Stay at a Sage hotel, donate to Haiti relief

by Katie Hammel on

There are countless ways you can donate money and supplies to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake. Here’s one more way you can help, just by going about your travels. Stay at a Sage Hospitality Group hotel, now through the end of January, and the company will give $10 per room, per night to the Red Cross.

54 Sage hotels throughout the US are participating in the promotion. Guests do need to book the special “Help Haiti” rate, which has limited availability, in order to make the donation.

The Sage group is offering a few other promotions that benefit victims of the disaster. Coco Key Water Resorts, a division of the hotel group, will offer 1% of all food and beverage purchases to the Red Cross, and will offer a $5 pass on January 26, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross.

Sage has a history of offering great rates and promotions to help others. In the past, they’ve offered free nights to volunteers, service-people, and teachers.

Label your items – Souvenir tip

by Gadling Staff on

If you obtain a souvenir that does not have the city, state, country, and date already inscribed, make sure you write/paint/label this information in an innocuous place on your souvenir.

I failed to do this in the early years, and now after a lifetime of travel I have a beautiful collection of vases, decorative boxes, etc., but I can’t tell you what trip or what country many of them came from!

Eat better – Airplane tip

by Gadling Staff on

If you want to eat a better meal on your next long-haul flight, request a vegetarian (or kosher) meal when you book your tickets.

In addition to being fresher, the vegetarian and kosher meals on airlines — which are often the same — are often tastier than their meat-based meals. In addition, on U.S.-based flights, the meals often are less mixed together, making them easier to dissect/remove parts that don’t appeal to you.

Turn spare change into jewelry – Souvenir tip

by Gadling Staff on

As a poor student in the 60’s, I was lucky to pull together the money for a trip to France, but didn’t have a single sou left to buy souvenirs. What I did instead was to carefully scour my change and collect one French coin of every denomination minted that year.

After I got home and got a little money together, I found a jeweler who made my centimes and francs into a beautiful charm bracelet. It represents the time and place of a life-changing trip, and decades later, I still wear my all-time favorite souvenir.

Rent an apartment – International travel tip

by Gadling Staff on

As parents of 3 young children, rental apartments have become our favorite lodging when traveling.

Most country’s tourist boards maintain lists of rental apartments, and one can check reviews of the “chosen” apartment from the internet.

We visit the local butcher and purchase meals to finish at the apartment. The farmer’s market becomes much more fun when you get to take the produce “home” to cook locals will always tell you the best way to prepare it. Further, restaurants will often provide you take-out, so the romantic meal can still be had while the children sleep in bed.

Not only are rental apartments budget-friendly, they offer you the chance to “live like a local” while you’re visiting the destination.