Someone gave me a servey to take, they had asked me what my ultimate dream vacation would be. The options that they gave us was; RV around the world, Vegas Baby, You the beach and a cold drink, or backpacking across Europe. Which would you choose? Well me personally I would rather take all of those vacations than just having to choose one. I have started something new at my house. I take all the change from my car and wherever I keep some loose change and I put it into a jar and at the end of the year, or whenever I am in desperate need of a trip, I take all the money that we have in the change jug and we turn it into the bank for bills and we book that dream vacation. Everyone needs to get away once in a while. It is so hard to save up so much money everytime you need a break. I am sure that there are many places around the area that you live that you could get away from for a weekend, but what about those trips that are in a different state? Well there are many different discount travel sites. For instance, I went to Global Travel.com and I become a travel agent, and now I get discount rates everywhere I go, it is amazing because the discounts are sometimes 50% off or maybe even more. Since then, I don't wait uitill I am stressed out and miserable, I go before the stress hits me. You should too!

Well, I have been looking into the trip around the states in the RV. I think that it will be a pretty inexpensive trip! If you think of it this way, there may be 4 of us and we can split the price of gas, and I have a Sunpass, which will get us through the tolls so we won't have to stop at any of them! I think it would be so much fun! I just can't figure out which way I want to go. Should we drive towards New York or should we drive towards California? It is deffinately a tough decision. From the looks of things we are going to be going during summer time, just because a friend of mine is going to be around this area for the summer time, so we are hoping to go then! I have been wanting to do this for so long, now that I may have the opportunity I am not going to let it pass. I really look forward to doing this, but now I have to find out what all you need or even where you are suppose to stay in the camper when you need to pull over for some shut eye! I know that there are camping sites all over the place, but how do you find them. Do you fill the RV with food, are you able to park it at touristy sites or do they not allow things that big to many attractions. I need to know all of this so that we can start planning! If anyone has done this before please write me and let me know, because this is my dream trip!

I was reading through a magazine at the doctor's office, so it was something about health. It was saying something about instead of going to a mall for the day why not take a hike. Not the sarcastic way, but really go for a hike. Then it named six different places that you can take a hike and spend the whole day doing it or even just a couple of hours. I would love to do something like that, the only problem is that I live in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and I really don't know of any place that you can hike in Florida. I really don't think that you can substitute anything for it either. There are beaches and more beaches. What can you do on the sand besides jog and walk? I guess that is the way it is when you live somewhere for so long. Well if anyone knows of anything else that you can do in sunny Ft.lauderdale or even around there I would love to know! I want to try something different.

I have been looking into different types of discount travel sites and they all have the same catch phrase. I really enjoy expedia because it tells you how much it will cost for the car, hotel, and the flight. All you have to do is punch in what dates you want to go and it will give you all of the options. You can even just get rates on flights and hotels, whatever you need. Then I went to becomeatravelagent.com and to my surprise if you become a travel agent you will save so much more money. I still occasionally go to expedia just to see what is available on the dates that I want to travel, and then I will call the travel agency that I have a card with which is Global Travel and they book anything I want. It is the best deal, because places that would never give discounts give the most amazing discounts to you all because you have a card that says that you are a travel agant. The other great thing about it is that you can make money from having it as well. You can make sales like other travel agents. Please check it out, you have no idea what you are missing.

Has anyone ever driven cross country? I have always wanted to do that. I want to rent a Winabego and just drive. I really have no destination, just start from sunny Ft. Lauderdale and just keep driving Northwest. Maybe we will end up all the way in California or maybe we will stop half way. To me an unplanned trip could be more fun than a planned trip to a specific destination. I know that there are many people that have just driven, just to drive, but I want to explore. I have never been to so many states and places. Wouldn't it be so much fun to just drive and not know where you are going to end up!! I mean I want to know where I will be driving through, but not untill I am driving through it! I want to go to atleast ten different states on this excursion. I want to keep a journal of everything that we see, and everything that we do! I want this to be a trip that we will never forget. If you have done this before, just been spontanious and not known where you were going and you just went, what are some of the essentials that one would need fore this type of trip? It would be of great help if someone would be so kind to write me back and let me know how your trip was and what you took with you!

So I got another letter today from someone that has been reading my daily posts, and he had just been on a trip to Cancun. He was telling me all about his travels, and how he just wanted to get away for a bit and he had heard so much about this place and how beautiful it is. He had gone towards the end of the summer. He figured that if he was not there during spring break that he would be fine. His name is Josh and he is in his mid to late 40's. He went by himself and just wanted to get away for a short while. Just like many people, away from reality away from the job and all the things that give him that everyday stress! So Josh flew to Cancun for 4 days, when he arrived he was so happy, he said that he could smell the ocean water from a mile away. It was the scent of peace and relaxation. He heads over to his hotel, and while he is on his way he starts to see a few teenagers hanging out in the street. His relaxing vacation may not end up being that relaxing. He finally arrived at the hotel to find out that Cancun is not just the hot spot for Spring Break, but it is the hot spot all year round for college students looking for a quick getaway. So what I am trying to say is that, when Expedia pops up with great deals for cruises and flights or those all inclusive packages, read about the area before you go, or atleast ask around. I am sure that Josh would have rather been in the Bahamas if he would have taken his time on booking that great getaway! See so here I am trying to help everyone out, thanks to Josh sending us his travel story, we may be able to help some other people out. Don't forget to send me your stories.

