Though I’ve been to Japan several times, I’ve never ventured anywhere other than Tokyo. My friend and I have long talked about flying to see the cherry blossoms when they are in bloom, and as luck would have it, we both had some time off at the beginning of May. Normally this is too late for much of Japan, but it’s perfect timing for the northern island of Hokkaido.
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As I mentioned in my last post, I love traveling to watch my favorite sports teams on the road. I try and catch at least one road Bruins game per year, and if the Bruins make the playoffs, I do everything I can to watch a playoff game as well.
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One of the more enjoyable things I’ve gotten to do with my travel benefits has been to travel for sporting events. I’m a huge Boston Bruins fan, and I try and see them play on the road at least once per season. Over the past 5 years I’ve been to nearly half of the NHL’s arenas.
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I frequently get asked the toughest destination to non-rev to. While any destination can be difficult depending on the time of year, Hawaii’s the one destination that’s consistently challenging to fly to and from. It’s popular year round, with limited flights, and you can’t exactly drive to a nearby airport if flights are full.
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While I could have flown back to the US directly from Paris, I still had almost a full week before I needed to return to work. I also wanted to make a return trip to visit some friends in the Philippines, and in all my years of travel, I had never circumnavigated the earth. This was the perfect opportunity to do both.
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The following day we headed to the Basel-Mulhouse-Frieburg Airport. The airport is actually across the border in France, but serves three countries. The airport’s fairly small, and signage while driving in was VERY poor, particularly for rental car return. Eventually we found the turnoff to return the car, and checked in.
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After exploring Liechtenstein, we headed back out onto the road to Lucerne, where we had booked our hotel for the night. Again, the drive was about 90 minutes, though traffic got really bad once getting into the city. Sadly, we arrived in the evening, and didn’t get much of a chance to explore the city and lakeside.
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I admit I’m a bit of a travel snob. While I’ll fly anywhere, I take particular interest in destinations off the beaten path. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy cities like Rome and Paris. But I enjoy exploring lesser known destinations more. It’s why places like East Timor, the Marshall Islands, and Palau are so high on my list. It’s also why we had to include a side trip to Liechtenstein when planning this Switzerland and France trip.
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Fall is the best time to travel if you’re flying standby. The weather is cooler, the large tourists crowds have dispersed, and most importantly, flights are typically open. It’s why I will typically schedule one of my vacation weeks in October. While my friend and I had discussed trips as far flung as South Africa, Sri Lanka, or New Zealand, we decided on a slightly easier trip, planning a visit to Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and France.
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While I typically can arrive 90 minutes or so before departure at most airports and make my flight in plenty of time, I wouldn’t even think about it in Rome, as the check-in process takes ages. Delta has since moved to Terminal 1, making things easier, but at the time they used Terminal 5, a satellite terminal inaccessible by foot from Terminal 1 and 2.
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