Where to Next - Sing it, Madonna!

I was going to do a nice, splashy pic filled post about where I'll be off to next, but then I thought I'd just let Madonna tell you. She's a little more eloquent than me and perhaps has a better voice. Perhaps.... (although I thought she did a great job at the Super Bowl. She's having a concert at Yankee Stadium on my birthday. Should I go?)

That's right..I'm headed to Argentina!

I'll be learning a lot about Eva Peron in Buenos Aires. She was a performer, First Lady of Argentina, a suffragist, and a politician popular with the working class Argentines. I'm looking forward to learning more about her in Buenos Aires at the museum dedicated to her.

So, Husband J and I will be off to Argentina in a few weeks. We'll be spending most of our time in Buenos Aires. We'll also be heading down to Patagonia to see some big chunks of ice. :)

Buenos Aires - It's often called the Paris of South America

Perito Moreno Glacier

I had really wanted to head over to Mendoza, which is Argentina's wine country, but it just wasn't going to work. Internal flights in Argentina are not cheap. :( With Argentina being the 8th largest country in the world in terms of area (it's BIG), I figured that we needed to defray costs by only going to one other part of Argentina. Perhaps Mendoza and Iguazu Falls next time?

Has anyone been to Argentina, specifically Buenos Aires and Patagonia (We'll only be in El Calafate)? If so, I'd love it if you gave me some of your recommendations of places that you liked during your visit, especially food related ones. I'm making my own list, but I love hearing others' suggestions. Also anyone have a favorite Argentinian Malbec?

Is there any aspect of Argentine culture that interests you? Gauchos? Tango? Good steak? Soccer/Football? Let me know in the comments section, and I'll be sure to take pics or write about it in future posts.

Buenos Aires; Perito Moreno

Where to Next? - Return to Wadadli!/Beach Snobbery

Hellloooo!!! Remember me?!!

I've had a fairly unintended whirlwind couple of weeks, but that just means a whole lot more to share with you all. I ended up being away for a little longer than I would have liked, but it allowed me to have some quality time with some great people. Anyway, enough of me being coy. I'll let you know where I went in the video.

IntrotoWadadli (Antigua) from TAOTerri on Vimeo.

(By the way, I totally didn't mean for that to be a gratuitous bikini shot. I was supposed to be a bit more covered. :( Also I know the waves make it hard to understand me at parts, but that's what happens when you've only got a Flip video camera and still learning video editing.)

By the way, Wadadli is the name given to Antigua by its native peoples, the Arawaks and later the Carib Indian tribes.

So, yes, I visited one of my favorite places in the entire world, Antigua. I got to see my family, which made me very happy. I was sad to leave this time. I miss them. I need to make sure that I return more often. The last visit was three years ago. I must do better. I'll be sharing the trip in the next couple of weeks. Be prepared for some beautiful beach shots and down home local Caribbean food.

Part of Ffryes Beach & Cocobay Resort (we almost stayed here)

Points to whoever guesses what tropical fruit this is!

At Betty's Hope

Ducuna & Ling Fish with veggies

The view from Shirley Heights

More to come! Happy Tuesday!

Travel Challenge, Day 2 - Where I'd Like to Go Next

Where I'd like to go next?

That's super hard because I have a list..no really, I have a list I keep on my cell phone. I have one just for places I'd like to travel to at some point and one for a possible girl trip with my BFF, which we're still trying to figure out.

For me, I'd say it's still India. It was a year ago and still is on the top of my list now.

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I've had a wonderful time reading about the adventures of some of my favorite travel bloggers' time in India, like Ekua from Girl, Unstoppable (Ekua's travel writing is phenomenal, and I wish this blog featured some great writing like hers more often). BFF has already been to India, and she's written about it here on the blog. One of my current favorite blogs is From India --With Love by K. She's currently volunteering in India for a year, and I am fascinated by her accounts of daily life in Delhi. Also her photography is pretty awesome. She makes me think I need to up my game and get a DSLR.

If I don't get to go to India, then eating my way through somewhere in South East Asia will suffice. :)

Of course Husband J and I have not really talked about where we'd like to go next. I think someone asked him where we'd make our next trip together, and he mumbled to someone about us heading to South America. I wonder where he has in mind?