I got an e-mail a couple of days ago from someone that said they had just taken a long vacation. They said that they needed a trip away from reality, don't we all! Well when he had said that he had taken a trip that was just a get way from the everyday life, I wanted to know where he went that could have been that relaxing!! He said that he went to sunny Florida. I was in shock, you see I live here and have lived here for a very long time. I was reading about this trip that he took and living here, I would have never thought of all the places that he had been to. You see I could drive to some of the most relaxing places around the Florida area. See, if I get in the car and drive about an hour and half south I will end up in the Florida Keys! Living in this area, many times you forget what is around you. If I was to take a relaxing vacation, depending on how much time and money I have, I would either go to the Bahamas or end up in Hawaii. To me that is relaxing. Living in Florida I don't think of the places that are right here within driving distance. Sad isn't it? Well, I am sure that for many people that live in tourist places, you would never think to visit something that you have already been to many times, or that you live near. People in London, I am sure are not saying let's go see the Parliment! What about people in San Fransico? Do you actually think that they are trying to get there friends to go see Alcatraz. I doubt it. So what I am trying to say is, take off those blinders! There could be a nice vacation spot right around the corner. I would love to read some more stories, so don't forget to send them in!

So I was trying to book a vacation for my whole family to go on, and the pop-up window showed up on my screen for expedia.com. I figured what the heck, I am going to check it out! Let's see if they are really giving us a deal. I personal think that the main reason that people use that site is because you can book everything all at once! So I went and plugged in the days that I was planning on going out of town for. It gave me all the options for flights and hotels. It also gives me several different prices. Well this is what it would be for a standard suite and this is what it would be for a deluxe suite. Ok, so now what? Well I have this card that says that I am a travel agent, so I wanted to compare prices! Who wouldn't! Guys and Gals, I am telling the price difference was crazy. Do you have any idea how much money travel agents save, and most of the time these people are not really travel agents! We could all be travel agents, and get the same discount rate as they would and not have to do any work just to get it. Now I can book my own travel plans and save so much money! The best part is that, I don't have to save my money for a whole year just to take one weekend retreat! I can vacation once a month if I want. Now I just need to hear about different places and I then I will know where I should go.. It is probably one of the greatest things out there.

I think today, I feel like talking about something a bit more personal. So I have two daughters, one was married last year, and the second, the oldest daughter is getting married in April of next year. Of course, me being their father, they came to me for advice on where they should go for the most important part, their Honeymoon. My first daughter was not bad about it. You see her husband had never really gone to many places in the states, so she chose to go to Las Vegas. They had a blast! They stayed at the Bellagio for almost a week, and all they talk about is going back very soon. Well my other daughter, you see she is impossible, because everything she does has to be, how do I put this, over the top. She really needs to go all out with everything she does. So, she has been looking into every place that you don't hear about on a daily basis. She doesn't want to go anywhere that you would go to just to get away. What does she decide? She went ahead and booked a trip to St. Lucia. Of course she is still trying to book flight arrangements. Well, the part that cracks me up is that her and her husband HATE to fly. So why would they choose somewhere that they have to take a long flight and then board a different flight that only seats 19 people. WHY? I ask myself that all the time. So as I have said on here many of times, I want peoples input. I would love to give them some more options, because I think they may need to choose some place else. Is there anything else that is somewhat similar, I don't know, Do You?

We all know how hard it is to make a decision on where you want to go on family vacations. I know with my family we can never really come to an agreemant. One person always wants to go somewhere that all they have to do is relax, pretty much no sight seeing, just laying around all day long reading. Another person in the family wants to go somewhere with things that we don't have to do in Ft. Lauderdale. Which leaves us with plenty of options. Then there is the one person usually the wife or mother that just wants to be with the family, doesn't really care either way. She could relax or walk around all day looking at castles or beaches.
Maybe if we had some ideas from other families our decision would be much easier to make. I know that there are plenty of families out there that have the same problem as us. It's normal! No two people enjoy the same things. With this, i hope to create an open forum so that people could all write about their family trips or business trips, whatever kind of trips people take we all want to hear about it. i think that it would be a nice way for people to exchange stories and at the same time learn about different places that other people vacation to. So just send me an e-mail with your stories and I would be more than happy to post it for everyone to share. mlapidus@ccim.net

Have you ever been to Las Vegas in July? I have, and it is so HOT! I knew that it would be hot, but if I had known that it would reach temperatures of 115 degrees, I probably would have sat that trip out or even waited a couple of months. Well my goal is to create an open forum so that everyone can share their travel experiences, good and bad! I even want to know about where people go to book their travel arrangements. I want to know everything, the next time I go to book a vacation, I know about all the HOT spots, and all the NOT spots. If we share all this information with each other it will save some people the time and money to go some place that really is not worth their while. Although everyone knows that a vacation away from home and work (Reality) is a vacation on its own, going somewhere nice is a bonus!
There are so many places that I have never been to or even heard of. I don't travel that much, but I would love to. I just get scared that the money that I have been saving for a weekend retreat would be an upset if I end up somewhere that I did not enjoy. Which is the reason why I have chose to do this! I know that there are many people out there who think the same thing! So share your stories with the world. We want to hear everything!
We would love to hear from you! So please send us any experience that you would like to share, or even a story about a vacation that you have taken. You can e-mail me at
mlapidus@ccim.net