Times Square was the place to be on Wednesday because of the Doc McStuffins Mobile Tour. Did you go? The tour focused on
Category: vacation
This year I wanted to something special for myself to celebrate turning another year younger. We tend to go through life, living day to day without taking a minute to just indulge. Well, to be totally honest, I do indulge, perhaps too much but its nice to do something extra special every now and then. When you’re on a budget though, something extra special cost …extra. If you follow me on FourSquare or Instagram, then you know Daniel and I spent the weekend in NYC celebrating our birthdays. Where does one go to indulge in NYC? How about the Red Door Spa on 5th Avenue?
Happy Almost Friday! Today My Pocketful of Thoughts comes to you LIVE from Carolina, Puerto Rico. If you read my prescription post on
Vacation you’ll recall that this year for Christmas, Daniel and I gave each other the gift of spending quality time. How is your holiday shopping going? Well I hope!
While we’re here I thought I’d share some tips!
Tip 1: Your hotel may have great places to eat within its walls, however, the price for convenience may bust your budget! DO RESEARCH! Or you can take a quick walk around the area of your hotel to see what’s in the vicinity for options. Also check to see when restaurants are open. Some are open for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Our local favorite so far is Mi Casita located on Isla Verde. Great staff and authentic Puerto Rican dishes like Mami makes! Who can ask for more?
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| photo credit: Emilio Santacoloma via photopin cc |
It’s Therapeutic Thursday here on My Pocketful of Thoughts today! Therapeutic Thursdays are reserved for all things that give you a sense of well being potential Holiday gift ideas. Today I’m sharing with you what my boyfriend, Daniel, and I are doing for this holiday season. Perhaps it will inspire you to think of a potential Holiday Gift for someone on YOUR list.
Throughout the year we can get extremely busy. It’s like the saying, “If it’s not one thing it is another.” It is great to be super busy, whether its work, pursing dreams, playing bowling, and volunteering at our church. Sometimes I think having all these spinning plates though can be hazardous to our health. It is important to know your body’s limit. Daniel and myself are still learning and pushing the body’s limits to just help one more person. It’s our gift and our curse.
The time we do spend together is precious. Which is why this holiday season we are giving the gift of doing absolutely nothing in a beautiful destination. If I were a doctor I would prescribe to most of my patients a VACATION; Take two of these and call me in the morning. While we do need to keep moving to STAY active, we also need to drop everything regularly to make sure that the body can heal itself properly and rest. If our cell phone is about to die, we do not try to make just one more call, right? Ok…maybe I do but only because it guarantees a short phone call. 🙂 Our mind automatically starts looking for the charger as soon as the light starts flashing red. So why not treat our bodies like we do our cell phones. We can get a replacement if the cell stops working but we can’t trade-in for a new body if our batteries die.
What better gift is there to get, than spending quality time with our loved ones, right? Cue in the music … why spend the money on gifts when you could spend the money on a trip that will build memories to last a lifetime. You can avoid the rush at the mall and save time from having to track down the item that seems to be on everyone’s list? In the past, that has been my favorite gift, the gift of an activity. We have built some great memories over the past years with those kind of gifts. I always look back on them with love in my heart.
One year Daniel surprised me with Broadway tickets to In the Heights during our stay in NYC. The play was amazing, a definitely must see. This January we used one of his Christmas gifts from me, a photography shoot class in Grand Central Station with Sundays in NY, read all about it when you’re finished here. This year we both know what we’re getting, as we planned it early on, a vacation to Puerto Rico. We will be doing a combination of absolutely nothing, eating, lying on the beach, sipping yummy drinks, sightseeing, and eating some more. We owe it to our bodies to just have a time out, heal and rest. Time outs are not just for kids you know! If this sounds great for one of the people on your list check out the Travel Discount Page in the menu above, its full of my favorite sites on where to get deals from activities to traveling.
If you’ve done something similar in the past, drop a line in the comments section, I’m always looking for inspiration on my next gift.
Until then,
PS Wednesdays on the My Pocketful Of Thoughts Facebook Page is Where Are We Going Wednesday, the entire day shares posts full of great travel tips and things to know. Stop by today and check out what great things you missed yesterday.
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BUONGIORNO! Are you in need of a vacation on this Money Monday? I know I am! I find that the more vacations I go on, the more I want to be on vacation. This year I have been putting money aside for a trip to Europe. For the past month I’ve been listening nonstop to an Italian 101 CD in my car. Knowing the language of the place you’d like to go to is very important to get around and to communicate with others during your visit. However we all know that the most important thing to planning a vacation is money.
As an introduction to the djrelat7 Travels segment here on My Pocketful of Thoughts, I wanted to start with all the things you might need to think about when figuring out your trips expenses. I will discuss each of the topics in further detail at later dates so stay tuned for that 🙂 Today we’re just going to brainstorm ideas.
- Travel Expenses? Am I purchasing airline tickets, taking the train, a bus, or driving. If I fly, how do I get to and from the airport. If I drive, how much gas will I need? Will I have to pay toll charges?
- Where will I stay? Is it an all inclusive resort? Is it a hotel/motel? Do I rent a house? These are all potential options for where you will stay wherever you visit.