Patagonia, Argentina?

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Sipping wine in Atacama, one of Chile's major wine regions?

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Who knows? I may not ever go to any of these places, but I admit that half of the fun is just dreaming about them.

Where would you like to go next?

Where to Next? - Turkey

Every time I think about the fact that I am going to Turkey, I think of two things:

1) An actual turkey

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and

2) This classic song, "Istanbul" by The Four Lads. It's been in my head on and off for the past month. "Even old New York was once New Amsterdam..."

By the way, if you've never heard the song I'm referring to, click below. There are nice pics of many of Istanbul's famous sights, so listen and enjoy the views.

Husband J and I leave from Turkey later this week, and I'm really looking forward to it. At the same time, I'm a little nervous. Even with all of my meticulous planning (hopefully it was meticulous), for some reason I am worried about possibly screwing something up. Did I plan the flights for the right days? Will we get to the airport shuttle okay? Don't ask me where this is coming from 'cause I'm usually not like this. Maybe this is because this trip is one of the most logistically challenging trips I've planned all by myself? It wasn't too hard to do. It just took a lot of note taking and brain power (which may be why I'm freaked. Ha!)

Just based on what I've read in our guidebook so far, Turkey's historical significance is much more than I realized and its cuisine so extensive that it apparently ranks up there with Chinese cuisine in terms of breadth and variety. There will be lots to learn and most importantly lots to EAT!

I think I'm most looking forward to Cappadocia.

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If the Cappadocian countryside looks like this in pictures, I can only imagine what it looks like in person. Hot air ballooning is a pretty popular activity there.

We'll also be making a short stop in Ephesus. Paul (He wrote a good chunk of the Bible's New Testament) wrote to one of the early Christian churches here. Ephesus is the site of one of the best preserved Roman cities next to Pompeii in Italy (at least that's what I've read).

Celsus Library, Ephesus

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I'll be around this week, but posting will be light next week. I may have a few surprises for you while I'm gone. :)

Does anyone have any recommendations, suggestions or travel stories about Turkey? I'd love to hear about them in the comments section.

So What Happens When There's a Revolution In Your Next Travel Destination?

I'm sure you remember that I've said it before, but I am a pretty private person for a blogger and that includes revealing trips I'm planning for the future. I was going to wait until March, but since things are slowly changing day-to-day (and it might be something we can all learn from), I'm letting you know that Husband J and I are currently scheduled to travel to Egypt in mid-March. I emphasize the word currently right now.

I was hoping to see this:

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and instead there have been protests and violence in Tahrir Square. The protests are a little less tense at the time of this writing, but there is still quite a bit going on.

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Our Cairo hotel is located in downtown Cairo less than a mile from Tahrir Square.

If you haven't heard, there is major political upheaval in Egypt that became violent in the past week. I'm pretty laid-back when it comes to what's considered "dangerous" by some (perhaps I have lived in New York City too long). When things started on January 25, I was hoping that things in Egypt would proceed as they had in Tunisia. Again, this is not to say that I just wanted Egypt's citizens "to get everything over with so that I could see their country;" but rather I was hoping for a peaceful transition of power. Husband J and I were sending e-mails and text messages and keeping a general eye on what was going on while I was away in L.A.

As someone who has often written about and studied social movements, I commend the people of Egypt for demanding more from their government. I am worried about the safety of the country's citizens and visitors. I hope this political situation can be resolved and a new, stronger, more vibrant Egypt will emerge.

When I arrived back to New York, I set out to figure out what our options were as it relates to our travel insurance, our airline, and the travel company that has been helping us organize our trip. This is what I found out:

1. Travel Insurance - We have travel insurance through Travel Guard. When I first made the call to speak to a customer service rep on the phone, they beat me to the punch with a recording. It stated that there was an exclusion in the coverage of ALL of their policies in connection with trip cancellation and civil unrest. In other words, we would not get any reimbursement from the travel insurance for fees incurred by canceling our trip due to the political upheaval in Egypt. Also if we went anyway, defying any government travel warning, we would receive no reimbursement either. Yikes! No help there.

