Many of you know that I spent last week in Salt Lake City for the annual USANA Convention.  Over the next few blogs posts, I will be sharing some of the great wisdom and tip that I learned from our amazing line-up of guest speakers and USANA Associates who provided training sessions.  First, I wanted to share what it was like to travel for the first time as a mom.

I have spent much of my life traveling, crossed the ocean more that a dozen times and on average take 2-3 trips a year. I am used to being away from my family, especially since my parents live in Mexico and my sister and her husband live in Vancouver.  This trip was the first time I would be away from my 11-month old daughter for more than a night. I knew it would be challenging and lucky for me, I was surrounded by many more experienced moms who helped me out.

A few things I did to prepare ahead of time:

• I made sure my daughter was well taken care of, by people I trusted.  She spent her days at our new day care and evenings with Daddy.  The weekend was spent with my in-laws, who spoiled her.
• I created a vibrant, funky dance mix to lift my spirits in case I was starting to get homesick.
• I put many photo albums of my daughter and family on my BB Playbook, so I could easier flip through them at any time.
• I asked my hubby to take a photo of her every morning and every evening, and to send it to my phone.

The first few days of the trip went well, no sign of the tears yet.  What I noticed is that many people do ask you about how you’re feeling and if you’re having a hard time being away.  I became aware that there are a few different types of “traveling parents” out there too:

• Those who were away from their kids for the first time, and found it tough (me!)
• Those who had been away from their kids before, and still found it tough
• Those who are often away from their kids, miss them, but are really good at being present and enjoying their time away (working on that!)
• Finally, those who just brought their kids along – there were so many babies and children at Convention this year! It was nice to get a “baby fix” every once in a while

I made it through the first 3 days pretty well, but by the 4th day, I was starting to get homesick. We tried to do a video call (with Google) and couldn’t get the sound and video to work at the same time. I got to see her little chubby legs and longed to be holding her in my arms. By Saturday, it was getting more and more difficult for me to focus on the events of the day – which were amazing, and included a speech by Chris Gardner (of The Pursuit of Happyness). And even though thousands of flights had been cancelled and so many people were being re-routed by Hurricane Irene, I decided to go to the airport on Saturday night and do whatever I needed to do to catch a late night flight out.

By some miracle, I was able to catch a flight from SLC to ATL, which arrived at 6 am on Sunday.  I took the 9 am flight to Buffalo and was holding my daughter by 1 pm.  She was so excited to see me and kept hugging me. It was amazing. I never realized how hard it would be for me, but I will do it again next year. It’s so important for me to have room to grow as a person as well, and this trip provides that for me and my team every year. And hopefully, by next year, she’s be able to carry on a conversation on the phone so that I know she understands that I love her and miss her.

Share your experiences about traveling without your kids. Have you done it yet? Longest trip? What do you find is your biggest challenge when you are away? And finally, any tips on how to make the trip easier on mom?

It’s so easy these days to find other things to spend money on rather than a vacation. And when you’re both self-employed, it’s even more of a challenge because of lost income. There is much more value in a vacation than the money you spend, as we re-discovered this past week when we were in New Hampshire.

My parents own timeshare with RCI so they gave us the week as a gift (great start to the vacation cost!). We drove down through the Eastern Townships of Quebec and spent a night with my best friend Lee-Anne and her family.  That was a real treat for us, since she had been living across the country in Seattle for 5 years. The next afternoon, we drove the last couple of hours to Attitash, New Hampshire.  Attitash is in the White Mountains, and only 15 minutes from the famous Mount Washington Hotel.

Our unit was such a treat for us! Since we live in a fairly small two bedroom apartment, this 2 bedroom unit was actually bigger than our home, plus it had a 2nd bathroom, a fireplace, washer & dryer and cable!! It was really comfortable for our little family.  Céline did so well on the 9 + 2 hour drive and she really liked our little home for the week. In fact, she learned how to sleep on her tummy while we were gone and now almost sleeps through the night.  That’s my new recommendation for getting kids to sleep through the night – go on vacation and figure it out!!

