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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Vancouver Wonderful Walks #2: Gastown, Yaletown & False Creek Loop

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Please check out my first post: Vancouver Wonderful Walks #1: Seawall Loop through Stanley Park

You might say I travel a lot, and though many of those miles are spent in the air, if I kept track, I’d bet I walk as many miles as I fly! When I wrote about how to spend the perfect long weekend in Vancouver, I touched on my favorite walks, but didn’t go into much detail. Vancouver is one of my favorite cities for walking! During my recent trip to Vancouver, I took my favorite walks, only this time I made extensive notes so I could share them with you. Here’s one of my favorites, which I call the Gastown / Yaletown / False Creek loop.

I stay at the Hyatt Regency when I visit Vancouver, and it never disappoints me. As you’ll see in the photos, luck was on my side for this week because the weather in late October was amazing. Beautiful fall foliage everywhere. So let’s start this walk from the Hyatt. You’ll exit onto Burrard Street and head north towards the water. As you walk towards the water, you’ll pass a historic and architecturally stunning building, the Marine Building. The art deco details are worth seeing so make sure to go into the lobby of the building and look around. Take the elevator up a few floors and when you get out you’ll have an overhead view of the lobby. Beautiful! On the ground floor of this building, you will find one of my favorite JJ Bean coffee locations. It has seating on the second floor if you want to relax, read, talk, and stay a while.

Make a right on Cordova Street. You’ll be heading to Gastown. This area of Vancouver can be touristy, but many locals live/work/play here too. There are lots of restaurants and coffee shops worth visiting. The steam clock on the corner of Cambie and Water Streets is probably the number one site people come to see here and it’s a fun photo opportunity. You’ve actually walked two miles already!

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Gastown Steam Clock. Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_clock

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Want to Track Southwest Airlines Reservations for Price Drops? Try Southwest Monkey! [Service Discontinued]

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ATTN: Southwest Monkey is no longer operational. The service was taken down.

Don’t you just hate it when you leave money on the table? OK, maybe hate is too strong of a word, but would you rather have money in your pocket or give the airlines more money than you need to? We all know that airline ticket prices fluctuate, and so do the airlines! They don’t make it easy for us to catch the price drops and then rebook our tickets at lower prices. That brings us to Southwest Airlines, which has built a community by being different from other airlines.

Southwest Airlines has never allowed other websites to show their fares. They’ve always chosen to be the only sales outlet for their own flights. This means they are able to track and create a uniqueness in the way they serve Southwest Airlines flyers. I’ve read that some industry experts feel that it’s because Southwest Airlines does not always deliver the lowest fares all the time that they prefer to stay out of the comparisons. Instead, they provide an “everyday low price” value proposition. This could likely be the case, though in many markets, Southwest Airlines prices can actually be higher than full service carriers.

Southwest Airlines also distinguishes itself in that if your ticket price drops, both for paid flights and flights booked with Southwest Airlines points, you’ll get back the difference in the fare price. The process isn’t complicated, but YOU have to do the fare price checking and then of course, rebook the flight.

I like the expression “time is money” because I often find it to be true, especially in the miles/points world. I apply my “time is money” thinking to booking my award tickets with Juicy Miles. I often feel like spending some money to save both time AND money is a double win. I’ve had my frustrations with Southwest Airlines rules and regulations that’s for sure. So anything I can do to save me from having to check for price drops on Southwest Airlines is a win for me.

Enter Southwest Monkey. It’s a relatively new alert service available only for Southwest Airlines. Their website is simple and easy to use. You set up alerts on all the Southwest Airlines tickets you’ve booked and if the price drops, you’ll receive an email alert. If the price drops by more than $10, you’ll be charged their $3 fee. You rebook the Southwest Airlines flight yourself. This takes the pain point out of the equation because you no longer need to fuss about getting the lowest fare possible, and secondly it’s no longer necessary to continually check your Southwest Airlines fares for savings.

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Vancouver Wonderful Walks #1: Seawall Loop through Stanley Park

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You might say I travel a lot, and though many of those miles are spent in the air, if I kept track, I’d bet I walk as many miles as I fly! When I wrote about how to spend the perfect long weekend in Vancouver, I touched on my favorite walks, but didn’t go into much detail. Vancouver is one of my favorite cities for walking! During my recent trip to Vancouver, I took my favorite walks, only this time, I made extensive notes so I could share them with you. Here’s one of my favorites, which I call the Seawall Loop. I stay at the Hyatt Regency when I visit Vancouver, and it never disappoints me. As you’ll see in the photos, luck was on my side for this week because the weather in late October was amazing. Beautiful fall foliage everywhere.

a park with trees and benches

Fall has arrived in Vancouver

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These are NOT your Mother’s Fanny Packs! Check out my 5 Favorites!

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It all started back in the early 1980’s. I was in Japan studying Japanese art and culture. I had an incredibly wonderful experience and came back to the states sporting a new look. No, I wasn’t wearing a kimono. But I was wearing a fanny pack! It was a small one and made of beautiful smooth black leather. Everyone in Japan wore one. But not in the States. Back then, almost no one had seen a fanny pack, much less was wearing one. I got all kinds of questions about where I got it. And lots of people thought it looked funny. Back then, women were still carrying purses the size of carry-on luggage, and men kept bulging wallets, a la George Costanza, in their rear pants pocket!

But I loved my fanny pack and wore it everywhere. A few years later in the 1990’s, it seemed like everyone was sporting a fanny pack. And then the fad died. For years, I never saw people wearing them. But now they seem to be back in style again. Some people call them lumbar bags, some call them hip packs, and I’ve heard others calling them waist packs. But to me, they are all fanny packs!

These days I mostly wear one for hiking and taking long walks. But they sure have become more versatile and popular. And throwing a small one in my luggage is a given, seeing as how when getting to know a new city, I love to walk long distances or go out for a run. Whether you want to carry a snack, pack your phone, stash hydration, or speed through airport security, a fanny pack helps you do it all without the hassle of shoulder straps or unreachable zippers.

Sure, using a fanny pack can be nerdy, but in a good way. They are not for everyone, but do have a certain appeal. I especially recommend them to my health/fitness clients who have shoulder or neck issues. It can feel like such a relief to take the weight of a backpack off your shoulders. That’s what actually got me thinking about writing this post and recommending some different types of fanny packs. In talking with my clients, I realized anyone who travels might be interested in knowing about the best fanny packs, whether they use them when they travel or at home. Continue reading →

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Get National Car Rental Executive Status Free with American Express Platinum (No Status Match Required)

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You might recall from a few months ago that I broke up with Hertz. It wasn’t a pleasant break up, but they rarely are! To help me get over my break up, TWG readers suggested I look to National Car Rental for rental cars. And so I did. This week, National Car Rental has been in the news because there’s a National Car Rental status match going on. That’s fine BUT it’s only good for two months. If you’ve got a car rental coming up through the end of this year, this status match may be useful. But don’t forget, if you have the American Express Platinum Charge Card (any variety), you can get FREE Executive Status from National Car Rental.

Typically, earning this status requires renting from National Car Rental at least 12 times per year, so the feature has value. If you already have the American Express Platinum Charge Card, you can enroll in the National’s Executive Program. Just login to your account, and select National.

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Image source: https://www.nationalcar.com/en_US/car-rental/loyalty/enrollment/benefits.html

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