range Rovers, Porsche, Mercedes, Ferrari, BMW, Maserati, Teslas and so many more crazily expensive cars around there, and then there were cleaners and maids coming out of some of the stars homes as I was driving and watching the streets. It was quite awesome to see a celebrity in LA… What is a trip to Los Angeles without seeing a celebrity?

With all that you hear from Movies, TV, Entertainment websites and all the hype of Los Angeles with the home of Celebrities, Music Performers, Directors, Producers and a huge Population that works in the entertainment industry somehow are scattered all over Los Angeles area’s. LA is just so huge that you need at least a month to comfortably go all around. 2 weeks is not enough. There is just too much to see, too much to do. If I lived in Los Angeles, I would definitely be in the entertainment industry.

Now Los Angeles is not just about Film, Entertainment and everything. There is far more to it than just film making, awards, studios, mansions, Malibu beach houses, movie sets, the glitz, glamour, vanity, fashion and everything is not just everything about it. There is so much more to do. If you have never been, you should make a trip there whenever convenient for you.

Now, they say that the Highway 401 here is jam packed and so much traffic. You haven’t seen and heard nothing yet. We took doses of the 405, 110, traffic and that is extremely brutal. I do not know how residents of California, LA area can handle that day in and day out. It takes patience, skill and guts to go through that almost everyday. Highway 401 traffic in Toronto is nothing compared to what they go through on the 405 and 110. I would go crazy with that everyday. People of LA are brave.

I love Los Angeles so much. I am excited to make a return next year. I have been back for a couple of days now and I miss it so much already, especially my family and my friends there. Next time I will be there longer to see my other Facebook friends that I didn’t have time to see. Cheers to LA!

There is so much more that I have to say about my trip, but this was just the bit of it.
Now to take off my bucket list:

– I saw the Painted Ladies and the Full House TV Show house, and Alamo Square in San Francisco,
– I saw the Fisherman’s Wharf, also the skyline of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge.
– I saw the Santa Monica Pier
– I Drove on the Pacific Coast Highway
– I went close to the Hollywood Sign
– I saw Beverly Hills and glimpse of Celebrity Homes
– I saw a celebrity in LA – Hugh Jackman in his Black Porsche.

Sahlab – Salep — Middle Eastern Sweet Beverage

Sahlab, Salep is a type of middle eastern sweet beverage that is served hot. You can top it with cinnamon and serve it. You can also put raisins in it as well and drink and eat the raisins. With the winter upon us and the cold weather has arrived, this is a great thing to drink in a cold winters night. I was introduced to this a few years back going to my Armenian Bible study. We would usually have cookies, and snacks for after bible study sessions, so a few times Sahlab, Salep was made by the women’s guild group of the church and we would enjoy 2nd even 3rd servings of it. They would make so much that everyone got seconds and 3rds. It is so delicious.

The ingredients are Skimmed Milk or Water
Salep Flour
Sugar
Rose Water
Cinnamon
Coconut

In Specialty Grocery stores and middle eastern stores, they sell the ready mixed ingredient packages, you just add the milk or water to it and it becomes Sahleb, Salep, however you want to call it. Many countries and regions have different names for it which have different spellings and pronunciations. Sometimes all you need is a warm beverage to satisfy your sweet tooth and just enough for cold days. Who says you cannot have it in the spring and summer also. Its a good thing to have all year round. It is yummy, delicious and you will keep wanting more of it.

Enjoy and bon apetit!

Great Airline Information Websites to Bookmark

Hello all, as you may or may not know, I am an avid traveler and a person who enjoys traveling especially on airlines. In the past little while I have been doing extensive research on the best websites to cater to my needs in finding out information on airlines, aircraft photos, different designs of the planes, and so much more. I then ventured out on the internet to find great websites to further educate myself on the travel industry, airlines, different aircraft and more, and of course my own knowledge, and education as I have experienced in flying with numerous airlines. Some I had the pleasure of flying with before they went out of service years ago such as Royal Airlines, Canada 3000, Skyservice, Armenian Airlines and so on and so forth. Well, without further delay, here are websites that I recommend when planning an air getaway:

Airliners — A website that has different types of Aircraft, photos, information and history.
http://www.airliners.net

FlightStats — Information on Airports, Airlines, Flight information – a one hub stop for all your needs.
http://www.flightstats.com/

