Ten things to do when it rains on your vacation

by Annie Scott on

Barbra Streisand gets it. Rain is the enemy.

I mean, yes, rain is important to our environment and makes all the beautiful things you see on a vacation possible, but when you only have a few days in paradise, rain can really spoil things. If you’ve ever found yourself in a situation where your dream day of biking or skydiving is canceled due to a torrential downpour, you get it. If you’ve ever come back from a week on an island without a tan … it’s just so sad, isn’t it?

Hurricane season in the Caribbean is upon us (June to November), and while that’s not likely to mean actual hurricanes, it does usually mean you’ll get some rain on your budget tropical excursions. Here are ten ideas to make your rained-in vacation days a little less disappointing. The important thing is to have fun and enjoy yourself anyway.

Ten things to do when it rains on your vacation:

1. Write postcards.

This is an excellent activity for the type-A among us. Writing postcards is potentially something you were going to do anyway, so doing it while it’s raining is actually a very clever use of time. Just try not to be too sad when you look at the front of the postcard and see that sun shining like a jerk.

2. Museums.

So, maybe you weren’t really planning to go a museum, but rain is a good excuse to go get yourself cultured up. If you were planning to visit a museum, this should be a no-brainer. Rain means “do your indoor activities today.” It’s like a message from the universe. A soggy, awful message, but a message nonetheless.

3. Library or lobby bar.

Many hotels and resorts have a library or lobby bar where guests instinctually gather when it rains. Strike up a conversation, make some new friends, have a margarita at 10 AM. Why not? It’s raining. All bets are off.

4. Sleep.

10 AM margaritas frequently lead to naps, and that’s okay. In fact, if you open your eyes in the morning and see rain from your hotel bed, why not sleep an extra hour or so — maybe it will be over when you get up. After all, vacation is about relaxing and rejuvenating, and catching up on all that sleep you missed this year is imperative. Imperative!

5. Games.

On a rainy day, get down to the gift shop early before they run out of decks of cards. Your hotel’s front desk may also have board games you can borrow, and if your hotel has a casino, there are a bunch of games to play there, too (albeit expensive ones). Don’t even try the game room; it will be overrun. Make up your own goofy games if you’re feeling especially restless. Sad photo ops in the rain can be a hilarious pastime.

6. Eat.

Rainy days are a perfect opportunity to dig into the local cuisine. Head into town in a rental car and try out some authentic eating establishments and grocery stores. You may be surprised at the strange food you find — and you might make one of your most lasting memories of the whole trip.

7. In-room movies.

If you’re someone who likes to get things done, why not knock a few titles off your Netflix list by curling up with the in-room movie selections? Rain can be a good excuse to watch movies you’d be embarrassed to go to or have in your home.

8. Theater.

Live theater? Quoi? Yes. Ask your hotel if there is any live theater in the vicinity and go check out a play, a concert or whatever’s playing. This can be an unexpected blessing; you may see an unforgettable performance or learn more about the local culture than you would have otherwise.

9. Spa.

See if any appointments are available at the spa. If there isn’t a spa on the property, the hotel can probably recommend a good one nearby. This may be the only option more relaxing and restorative than sleep.

10. Go out and enjoy the rain.

Can’t stay inside anymore? Then bundle yourself up (if it’s chilly) or put on your swimming suit (if it’s hot) and go play in the rain like a kid. Splash in the puddles, get messy and have fun. Don’t get in the pool if there’s lightning, and certainly don’t go out if the conditions are dangerous (like if there’s an actual hurricane going on), but playing in the rain can relieve the very angst the badly-timed stormy weather gives you.

Photo of the Day (6.6.10)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

If you’ve never experienced a thunderstorm as it rolls across the Great Plains, you’re missing out. During the shimmering-hot days of summer, you can hear and see these monsters coming from far away. Thunder rumbles ominously. Dark storm clouds rise to immense heights. The branches of trees flutter about in the intensifying breeze. It’s truly one of the nature’s greatest spectacles – the power, beauty and sound of these huge storms is a force to be reckoned with. That’s why Flickr user SenzEnina’s capture of one of these amazing summer storms caught my eye today. The dark wavy storm clouds and tiny farm suggest a scene with an interesting dramatic tension, right before the thunderstorm reaches the observer.