We were blessed with a few days of nice weather, so we were able to go for a few hikes and see some amazing waterfalls. Nearby is the town of North Conway with a few outlet stores so we went shopping. There is no sales tax in NH (a 13% savings for us) so we purchased a new Blackberry Playbook while we were there.  Once I start to get the hang of it, I’ll tell you more about.  For now, let’s just say it’s a great business and entertaining tablet.

So, why take a vacation? For us, this vacation was time to relax, we had no schedule at all, nothing special we wanted to visit and no specific timelines. It was an opportunity for my husband to spend a week with our daughter, something he doesn’t have the opportunity to do on a regular basis. For me, it was a chance to share more of the child care duties and just enjoy being with my hubby and daughter.  We really had the chance to recharge and rest. This was an ideal vacation for a couple with a young baby.

What’s your idea of a great vacation? When was the last time you took a vacation? Do you take a vacation every year? What would be your DREAM vacation? Check in below on the comments.

Sure, this message is one you’ve heard before. I’ve blogged about it a few times and I’m sure you’re read many other blogs, books and seen movies about the power of gratitude.  It’s a message that doesn’t really get old though. And often, we get so caught up in being BUSY that we forget to take the time to be grateful every single day.

One of the things that I am most grateful for right now is being pregnant. It’s truly an amazing feeling to carry a new life in my belly – as much as I had read about it, heard about it, seeing about it – there is nothing that compares to the actually feeling.  It’s all very strange at the same time – because you have very little control with what is going on in your body! The whole thing is an automated process. How amazing is that? Regardless of whether you believe in God, Allah, the Universe – someone made it a truly amazing process that needs little or no help from the mom who is carrying the life.

That’s not to say that pregnant women shouldn’t take extra care of themselves and their bodies during this time. Truly, that is all we are really responsible for. I have been doing my best to stay healthy, continue on my healthy eating regime, remain on-the-wagon (alcohol free) and exercise regularly. The biggest challenge is getting enough rest. I’m not sure if any of the other mommies and mommies to be out there can relate, but things that I would normally recover from quickly, take a few extra days.  For example, I just flew out to Orlando for the weekend, taking an afternoon flight on Thursday and returning Sunday evening.  Normally a fairly hectic trip regardless, although this time there were no time zone changes.  Heading right back to work and Toastmasters on Monday was WAY too much for me! I was completely wiped out!! It’s taken me 3 nights and 2 full days to feel back to normal.  Here’s  a secret of pregnancy that I didn’t realize – flying at high altitudes, with greater pressure, can make it very uncomfortable.  I didn’t really understand why I felt so uncomfortable on the longer flights until a flight attendant explained that the pressure can be very uncomfortable for pregnant women.  I am glad I am staying on solid ground until after she is born.

So,what can you to do remember to be grateful every single day? Here are a few suggestions:

• • The Secret Gratitude Book – this is an excellent daily reminder to be grateful
  • Create your dream board and post it at the foot of your bed. That way you wake up and can be grateful for all of the wonderful things that are manifesting in your life.
  • Use Thoughtspots on your mirror to remind you.
  • Take a look at who you are waking up beside or who’s sleeping in the next room and be grateful that they are in your life.  This can be a partner, spouse, child, pet or another family member.
  • Smile more! It’s always easy to be grateful when you’re smiling.

What are your strategies for remembering to be grateful every day? Share with us in the comments section.  Enjoy the rest of this beautiful gift of a day that we have all been given.

yet so much fun to go for Greatness! The rest of my weekend in San Francisco was about going for greatness – and having fun while doing it!

The most fun we had was on Saturday night, we had a”Gelebration” – yup, we didn’t really understand what that meant either. People were very creative with their costumes though – it probably helped that there was a contest with cash prizes. Here’s one of my favourites. I was thinking about it – what other product in network marketing could you not only dress up as, but take the actual product and packaging and make a beautiful costume? We really do have something quite beautiful and innovative.

