Category Archives: Trip Reports

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Friday Filler: What are you up to this Weekend?

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I don’t have anything travel-related to share this morning, but I just wanted to see what my readers are up to this weekend.  This is my last weekend in the Bay Area before my week-long trip to Iceland during the first week of September.  Before I head off to Iceland, I have a fun filled weekend planned around the Bay Area.  Tonight, my girlfriend and I am going to see a new musical at the SHN Orpheum theater in San Francisco called Something Rotten!  I love going to musicals and this one sounds like an entertaining show.

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Review: Taste of France Gift Box from the World of Hyatt

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Did you catch the offer from World of Hyatt called Try The World? Hyatt wants to “connect us to the people, places and experiences at the heart of our world.” Their Try The World concept involves a “box of the month” filled with foods and ingredients from all across a specific country. I decided to give this Try The World a go, and ordered the first three boxes. The total cost was $105, so that’s $35 a box. I’ve never subscribed to a box of the month club before!

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a solar eclipse in the sky

Chasing the Total Solar Eclipse: “Your First Time is Always Special”

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Everyone seems excited about the total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21. I’m excited too, but I won’t be doing any special traveling to see it. But some people are more excited than others! I found this great article about “eclipse chasers.” Maybe you know someone who qualifies? Or maybe you’re an eclipse chaser yourself?

Are you doing anything special for this seldom-seen-clearly(-from-the-US-at-least) astronomical event? Let us know in the comments below!

a view of the sun and clouds from the sky

Solar Eclipse. Image source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/08/539553696/go-see-it-eclipse-chasers-urge-your-first-time-is-always-special

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Amazing Stay at DoubleTree Arctic Club Hotel in Seattle (Historic Building Built in 1917)

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Good afternoon everyone.  Two weekends ago, my girlfriend and I had the pleasure to stay the beautiful and historic DoubleTree Arctic Club Hotel in Seattle, WA.  According to the hotel’s bio, the Arctic Club is a “AAA 4-Diamond Award-winning hotel in Seattle, WA. This tastefully decorated hotel in Seattle, WA offers a unique experience, echoing the post-Klondike gold rush days of the early 1900s.” According to Wikipedia, the Arctic Club was built for the Arctic Club in 1917 for the successful veterans of the Klondike Gold Rush and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.  Needless to say, this is not your average DoubleTree hotel (but they did have chocolate chip cookies on demand at the front desk).  I spoke with the front desk agents a few times during my stay and they were very helpful and friendly.  As we were checking out, the front desk agent told me that the hotel would most likely transition into a Conrad Hotel in the near future.  In this post, I will share my experience staying in the hotel.  I hope you enjoy the hotel review.

a man and woman standing at a counter

DoubleTree Arctic Club hotel front desk. Image source: http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/washington/the-arctic-club-seattle-a-doubletree-by-hilton-hotel-SEAACDT/index.html

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PSA: Bumped Flight? Make Sure Your Original Routing Miles Post

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Have you ever realized that after flying, your miles never posted? You happened to be checking your account for some totally different reason and you noticed something just didn’t seem to add up? That’s what happened to me a few days ago and I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to you! I was looking at my Alaska Airlines account to see about an upcoming flight and happened to glance at my Mileage Activity tab. I never do this because I’ve never had an issue with Alaska Airlines not posting miles I’d earned from flying. Never a problem… until today.

Remember the flight I took to Boston where I volunteered for my first ever BUMP? I didn’t see those miles post to my account :( Not being familiar with how bumps and mileage accrual works, I gave this some thought. Is it possible that because I got bumped onto a Delta flight the miles wouldn’t be earned on Alaska Airlines? This didn’t make sense to me because I had paid Alaska Airlines for the fare. Continue reading →