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 green text with a map and a glass of wine

Italian Vacation Part 1: Gelato in Venice, Park Hyatt Milan Meat Slicer and the Last Supper

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Are you taking advantage of Europe being on sale these days? I know many readers are heading over the pond. If Italy is in your plans, either now or sometime in the next year or so, be sure to read this post. After all, who doesn’t plan on visiting Italy sooner or later. I’ve got four Italian destinations for you, so let’s get started.

VENEZIA (Venice, Italy)

a boat on the water next to a building

Venice, Italy by water

Venice is an amazing place. I could easily sit all day and watch the waterway life. But of course, I had to stay somewhere, eat something, drink coffee and indulge in gelato, so here are some tips for you. When I’m in Italy, I have my priorities, so let’s start with gelato :)

There’s actually a place in Venice I’d suggest staying AWAY from. It’s called Gelateria Alaska. It was on some lists of top gelato in ALL of Italy, which totally baffles me. First off, the guy working there was plain nasty. “Can I taste a flavor?” I asked him. He responded with a gruff NO. I should have walked out at this point because his energy was plainly foul, but I didn’t. And the gelato was not very good at all. Oh well. Lesson learned, stay away from Gelateria Alaska. My preferred gelato in Venice is Grom. They’ve been around for a while now and can be found throughout Italy. I’m definitely partial to their pistachio and chocolate with hazelnut flavors.

a group of people standing outside of a store

Grom Gelato in Venice, Italy. Image source: http://comradechufood.blogspot.com/2011/12/grom-venice-italy.html

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close-up of a currency note

My Simple Currency Exchange Rate Philosophy

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On the surface, a discussion about currency exchange rates may sound simple. There are best practices for how to get the best rates and how to access foreign currency when you’re on a trip. Those seem like the nuts and bolts of any discussion. And best practices do change from time to time.

I remember when a really cool thing to do for Euros was to go to your local AAA office where you could buy Euro starter packs at a pretty decent exchange rate. For people who were just beginning to travel abroad, it was a great idea. I used to get them as gifts for couples going to Europe on their honeymoon! I have no idea if AAA still does that, but in the old days, they used to sell out quickly.

a group of different colored paper money and coins

Image source: http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/A-brief-history-of-money-11059182.php

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A New Yorker Returning Home for a Few Days

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Do you live where you were born and raised? Given the transient nature of life these days, and perhaps because the United States is such a big country with so many possible “hometowns,” it’s likely you don’t. I was born and raised in New York City and frankly, I don’t get back there nearly enough. And feeling like it had been way too long between visits, I recently spent 5 days there. Wow, not only did I have a fantastic time, but I’m leaving there feeling proud to be a New Yorker. What a great, vibrant, amazing place!

I know that every article and blog post about NYC will tell you what to see and do, and in fact we have quite a few Boarding Area bloggers who call NYC home and do a great job covering the NYC scene, so I’m just going to mention two wonderful sites to see that don’t come up on lists. I’ll also suggest a coffee place that has locations throughout the city. And how can I not mention my trip to JFK from Manhattan on the subway??

I walk A LOT when I travel, and NYC’s 23 square miles provides plenty of walking opportunities. I averaged about 11 miles a day walking, so please, get out on the streets and walk. It’s the BEST way to see and experience the city!

One of my favorite places to walk is Riverside Park. The people who live by and use Riverside Park probably won’t like me spilling the beans, but this park is wonderful. It spans 4 miles and the views of the river and New Jersey are wonderful, there are wooded paths as well as paved paths for walking or running, lots of dog parks, plenty of benches for enjoying the park or hanging out and reading, tennis and basketball courts, as well as fields for soccer and baseball. I really enjoy this place! Check out the VIRTUAL tour of the park!

a stone building with columns and flags with General Grant National Memorial in the background

Grant’s Tomb at the end of Riverside Park – New York City

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My Go-To Airport Hotel for Positioning Flights

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There are two types of miles/points travelers when it comes to positioning for flights, especially international flights: those who live in major hubs and have tons of options, and those who don’t. I was reminded of this yesterday during a conversation with Grant. He’s in a hub location (San Francisco) and I’m not (San Diego). I may be based out of America’s Finest City, but when it comes to getting anywhere overseas, it’s anything but the finest. Funny how all cities call their airport an international one :)

Probably 99% of the time, I have to go to LAX or SFO or some other hub city to start my trips. And when I send my award trip requests to my award booking team, they’ll remind me of this and send me some itinerary options based on my needing to position for my flight.

Just in case you’re one of the lucky ones who has never needed to position to start or end a trip, or in case you’re just getting started in miles and points based traveling, let me offer a very basic explanation. Often, for various reasons, using miles/points to book a trip will have you start or end in a city that’s not your home airport. You’ll either need to fly (using other miles/points or paying cash) or sometimes drive to get started or to get home.

It helps to have some hotels that you think of as your go-to hotels at the cities you’re most likely to be positioning from for those times when you need to overnight before or after a flight. As award tickets become more challenging to book, I find myself positioning to cities I’ve never been to before and so I have no idea what hotels would work best if I need to get in the night before or stay over before heading home.

It occurred to me, given what I’m assuming is the diversity of locations for TWG readers and the diversity of our travels, that we could start helping each other by having TWG compile a list of the recommended hotels and the ones we wouldn’t recommend. To start off, here’s my favorite LAX hotel.

I started using the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles years ago when I lived in Hawaii and came to LAX to start almost all my flights. Even the award flights to Asia from Hawaii seemed to start at LAX!

a building with flags in front of it

View of Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles. Image source: http://www.sheratonlax.com/en/gallery

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The Ultimate Disneyland Playbook (Full of TWG Reader Tips!)

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Hello Disney fans! You might recall a while ago I asked for advice on all things Disneyland so I could impress my niece and her family and retain my status as the best aunt ever :) The advice offered was incredibly valuable! I can’t thank you all enough. There were so many great tips and tricks I decided to go through it all, organize it, and create a sort of Disneyland playbook for TWG readers. I’ve organized it according to certain categories – I hope you like it!

To Do List:

  1. Download the Disney app for wait times on rides. The Mousewait app also does the same function.
  2. Set up your Disney Vacation Account (DVA):
  • It has to be active 120 days in order to receive the best perk, which is a $20 gift card for every $1,000 in spend.
  • Buy Disney gift cards and load them onto your DVA account. YMMV but sometimes gift cards can be bought at Target with the Red Card for 5% savings. When you load gift cards into your DVA account, you can then buy Disney tickets online.
  • Using your DVA account makes everything easier because you don’t have to carry around individual gift cards and swipe each one to use them.
  • With your DVA you can pay for ANYTHING Disney.
  1. Watch for AMEX offers at places that sell Disney gift cards.

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