Travel Expert Talk Show Radio Host Stephanie Abrams

Travel Expert and Radio Talk Show Host Stephanie Abrams - Shownotes

Travel with Stephanie Abrams! - May 10, 2009 - Shownotes & Audio Archive

Mother’s Day Well Wishes from Stephanie Abrams; Interviews from the 2009 New York Times Travel Show; Luggage Forward Removes the Stress of Travel; Crestline Hotels and Resorts’ Green Initiative; The Tanzania Tourist Board; “1,000 Places to See Before You Die”; Safari Experiences in Kenya and Tanzania from VirginBush Safaris Ltd.; Passport Laws Change June 1, 2009.

Listen to the show in Windows Media Format: hour1 hour2 hour3

Listen to the show in MP3 Format: hour1 hour2 hour3

Hour 1

Topics Include:

One of the biggest traveling concerns for people today is how to manage luggage when flying. Regulations vary airline to airline. A passenger has to understand just how much luggage they can take, the weight requirements of that luggage, and what fees may be included if they exceed the designated limits. Wedding parties who are flying to exotic locals may have a tremendous amount of luggage. It can be a nightmare traveling with multiple bags and no guarantee that they will arrive to your destination when you do.

Luggage Forward is a door to door luxury delivery company founded in 2005. Luggage stipulations are consistently changing and Luggage Forward is an ideal solution. An agent will come to your home to pick up your luggage and will ensure that your luggage arrives at your final destination, usually well before you do. Luggage is a burden and it is tiring to carry. Luggage Forward removes the stress of airline travel.

A pricing engine is available on their website which provides instant cost estimates after you indicate a few details like destination and dates. The website offers secure online booking. You receive an order confirmation number upon purchase which allows you to track your booking online or with a web enabled wireless device. The company services every zip code in the US as well 200 countries and territories worldwide. This includes even the most remote and exotic locations. You can also contact representatives via phone to make special requests or ask questions about the service.

For more information visit http://www.luggageforward.com/ or call 866-416-7447

Crestline Hotels and Resorts offers destinations throughout the United States. Crestline is a third party management company that operates seventy properties within the United States including both brand name and independent accommodations. Brand name hotels include Hilton, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Marriott and Sheraton. Crestline is a wholly owned subsidiary of Barceló Hotels & Resorts, a brand that has hotels and resorts in the US, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. The common thread in a Crestline hotel is in the management style and its ability to the high standard put forth by the company and its partners.

Crestline has recognized the necessity of having sustainable business practices and has worked to reduce their organization’s carbon footprint. It has been difficult to create a cohesive policy because Crestline often operates on behalf of other brands. The company looked at their industry and other industries to find a viable program to be a part of. They found that there were no consistent programs or consistent standards to address ecological concerns in the hotel industry. The need to make a difference motivated them to design their own program that allowed for differences between their hotels.

Elizabeth Delens, the General Manager of Crestline’s Sheraton Four Points in Washington, DC, oversees an energy-saving committee. The committee has developed a program that includes a point system marking the progress of the various properties. A third of the Crestline hotels have already received a green certification from the state they operate in, or have been recognized by organizations such as the Audubon society.

Crestline has designed their own checklist and auditing system with 90 areas of criteria. These areas are addressed in the everyday standard operating procedures such as composting, recycling, and systems management. After their auditing process, Crestline ranks their properties to determine their “green standing”. The new Crestline corporate headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia has also gone green and expects to receive a silver LEED certification this year.

For more information visit http://www.crestlinehotels.com/

Guests Include:

Zeke Adkins, Co-Founder, Luggage Forward.
www.luggageforward.com

Dave Durbin, CEO, Crestline Hotels.
www.crestlinehotels.com

Hour 2

Topics Include:

At the New York Times Travel Show, what Stephanie refers to as “the world’s fair of travel”, “Travel with Stephanie Abrams” was joined by Geoffrey Meena, the Marketing Manger of the Tanzania Tourist Board. The Tanzania Tourist board is based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in East Africa. It was established in 1993 by the government of Tanzania to market Tanzania as a destination outside the country as well as within it.

Tanzania is 940 thousand square kilometers. It is the only country in Africa surrounded by lakes on three sides and it also has the Indian Ocean to its east. The biggest lake in Africa Lake Victoria is in its north. The country has many attractions including safaris, 15 national parks and 34 game reserves. The are also a lot of unique sites including one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Ngorongoro Crater, the tallest mountain in the world, Mt. Kilimanjaro and fantastic beaches in Zanzibar and Dar as Salaam.

The country has 125 different tribes and a tremendously diverse culture. There are superb international hotels and accommodations located in all areas of the country. Accommodations vary in price from $50 USD to $1,000 USD per night. Hotels are located in the city, in beach areas and adjacent to the national parks. In Tanzania you are guaranteed to see things you would not see anywhere else in the world. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flies to Dar es Salaam direct from Amsterdam. Local flights in Dar es Salaam travel to many other destinations in the country.

For more information visit http://www.tanzaniatouristboard.com/

Patricia Schultz, Author of “1,000 Places to See Before You Die”, joined “Traveling Feet” at the 2009 New York Times Travel Show. Schultz has had a life of travel experience and has made her living in travel journalism. She has written many guide books and worked as a freelance writer for renowned travel author and publisher, Arthur Frommer. In her independent work, Schultz has mainly chosen places that specifically affected her. She admits that she hasn’t visited all of the “1,000 Places” she writes about in her books (there is a 2007 edition that focuses just on North America) but knows from extensive research that these places deserve to be on the list. In her words they are places that “you just know” will be incredible.

Schultz states that “the more you travel the more you realize that you haven’t even scraped the surface”. She recommends using her books as a kind of guide. There are different ways to navigate through the text. Schultz offers several theme specific indexes with logical groupings of topics and has the sections in each book divided by geographic areas. You may not be able to visit 1,000 places in the world but you can at least narrow your list down to some of the must-see destinations and better inform yourself about parts of the world you had always considered visiting.

For more information visit http://www.1000beforeyoudie.com/

Guests Include:

Geofrey Meena, Director, Tanzania Tourist Board.
www.tanzaniatouristboard.com

Patricia Schultz, Author, “1000 Places to See Before You Die” and “1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A.& Canada Before You Die”.
www.1000beforeyoudie.com

Hour 3

Topics Include:

The owners of VirginBush Safaris Ltd. joined “Traveling Feet” at the 2009 New York Times Travel Show. The company offers authentic safari experiences in Kenya and Tanzania. Co-owners Cindi Crain and Lisa Rolls both left successful careers in New York City to pursue new lives in Nairobi, Kenya. Lisa had been an advertising executive and Cindi was employed in publishing. Lisa is one of only two American women in East Africa that is an officially licensed professional safari guide.

VirginBush Safaris is an extremely personable operation with a warm and welcoming atmosphere that caters to an individual’s specific needs. The company provides customized trips with no set itineraries. Each safari trip will accommodate between 2 and 14 people. Visitors fly into Nairobi if they are visiting Kenya and into Dar es Salaam if they are visiting Tanzania. They are then transferred by private air charter to their final destination.

VirginBush offers a portfolio of camps and lodging options. The owners of the company are personally acquainted with the management staff at each location. Though many of the trips feature elements of luxury (like martinis and comfortable camps), VirginBush Safaris’ main focus is on authenticity. Examples of safari experiences include chimpanzee trekking in Tanzania and watching elephant herds up close in northern Kenya.

For more information about VirginBush Safaris visit http://www.virginbushsafaris.com/