A Valentine’s Day Travel Letter to My Husband

February 14, 2014InACents 1 Comment

Hello! Mrs. InACents here wishing you and your family happy travels for this Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day has always been one of my favorite holidays since I was a little kindergartener. I love the corny cards, the wondering what each conversation heart could mean from that special boy, and the colors red and pink everywhere! I have declared Valentine’s Day a household tradition from the first time I celebrated with Mr. InACents, and it has continued on through today when we celebrate with our three boys too. The tradition for our family includes a valentine’s breakfast and a small gift for each member of the family from me. I always break out valentine’s decorations, heart dishes, make heart shaped pancakes, and I even once made bacon formed into hearts!

I usually get the boys a small toy and a small candy item of some sort. For Mr. InACents, I generally get candy or pajama pants or cologne. Here is where we have a problem. Mr. InACents is not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day. Sure he likes the family tradition that I do, but he likes it for the kids. Do not get upset with my dear old, darling, adorable, husband though. He is actually very romantic. Traditional romantic holidays are just not his thing. His thing is anniversaries and other surprises throughout the year.

He always showers me with attention, his own traditions, travel, and a gift or two, for our yearly anniversary and throughout the year. Valentine’s Day is just not his favorite day because of the gimmick it has become. First of all, Mr. InACents does not love corny cards someone else wrote and he has to pay 5 bucks for, and second of all he definitely does not eat chalky conversation hearts, nor does he love large doses of pink like me.

So then comes my breakfast. He loves that! There is nothing he does not love about bacon, sausages, pancakes, and fried taters. So breakfast is good with him, but every year I want more! I want to convert him into a true lover of the day of cupid. Make him a true believer of a Hallmark holiday where you should do something a good couple is supposed to do all year long.

How do I convert Mr. InACents into a fan of Valentine’s Day you ask? I wracked my brain. I really did. I thought of the criteria: Mr. InACents likes homemade stuff, he likes creativity, he likes very heartfelt stuff, travel stuff, and most importantly he likes free stuff. Then it hit me, the perfect present, the thing to convert the Valentine’s Day Scrooge into a blubbering, smooching, XOXO, valentine convert. I would write him a Valentine’s Day travel article from me to him! The perfect gift and here it is:

14 Reasons Why I LOVE Traveling with Mr. InACents

1. Our Car Conversations

There is nothing better than hours of time spent in a car with captive children who cannot run wild and who often nap while riding, to finally get a chance to talk to my hubby without the daily grind getting in the way. We talk about frivolous things too. It is fun to talk about where we would live if we could live anywhere, where we dream of traveling, or what we think about certain new top 40 songs. I treasure those times with him, and I often look back on the driving part of long car trips with a certain wistfulness that it was one of the best parts of the trip…yes you can commit me to the looney bin now…I realize I sound like a kook.

2. The Way He Gifts Travel to Me

My husband loves surprises! In the 5 years of marriage and 8 or so years since we started dating he loves to surprise me with travel experiences. He gifted me a trip to Niagara Falls when we were dating. Our first trip to Disneyland included a surprise that my parents were at the hotel to join us. He has sent me on a midnight scavenger hunt ALL around my house on Christmas eve to gather clues that led me to my Christmas gift, a trip to Williamsburg. He has recently taken me all the way to Chicago to surprise me with a tour of the Disney Archives exhibit. It is these things we get to do together as gifts that I will remember the most of my life with him.

3. Seeing Him Experience Travel Though The Eyes of Our Sons

There is nothing more romantic than seeing your husband light up, engage with, and love your children! I think there is nowhere better to engage with kids then when you experience new things together. Even when our family does local travel, like enjoying the art museum, market, or a train ride, my hubby experiences it with my kids and guides them in a way that they can take it all in, learning and goofing off at the same time!

4. Travel Team Work

I love travel with Mr. InACents because we make a great team. People wonder how did we camp with a new born or travel to Hawaii for nearly three weeks with two young kids? It is because of team work. We team up to keep those three little munchkins in line, having fun, and if all else fails at least we were well fed on vacation.

