News: Free WiFi with coupon codes

Use these codes for free WiFi on the three U.S. airlines using GoGo’s service

• Delta: DELTATRYGOGO
• AirTran: AIRTRANTRYGOGO
• American Airlines: AATRYGOGO

Check out these links for more coupon codes:

Gogo Inflight Free WiFi Coupon Codes [My Money Blog via Gizmodo]
Free Gogo Internet. Pass It On [FlyerTalk Forums]

Hope your holiday flights go smoothly and without delay!

Source: LifeHacker

Happy 30th birthday to my traveling buddy

I just wanted to say happy birthday to a very special person, one of my BFFs, Ami.  Why is she so special that she gets a birthday shout out on my blog?  Cuz I’ve traveled with her almost as much as I’ve traveled with my husband (21 of the 34 countries I’ve visited), and I’m so sad that I don’t get to help her celebrate today.  Here are a few pics over the years.

St. Petersburg, Russia, September 6, 2009; Split, Croatia, June 19, 2008; June 22, 2007, Dickenson Bay, Antigua; Windsor, England, March 21, 2005

Destination: Helsinki, Finland

We stopped in Helsinki on a Sunday.  I wish we’d had a few more hours and/or visited on any day other than Saturday.  We had time to hit the high points in town, but the shops were closed and I would’ve liked to have visited Suomenlinna Sea Fortress.  That said, I think a stop on a cruise ship was a good way to visit Helsinki.  The rest of Finland has a lot more to offer, but we got to see enough of Helsinki that I’m satisfied for now.

NC Eatin’: Harnett County

Saturday, June 27, 2009
Nonna’s Italian Restaurant
11 W Front St
Lillington, NC 27546

That weekend I went on a scrapbooking retreat with a friend.  We met some people at Camp Agape to work on our projects from Friday evening through Sunday at noon.  It was a great opportunity to check out another county!

Harnett County is just south of Wake and borders a total of 7 other counties.  I found a little Italian place in the county seat, Lillington.  Lillington was quiet but super cute.  It’s just 4 square miles and has a population of around 3,000.

Nonna’s didn’t look like anything special outside or inside, but it still turned out to be a good choice.  The service was good, and my calzone was perfect.  My only disappointment was that they don’t have a liquor license, so I couldn’t have a beer or glass of wine to unwind before heading back to scrapbook some more.

Destination: Stockholm, Sweden

We all really enjoyed our time in Stockholm on our cruise – other than the transportation issues.  I’ll tell you more about that under the “tips” section.  Anyway, here’s how we spent our day as well as some other ideas about what you might see while you’re there.

Destination: Copenhagen, Denmark

I’ve just about finished my scrapbook from the Baltic cruise, so it’s on my mind and I’m ready to share.  Here’s what I suggest seeing if you have just 2 days in Copenhagen.

What to Do/See in 2 Days
My husband and I arrived early Wednesday morning and caught up with our friends who’d arrived the night before at the hotel.  We showered in their room (our room wasn’t ready yet) and set out on this plan.  Unfortunately it started raining just before lunch on Thursday, so we gave up on the last few places.  I’d definitely like to go back and check out Copenhagen further.

Frederiksborg Castle. “King Christian IV’s magnificent renaissance castle in Hillerød north of Copenhagen was built in the beginning of the 17th century. In the following centuries the castle provided the setting for important ceremonial events, first and foremost the anointing of absolute monarchs. Today the castle has been transformed into a national historical museum.” (VisitCopenhagen.com)  It is a really gorgeous castle, so definitely go if you like castles and/or photography.  We took the S-train, line E to Hillerod, from Copenhagen (~40 mins) and then a local bus (701, 702, 703, 325), which was included in the Copenhagen Card (~5 mins).  It was super easy, especially since the bus driver spoke English and assured us we were on the right bus and told us when to get off.

TTT: Know your camera reset button

This Thursday, I have to share with you a very very important lesson – please PLEASE! figure out how to reset your camera to factory settings if you ever let your friends mess with your camera settings.  Sadly, I learned this lesson the hard way.