Taken any great photos of nature during your travels? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Escape from New York: Five tips for leaving the city when flights fail you

by Tom Johansmeyer on

New York is no stranger to tourist and business travel. We get lot of guests here, and eventually, their trips must come to an end. When the weather turns harsh, this can be problematic. Spring may be close, but March and April snowstorms happen, and there are always spring showers to make getting off the ground at JFK or LaGuardia a pure living hell. Whether you’re traveling in the northeast corridor or need to get to a different airport to get home, there are options.

I came face to face with this problem around six years ago. I was trying to get back to Boston, where I lived at the time. I was in New York every week on business and by Friday wanted nothing more than to get home. I stepped outside at 2 PM and saw snow accumulating on the street, even despite the city traffic. I checked Delta‘s website and saw that nothing had been canceled. So, I high-tailed out to LaGuardia hoping for the best. After a two-hour cab ride, I hit the Marine Air terminal only to find that the website wasn’t being kept up to date.

I needed some options and the thought of another two hours of taxi rides in a blizzard didn’t thrill me. Back in Manhattan, I figured I could pick up a train on Amtrak from Penn Station (which wound up working out). Along the way, I learned some tricks that can help anyone traveling the northeast or looking for an alternative airport when hope appears to be lost.1. Don’t fear public transportation
There’s no subway to LaGuardia, but there are buses. Catch the Q48 from the main airport or the Q47 from Marine Air (if you’re taking the Delta Shuttle). Get off at Roosevelt Ave in Queens, where the F or 7 train will get you back to Midtown. From there, it’s easy to hit Penn Station (New Jersey, Amtrak) Grand Central Station (Connecticut and New York) or the PATH train (if you want to try your luck at Newark). From JFK, you can catch the Skytrain to the subway, but brace yourself for a very long ride – the fastest I ever made it to Midtown was around an hour and a half.

2. Rental cars are risky
First, when flights aren’t taking off, there will be no shortage of people with the same idea. So, supply will be limited. Also, nasty weather makes for nightmarish driving conditions. You’ll be extremely unhappy behind the wheel, a situation that’s likely to be made worse by traffic. If you want to try driving, take public transportation out to the ‘burbs and use a rental agency out there (call first to make sure they can help you out).

3. . Be mindful of the other side
Getting out isn’t enough: you also have to think about where you’re going. If bad weather’s pounding New York, there’s a pretty good chance the situation in Philadelphia, Newark and Boston is also pretty ugly. If you’re having someone pick you up, call ahead. Arrange for a taxi or town car in advance. Definitely check the situation on the ground if you’re trying one of these airports instead. During my trek to Boston during the blizzard a few years ago, I called a local taxi service and asked to be picked up at South Station – and requested that they ask for my name before letting anyone into the cab. Sound arrogant? Well, it saved my ass. I saw the driver turn at least four people away as I pushed through the crowd, and I have no idea how many people tried before I got there.

4. Giving up may not be an option
Sometimes, it’s tempting to quit and just get a hotel room for a night (or a few, depending on how severe the storm is). Depending on what’s going on in the city, however, this may be a pricey alternative. As with rental cars, you won’t be the only person to think of this. Also, a busy night or weekend can cut available rooms down to nothing fast. If you are able to score some digs, you could wind up paying a fortune. If you do decide to stay in the city, hunt for the boutique hotels that y may never have noticed otherwise: they’re your best bet.

5. Draft your friends and family
During my escape from New York, I called my wife and asked her to book my train ticket for me. Handheld computing has come a long way since then, but it’s still inconvenient to hunt for alternatives on an iPhone or Blackberry. If you have someone who’s sitting in a warm office or home, hit him or her up for a hand. They’ll be able to find hotels or other travel arrangements easier than you will. By the time you get from the airport back into Manhattan, you may have a plan that only needs to be executed.

