Am I crazy?

*NOTE: I started writing this post back in April of 2014 apparently - tomorrow I follow through with this plan, stay tuned for more updates!

Wait, I probably already know the answer to that. I guess the question should be, how crazy am I?

So here's what I'm thinking. Every February I leave the cold, Siberian weather of Winnipeg behind and go somewhere that has never heard of snow. It's wonderful. However, to get to these places it generally cost an arm and a leg because they are far far farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr away from here.

For 2015 I'm thinking of employing a different strategy. In fact, strategy isn't really a word normally used when planning air travel, except when referring to planning trips with the shortest layovers.

For 2015 I am thinking of *trying* to get to Phoenix. Confused yet? Isn't it just a matter of booking a ticket and going? Herein lies my master plan. The Super Bowl is going to be held in Phoenix, which means flights are going to be jam packed on the Thursday/Friday/Saturday before "THE Sunday", which, in turn, means that they are likely going to be asking for volunteers to take alternate flights. Generally, when the airlines ask for volunteers, they entice you with vouchers good for future travel; goodness knows I have more time than money. For example, when I was on my way home from my February trip last year, I was able to volunteer to come home 3 hours later on my Chicago to Winnipeg flight  - and I got a $400 future travel credit/voucher to do so! I don't know what you do for a living, but I earn less than $20/hr - not $133. Added to the value was the for whatever reason, my original flight was delayed by 1.5 hours, so my wait was actually only 1.5 hours - that means I got $266/hr to sit and read in the airport.

...and that's basically where my draft post left off - more to come soon - feel free to bully me into updates. With any luck, I'll be sitting around in an airport with not much to do!

Casco Viejo - come while you can

As some of you likely know, I was on holiday in Panama earlier this year. I didn't really research Panama much before I came but probably should have... I based my decision to go there on the fact that travellers I had met in Nicaragua a few years back spoke highly of parts of it. Turns out, I need to pay closer attention, but that is for another post.

View towards downtown from Casco Viejo

Like the beginning of pretty much any trip this one starts in the capital city, Panama. With my trusted* Lonely Planet in hand I started trying to figure out where I wanted to stay. If you've ever tried planning where you want to stay when you don't know what you want to see, you'll know that it's a bit of a battle.

I settled on Casco Viejo ("Old Compound") because of numerous reviews of things being referred to as charming, and who doesn't like charming? Well the masses were certainly not mistaken, it definitely is. An area most definitely in transition, crumbling façades with their ornate iron railings barely holding on sit shoulder to shoulder with grandly restored beauties.

Just about every tour you can take in Panama City includes some time here, but I dare say, especially if you are of the hotel staying variety (vs hostel goer) don't stay in a shiny glass tower downtown, spend your dollars here. The President of Panama also happens to live right smack in the middle of Casco Viejo so that means constant police patrols and permanently stationed officers nearby; this keeps the transitional neighbourhood from feeling unsafe. If you are a hostel-goer, there are at least three right in the thick of things, the only drawback for those not on budget that allows for all meals to be eaten out is the lack of a proper supermarket nearby.Casco Viejo is clearly on the upswing and as the remaining buildings are restored I can only imagine that prices will continue to rise, for both accommodation and dining options. I had the opportunity to stay at both Luna's Castle and Magnolia Inn, you can see my Trip Advisor reviews here and here and to sum it up, if you are over 30 and/or enjoy showering on a daily basis, you are probably more of a Magnolia person...

There is very little English spoken in Panama City, which, yes, the language here is Spanish so not really a surprise; it does come as a bit of an adjustment however, after travelling to places like India and Thailand where those in close contact with tourists often have just enough English under their belt to be able to help a hapless mono-linguistic traveller such as myself.

Some costs to consider when planning a trip here: taxi ride from airport ~$35, bus only available during the day and would likely still require a cab ride of a few dollars. Dorm beds $15 and up. Private rooms can be had in a great place, the Magnolia Inn (also a "luxury hostel") for $80 and up.

The importance of your credit card when travelling

Or I should say, the importance of the RIGHT credit card.