Flightaware — Tracking live flights, aircraft descriptions, commercial aircraft and more.
http://www.flightaware.com

FlightRadar — Another Flight Tracker website which caters to how many aircraft is in the air as we speak.
http://www.flightradar24.com/

Planespotters — A website that lists airline fleet index, photos, latest deliveries, information and interacting with other airline and travel enthusiasts.
http://planespotters.net

SeatGuru — A website for airline information as well as locating your seat and find the best seats suitable for you onboard an aircraft and all kinds of aircraft types.
http://www.seatguru.com

Skytrax — Airline ratings, star ratings, quality, service and more.
http://www.airlinequality.com/

If you have airline, aircraft websites you would like to contribute and that you think are interesting, please list them in the comments below and I will add them to my list. Thank you. Enjoy the websites and all the best in your research before you travel..

🙂
Bon Voyage! Safe Travels!

 

 

 

Have We Become An Over-sharing Society on Social Media?

Since social media has come into today’s society for several years now, with an easy and instant way to communicate to the world about our every move, and everything that goes on in our lives. The question is, have we become an over-sharing society? Is it necessary to post every single thing that we do on a daily basis? Do we think a few times before clicking on the submit, send, post buttons? Things, that we do on a daily basis that are so common in this world, and things that we on social media platforms do not need to know about. Too much information is being transmitted through the world in an instant and some that should not even be. Once you post something, even for a few seconds and delete it, It is on the internet forever, and it very hard to delete it, because the internet has cached files and once you go on any search engine, it is very easy to see what you post. I have seen a lot of things on social media and it has become a very concerning thing.

I know we are free to post what we want, but some things should be kept private and even very personal matters in one’s life should not be shared to the world, especially when it comes to family life. I know although it is good to post to educate others on situations and everything and if you are going to post something, generalize on a topic, issue or subject, do not make it personal about you and your loved ones.

Here are examples of common things that we do that should not be shared for the billions of people around the world to see:

*****— I just went to the washroom — I just took a shower — I am now going out for a walk — I did laundry — I just cleaned the house — I did some gardening outside — I just changed the oil on my car — I took my car for a car wash — I am going out to eat with friends – *****

Those are the things I am talking about. Not just writing things online, but also photos and videos that are necessary. Nothing is kept private anymore unfortunately, but things should. I know you want to document everything in your life, you want to do everything to look back to those memories and enjoy it, but there comes times where you need to leave all technology behind and just focus on the moment and the memories to make, so you can replay them in your mind. Sometimes with technology we miss things happening in our lives with screens constantly in our faces.

There is more to life, than to post every aspect of it for the world to see on social media. Yes I am guilty of posting and doing things like that myself, but I know my limit and I am always within it. Always take responsibility, be responsible, and be smart.

Yes, there are great and positive ways to use social media and it is all in the way you use it. Always ask, do research and think before you post. Is it thoughtful, helpful, inspiring, nice and kind? Always THINK – BEFORE – YOU – POST –
Enjoy your social media journey, but limit yourself, and do good things with it.

Traveling to Wicked Awesome Boston

In life one of the most enjoyable and awesome thing is traveling, exploring and seeing parts of the world. I am especially excited to be traveling to the Super Wicked Awesome Boston, Massachusetts again for the second time Since August 2013 in less than a year. When I was landing to Boston in August 2013, I remember this warm, welcoming feeling as I was overlooking the beauty of it all, and I knew right away I would love it. It is not really the city, but the people there are so warm, friendly, strong, committed to each other, and particularly my great friends there, whom I call my family. I am excited to be reuniting with them in less than a week. They mean the world to me, and just being there with them, spending quality time together, creating everlasting memories is all I want. “Boston isn’t a city, its a family” of which someone had quoted a while back.

Last time I flew down, and this time we decided to take a road trip down which will take about 8 and a half hours. I am so used to road trips, and it will be nice to explore the scenery. I know on my Facebook I tend to talk about Boston a lot, and post up photos of the city, the logos of the teams and all that, but I just cannot help myself. To fully explore Boston and suburbs, you would need at least 2 weeks with the attractions, going to Cape Cod, New England, Rockport. Rockport has wicked awesome lobster at the Lobster Pool Restaurant by the water. The reason why I say Wicked Awesome is that New England, Bostonians say those words, and add super so in their accent, they say “Supah Wicked Awesome”. In my previous blog, I taught people how to do the Boston Accent. You will see what I am talking about.