Photo of the Day (12.31.09)

by Kent Wien on

More snow is expected for today in the Boston area. I’ve been trying to capture snow with as much impact as possible, but I haven’t been happy with the results.

This picture from PDPhotography taken in Toronto really gave me a chill. Now I’m off to try to re-create the look. If I could just find a bus around here.

Here’s hoping you have a wonderful new year. Why not make it a New Year’s resolution to make an appearance on one of our Photo of the Day posts? Submit your picture to Gadling’s Flickr group right now! We just might use it for a Photo of the Day for 2010.

The Spice Isle: Grenada moves on past Hurricane Ivan

by Alison Brick on

I didn’t know a lot about Grenada before visiting recently, but one name was familiar to me: Ivan — the hurricane that came through with force in 2004. So once I got there, I wanted to find out two things: what’s it like during a hurricane? And how does the country look now, five years later?

You first have to realize — the hurricane was a fluke. The reason some residents were actually excited to see a hurricane in person was because hurricanes come so infrequently and Ivan would be their first. (The previous one was Janet in 1955.) Located 12 degrees above the equator, in the southeast part of the Caribbean, Grenada sits outside the hurricane belt.

By all accounts from the stories I heard, “Ivan the Terrible” was a rager. News had been as moody and unreliable as the hurricane itself – first saying that it was coming, then saying it wasn’t – before Ivan struck soon after. Winds blew 130 mph strong, making it a category 3 storm, as it made its way to Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Florida. 28 people in Grenada were killed, 18,000 people were homeless, and 90% of the buildings were damaged and 30% were destroyed.

All important things to realize. But even more, from what I’ve seen and heard, Grenada should be known for overcoming these things as much as enduring them.
The people have proved themselves to be resilient. During the storm, many held tight in their own homes, and others took refuge in shelters like churches, all while roofs were being torn off and water was coming in. With 90% of the buildings damaged and 30% destroyed, the people pulled together — cohabitating in the homes that were intact, and helping to re-build together the ones that weren’t. A man who was lucky enough to not have to repair his roof told me “everybody had to do SOME construction.”

One quote on a wall near the northern town of Sauteurs caught my eye: “God has not promised to keep us from life’s storms, but he has promised to keep us through them.” It’s hard to believe, but these folks had a repeat performance soon after. Hurricane Emily came through in July 2005 — a mere 10 months after Ivan.

No one’s going to say that the hurricane was a blessing, considering all of the damage, but it’s because of that damage that building codes have improved. Schools – which had been in need of rebuilding – have also been improved. The tourism industry was rebuilt (often better than before, like the amazing Spice Island Resort on Grand Anse Beach) — though I’m happy to hear that nothing can be built higher than 3 stories. A new National Stadium, home to cricket and soccer matches, was built to replace the destroyed one.

Only a few repairs will have to take longer, even after five years. The 128-year-old Church of the Immaculate Conception is still roofless, while the congregation continues to raise funds for construction.

I’ve been told that NADMA (National Disaster Management Agency) became better trained and equipped with proactive education and response systems.

The land itself has gotten to work repairing itself — although it takes more time than anything else. From my untrained eye, I was struck by the thick vegetation — fronds and branches, growing from all of the indentations and slopes of the country’s inland mountainscape. But I was told that for all of the places that I saw green, it was equally as gray after the hurricane — where winds stripped trees and shrubs down to the bark itself. Because the hurricane wiped out most of the country’s nutmeg livelihood, more wind-resistant nutmeg trees were planted.

These folks may now be well prepared for another hurricane, but let’s hope they’re not put to the test again anytime soon.

Alison Brick traveled through Grenada on a trip sponsored by the Grenada Board of Tourism. That said, she could write about anything that struck her fancy. (And it just so happens that these are the things that struck her fancy.) You can read more from her The Spice Isle: Grenada series here.