As for me, I took advantage of the cast on my foot, and came up with a creative costume. Before and After FLX.  Even Randy appreciated the creativity.  I didn’t win the cash prize but certainly had a lot of fun! The party was full of great costumes, good music and lots of laughter.  Take a look at the full album at the end of the post for more costume photos.

Sunday morning we wrapped up the conference with two amazing sessions, first with Eric Worre and followed by Randy Gage.  The bottom line for me is that I truly realized that the journey to Greatness is not going to be easy, but that the reward is worth every challenge and sacrifice along the way.  The reason that most people never achieve Greatness is because the journey is hard.  And it is easier to stay comfortable and live in mediocrity.  Now that I know what Greatness looks like, it’s much harder to stay where I am.  It’s time to truly be free from the matrix. And it will take time and hard work, but I know that Dan and I will be free and we will have the chance to live a life we’ve dreamed of, all the while helping others to achieve Greatness themselves and working with incredible leaders from across the globe.

My San Francisco experience was wonderful.  One and a half days of being a tourist and 2 1/2 days of Rockstar training. I met so many incredible people and made so many new friends, not only in Agel, but by travelling alone I had the chance to make many connections.  I am grateful that I had the chance to take this trip, I have always wanted to go to San Francisco, but probably would not have gone for just a vacation.

Have a super day everyone and I’ve got a few more interesting posts planned for the rest of the week, so stay tuned! Here is the full album:

Agel Go Diamond

Cheers!

Friday was another great day here in San Francisco. The day started a bit gray, but soon the early morning fog burned off and it turned into a beautiful day. I still had the morning to be a tourist, so I spent some time in Union Square and then headed back down to the pier. There is so much to see down there, it was nice to just walk around a bit and enjoy the sun. I will admit that after a few days of walking with the cast, it was getting a bit more tiring.  The boot itself is comfortable, just fairly heavy (compared to a shoe).

This is such a cute statue of sea lions, right outside of the aquarium. For some reason, I chose not to visit the aquarium – I figured I would be spending the next few days inside so I might as well enjoy the sun. I wandered for a while and started to head towards Ghirardelli square.  As I got closer, I noticed an art gallery, The Martin Lawrence Galleries.  I snuck in to take a peek and was amazed. Shahala, the fine art consultant, told me all about the different artists they had on display – including Miro, Picasso, Dali and Erté.  I loved it! What an amazing gallery and such a great find.  After my visit, I was looking for a place for lunch, when I got a text from my business partner Julie, who invited me to join them back uptown.  San Francisco’s transportation system is so amazing, I found a bus stop and less than 1 min later a bus appeared. I paid $2 and believe it or not, this bus was going exactly where I needed to go.  I got across town in 22 min.  I am so impressed with the transportation here.  I could definitely live here.  It is such a wonderful city.  I may not leave my heart here, but certainly a part of it will stay.

Friday evening was the first night of our event, Go Diamond. For those of you who have read my about page, you’ll know that I have been in networking marketing for over 4 years, and with Agel Enterprises for almost a year. Over that period of time, I have attended close to a dozen large events and conventions all over Canada and the US.  Friday night was like nothing I have ever experienced before.  First, it was wonderful to connect with friends from all over the world including Australia, Ireland, Nigeria, Finland, Holland, Mexico, Panama and other parts of the US and Canada (among others).  I really love meeting and connecting with people globally.

What really touched me and changed my life were the stories that were shared by the most successful people in Agel. It is very difficult for me to put into words what went on that evening, but there were moments when I had tears in my eyes and other moments when I had chills. My business partners, Julie Mirr and Tim Berry, both told their stories – not just about business – but about their lives, where they came from, some of the challenges they faced and what their lives are now. It was so intimate and personal, I felt their emotion from the stage.  For me, the most powerful stories were shared by our two leaders, Eric Worre and Randy Gage.  I have heard them speak before, many times.  I have even heard Randy tell his story before (I have his generic audio program and his book, Why You’re Dumb, Sick and Broke).  Something was different about it tonight. Eric’s story, which was very heartbreaking at some moments, really shared with us what he went through in order to get where his is today – and why, after all of the setbacks and defeats, he chose to give it one more go with Agel. For both Eric and Randy, this is their last rodeo.  There are here to build a legacy. And Randy, as I said, I’ve heard him share his story before, yet this time we laughed more and even shared a few tears. My heart is full right now just thinking about it.