My story:  This summer, a couple different friends of mine took pictures with my DSLR.  They like to play with the settings, so they did so.  In September, I happily set off to see and photograph Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Gydnia/Malbork Castle, and Oslo.  I carefully took thousands of photos, expecting them to look as nice as the ones I took on our trip to Europe in May.  When I returned home, I eagerly checked out my pictures… and cried.  They’re all blurry!  Then I looked up how to reset my camera and went on to take some nice pictures on my JetBlue trip.

Oh, and no, I don’t blame my friends.  I can’t; it’s not their fault I don’t know how to properly use my own camera.  I just hope this tip saves you from making the same mistake.  No, I can’t post my blurry pics; they still make me cry.

TTT: Travel Tip Tuesday/Thursday

Kelly’s Antarctic Blog

Interested in Antarctica? Follow Kelly here!  She’s heading to the Amery Ice Shelf with the Australian Antarctic Division

TTT: Fly JetBlue

As my regular readers are aware, I returned just one week ago from using my All You Can Jet pass on JetBlue.  I flew 12 legs (more flights than that – probably close to 20) over the course of 23 days.  I think I’m now a pretty good authority on flying JetBlue.  Of all these flights, I received excellent service on all but one flight.  All but one of the flights were either on time or early, and the pilot on the one that was late called ahead to make sure those of us on another flight would make the connection.  So their record on my watch is far superior to any other airline I’ve flown more than a couple times.  Why else is JetBlue a great choice?

• There’s more leg room – really.  It’s noticeably more than the other carriers.
• The leather seats are actually comfortable.  The head portion doesn’t make your head jut forward, and the upright position isn’t actually leaning forward.
• The DirectTV at each seat is sooo nice.  I caught lots of shows I normally watch; I just wish they had ABC.
• The snacks, which are unlimited, are actually pretty good.  My favorites are the Doritos Munchies Mix and Chocobillys chocolate chunk cookies.
• Your first checked bag is free, which is definitely not standard these days.

I swear they are not paying me to post this – I really am a fan.  If the price is comparable and the route is tolerable (the second part i’s kind of a big if since I can get direct flights to lots of places JetBlue flies that I visit so I wouldn’t have to go through JFK like flying JetBlue requires), I’ll be jetting with JetBlue.  I recommend you do the same.

TTT: Travel Tip Thursday (Yes, I usually post my tips on Tuesday, but I’m still recovering from my trip!)

JetBlue #AYCJ: The rest of day 23 – heading home

Thursday, October 8, was the last day of the All You Can Jet passes, so I headed on home.  My friend M drove me to the Portland airport, and I flew to JFK from there.  I had a few hours’ layover, so I settled in at one of the Revive areas, long tables with stools that have plugs for charging and touch screens for ordering food delivered to your seat.  I watched some tv using JetBlue’s free WiFi and edited my pictures.  A guy sitting nearby got some really yummy smelling food, so I headed over to New York Sports Grill.  I got a Hoegaarden ($10!  Oh my gosh!!) and fried mac and cheese bites ($7 and delish!).  Then it was time to catch my very last flight.

 

My husband picked me up at the airport, and, yes, I recognized him.  The kitties greeted me with lots of purrs when I walked in.  Yay!  The next couple days were spent catching up – errands, cleaning, laundry, tv watching, and job searching.  On Saturday night, some of my local friends came over for a welcome home dinner.  Although I had an incredible time visiting my friends around the country, I really missed them!  They’re good buddies.  My husband got a little crazy with the camera remote, so we got some silly pictures.

Remember how a lot of the friends I visited are online friends who I hadn’t met before?  Turns out my JetBlue tour wasn’t quite the end of it!  I got to meet a couple more of my online friends today for lunch at Uno’s.  One of them is from Canada!

The budget:
10/8: $21 beer and snack.
Totals: $470.12 for the whole trip. 23 days for less than $500 isn’t too bad, eh?

Thank you again to all my friends who made this possible – for picking me up and taking me to the airport/train station, letting me sleep at your place, cooking for me, treating me to lunch/beer/whatev, introducing me to some of the most important people (including animals!) in your lives, and letting me be a part of your home lives for a little while. You’re all so beautiful and generally awesome, and you made what could’ve been just an okay experience into 23 of the best days of my life. I love you, and you are all welcome to visit me anytime!