Author Archives: Shelli

About Shelli

Shelli Stein is a health and fitness entrepreneur who travels the world in search of culture, food, and fun! Besides contributing to Travel with Grant, you can find her at Joy in Movement.

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Battle of the Pens: Which Hotel Pen Wins?

Sometimes you find out something about yourself in the strangest of ways. Turns out, I’m a pen snob! Thank you to Grant for pointing this out to me in a very weird way. Grant wrote about his experience aboard a flight wondering why everyone doesn’t carry a pen to fill out custom forms. The part I found most interesting was what Grant said in his comments, “Fancy hotel pens are the best. I just have 2 cheap pens from who knows where.”

I know I may be weird, but I couldn’t believe this. Cheap pens from who knows where… NO WAY. I have a great stash of pens from hotels all over the world, and even when I’m not using one of those, I definitely have my preferred pens. Pens from who knows where… NEVER. That’s when I self-identified as a pen snob.

I immediately went into my stash of pens and sent Grant a bunch. Certainly he would have his preferences, right? I was curious, and so the battle of the pens began. I asked him to write the same thing with each pen, and he did. I even sent Grant my coveted pen from the Park Hyatt Milan. Yes, I’m that nice :) I sent him pens from Sheraton, Waldorf Astoria, Hyatt, and Park Hyatt and wondered if his favorite pen would be the same as mine. I gave him no clue as to which pen I preferred.

a group of pens in a plastic bag

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Something Good to Say About British Airways… Yes, Really!

I had no idea how this story would go. And until recently, it wasn’t looking good. I was REALLY pissed off at British Airways, and here’s why. On a British Airways flight from London Heathrow (LHR) to Las Vegas (LAS), a flight attendant spilled wine all over my Bose QuietComfort 25 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones and they stopped working. Sitting in business class, I did get a lot of attention from the flight crew after this happened. There was wine all over my seat, too. I was told there was not another empty seat on the plane, so the crew put layers of blankets on my seat to cover up the spill. But for the next 10 hours, my seat smelled like wine, and oddly enough, the flight attendants never wiped down the area of the console where the wine spilled.

a wine glass with red liquid on the floor

Image source: https://www.thespruce.com/tips-for-cleaning-red-wine-spills-3511069

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40% Bonus when you Buy Alaska Airlines Miles (Expires Feb 7)

I love the photo in this ad for Alaska Airlines miles! In case you don’t know, it’s called a FLYING ANGEL. When I was a kid, I was the one who gave everyone flying angels. It was so cool to be able to lift people in the air and help them fly! Little did I know, I would grow up to be the one who flew so often :) Where was I? Oh yeah… If you want extra Alaska Airlines miles, you better hurry! Tomorrow, February 7 is the last day to get in on this deal. This deal is not targeted and it is the cheapest you’ll ever see Alaska Airlines miles go on sale for. Purchase 15,000+ miles and you will get a 40% bonus. My best redemption using Alaska Airlines miles was on Emirates for an amazing First Class experience. I also used Alaska Airlines miles for Cathay Pacific business class flights. I’m really looking forward to using my Alaska Airlines miles on Condor. How wonderful that will be to fly nonstop to Europe from San Diego!

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Which Vietnam Tourist Visa Option is the Easiest / Quickest Choice?

When you travel as much as most of us do, there will be a time when visa requirements for visiting a country get confusing… and expensive. For instance, I have family I visit in Chile, so before the visa requirements for U.S. citizens were changed, I was paying a hefty visa fee each time I went to Chile. My cousins are worth it – thanks cousins for reading TWG :)

Checking each country’s visa requirements, even when you think you know what they are, should be on everyone’s pre-trip travel checklist. For a trip to Vietnam, I checked about visa requirements for U.S. citizens in two places. The Wikipedia page shows that Vietnam does require a visa and it mentions an eVisa. But there is no link that tells me more about what that is.

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Which Streaming & Video Services are the Best for You?

I don’t know about you, but the more I travel, the more I’ve had to learn about technology. In other words, what are the best ways to stay connected, the best ways to be productive while traveling, and the best ways to enjoy media, as well. And price points do matter when integrating all this technology into my life. I found this really great guide that helped me decide which streaming and video services are best for me. If you haven’t seen this article yet, it’s totally worth taking a look. Have a great weekend, everyone!

a group of televisions with a screen showing different movies

Image source: https://www.consumerreports.org/streaming-video-services/guide-to-subscription-streaming-video-services/