Many of you know about some of the ups and downs that I have been through this year. I realize it now (even more so) that this is just part of the journey.  And that it really is worth it.  That I have the chance to be truly free, that Dan and I can be parents to our children, and raise them ourselves (instead of paying others to do so).  I am proud to be a part of Agel and to work with such amazing people. There is a real sense of being a part of something amazing right now and I am so excited to see what 2010 has in store for us. Big things are happening this year, Agel’s 5th anniversary is around the corner and the electricity in the air is almost palpable.

San Francisco II

Here is the full album from Friday, just over a dozen photos. Tomorrow I will share my thoughts and ah-ha moments from the rest of the weekend.

Happy Family Day in Ontario!

I arrived in San Francisco early on Wednesday morning, 1:30 am local time (4:30 am EST).  Exhausted after two flights totaling almost 9 hours, I crawled into bed and tried to get some much needed rest. Jet lag got the best of me though and I woke up at 7 am local time. Which is perfect because I had a very full day ahead of me!

With my guidebook in hand and a smile on my face, I took off before 9 am for my day of exploring in San Francisco. First stop, the famous Trolley Car. I bought a day pass for the MUNI (transport system)for $13 dollars – absolutely worth it as it is valid on trolleys, streetcars and buses for the whole day. I headed directly to Fisherman’s Wharf.  I was blessed with perfect weather, it started off a bit cloudy, but the skies cleared and it was a sunny day. It ended with a bit of cloud rolling in and a light shower.  PERFECT!

I figured that a boat tour would be the best way to start the day. Red & White offers a deal that included the boat tour (1 hour) and the hop-on-hop-off bus for 48 hours so I decided that was my best option.  The boat tour followed the shoreline, out to Golden Gate Bridge and then back on the far side of Alcatraz.  We had an audio tour to listen to.  It was a bit chilly and windy, but nice and dry. I learned a lot on the boat tour and met some really interesting people, including a couple from LA – Wilson and Osmarys.  It was their first visit to San Fran as well. I convinced them to join me on the bus tour (they only had one day as well) and we ended up spending the whole day together. It was really amazing to meet such kind people, and we all got along really well, which made the day even more fun.

After the boat, we hopped on the bus for the first time.  We took the tour down to the Port of San Francisco and hopped off. We enjoyed the Farmer’s Market (end of Market Street), the port itself and the view of the Bay Bridge. It’s really neat how the traffic travels on two levels. After that we walked to then next bus stop about 30 min from where we were. Walking through the Financial District reminded me a bit of Toronto. One thing  we notice is how clean the city is.  It was busy, but people seemed to be smiling more that I’ve seen in Toronto. Perhaps because it’s been raining for a while and they were enjoying the sun.

We ended up right near the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art waiting for the bus.  We found out that Thursday night is half price from 6 – 9 pm.  Believe it or not, after my very full day, I made it to the museum for a short visit later that night.

We hopped back on the bus and had a really fun guide this time, Shannon from the UK.  She talked a lot but it was really interesting and funny.  We drove past Union Square (upscale shopping) and all the way to Chinatown.  We hopped off again and toured around. By now, the sun was shining and it was a stunning afternoon.  You can tell by the light in this photo. One of the things I love about this city is the architecture. It is full of variety and creativity, yet somehow, it all fits together. Not a moment went by when I didn’t notice a building with interesting architecture. It is very easy to fall in love with this city, I know I certainly did.

Once we travelled through Chinatown, we ended up on the Trolley car line, and hopped on.  We were fortunate to travel past Grace Church and decided to hop off and check it out.  What a fantastic decision.  It was absolutely stunning. I love Gothic churches and this has to be one of my absolute favourites. What a fantastic unexpected stop! This is what was most fun about our day, we didn’t have an concrete plans, so we just travelled around the city and explored what we wanted to.  San Francisco is small enough that you can do this.