If anything, I would think this situation would be one of the reasons covered by travel insurance but apparently not. After talking to a customer service rep, this is actually an industry-wide provision in most travel insurance. If you want to avoid my situation, get a (pricey) upgrade to a "Cancel for Any Reason" additional coverage that will trump any exclusion in the travel insurance and allow any sort of cancelation. I wish I had known that beforehand. Since insurance law differs by state, this might not even be applicable in New York state, this apparently does not apply to us. Double check me on this though.

2. Airline - We are flying Turkish Airlines, and they have just started to offer refunds or free itinerary changes to customers traveling to Egypt, BUT as of the writing of this post, only for those passengers traveling to Egypt from the end of last week until February 15, 2011. Airlines loathe canceling flights, especially weeks in advance. I've been told that we would have to pay 200 Euro (NOT DOLLARS!) to change our flight. Did I mention that these tickets are non-refundable? That, too. One thing that is helping us is that we are flying through Istanbul, Turkey. More on that below...

3. Travel Company - Sometimes I use travel companies to help plan trips and other times I plan the trip solely by myself. Bali was an example of a trip that I planned alone. I ended up deciding to use our travel company, Backpacker Concierge, because a former work colleague had worked with them and enjoyed their trip, and I really liked their community-based travel philosophy. Given the circumstances, Backpacker Concierge, has actually been quite responsive. Eric, our contact who spends considerable amount of time in Egypt and is currently there, was able to find internet access when most of the country did not have it.

We are still trying to figure out our plans. Husband J wants our money back in the event we don't go. Based on my review of our booking conditions with them, its provisions are silent regarding civil unrest, etc. PRIOR to our departure (it does address changes in itinerary if things were to go awry while we're actually there). Timing is funny too because we had sent in our final payment a day BEFORE the protests started.

So what are options? Well, right now it's looking like the following:

1. Cancel our trip altogether/Postpone our trip - Husband J has been dragging lately and I think he really needs to get a break from work. It would be a shame to essentially lose a ton of money on plane tickets even if we get our money back from Backpacker Concierge.

2. Go to Turkey instead - This seems like the best option right now. We already have plane tickets to Turkey, since our tickets on Turkish Airlines have us flying through Istanbul enroute to Cairo. It may take a little extra outlay of money, and this will also have to be examined in light of what could happen with Backpacker Concierge. I've been fascinated with Turkey since watching a travel show on our way to Ireland. It won't be warm there though (although after multiple snowstorms, I guess low 50's Fahrenheit ain't all that bad).

I'll let you know what we end up doing soon.

Where to Next? - Weesst Siiiidee!

That's right. I'm going to throw up a big 'ol W, and let you know that I will be making my first trip to Los Angeles in a VERY long time next week. It's been a whopping almost 8 1/2 years since I set foot in L.A. It's gone by so quickly that in some respects it seems like yesterday that I left. I'll be doing a little bit of "work" on Project X that I mentioned in my goals for 33, but I will also be visiting my wonderful friend, Big Mitts (obviously NOT her real name), a good friend who moved out to L.A. several months ago.

I've been trying to think about what I'd like to see while I am in L.A. Unlike many parts of the country, I actually lived in L.A. for two summers for a total of about six months, so I don't really approach my time there as a true tourist. Yet, I do want to see a few things that I haven't seen in awhile or a place or two that I've never been.

I've got my eye on possibly doing the following:

1) Heading to Venice Beach boardwalk/Santa Monica

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Yeah, perhaps a little cheesy and touristy, but I like seeing L.A. not take itself too seriously. The Venice Beach boardwalk is good for that. :) Besides, I have not seen the Pacific Ocean in a very long time. We're about to get another snowstorm here and even being able to go to the beach seems glorious right now.

2) Gazing endlessly into space literally at the Griffith Park Observatory

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Maybe I'll get my geek on and watch a cool movie at the Observatory's Planetarium.

3) Shopping

Melrose Avenue

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Rodeo Drive

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Well, more like window shopping and browsing than any actual real shopping. I've hit my self-imposed shopping hiatus for awhile. Unless it's something that will keep me warmer in the next few weeks (like a good winter scarf), I'm most likely not going to buy anything (but who knows?). Either way, I've never really walked around the Rodeo Drive area before, so why not do a Julia Roberts "Pretty Woman" stroll around just to say that I've been.

