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Check out this week’s Friday Funny from cartoonist Dave Blazek!
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As more Americans learn about the opportunity to travel to Cuba legally, we’ve begun fielding questions about what the island is like, what travelers need to do to prepare for a trip there, what is and isn’t allowed in Cuba, and how Americans are perceived after so many years of embargo-fueled shortages of just about everything.
I have written my latest contribution to Huffington Post with those questions in mind. Titled “What to know before you go to Cuba,” the article covers what the people of Cuba are like, what Americans need to do to comply with the People-to-People license, and why, if you truly love to travel, you really should visit Cuba. Visit the site to read my thoughts in full.
Do you have more questions about travel to Cuba? Leave them in a comment and I’ll be happy to answer.
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Check out this week’s Friday Funny from cartoonist Dave Blazek!
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Check out this week’s Friday Funny from cartoonist Dave Blazek!
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Today, we’re continuing to share travel experiences that some Friendly Planet Travel staff members have had while abroad. Terence talked about traveling to Tokyo, and Liz let us in on her lovely trip to Vietnam.
In our next post, we’re speaking with Kristin Wagner, a member of our Reservations team. Kristin had never left the country before, so we’ve been looking forward to hearing how her trip on our Discover Ireland tour went. We sat down for a Q-and-A with Kristin to talk about her experience in Ireland, and what it meant to her as a first-time international traveler.
FP: How was your overall experience in Ireland?
Kristin: It was just amazing. I had never traveled before, so it was my first trip out of the country.
FP: What was the experience of traveling alone like? Read more…
Cuba was always on Mimi’s Gough’s bucket list, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to check it off. So when the U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) made people-to-people travel to Cuba legal, Mimi knew she had to jump at the chance to visit this fascinating destination.
Mimi is a travel enthusiast who has visited over 40 countries in her lifetime. She has traveled on escorted tours and on solo explorations, and was once a travel agent herself! Mimi and her husband went to Cuba on our Discover Havana tour in September 2012, and she wrote about her experience for the Portland Press Herald. I loved her write-up, and asked our blogging team to reach out to Mimi to hear more about her trip.
She joined us for a podcast to discuss her trip, why she chose Friendly Planet for her tour, the great people she met along the way, and the most memorable experience she had in Cuba. Listen in for these details and more.
Thanks so much for sharing your tour experience with us, Mimi! We had a great time talking with you.
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Check out this week’s Friday Funny from cartoonist Dave Blazek!
“The best way to learn about a destination is through its flavors.” That’s the travel philosophy of Rachelle Lucas, founder and editor of TheTravelBite.com and the next guest for our Travel Talk blog series.
So how does one become a travel and food blogger? In Rachelle’s case, quite by accident! When she felt she wasn’t living her life to the fullest, she left her marketing job in the banking industry to move to Florida and become an inn keeper. When the inn decided to start blogging, it chose Rachelle to lead the charge.
From there, Rachelle discovered her love for sharing recipes and travel stories through a blog. She is no longer an innkeeper, but continues to travel, blog, and try new food all over the world. We asked her to answer a few questions so we could learn more about the fabulous exotic cuisine she has tasted from every corner of the planet.
1) We’ve read that you quit your office job, opened an inn in Florida, and the rest is history. What sparked this decision, and was it a difficult one to make?
What sparked the decision is that I didn’t feel I was my true “authentic” self. Many of my friends were happy working downtown in an office environment, but I always looked out the window with a longing for something different. I was successful. I had a great job with a big desk and my own office. I just wasn’t happy. After staying at a bed-and-breakfast and mingling with the innkeepers all morning, I was hooked! Their 9-5 seemed more like my Saturday morning. After that, it wasn’t a hard decision to make. The most difficult part in any goal or dream is identifying what you want. Once you have that in mind, it’s just about enjoying the journey and the process.
2) Do you mostly travel domestically or internationally? Read more…
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Check out this week’s Friday Funny from cartoonist Dave Blazek!
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Tax season is officially over and you might be expecting a refund check in the near future. The average person will receive a tax refund of about $2,755, according to the IRS, which can come in handy if you want to get away on an international vacation. To help, I’ve broken down a few suggestions for where you can travel at a few different price points.
If you’re looking to stay under about $2,000 per person, I recommend:
Peggy Goldman is a specialty tour operator and travel expert, who owns and operates Friendly Planet Travel, a full-service company that specializes in tour packages to exotic worldwide destinations at affordable prices. More about Peggy