After the church, we walked by a movie shoot – anyone seen the tv show Trauma? They were filming nearby. We hopped on the trolley again, and then on a bus to head down to Fisherman’s Wharf for dinner.  We ate at the restaurant above the wharf, with a beautiful view of the bay, as the light faded and the sun set. The food was amazing.  We shared a goat cheese appetizer and then I enjoyed a Dungeness crab cake sandwich with tomato and avocado.  Loved it!  After dinner, we were startled by the Bush Man – no details here but you have to experience it for a good laugh!  And we finally parted ways.  I had so much fun with Wilson and Osmarys – I certainly hope to have made new friends and I look forward to seeing them again on our next trip to California. I finished the evening by taking a streetcar (literally, a Street Car Named Desire, from Philly) to the SanFranMOMA.  By then, I was exhausted, and my foot was sore (the cast is actually very comfortable and supportive, it was my other foot), so I was only able to get through 3 floors.  I walked back to the hotel and within the hour, was back up to our room. I had such a wonderful day in the city.  I highly recommend it on places to see before you go. I would definitely return with Dan.  There is still so much to see and enjoy, especially all of the different food!

Here is a link to the full album if you’d like to see more photos.

San Francisco

Tonight is the first night of Go Diamond! and I really looking forward to connecting with my business partners and starting this intense weekend of training.

And hopefully, I’ll be able to catch some of the Olympics while I’m in the same time zone.

A bientot!

It’s snowing in the midwest right now.  A lot.  This is the biggest story on the news, and rightfully so.  There are so many challenges that come with a snowstorm, yet some of my best memories have been created during and after a storm.

Let’s start with some the GOOD memories associated with snowstorms. First, I’m sure that as a kid (and for those who are teachers) we all loved a snow day. Nothing like waking up to a perfect blanket of snow, school canceled and spending the whole day enjoying the weather. How many of us built snow forts, had snow ball fights, decorated snowmen, ate a bit fresh (white) snow or licked a cold pole?  I did it – just once.  We had a metal swingset in the backyard and I thought I should try it at least once. I was probably around 10 years old.  I believe it’s a right of passage for Canadians.  The kids where I teach love it when it snows! They make snow angels in 1 cm of snow. I love how excited kids are when there is snow on the ground. And there is so much to do in the snow – it’s easy to stay physically active. How many of you take part in cross country or downhill skiing, snowshoeing, skating, hockey?

As an adult, my best memories of snowstorms are from my time in Switzerland. There was nothing better than being the first person on the slopes after a snowstorm. Even better when the pistes haven’t been fully groomed yet. Or just going on the edge of the piste in the soft, fluffy snow. I get chills just thinking about it again. It was really amazing to have the chance to become a better skier.  Spending two winters skiing with ski instructors has its privileges.  We often ventured off piste, we knew those mountains so well, and for the most part, stayed in the safer areas.

One of the bad snowstorm stories for me occurred the day after a big storm in Switzerland.  The snow was still falling and wind still blowing, so the pistes hadn’t really settled yet.  I was out skiing with two friends of mine, one newer instructor and the other who had a great deal of experience.  The avalanche danger was high, the orange light was flashing at the top of the ski lift. We headed over to a part of the hill that was closed off due to the snow (usually an area that had open pistes) and realized our error.  We knew that if we were to go the other way, down the other side, we would end up back down near the lift.  When we got to the edge, the snow was cornice shaped.  As I found out later, this is a dangerous sign.  We made the decision to go down, over the cornices.  As we slowly edged on the slope, we made our way through the trees to get to the open slope.  As we slowly skied across, we heard a WHUMP sound and the slope seemed to drop below us.  We were scared! Nothing happened … but my heart was already beating quickly.  I was not nearly as experienced as my two companions in the powder.  It was too late to turn back, so we continued down.  When we got to the open slope, we didn’t have that far to go to get to the bottom.  They started off making nice, beautiful figure-eight turns.  I followed behind them and had my rhythm going for a while, but then lost control and fell face first.  I wasn’t hurt – there was so much snow – but I had a hard time getting up because it was so deep.  My companions were yelling at me to get up as they were worried that we had triggered an avalanche.  I got up, shaking, and made it the rest of the way down.  We were VERY LUCKY that day.  We made some critical errors in our decision to go off piste and took too many risks.  Needless to say, the 3 of us didn’t end up skiing together after that.