Also I've got to find some food!

I've already gotten some feedback on a few places already:

In -N Out Burger - When I lived in L.A. last, I was a committed vegetarian/pescetarian, so the one burger I had from In -N Out made me not feel so great. Not eating meat over time will do that to you. I'm DEFINITELY going to try this much beloved burger chain again. Is it really worth it to get their burgers "animal style"? ;)

Versailles - suggested by Cathy of Wifey Lifey

Kogi BBQ

Eveleigh

Animal

Some good Mexican would be great since apparently the West Coast has the East beat in this respect (at least this is what I am told). Any suggestions?

So yeah, with another 2-4 inches of snow coming tomorrow, I'm dreaming about low 70s /high 60 degree temperatures right about now. Let's hope there's no snow next week either. Sigh...

Any L.A. recommendations for me? What's your favorite place to eat or visit in L.A.?

Musings of a Wannabe Ski Bunny

I've never been skiing...EVER! It is one of my biggest travel/sporting disappointments that I have never been able to try skiing. I think skiing also goes into my file of "People I knew growing up just didn't do this voluntarily" folder. Growing up where I did, GOOD ski mountains were at least several hours away and apparently skiing is not cheap to do, hence not that many opportunities to get to the slopes.

Husband J has been skiing for years. I've been begging him to take me skiiing, but every time I bring it up, he gets this deep scowl on his face and whips out the reasons why I shouldn't want to ski:

1. It's a pain to get there and back. (Rebuttal: That is why God created rental cars.)

2. It's hard on your body, especially your knees (Rebuttal: So is running, and you're not discouraging me from that.)

3. It's hard to learn as an adult. (Rebuttal: I have no inclinations of being on the U.S. National Ski team. I just want to make it down the Bunny Slope without falling on my butt.).

For some reason, Husband J thinks I want to begin skiing every weekend, but all I really want to do is just TRY it..just once (Hello, blog title!!).

If I am really honest with myself, what I want more than the skiing lesson is the ski lodge experience. While I consider winter to be hibernation time, I would totally love to be in a romantic ski lodge/resort looking at the snow, getting snuggly next to a warm fire or better yet a hot tub. Don't these places below make you want to do just that?

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A ski lodge in Utah

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The lodge's interior

A luxury ski chalet in Breckenridge, Colorado

I'm loving this Breckenridge ski chalet's outdoor hot tub.

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Lodge Bodensee, St. Anton, Arlberg, Austria

Perhaps a resort is a better idea instead of a house/chalet?

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Le Chabichou, Courchevel, France (Princess Di stayed here!)

Anyway, this is all me daring to dream. I figure maybe it's just better to accept the cold weather instead of complaining about it. :)

So, my dear readers, do any of you have a favorite place to ski? Where was your most memorable ski vacation? Most importantly, how do I convince Husband J that a ski trip will be worth our while? :)

Beach or Desert?

So if you had the chance, where would you go? To the beach or to the desert?

A friend recently asked me some questions about Antigua, my beautiful island homeland :) While doing a quick search for her, I noticed that this fall, before Christmas, you can totally find some deals. I found a great sale at a very small hotel (just the way I like it) for a nice price (Check it out!). Alas, we are supposedly going here in a few weeks:

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Yep, the Grand Canyon!

I know that I haven't talked about it much, but that's because I've barely thought about it. Perhaps this is my bias against domestic travel (or maybe it's 'cause I'm not outdoorsy), but I have to remind myself that I am going there in a few weeks. I think it's also extra hard to get excited because Husband J's job has been pretty busy lately, which is kinda hysterical because the main reason he even thought that we should go out there was to merge our trip with a WORK conference he has in the Phoenix area. He may not even be able to go to the conference, and the trip may not even happen!

Anyhoo, researching Antigua made me miss the island and my family. I have not been back in a few years and that makes me sad. I think I piqued Husband J's interest though with the prices we'd get for accommodations (although the flights are not too hot. Boo!!). Wouldn't you want to be here for Thanksgiving?