5. Eating

We are foodies. We love travel and trying the local cuisine. It would be no fun if one of us were dieting. Good thing we never are!

6. Disney

What other man would I have found that would agree to a honeymoon in Disney plus many subsequent return trips? Most of all, I love him because he puts up with my propensity to plan Disney trips a year in advance in minute detail.

7. Big Dreams

Both of us have bigger travel dreams than we do for home improvements or career. We like to dream big. I would have never learned to be a dreamer when it comes to where we could go and what we could see in the world, especially with our kids, if it had not been for him opening up my eyes to it.

Travel with him has made me much more spontaneous as well. I have always had trouble being a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl until I learned to travel with Mr. InACents.

8. Small Finds

In contrast to big thinking, Mr. InACents also sees the fun in finding a small, local hideaway for a trip idea. There is always something planned in the InACents household.

9. Photos

Mr. InACents takes the most beautiful photos and sees the gorgeous in the everyday things, like light fixtures and signs. The pics he takes of our brood are amazing too! He and I also have very photogenic children together which helps.

10. His Positive Attitude

No trip or outing is ever a flop. We have spent a day in the freezing rain of a pumpkin festival, and we have missed ports-of-call on a cruise ship and never once did he complain. This trait is one of the things that I first noticed about him when we traveled together while still in the dating phase of our relationship. It was one thing that made me fall in love with him. He sure can complain about other people’s driving or how bad our dog’s breath smells. On many a day he can complain like the BEST of them…but he NEVER, EVER ruins a trip with complaining. More than anything he knows a bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work.

11. The Deals

Everywhere we go, you better believe it is cheap, free, or the best deal possible, making it possible to go more places and do more by stretching the average family travel budget.

12. The Rides

From Cedar Point to Dutch Wonderland to the weirdest little parks in the country, we love to see it, ride it, and take the boys to it.

13. The Trains

No one else would be as much fun to ride on 10-20 train rides a year with. With our train obsessed kids I need someone to commiserate with.

14. Mr. InACents Is My Best Friend

I would not want to travel with anyone else! Happy Valentine’s Day to my numero uno travel companion. I love you!

Mrs. InACents

Travel and Pregnancy Expectations

January 31, 2014InACents 7 Comments

TRAVEL AND PREGNANCY EXPECTATIONS – Last week Disney Cruise Line updated their policy of woman traveling on-board while pregnant. The current policy states:

Women who have entered their 24th week of pregnancy as of their embarkation date or who will enter their 24th week of pregnancy during the cruise will be refused passage due to safety concerns. Neither a physician’s medical statement nor a waiver of liability will be accepted. In addition, Disney Cruise Line cannot be held responsible or liable for any complications relating to pregnancy at any stage.

The change in Disney travel policy got me thinking, what should people expect when traveling with an expectant child? Disney, effectively states, if you are 6 months pregnant, they do not want to assume any risk of you going into labor or complications that may arise while under their supervision.

I am sure there will be people on both sides of this issue arguing for or against the traveling restriction. So, the first person I thought to contact was Angelina, who writes “Just Another Points Traveler” over at BoardingArea.com. With a baby due any day now, you will see why we value her opinion on travel policies. So please welcome Angelina to the discussion.

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Hi, I’m Angelina! As the rest of the world gears up for the SuperBowl this weekend (which is ironically happening merely miles from me here in NJ), I am packing up the final items of my hospital bag, as I am days away from meeting “Baby Points Traveler.”

2013 was my most-traveled year to date (in the end, I calculated that I took a total of 90-flight segments by year’s end). Who can blame me though – traveling with points and miles, booking mistake fares, and going on mileage runs are all very exciting components of the wonderful world of points and travel. Although, I usually have a taste for traveling on a whim, without much planning, I found myself booking trips left and right ahead of time due to a deal or redemption opportunity I just could not refuse.

Then right smack in the middle of the year (June to be exact), Mr. Points Traveler and I found out we were expecting. At that point, I had already had a dozen or so trips planned in the months ahead. I’ve learned that many first time parents switch gears the instant they find out they are pregnant. I, on the other hand, was determined to keep on globe-trotting before the baby came, not because it was my “last chance of freedom,” but because I felt healthy enough to continue living my life as I normally did prior to finding out I was pregnant. Life doesn’t stop with a pregnancy.

