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.

a heart made of coffee beans

Shelli’s World Coffee Tour – Coffee Houses in Vancouver, Canada

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I guess it’s time for a true confession. I’m a coffee snob. And when I travel, I have a passion for supporting local roasters and coffee houses. Let’s just say I’ve BEAN Around the World and I’m feeling like now is the time to start sharing the love… and caffeine, one city at a time. Recently, I had a fantastic week in Vancouver, Canada. And while I did touch on a few coffee places when I wrote See, Eat & Drink: The Perfect Long Weekend in Vancouver, Canada, I knew I needed to dig much deeper into the Vancouver coffee scene to really give you the full SCOOP! So during my recent trip to Vancouver, I drank plenty of coffee, talked with baristas, and I’ve got lots to share with you. Let’s open the TWG cafe society doors and talk coffee, Vancouver style.

When I travel, I only review and like to support coffee houses that roast their own beans or use locally roasted beans. This leads me to an interesting story about Vancouver. When I asked locals in Vancouver about the coffee scene and told them that I would be writing about it, the very first suggestion I received was, “You should try 49th Parallel.” I replied that I don’t care for 49th Parallel coffee. Surprisingly, they then tell me they don’t really like 49th Parallel coffee either! It’s odd and seems like people feel the need to tell me to try it because it’s local but it’s not really their first choice either. However, 49th Parallel coffee is carried by MANY cafes in Vancouver, so that eliminated many places that I didn’t need to review. I’m telling you this because you may want to try it for yourself and see what you think, and also so you’ll know none of the places I’m reviewing use 49th Parallel beans.

Another important point is that although many of the small roasters I’m reviewing do have more than one location, these days the hub for coffee is the Gastown area, with a few outliers in Chinatown and some just over the east side border of Vancouver.

I started by talking with Mark Neuman from Timbertrain Coffee. We talked and drank coffee for a long time. In general, I have somewhat of an idea of the places I want to check out, but often I’ll let the conversations I have with one manager or barista set the tone and flow to the next cafe, and that’s what happened in Vancouver.

a sign on a sidewalk

Timbertrain Coffee Roasters sign in Vancouver, Canada

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a hammock on a beach

Great Hotel Deals to Book NOW!

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Who doesn’t like a good deal on hotels? Although there are many sites to use for checking on deals, one site we like, has come up with an great new idea for Black Friday & Cyber Monday Hotel Deals. For the first time, they have created a comprehensive listing of Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals around the world. They’re listing everything they can find, including details on some deals that were leaked to them that have not yet been publicly released. And they are updating this list daily and expect it to grow to 250 total deals by the end of Cyber Monday.

There are way too many deals to mention here, but a few things that caught my eye. Many of the deals are for stays as far out as March 2018. Some of them, like this one at Legoland in San Diego, can include admission to theme park. If you’re in the hotel booking mood, want to get some deals, and are ready to book hotels during Black Friday & Cyber Monday, give this website a look! Maybe you’ll see the perfect deal for you and your family and friends!

a hammock on a beach

Wednesday Wakeup: How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep in Hotels

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Do you sleep well in hotels? Maybe that’s even too broad a question to be asking, or maybe you have a simple yes or no answer. Friends, knowing I spend a lot of nights each year in hotels, often ask if I sleep well in hotels and if I have any tips for them. It turns out, when I started talking with other travelers about this, many people don’t sleep well in hotels! That being the case, I thought I’d offer up some ideas and tips. As we all know, sleeping well, and especially when we travel, really is essential to functioning well and enjoying our travels. Hotels are unfamiliar territory and often offer us obstacles to sleeping well, so we have to be strategic and creative in order to get a good night’s sleep.

Tip #1

Many of us are hotel loyalists. And with each hotel chain, comes a certain bed type and mattress brand. Chances are you’re nodding your head and thinking about how you sleep better at a Westin on their bed versus at a Hyatt on their bed. It does take our bodies time to get accustomed to mattresses, so take this into account when looking at and booking your hotel options. You can also ask the hotel what their mattresses are made of. If you’ve ever slept on foam, for instance, you’ll know that these mattresses don’t breathe well. No matter how high you turn up your air conditioning, it’s likely you’ll still sweat and heat up. Cotton mattresses do tend to keep you cooler and this often leads to a better night’s sleep.

a person's feet on a bed

Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/alone-bed-bedroom-blur-271897/

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PSA: National Park Passes Not Valid at Parks Operated by Contractors [Updated]

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Update 8:15am PT on 11/14/17: Clearly I made a mistake and I apologize. I posted the information I received way too quickly and without verifying it. My friend read that though the senior pass is a good value, because there are fees and charges at parks operated by contractors that the passes don’t cover, it can add a lot of money to what might seem like a good deal. He misunderstood and thought entry fees weren’t covered at parks using contractors. When I received this information from him, it seemed like a good idea to let people know. But of course, it was wrong and the entry fee is indeed covered by the pass. It’s good to have readers who call you out on these kinds of mistakes!

Did you purchase a National Park Pass before the rates went up? If you did, or know anyone who has one, it’s important to remember this! Though the passes are valid at parks operated the National Park Service, they are NOT valid at parks operated by CONTRACTORS. One popular National Park that falls into this category is Yosemite. Always remember to check into this or you might be surprised when you’re asked to pay an entrance fee!

a mountain range with trees and a waterfall

Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park. Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_National_Park

a blue and red airplane with black text

Will Southwest Airlines Add Island-Hopping Flights in Hawaii?

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Southwest Airlines heads for Hawaii, but it won’t be a vacation. Once Southwest Airlines starts flying to Hawaii next year, it may well add a compelling wrinkle to its schedule: flights between the islands. Southwest Airlines is deciding whether to include some in-state travel along with its trans-Pacific routes, which the company plans to offer starting next year. Andrew Watterson, the Southwest Airlines executive who oversees revenue and is in charge of cracking the Hawaii nut financially, worked at Hawaiian for three years and knows the market well.

Here’s the Bloomberg article that explains it all. Having lived in Hawaii, I can attest to the greater need for inter-island flights whether you’re a Hawaii resident or like 30% of the people getting off a long-haul flight, you connect to a flight to another island. And competition is good, so like most, if not all of you, I’m ready for Southwest Airlines to start flying to Hawaii!