I recently arrived in Panama after an almost 18 hour delay, due to my very first flight of the day being an hour late due to the crew requiring rest from delayed flights from the day before.

Thankfully, and I say this without a smidge of sarcasm, the delay happened right in Winnipeg, which meant that I got to deal with a subcontracted United Airlines employee rather than a real one. He sorted me out for onward flights the next day and even made sure that United would put me up in a hotel that night; a fact that seemed to startle the real (read: surly) United employee in Chicago. I was also sent on my way with vouchers that could be used for food, both at the airport and the hotel.

However, had my delay not happened until Chicago and I had been left only with regular United employees who I truly believe would not have done much for me, I would not have been entirely out of options.

Because I charged my full airfare to my CIBC Aerogold Infinite Visa (and no, they are not sponsoring this post - but if someone from CIBC sees this and wants to send some Aeroplan point love my way I will graciously accept) I was eligible for their Flight Delay and Baggage Insurance. This means that if United hadn't ponied up, since it was a covered delay of at least four hours I was eligible for up to $500 to cover my expenses! It is an aggregate limit, so if I'm understanding correctly, if I was part of a family of four with all tickets being eligible, I would still only be covered as a family for a total of $500; which is still a pretty good deal. There is also up to $100 to spend on entertainment while you pass the delay away.

Chances are, if you have a premium credit card of some sort (with an annual fee of around $120+) you have coverage similar to this. It would be well worth checking on the website of your card issuer and printing off the PDF for handy reference - there is going to be at least some hoop jumping to claim this of course and you want to be prepared. Some would argue that this type of insurance is not worth $120 annually, but like any insurance it seems like a waste until you need it. Keep in mind these premium cards often carry other insurances like Trip Interruption, and Collision/Loss insurance for when you rent a car.

Another handy insurance that my card has, that sure could have helped a fellow Winnipegger I met upon arriving at my hostel in Panama - once her luggage had been declared MIA for 6 hours she would have been eligible for up to $500 ($1000 aggregate) to purchase herself some clothes and other necessities; as it was the poor girl wore the same thing for THREE DAYS while Delta fraffed about getting her luggage here. Three days people. In the the clothes she travelled in. There of course could also just be the added advice to always have a change of underwear and maybe an extra shirt in your carry on - that certainly won't stop you from being eligible to make your claim!

The travel bug

It's something the glossy brochures don't tell you about (probably because it is rarely caught anywhere displayed within their pages, but I digress). The travel bug. When this sucker bites you, it's nasty, usually will stick with you for years, if not life.

Right now I'm going through a particularly bad attack. It seems as though for me, snow is a trigger. So I sit here and all I can think of is getting away. Not that I don't love Winnipeg of course, but I need sun and humidity, stat. So I find myself trolling the travel websites looking for a fix. I used the online library catalogue to order myself a host of Lonely Planet books to dream over.

Even once (if) I book myself an escape it's not a cure, all it does is intensify the dreaming until departure day. Then it's real, there are things to be planned, I have justification for my behaviour then.

Sigh. Okay, well, back to Expedia...

Vegas baby, Vegas!

I may have spontaneously booked a trip to Vegas yesterday. Only $310 for two nights from Fargo. It will be a bit of whirlwind trip, but it should be good times nonetheless. Heck, it would cost almost that much just to go to stay in Fargo for the weekend!

I have been to Vegas *ahem* a fair number of times - my normally mild mannered personality undergoes quite the transformation when I'm there. I can't help it, there's something in the air! Ok, maybe there is something in the free drinks.

It will be me and TC again, she is my usual Vegas partner in crime. We are staying at a "new" hotel this time; sadly the structure itself is not new at all - we are staying at almost a classic - Imperial Palace. This was a budgetary decision, old hotel = cheap hotel.  Imperial Palace is also pretty centrally located so if we don't hire a car we should be within stumbling distance of a few things.

Gambling you ask? Oh, I've heard that Vegas has that, but I've already decided that I'm winning Lotto Max this Friday - the $50 million - so I'll probably be all gambled out. That being said, after I win I think I'll upgrade our hotel just a smidge....