I traveled extensively throughout the first 7 months of my pregnancy on both domestic and international itineraries, sometimes even as frequent as every weekend. I am so grateful that I had a “good pregnancy” all around, without any sickness or complications.

When I really started “showing” (around my 7th month), people close to me told me I should slow down on my traveling. I still felt pretty good, so I did not see the need to stop. I told my doctor ahead of time, and I was diligent about taking good care of myself. I knew what my cut off would be, and it was very much before the “standard” 36-week no-fly policy that the majority of airlines have in place.

Believe it or not, deciding when to stop traveling is not just a product of common sense – most airlines and cruises have a policy for pregnant-women travelers, and while I am sure it is enforced on a case-by-case basis (meaning, no one wears a sign saying “hey, look at me, I am 36 weeks pregnant), it is in place for the safety of the passenger and for liability reasons.

I personally think a no-fly past 36 weeks pregnant policy is very generous. I personally stopped traveling on airplanes at around 33 weeks. However, when I came across Disney Cruise Line’s new pregnancy policy, my jaw dropped.

In fairness, I have never traveled on a Disney Cruise before, and cruising is not exactly my “go-to” preference of travel, but 24 weeks?! WHAT? Granted, I understand that cruise ships are a breeding ground of food-bourne illnesses, and the company does not want to assume any liability if something should happen on board, but the second trimester is the safest and most comfortable time to travel for a woman. Doctors even recommend planning a “baby moon” as a “last hurrah” for the couple.

What really bothers me the most is this – how on earth would the cruise personnel “pick out” a 24-week pregnant woman from a crowd. I feel this policy is completely discriminatory towards pregnant passengers, and I am shocked that such a “family-friendly” company would have such policy in place. At 24 weeks pregnant, I was still wearing my pre-pregnancy clothing, taking fitness classes, and most importantly, traveling. I was healthy and no different than anyone else – life was a breeze, and I felt good.

As a visual reference, here’s what I looked like at 23 weeks pregnant:

Just Another Points Traveler 23weeks Pregnant

Angela at 23 weeks pregnant

Regardless of my hormonal pregnant-woman rant right now, at the end of the day, Disney has their rules, and rules are rules. It is important to know travel policies before booking any travel, and most importantly, it comes down to how you feel. I know some people who hang low during their entire pregnancy for various reasons, and that is okay too. Traveling or not traveling while pregnant is your preference, and only you know what is best for you.

What do you think about Disney Cruise Line’s new and updated travel policy for pregnant women? Do you agree or disagree with it?

Have you traveled at all while pregnant?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Cheers,

For associated travel policies of the major airlines, please reference your specific airline polices and consult with your doctor. The Baby Center website has a great list highlighting the carrier pregnancy travel policies.

House Sitting 101: A Beginners Guide to Staying in Someone’s Home for Free

April 25, 2013InACents Leave a comment

I have always kind of knew about housesitting, but only on the surface. It was not until I came across another travel blogger couple, Suitcase Stories, that I started to read some firsthand experience with staying for free in other peoples homes while traveling. As I began investigating, I saw some amazing housesitting opportunities, like a 2-month chance to take care of a couple animals for people on the Big Island of Hawaii. I immediately started to wonder why the heck am I working everyday, when I could be living in Hawaii rent free? Heck, I would even consider working at a fastfood chain to make income for an opportunity like this.

So I reached out to Nicole, to see if they were interested in writing us a guest post on the basics of traveling around the globe while staying in someone else’s home. So please welcome Suitcase Stories to the InACents family.

House Sitting 101

House sitting is taking the travel world by storm! It is now perfectly acceptable to live in a stranger’s home while you travel, and the best part, it will not cost you a cent!

So what exactly is house sitting? In a nutshell, it is an exchange of services for free accommodation. To expand on that – A house sitter will look after a home, feed/walk/care for the pets, keep the house tidy, bring in the mail, put out the trash… you get the picture.

