Last night (October 27, 2011) WhirlAway hosted our first annual Ghostly Family Gathering.  We had an amazing turnout despite West Chester Borough cancelling inthe Halloween Parade.  Thank you to all of our wonderful friends and clients that came!  Here are some pictures of the event…

The average American spends $750 per year on Holiday gifts.  For a family with two adults, that equals $1500 on stuff that may be collecting dust in a few months’ time.  When I think back over the past 31 Christmases, only a few of them really stand out and coincidently, they all involve travel.  Now, I can’t tell you how old I was or what we did every day of the trip.  What I can tell you is that each vacation had some very memorable events that could never be recreated.

I remember spending the night in a castle somewhere in England.  I shared a room with my grandmother and she snored all night.  We arrived the day after Christmas, on Boxers Day, and everything was closed.  We traveled from London to Wales, making stops along the way.  Years later, I spent Christmas in Grand Cayman with my brothers before wives and kids were involved.  I remember going scuba diving with my dad – it was his first time and he loved it!  On Christmas Eve, carolers drove down on lit up trailers singing for everyone to hear and there was even a lit Christmas tree outside of our condo on the beach.  I remember returning to Grand Cayman after my brothers got married and started families and we had family dinners every night together for a week.  That was the last time we were all together.  In the years that we have not been forced to commit to a week away it has been nearly impossible to have everyone in one place at one time.  When I think back to all of these special little moments, I realize that these are the moments that define what family is and what we mean to each other.

None of these fantastic Christmas’ involved material objects.  In fact, we all agreed that there would be no traditional gifts during these years.  Our gifts would be precious time spent together.  Now that I have a family of my own and the holidays are fast approaching, I wonder how many more toys my 2 year old needs, and what my 18 year old step son could use, and then my husband, who has everything and needs nothing, what  can he open under the tree on Christmas morning?  Sure, there were toys and clothes that lit my face up when I was their age, but what really made a lasting impact were not the material objects, it was the experiences we shared together.  The laughter, the time, the excitement of traveling from one place to another and the discovery of a newdestination with the people that mean the most to me.  I want to give the same thing to my family.

Clothes are grown out of and toys break and get boring.  Jewelry gets tarnished and lost and electronics become dated almost as soon as they hit the sales shelf.  Memories with the ones that we love last forever.  Put your hard earned $1500 this year towards creating memories with travel, discovering a new part of the world, and enriching your family with a gift that cannot be experienced by anyone else.

My first steps on a cruise ship were exciting yet rather intimidating during my first ship inspection on the Royal Caribbean ‘s Enchantment of the Seas.  There were so many different amenities on each deck that I did not know where to begin.  Luckily, I had a tour guide to lead the way and ensure we saw everything the ship has to offer.  First up were the different room categories.  We saw the Royal Suite with balcony (my personal favorite!), Royal Family Suite with balcony (my second favorite!), Junior Suite with balcony, Superior Ocean View Stateroom with balcony, Grand Suite with balcony, Owner’s Suite with balcony, and a Large stateroom.  By offering so many different room categories, there is truly a room for everyone.

The food offered at lunch was exquisite.  If this was any indication as to the full menu, then Royal Caribbean definitely far exceeds its expectations and has something on the menu that will appeal to everyone.  I opted for the salmon whereas others enjoyed an alfredo pasta dish or steak.  Everyone was more than pleased with their meal and all wanted to stay for dinner.

On the last leg of our tour, we saw the Solarium, an indoor pool area for adults only.  I could easily picture myself relaxing on a chaise with a drink in hand while cruising at sea.  The fitness center and spa were simply amazing.  Can you imagine a massage while overlooking the sea?  The Viking Crown Lounge was my favorite area.  It is a glass enclosed lounge that turns into a bar at night and then around 11pm transitions to a nightclub fully equipped with a dance floor and dj.

I was extremely jealous of the cruisers coming onboard the ship to embark on their cruise.  With my Royal Caribbean knowledge and first-hand experience being onboard a ship, I can’t wait to help others plan a cruise that will create memories of a lifetime.

Julie Oates, our newest addition to WhirlAway Travel & Cruise Consultants shares with us her Adventure Travel experiences…

I have never been known as the adventurous type.  In fact, I can remember my mom always telling me I needed to “toughen up” day in and day out for as long as I could remember.   I always knew though that one day, I’d be able to prove her wrong.

A weekend trip to Interlaken, Switzerland while I was studying in Spain was able to do just that.  My first full day there I rented ski clothes and headed on over to ski the Swiss Alps like it was no big deal.  The fact that I was traveling with a girl from Denver and two other people who had been skiing since they could walk was a bit intimidating.  They were aware I had never been on skis before but since I had been the one to convince everyone to jump out of an airplane the next day, I knew there was no getting out of this one.

My nerves didn’t set in until we got to the top of the mountain and I saw just how steep the Alps really are.  In fact, the big sign in front of me said we were on the highest mountain in all of Switzerland.  That’s when the hyperventilating kicked in.  On a side note, there are no “bunny slopes” in the Alps.  With all these
three year olds flying past me not even using ski poles, there I was on the side, crying and praying the day would be over.  With my friends nowhere in sight (thanks to their skiing talents as well as the blizzard starting), I decided to quit and just head to the ski lodge for some hot chocolate and people watching.

The next day, the real adventure began.   We spent the day at Skydive Switzerland watching the group of people we were with go up in the plane and come down attached to a parachute.  Somehow, we were the last group of the bunch to go, which made it even more nerve racking.  The plane felt smaller than my closet and I wondered how four of us plus four instructors and four camera men as well as a pilot were going to fit, but somehow we managed.  We were told the plane cannot land with that many people in it, so once we were up we had no choice but to jump.  I think this was a lie to prevent us from chickening out.  I was the last one to jump out of the plane.  I only remember seeing my friend Matt jump and couldn’t believe my eyes when he just dropped so quickly and out of sight.  I don’t know how I managed to miss seeing Michael and Ellese jump when they were right in front of me, but I suppose I was focused on what exactly I was about to do.  The next thing I knew, I was floating in negative degrees above the clouds flying over the Swiss Alps with the sun setting and a rainbow in view, as well as a cameraman in my face videoing every second.  After I landed in a pile of snow (roughly, might I add) I couldn’t believe what I had just done.  We had to hurry back to the Hostel to get ready for nighttime dogsledding.

Nighttime dogsledding was simply amazing.  It was completely pitch dark out so the only light we had to go by was the reflection of the moon hitting the snow.  We sled all the way down the Swiss Alps, with a few crashes here and there, for close to two straight hours.  Once again, I was separated from my friends so I had to enjoy this experience with complete strangers and whomever I would manage to occasionally collide with.  Afterwards, we were rewarded with complimentary cheese fondue.  After this exhilarating day, we fell into our beds and awoke the next morning to head back to Barcelona.

After this adventure, I’d say I finally managed to join the wild side.  Adventure Travel is now my favorite type of travel, and in my opinion, the only way to travel.  Doing outrageous escapades in such an unknown place is what makes the experience all the more exhilarating and memorable.  Skydiving is something I have always had an interest in, but skydiving in Pennsylvania just can’t compete with Skydiving in the Swiss Alps.  I highly recommend Adventure Travel for anyone looking to enhance their travel experience and maybe knock off a few things from their bucket list.  Activities such as the ones I did can be
experienced in many different countries, but of course Switzerland would be my top recommendation.