This has happened many times where now people would ask me about Boston, what there is to do and see, where the hot spots are, attractions, museums, and the iconic Harvard University which I had the pleasure of seeing. What a huge school. I don’t know how the students are able to find their classrooms in such a huge campus. I’d go crazy, but I love Harvard Square. I even got to touch John Harvard’s shoe on his statue. I also got to eat and drink beer at the Cheers Bar which is also known as the iconic TV show which aired in the 80’s. The real one closed down, but the replica is almost exactly alike to the show, but you see the juke box, and all sorts of things back from the show, and they put on the theme song of the show in one part. It is pretty wicked awesome. I also visited the Boston Harbor which is right by cheers, also Quincy Market where I bought some Boston Stuff to take home with me. It was very nice. Visit the Boston Common as well. There is also a Duck tour where there is a vehicle that goes on water and on the road and that is the ultimate Boston experience.

I can’t wait to share stories when I come back. Heres to the Supah Wicked Awesome Boston! CHEAHS!(Cheers)

The Boston Accent

Want to Learn the Boston Accent?
Here is a crash course.
The New England, Boston accent is quite different from the New York Accent and one of the most recognizable American accents in North America, where they hardly pronounce the R’s and sometimes the AH Gets replaced by some of the other vowels, depending on the word. Just always remember to use your vocal cords and use as HAH AH. For example:

Harvard — Hahvahd (HAH-VAHD)
Dark — Dahk
Park — Pahk
Corner — Connah!
Harbor — Hahbah
Boston — Bahstan
Watertown — Wahtahtown
Wine Cellar — Wine Cellah
Quincy Market — Quincy Mahket
Lobster — Lobstah
Clam Chowder — Clahm Chowdah
Logan Airport — Logan AIAH-PAHT
Super — Supah! Followed by Wicked Awesome!
Ice Cold Water — Ice Cold Watah
Beer — Beah!

So on and so fahth… Always Remembah tah always use the AH. So, now when you are a tourist, visitah, oah moving tah Bahstan, you will automatically blend in, but eithah way, Bahstan Welcomes you no mahttah what yoah accent is. Bahstan is Wahm and Friendly place and we accept yah jahst thah way yah ah! Bahstan is a Family, and We Lahv Tah Hahv Yah!

Cahntahct Me Foah moah infahmahtion

Travel Reviews – Be your Own Judge

When we are planning or have planned a trip whether its an airline, resort, hotel, city, and the whole travel experience, were all intrigued, interested and wonder what the experience will be like, so if not most of us or all of us tend to venture out to the internet to find information on star ratings, hotel ratings, it amenities and more, however as much as we read people’s reviews, the ratings and all that, it is important to be your own judge to rate your travel experience yourself. You cannot go with what everybody else says. you need to form your own opinion.

As I have stated before, that yes doing research is a must to further prepare yourself for your trips, however do not go to review sites to research as it can be misleading. Go to real travel websites to find out information, Go to airline websites, and Federal Governmental Travel websites to find the correct information on Visa’s, Travel Documents, Travel Advisories, what countries to avoid, what the country laws are. So important to always go right to the source for information, not by what others share, then you will be problem free. People go above and beyond sometimes of what they write online on these travel advisor sites.

Enjoy your travel, be safe and have fun. 🙂 Bon Voyage!

Travel Gives Meaning to My Life – Exploring The World

for 21 and half years now, traveling has been a big part of my life with having the opportunity to visit many places around the world from most of the Caribbean, To few countries in Europe to visiting my homeland Armenia, visiting many US Destinations, Across Canada and more. I have had the opportunity to fly on many different types of Airlines, Going to different types of airports, traveled on cruise ships, went on road trips and just basically to live life to the fullest extent, to enjoy life and to make most of it exploring and being in the action. I love keeping travel brochures, aviation brochures, and collecting plane models.