In return, the homeowner allows the housesitter to live rent free in their home for the time they are away which can vary from a few days to many months. Free accommodation while traveling in exchange for a few menial chores – Sounds too good to be true right?

In addition, it is not just a win for the housesitter/traveler because the homeowner also gets a lot out of this arrangement. Having a sitter means their pets can stay at home instead of being locked up in a kennel/cattery. The sitter is there to care for the pets, feed them, play with them and keep them company while ‘mom and dad’ are away. But more than that, the homeowner has piece of mind that someone will be in the home, which is great for security. It is never a good idea to leave the home unlived in for any period of time; with a house sitter, they do not have to.

Coming home to a clean and looked after home is another benefit for the homeowner. Its much nicer to a arrive home to a neat clean house than to dust cobwebs.

On the flip side to that, there are many benefits for the house sitter too. Of course there is the rent free issue, which is a good enough reason in itself, but what about having a full kitchen and laundry at your disposal while traveling? What about having the use of a car for free instead of a needing a rental? Perhaps having luxuries such as air conditioning, swimming pool or hot tub is more up your alley.

One of the biggest benefits for us as perpetual travelers, is the space house sitting allows us. As much as we love each other, it is really nice to have some space where we are not constantly in each others face. He could be watching television while she is on the porch reading a book. You can not get away from each other in a hotel room!

Something else that may be appealing for the long term traveler is house sitting allows you to really ‘live’ in the places you visit, to immerse yourself into their cultures and customs. Imagine traveling to Japan and being able to live in a traditional Japanese home, experiencing life as they do in every way. I do not know about you but that is my idea of real travel.

You also get to meet so many wonderful people! We have become friends with some of the homeowners we have sat for as well as several of the neighbors. And speaking of meeting the locals; this can often lead you to ‘off the grid’ spots like private beaches that you may not know about as a tourist.

So I bet right now you are saying “Where do I sign up?”. Well to be fair, there are also some disadvantages to the house sitting lifestyle you should know about before jumping on the house sitting bandwagon.

A house sitter is responsible for someone else’s home, pets and often, their car. That is a lot of pressure! You have to be confident and fast thinking in a crisis. If a water pipe bursts you are the one who needs to deal with that. If the dog gets terribly ill, you have to get him to the vet and deal with that.

Also, because you are in someone else’s home you need to be respectful which means no parties! It also means you can not have guests over, unless its been approved by the owner.

Things can and will go wrong. Its how you deal with those issues that makes you either a great house sitter or someone that is more suited to hotel living.

House sitting is an ideal way to see the world, but is it ideal for you? You need to ask yourself if you are willing to take on the responsibility. Are you going to be able to think on your feet if something goes wrong?
If the answer is yes, then house sitting will change your travel life.

We have been house sitting on and off for 13 years and full time for 13 months. We have lived in a luxury house on an island; in Costa Rica with the jungle as our back yard; a quint English cottage in London; a beautiful beach house; a Spanish farmhouse; And coming up next – 7 weeks living on a Caribbean island!

House sitting has given us luxury while we travel. And while it is not all million dollar beach houses, every home has been a wonderful experience and saved us from night after night in a small cheap motel room.

I truly understand why house sitting is fast becoming the new way to travel; we could not travel any other way now. Would not you be happy having a little luxury and more money while you travel?

Bio

Nicole and Michael are an Australian couple in who gave up their careers, sold their possessions and left their ‘conventional’ life behind for a life of travel. They have been living a nomadic life for 13 months and see no end in sight.

They recently launched Suitcase Stories, a website where they share their stories, travel tips and destination guides. Their main goal for this website is to inspire others to travel and to show people how long term travel is not only possible but affordable.

As avid house sitters they want to show others how a life of travel is truly possible through house sitting.

You can follow their journey on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest also.

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Thank you Suitcase Stories for the wonderful introduction to the world of house sitting! If you would like to find some resources on finding possible house sitting ventures, please visit Suitcase Stories. I know before I consider traveling anywhere again, I will for sure be considering unique opportunities like this for our family.

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