Back to London town and then north

May I suggest if you are ever going to fly to Kenya, pick a direct flight. Our flight was on Monarch Airlines, an airline one small step above a charter airline, the food was dreadful and you had to pay for anything other than coffee or tea and god forbid you wanted water - haul your ass to the very back of the plane and get it yourself.

Our flight stopped in Switzerland, adding more than two hours to our already delayed flight, so more than 15 hours after we left for the airport, we arrived back in London.  Nothing says good times like renting a car to get around, so bad map in hand we headed for our friends place in South London.

After a good nights sleep, me and the TC headed north to Blackpool, the UK version of Las Vegas, or something like that.  If nothing else it's where everybody heads for their bachelor and bachelorette parties.  As the designated driver (TC is too terrified to drive in the UK) I had decided that the English countryside was too beautiful to miss so I mandated that we would that the "A" roads rather than the main motorway.  What I forgot was that they are full of crazy, poorly signposted roundabouts.

We successfully made it up to Blackpool, to visit with family (of sorts) of TC. We even managed to get a rare day of sunshine - apparently the sun hadn't made an appearance in weeks! Blackpool is an interesting place and TC's family is a police officer who had nothing but interesting stories from football games and stag and hen parties. On one hand, Blackpool is supposed to be a family-friendly seaside destination (British people need to expect more of beach weather but that is another story) and the other main reason to come to Blackpool is to get sloshed and for guys to dress in drag to express their masculinity (no idea how that one works) while out on their one last hurrah before tying the knot.

Since we were there in winter, Blackpool was a virtual ghost town, half of the hotels were closed for the season and the days when the sun wasn't shining it looked almost sinister. Add ridiculous roadworks to the mix and it was quite a picnic! Thankfully knowing people makes all the difference.

After Blackpool it was straight back to London to spend one last day before heading home. I bought myself  a ridiculously fun suitcase...

I always bring home strange things from my trips, this one being no different. In Kenya, all I bought were two very nice pairs of sandals and then food coloring. Yup. Food colouring. But the powdered kind that is way better but usually expensive. It was only 25 cents there, so I stocked up. I also brought home instant coffee to use in recipes. The only instant coffee I've ever seen here is chunky and this was fine, so it will be way better for baking.

The flight home was mostly uneventful, although I did have very nice staff on the flight, to the point that I asked for a comment card. If any of you have ever flown Air Canada you will know that their air hosts are some of the most surly unionized staff delivering "customer service" anywhere. Well, the cranky folks stayed off that flight so it was fairly enjoyable.  I even managed to catch a slightly earlier connecting flight home, although my luggage didn't. It was delivered to my work the next day though, have no fear that my food colouring didn't make it home!

All in all, Kenya is most certainly a place I would visit again and I hope I am lucky enough to get to do so. I will of course visit London again as it feels like home. The trick now is to find a UK husband so I don't have to keep leaving!

Lions and leopards and zebras, oh my!

Well, me and TC managed to successfully go on safari and not get eaten by lions! To be honest, I wasn't all that worried, but multiple people told me to avoid it, so I thought maybe they knew something I didn't!

The safari was excellent, not that I've been on any other ones, but that's besides the point. We saw 4 of the "big 5" (lions, buffalo, leopards and elephants but no rhinos) as well as zebras, dikdiks (I'm not making that up), warthogs, impalas, hippos, hyenas and giraffes.

First we headed to Tsavo West National Park where we spent the night. The hotel had a watering hole, conveniently located just outside the terrace bar, that during our visit was visited by over a half dozen elephants, and a hyena and a creepy looking bird called a Marabou Stork.   After an early game drive in Tsavo West including a trip to Mzima Springs, we headed to Tsavo East National Park for some flatter terrain.

Our hotel in Tsavo East was the Voi Wilderness Lodge, a fairly elaborate affair with a watering hole (shocking I know) that attracted an elephant, a lion and a pretty playful hippo. We were lucky to get to see two female lions out in the park the first day and a male out on the prowl the second.

All in all, it was a pretty incredible time.