That is why I have so much travel knowledge, efficient ways to travel, giving people advice, hassle free tips, and so much more. My friends and family always ask me for travel advice no matter where the destination and form of travel it is. You can as well. I am just an e-mail message and comment away. Traveling is a big passion of mine as you are observing now. It has been for 2 decades and counting. I love going to the airport and getting on a plane. I love experiencing the take off of the plane and the landing. I love the acceleration of the plane so much, and I always get window seat, so I can look outside, even if I am flying over clouds. Its beautiful. Whenever I am at Pearson Airport in Toronto YYZ, It always gives me energy, even if its just being around there, dropping people off, picking people up and of course going into the airport and taking a flight out. It excites me all the time. I love terminal 3.

If you can travel, do it. It changes your life, your perspective and outlook on things. Traveling makes you more independent, aware, explorative, gives you knowledge, and so much more. When you are a well-traveled person, there will always be something to talk about, talking about the world, being more familiar with geography, learning new cities and towns, whether its a moment you experienced, the type of people you met, the part of the world that is different from home, the way people live life and much more.

I cannot wait to travel more in the future. It is one of the best things to do in life. Never be scared of traveling. I never am. No matter what I hear on the news. What do you enjoy about travel? What is traveling to you? Would love to hear from you. Safe and Happy travels!

Things that Traveling Does To You

In life one of the best things to do is to travel, see the world and to get out of our local geographical location to explore and see other walks of life. It is a beautiful and great feeling to hop on a plane, get into a car, get on a cruise ship and so much more to discover. for 21 years I am glad, fortunate and thankful that I got to experience and hopefully will experience more of traveling in future. Here are things that traveling does to you:
1. You become more aware of the world

2. You get much better at Geography

3. You get to see how people live, and handle day to day life.

4. you will come across different types of people, personalities, and they’re actions.

5. you will see different types of Money currency

6. You become more educated, learn about the country, town.

7. You learn how to travel, and experience an adventure

8. You gain a new perspective on life, when you see the world you appreciate things more as some countries in the world are in poverty and do not have enough to eat, a bed to sleep on, not a roof over their heads and much more, which then opens up peoples eyes to quit complaining about not having everything, because we do have everything. Some people around the world do not even have clean drinking water. (I know it doesn’t take materialism to make people happy in those impoverished 3rd world countries, because I do see that a lot of those people are happy with whatever they have when I traveled to see these villages) However as a kid it opened up my eyes, and that is why I am more caring, appreciative, fortunate, and thankful for what I have and materialism does not interest me one bit.

9. You learn about other cultures, heritage, beliefs, history, and more.

10. You learn how to be more confident, aware, and learn new things all the time when traveling

11. You get to hear different languages, see different gestures.

12. You will get to listen to different types of cultural music, and music that symbolizes that country, city, town

13. you will be more aware and develop skills for traveling, sharing your travel experience, what you saw, what you did, who you met. etc…

14. as you travel more, you get more excited to explore, even if its a tropical destination where you lay down at the beach, and take in the sun, sand, the salt ocean, sea water, and relaxing at a resort

15. When you go on cruise ships, you explore more than one country in one vacation, city, town, and several and few hours of touring, and enjoying the city, village, town and you will then say, Hey I have been there.

16. You will know a difference between a getaway and vacation. A getaway is somewhere to explore, and be adventurous, going to museums, churches, world landmarks, backpacking, and all the trips that involve intense touring, hustle, bustle, and a vacation is somewhere, where you relax all week at a resort, where you need some much needed rest and get refreshed.

17. lastly, traveling requires research before you leave. to make sure that you have the right documents, visas, passports that have no expired and that will teach you responsibility of handling your own documents, and making sure that you have everything up to date and you are ready to take this special and beautiful journey of travel. You will learn about the local laws of the destination you travel to.

Enjoy Traveling. Not many people get lucky to do it! So if you can travel, and explore the world, do it! Some people have never even seen an airport which I have encountered people like that in my life. Traveling changes you big time and gives you a new perspective on life.

Protecting Yourself While Traveling – Tips to Keep you Safe

When Traveling and going to the Airport, it is very important to keep yourself protected and safe at all times and I have the advice, tips and ways to protect yourself and your identity, as it is easy to obtain your information from your luggage contact tags. Here are ways you can protect yourself:

1. Never ever keep your baggage tags visible with your contact information sticking out for people to see. Always tuck in your contact information such as your phone number, e-mail, home address. Purchase Bright coloured tags, but like a sleeve pocket that is not invisible. Unfortunately You will be surprised on how much crime is committed and how many identities have been stolen in the past and possibly until now. So keep your information tucked in.