My cousin, who lived in the US for awhile and moved back to Antigua, makes Thanksgiving dinner now anyway. He even watches the Thanksgiving Day Parade! It would be like being here in NYC (except way better weather, accents and fruit). :) Maybe I'm thinking this way because I should technically be hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, and I'm scared that I've never made a turkey. Maybe I'm punkin' out?

I doubt we'll cancel the Grand Canyon trip and go to Antigua instead. Why can't we just do both? Why can't I be independently wealthy? Sigh.... (By the way, feel free to give me the side eye for any of this "complaining.")

Anyway, I know that not everyone likes the beach, and I do know that I have got some readers who are avid campers. Would you prefer a long weekend in the Caribbean on a beach or a long weekend seeing one of the greatest natural wonders in the world?

Weigh in in the comments section!

Where to Next? - Bali

Hey y'all,

For the "Where to Next?" posts, I'll be featuring places that I am going to next OR where I'd like to go next (no worries, there's a list!). So...WHERE am I going next?

Beautiful Bali!!!

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There are temples Everywhere!

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The beach at Nusa Dua. We probably won't make it over there, but after seeing this picture who knows?

I can't even use the word "excited" to describe how I feel right now, as this will be my first time traveling to Asia. Woo hoo! Also as some of you may know, I'm still technically a newlywed (under a year counts, right?), so this trip is also my HONEYMOON...10+ months later. Husband J and I just went on a small get-away to his home state of Rhode Island since we weren't able to go on the international honeymoon that I would have liked. So how did we (okay more like me) make the choice to go to Bali?

1. It's a new place. I am the more adventurous of the two of us, and Husband J usually goes along with what I suggest. Smart man! ;) I definitely wanted to go to Asia, since I'd never been before. I knew for a fact that I wanted to go to a location that would be new and interesting for me. Try Anything Once, right?! Also the Caribbean actually isn't that interesting of a relaxing travel destination for me since I am actually from the Caribbean and much of my family is still there. If I am going to go to that part of the world, I'd rather just go to my home island and have the added benefit of seeing my family too. I think some time I will talk about my "issues," both personal and otherwise, with Caribbean tourism, but that's for another time.

2. Dollar, dollar bill, y'all. I knew that going to Asia would allow us to stretch our funds a whole lot more than Europe, and even in some respects, the Caribbean. While we are paying more to travel to Bali than we would other locations, once we get there we can find food cheaply (a meal for two for less than $10! I think so!) and extremely affordable shopping (although I'm not a big shopper but maybe the prices will spur me on!). I also think the lower prices allowed us to get the chance to stay in hotels that we wouldn't normally be able to afford (or willingly spend the money. That means you, Husband J. Hee hee! ). I will say that we could have stayed at cheaper places than we are, but this our honeymoon and I was thinking "romance" (and not holding back!!) when I booked our hotels. You can find gorgeous hotels in Bali for $100USD per night or less, if you look.

3. Culture, culture, culture. Bali has so much to see and discover: art and specialty handicfrafts, actives volcanoes, its own form of Hinduism and gorgeous temples; and native Indonesian dance are just some of the things I hope Husband J and I get to experience on our trip. I have a hard time with the idea of traveling very, very far away and not interacting and learning about the local culture around us (or not leaving the hotel for that matter), so it was important to me that we be in a place that emphasizes the culture of its people.

4. Spas! A $10USD one hour massage. Need I say more? :)

Now no trip is without it's drawbacks. I can't wait to go, but I wish were going for longer than the 11 days we'll be gone. Husband J didn't want to travel for too long due to work constraints. Also this is probably the longest plane trip that I will have taken so far in life. One 18 hour flight with a layover in Hong Kong, and then about another 5 hours to Bali from there. I've done the 18 hour flight before, but I didn't have to do it again until four months later! Any recs for long-haul plane travel? I'd love to hear them.

Here are some preview pics of some of the places where we'll be staying.

Komaneka Bisma - Ubud, Bali

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The Samaya Bali - Seminyak, Bali

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We leave next week, so you haven't gotten rid of me yet! Ha! :)

Does anyone have any tips on surviving long-haul flights OR better yet getting over jet lag? If you've traveled to Bali, do you have any tips for us?