The downright ugly snowstorm memories for me are two very big ones that impacted Toronto and all of Southern Ontario. First, the ice storm of 1998.  How many of you remember that? The impact of the storm hit 57 communities in Ontario and 200 in Quebec.  It was such a natural disaster that they made a movie about it.  Where we you when the storm hit? I was still living in Hamilton, studying at McMaster. I remember that the roads were absolutely treacherous. And I remember feeling helpless when I heard about the number of people who were without heat, electricity, food and water across Ontario and Quebec.

The next is the famous storm in January 1999, less than one year later, when Mayor Mel Lastman called in the Army to help clear up the snow in Toronto.  This “wimpy” storm as it was called will always be what Lastman is remember for. The old joke about calling in the Army to clear up never gets old.

I wonder if this storm will make the books and been remembered by this generation? It is an enormous storm, crossing almost all of the mid-atlantic states. The roads are closed, cities completely shut down, feet and feet of snow has fallen.  I don’t think that I will forget about this storm, even though it has not directly affected us.

What is your best or worst snowstorm memory?

Sorry for the lack of photos and links – using a very slow airport connection today. Thanks to @greg_a_elliott for providing snoerty.

Next blog post will be from San Francisco!

Not too long after our holiday travel fiasco (the story starts here), I am already getting back on a plane tomorrow! Using one of the vouchers we received from Delta, I’ll be flying to San Francisco from Buffalo tomorrow evening.

After my last experience I wasn’t really sure that I would even want to go on this trip at all.  Yet I have always been a fan of travel and it’s hard for me to resist when I have the opportunity to take a trip. I have never been to San Francisco and this time I decided to arrive early so that I would have at least one day to take in the city.  At one point in time, Dan & I were planning to take this trip as our honeymoon (with a few days of training at the end).  That just wasn’t in the cards though, mostly because we just came back from our trip to Mexico last month.

Ironically, the part I really enjoy is BEING in a new place. And spending time there.  Not so much the airport and airplane part of things. That’s why when I moved overseas to Switzerland, I tended to stay in one spot for a long period of time and explored what was nearby. I’m a lot like my parents in that way.  When they sold their home in Oakville to live in a 31 foot trailer and drive around North American, they tended to spend at least a week – if not a month or two in every destination.

Even though this trip is a short one, I still have my day to be a tourist.  Whatever I choose to do has to involve more watching and relaxing, as opposed to walking (due to the aircast) but I have a feeling that down at Fisherman’s Wharf there is a lot to see. I am excited to see the Golden Gate bridge for myself and to experience the incredible weather changes that San Fran has on a daily basis. I think I’m escaping just in time as we are expecting snow over the next few days.

My questions for you today: First, have you been to San Francisco? And if so, what not to be missed if I only have one day? Second, do you prefer to travel to lots of places or live in one place for a longer period of time?

Thanks for all of your comments and emails about the cast. I was offered some very encouraging stories.

See you in San Francisco!

There is one place in the world that completely captures my heart for it’s majestic beauty, clean, fresh air and rich culture – Switzerland. I was first caught in the trance of the mountains in 1998, when Lee-Anne and I backpacked around Europe for 9 weeks. The first time I rode up the mountain in the cog train, I almost lost my breath when we came out of the forest and saw the mountains. Les dents du midi – the teeth in the middle – is the name of the range that first caught my attention.  I ended up spending 12 days at a hostel in Gryon, that faced these mountains.  This image of the mountains was burned in my brain.

