Friendly Planet Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Testimonial’

Going abroad for the first time: One traveler’s experience in Ireland

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? (more…)

Travel enthusiast checks Cuba off her bucket list

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.

The sights and tastes of Vietnam

Known for its extraordinary beauty, charming people, and delicious food, Vietnam remains a favorite destination among travel enthusiasts. Previously, I mentioned that I invited some of our staff members to share their travel experiences on our blog in order to give our readers a snapshot of some of the most fascinating places around the world. Today Liz Hutchins, one of our reservations agents, shares her account of her trip to Vietnam:

“After months of preparation for my trip to Vietnam, I knew to expect certain things when I got there: lots of motor bikes, terrific food, and sights that I have come to know from countless movies and TV shows. What I didn’t expect was that I’d immediately fall in love with this beautiful country.

As soon as I landed, I was overwhelmed by the seemingly endless swarms of motorbikes, crowds, and food. People were either bustling about or sitting down to enjoy a delicious meal. Food stands selling Pho (a dish made of broth, rice noodles, a few herbs, and meat), broken rice, and Banh Mi sandwiches were everywhere, and I couldn’t wait to try them all!

I first tried Vietnamese food around 12 years ago, and ever since, I have been obsessed. When I had my first crispy spring roll all those years ago, who would have thought someday I would be making them in a cooking class on the Mekong Delta? Vietnam is a foodie’s paradise, and every day is an adventure! (more…)

The best things Dubai has to offer

As you might know, we recently announced that we’re giving away a free trip for two on our Dazzling Dubai tour through our latest Facebook sweepstakes: “Be Dazzled by Dubai.” If you’ve never been to the city of Dubai, it’s a wonderfully exotic and lavish place for shopping, dining, and to see some of the world’s most breathtaking sights.

To give you a better sense of what you have to look forward to should you be the lucky winner of our sweepstakes, I asked our Reservations Manager here at Friendly Planet, Katherine Howard, to share her personal account of a recent trip to Dubai. Here’s what she had to share with me, in her own words:

Flying to Dubai: The flight was incredible — the service was awesome, the food was great, and the flight attendants were helpful and friendly. There was a wide variety of movies to watch throughout the flight, and for anyone who has seen Sex and the City 2, the flight attendants are dressed exactly as in the movie when the ladies fly to Dubai.

I was fortunate enough to fly in business class and it was 100 percent worth the upgrade. The seats extend flat so you can sleep comfortably on the 13-hour flight from JFK. The flight attendants also pass out mini mattress toppers to make you even more comfortable.

Sightseeing – Burj Khalifa: One of my favorite things about the trip to Dubai was the view from the top of the Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world. Opened in January of 2010, this building has over 160 floors and is 2,717 feet high. The super-fast elevator ride to the observation deck was smooth, the lights were dimmed, and there was soft music playing. When the doors opened you could see the sky. The deck’s open air and floor-to-ceiling glass took my breath away, and I felt like you could see forever from up there. (more…)

About Peggy

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

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