- Food? Where I am going, is food expensive? What is a reasonable budget per day for eating?
- Transportation? Do I need a car rental if I did not drive to my destination?
- Weather? Do I have the appropriate clothing? Is it hot or cold? Do I need to purchase anything for the trip?
- Tips? How much do I leave house keeping? How much do I leave for dinner/breakfast/lunch, if I eat out? If I go to a bar, how much should I leave for each drink?
- Excursions? Is there fun things to do where I am traveling to that will cost extra?
- Total Party? Who is coming with me? If more people go, does that drop or raise the total cost?
- Spending Money? Should I set a daily spending limit on extras that are unforeseen or stick to what I have planned for?
- What is something that you think is important when budgeting for your vacation?
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| Photo Taken by Daniel Dias of Daniel Dias Photography |
As you can see the list can get lengthy, but DO NOT let that discourage you from planning your next vacation. There are TONS of ways to save money and I’ll share that with you when I discuss each topic over the next djrelat7 Travels sessions. Leave your #10 in the comments below and let me know where you plan on traveling next. If you miss a travel post just look for the label djrelat7 Travels 🙂
Until then
djrelat7
PS. Take a look at pics from Daniel Dias’ last blog post, Vacation, to see some of the sights we had in the Dominican Republic for his 30th Birthday Celebration!
Yesterday I was sad. 🙁 (see that’s my sad face) I got back Sunday evening from a long weekend away in Cape May, NJ, fully rested and ready to take on the world! I wanted to write to you, it didn’t matter what, but I wanted TO WRITE! I got on my laptop and connected to my router and NO INTERNET ACCESS. I was sad. But I was ready to write, how could this be? I tried my old laptop, same thing, DSI (yes i have a DSI) same thing…So I’m here, at Panera Bread this early morning, writing. I am excited. Awakened. I owe it all to my little getaway weekend. I feel rested. I feel relaxed. I was able to do things this weekend that I do not ever get to do. Vacation is awesome. I took a ton last year and because of a tight budget this year I put off even thinking of one. BUT what was I thinking?! I read an article last year that vacation is necessary for everyone to take, for mental and physical health. EVERYONE. YES YOU! We need to take a break from our every day lives, to stop and smell the roses. It allows us to reset, for lack of a better term. It allows us time to think and re-prioritize. What are the things that I’m doing that I need to stop? What are things that I should really make time for? Or just spending that quality time with some loved ones, delicious food and beverage, and relaxation (CAN’T STRESS THIS ENOUGH!) is exactly what the doctor ordered. LITERALLY. Don’t believe me, look it up!
So anyways, I am rested after my mini vacation, and can’t wait til the next one. In the mean time I am focused and you’ll be seeing me more often than not 🙂 Although I promise you that I will occasionally fall off the focus wagon as that is on my list of things to work on this year and I haven’t gotten that far on my list 🙂
What? You say you can’t afford a vacation? Well you came to the right place. I will share my travel tips. I also get deals from a variety of different companies and I’ll be posting the ones I see that are worth the money. OR have a place in particular, send me an email 🙂 Can you here Vacation calling your name? I hear it, LOUD AND CLEAR. I’m coming Vacation, I’ll see you soon!
Until Then,
djrelat7
Yesterday I was sad. 🙁 (see that’s my sad face) I got back Sunday evening from a long weekend away in Cape May, NJ, fully rested and ready to take on the world! I wanted to write to you, it didn’t matter what, but I wanted TO WRITE! I got on my laptop and connected to my router and NO INTERNET ACCESS. I was sad. But I was ready to write, how could this be? I tried my old laptop, same thing, DSI (yes i have a DSI) same thing…So I’m here, at Panera Bread this early morning, writing. I am excited. Awakened. I owe it all to my little getaway weekend. I feel rested. I feel relaxed. I was able to do things this weekend that I do not ever get to do. Vacation is awesome. I took a ton last year and because of a tight budget this year I put off even thinking of one. BUT what was I thinking?! I read an article last year that vacation is necessary for everyone to take, for mental and physical health. EVERYONE. YES YOU! We need to take a break from our every day lives, to stop and smell the roses. It allows us to reset, for lack of a better term. It allows us time to think and re-prioritize. What are the things that I’m doing that I need to stop? What are things that I should really make time for? Or just spending that quality time with some loved ones, delicious food and beverage, and relaxation (CAN’T STRESS THIS ENOUGH!) is exactly what the doctor ordered. LITERALLY. Don’t believe me, look it up!
So anyways, I am rested after my mini vacation, and can’t wait til the next one. In the mean time I am focused and you’ll be seeing me more often than not 🙂 Although I promise you that I will occasionally fall off the focus wagon as that is on my list of things to work on this year and I haven’t gotten that far on my list 🙂
What? You say you can’t afford a vacation? Well you came to the right place. I will share my travel tips. I also get deals from a variety of different companies and I’ll be posting the ones I see that are worth the money. OR have a place in particular, send me an email 🙂 Can you here Vacation calling your name? I hear it, LOUD AND CLEAR. I’m coming Vacation, I’ll see you soon!
Until Then,
djrelat7