Six years later, my first marriage had ended, my contract with Hershey’s was coming to an end and I no longer had anything really keeping me here in Canada. My sister had already been living in the UK, in Cambridge, for a year.  With bleak and un-exciting job prospects on the horizon, I booked a one way ticket to the UK to visit my sister. I still remember looking for jobs in Europe on the internet, and also having a telephone interview with Village Camps in Switzerland, while on my lunch hour at Hershey! My plan was to visit my sister for 10 days and then book a flight home. The day before I left, I received a phone call from Switzerland.  Somehow, I had managed to land a job teaching French at their summer camp in Leysin.  Leysin is on the same mountain range as Gryon – and I would have a view of those beautiful mountains every since day. I must be very convincing because at that time, I had no French teaching experience, and besides being a TA in University, I also had no teaching experience.  I certainly had negotiation experience though and landed my dream job for that summer.

When I look back on how my Switzerland and overseas adventure began, it certainly involved taking some decent risks. I had a little money in savings, a one way ticket, an 8 week job and no plan.  It ended up turning into over a 2 year voyage, with 7 different jobs in 3 different countries and truly one of my experiences of a lifetime. As I continue to re-read The 4-Hour Workweek, I realize that I have already experienced a portion of what Ferriss is writing about.  And there is certain a part of me that would like to do it again, albeit with Dan and with more cash flow, so that I could spend more time doing the things I really loved in Switzerland, such as rock climbing, powder skiing, hiking and just relaxing in the mountain air.

To my friends in Switzerland, I hope you are having a beautiful winter and enjoying the fantastic on and off piste skiing. Perhaps I will revisit Switzerland in a future post.  Ah, who I am kidding, of course I will.  It’s something I think about every single day since I last visited for the summer of 2007.

What place has had the most profound effect on your life? I’d love to hear about it in the comments section.

I love to travel and until this past trip, I have generally had some very good luck when it comes to traveling to the US and internationally. The tips I’m sharing are based on my own personal experience and nothing more, so use at your own risk!  And I don’t have any children yet, so all of these recommendations are based on traveling as a adult.

• Book your ticket as early as possible. This can give you priority when it comes to seating choice or if a trip has been overbooked, you are less likely to be forced off the plane.
• For extra leg room without extra cost on most airlines, book the emergency exit or bulkhead seats (front of the plane). This can be done online the day before for a domestic flight (for some airlines) or at the airport when you check in.  It’s worth it even if you aren’t very tall.
• Weigh your luggage before leaving home, most airlines are very strict about the 50 lb per bag limit and will charge you for every extra lb you are carrying. The good news is that most airlines still do not weigh your carry-on bag, so you can put some of the heavier stuff in your carry-on.  If you are traveling with 2 people, it’s still important to have the weight equally distributed between the two bags.
• For those living near the US/Canadian border, we have had some excellent flights from Buffalo, NY to other locations in the US.  The flights are often half of the cost compared to flying out of Toronto and the airport is smaller, with more advanced security, so you can get through faster. The border is always a bit of a question mark, but there are 3 options to get across from Canada so you can usually make it across within 30 min. And parking is half the price of long-term parking in Toronto.
• Your carry-on is key – even in this climate, you are allowed one personal sized carry-on at the very least.  Items that are essential for me in my carry-on include:
  • an empty re-usable water bottle (this can be filled up on the plane for free by the flight attendants)
  • lots of snacks (nothing liquid or gel though)
  • change of clothing (at least underwear) and sometimes, a bathing suit when traveling to a warmer climate
  • any supplements taken on a daily basis – we bring 2 days of gel packs and put them in the clear baggie
  • a book (or a Kindle – see amazon.com) and a crossword/sudoku/word search magazine
  • any electronics such as a laptop, camera and phone
  • passport, wallet and ID – in a travel pouch depending on where you are going. Put photocopies in your luggage and one at home.
  • tylenol or advil

I hope this helps and if you’ve got any more suggestions – feel free to comment!

**Note as of Jan 6, 2010 – the rules have completely changed.  Sadly, we are no longer allowed to bring much of anything on board.  The rules keep changing but here is the latest from the National Post.