2. A lot of bags now are similar in colour, sizes, and can easily be taken by mistake by another passenger, make sure you have tags that you know and are aware of what bags are yours, or buy baggage that is a different colour. We now see a lot of black, brown, navy blue, red, and dark purple bags, but get out from the ordinary and get something that you will identify quickly.

3. Make sure that you print and put your contact information inside the baggage too in case your luggage information tag falls out. Heaven forbid if your baggage gets lost or is left behind at an airport and did not make it to the plane, they can identify who’s bag it is and will contact you.

4. Always make sure you jot down the make of your baggage, the size, colour, contents, and write down the description of all your travel baggages on paper so that in case if it gets lost or left behind hopefully not, you can go to baggage claim department at the airport or you can directly contact the airline and quickly give in the information without struggling to figure it out. They will give you a number of your baggage on a white sticker paper and will put one on the baggage so that they can locate the bag in the destination that it was lost in.

5. Never ever leave your baggage and personal belongings unattended before going to the airport, at the airport, and on your return flight and arrival. When you go to the washroom, take it inside the stall with you, when you are going around the shops, always keep one hand on your bag, never ever leave your bag behind you, unless when it has wheels that you wheel it with you when you are going to the gate or where ever at the airport. – Someone can easily put something in it or steal your bag.

6. After checking in for your flight at the airport, have your carry on luggage locked until you head to the security screening, and then after going through security always lock your carry-on luggage to protect your belongings. If you have a carry on purse only, this does not apply to you, but those who just have wheeled carry on bags.

7. When boarding your plane, make sure that your carry on baggage is visible to you when you put it up on the overhead compartment of the plane and remember where you put it, so that you can keep an eye on it in case somebody else mistakenly takes it after landing to the destination.

8. Never ever accept any closed or sealed packages or bags to deliver because you never know what is inside. Then you can be fined, charged, and commit a crime unknowingly, then you can say goodbye to your traveling days. Always ask the person, and open it for yourself. Better yet, do not even bother. If that person wants that stuff delivered, let them do so by a courier company or let that person deliver it themselves. Never accept the responsibility of taking someone elses stuff unless you see it for your own eyes and make sure that it is accepted by security and customs by doing research online.

9. Never keep your carry on baggage, purses, or personal items open. Always zip up your bags. Keep wallets, travel insurance documents, tickets and passports in the depths of your bag, but keep them together so that it takes only couple of seconds to get out from your bag, but never keep your passports and tickets on top of your bags and where its easy to be taken away. especially if you have money visible. Always keep that separate.

10. If you see or feel that anything is suspicious with a passenger or see something not right, right away tell your flight attendant, airport ground employees, security or whoever. Your name and yourself will be kept confidential. The eye in the sky will also monitor as well.

11. If you do fall asleep while at the gate waiting for your flight, always have your hands and your feet on your carry on baggage at all times especially if it is just you who is traveling and nobody else is with you, so that if you do feel like its being touched or something, you will wake up.

12. If some things are of great value to you, and if you have an emotional attachment to it, do not pack them in your carry on. best to keep it at home. Best bet is, do not bring valuables with you and expensive real jewelery with you or things that cost you a lot of money. Do not buy expensive carry on baggage or handbags or even your checked baggage.

13. Never pack medication, laptops, camera’s, small electronics in your checked baggage.

That is it, have a safe and great flight, but always keep in mind these tips to keep you safe and protected. It is very important. Also in daily life when you go out, always protect yourself and take extra measures to keep you and your personal belongings safe.

How Certain Airlines Can Improve Quality Service

In this day in age, some Airlines not to name them, but in the travel industry has drastically changed their ways in terms of quality service, taking away many great things such as dining options, and so much more. Some airlines still do just offer water, soft drinks, juice, coffee and tea on short flights and of course long flights, but a lot has changed and not for the better, but for the worst. Unfortunately it is not in the hands of the Flight Attendants, and other employees of those certain Airlines, but the ones who are high up in the Airline Travel Industry who govern and come up with these ridiculous ideas which to this day, don’t know how it has been approved. In a lot of Industries, Money and greed gets in the way of many things. Some airlines used to provide stationary napkins, disposable airline food plates, cutlery, giving candies, and other things, where headsets used to be complimentary back in the day. Nowadays, its very rare. Even now in US destinations they are charging to check bags in, and Carry on Baggage are getting heavier. Well, here are tips and tricks on Airline Quality that needs to come back. Besides we pay a lot of money for our trips, and to take us to our destinations, but Here are ways to improve it all:

1. US Destinations and all flight that go to the US, or get out from US, charge $25.00 or whatever the fee to check baggage, whereas passengers are making carry on baggage a lot more heavier, so they save on money. Besides the passengers pay enough for their flights and you would think that these airlines would offer checking bags as a service, not charging extra for it as it should automatically be a given. They do not think that people can boost US Economy by buying gifts and souvenirs, but are stuck for space because majority of the people just use Carry on to travel to those destinations. So people do not know what to pack anymore because of it. Ok $25.00 may not be a lot of money, but it is for others and nobody should have to pay that amount. They were doing well all these years without that fee, why out of the blue start with it now? Greed and Lack of service is the cause. More money in the CEO and executives pockets.

2. Say you are traveling from New York to California, which is a long flight of about 5 hours or so, These airlines do not offer complimentary dining anymore, you need to dish out more dollars to eat on a plane. They come around giving these small snacks to everyone, which has about 4 or 5 pretzels in it, or whatever it is. Nobody should have to dish out more money then what they paid for their flights to eat. It should be a given and a service that should be included. No matter the duration of flight, give passengers something.

3. Say you are traveling to Boston, Massachusetts from Toronto, Canada, but have to connect to say Newark, New Jersey which is more southern than Boston, which then the plane has to fly back north, whereas a flight from Toronto to Boston is about an hour and a half, which then becomes an all day event. It should not happen. Connecting flights, especially in the US. It is okay to connect flights in Europe and go to another destination from there, but if they are flights that are 30 minutes to 5 hours in length should not connect, especially those flights that go out of their way like say you are Flying to Florida From Toronto, but have to connect flights in Chicago which is more west, and then you have to take another plane to fly to Florida from there. It really does not make any sense to me. Its a 2 and a half hour flight from Toronto, Just take people there instead of having people get off the plane, to change terminals and gates and get passengers exhausted. — I know in situations, they need to fill up the planes, and get more passengers aboard, but whatever the case, People should be relaxed and comfortable. Not hussle and bustle through hundreds of airports to get to a destination.

4. When passengers board the planes, give the passengers a complimentary headset, or a keepsake with the Airline logo, candy, chocolate with the logo, a re-usable shopping bag with the airline logo on it, or something really nice for passengers. Besides we the passengers keep these planes flying and we are the ones who boost the travel industry. Without passengers, the industry will go bye bye, and we do not want that, do we?

5. Flight attendants, Ground Crew, Airline stewards, Pilots, Co-Pilots, and other employees are trained to do their jobs from how each airline operates their services, where the CEO’s, Supervisors, Managers, and those high up tell them what to do all the time, and tell them how to operate, but some Airlines I have traveled with, they do not smile, and the quality is not there as it used to be years ago. They work so hard and they should be appreciated more, Give them bonuses, give them appreciation because Airport, Airline industry is one of the hardest jobs to do, and when airports are bigger it takes a lot out of them with the many long hours due to delays, or other reasons. They deserve a lot of respect, and maybe the Airline Crew will smile, and feel more appreciated for the work they do with paying them to make ends meet and basically the passengers pay enough for their flights, so money management and using that money wisely to further improve quality of service is a must. Greed does not get anybody anywhere in life. Just makes things a lot more complicated.

6. Baggage handlers and those responsible for getting your bag to your planes, need to be more careful with peoples bags, and to make sure that checked baggage gets to the correct planes, and not left behind at airports, and to make sure that those bags get to their owners when they arrive at another airport. I have seen the way that these baggage handlers operate and it is not good. No wonder why some baggage gets lost, damaged, and does not make it to the other destination. Need to double triple check the luggage tags and where the destinations are, So that we do not run into problems with baggage all the time, and focus on energy on important things such as getting passengers to their perspective destinations safely with all their belongings.

What other ways can Airlines improve? I would like to hear from you and your opinions on how airlines need to change rules for the better and to make flying a fun, enjoyable, comfortable, relaxing and exciting thing for all travelers.

Safe travels and hope that your airline experience is a pleasant and happy one.