I help manage our Biz Expense and Corporate Travel program, and we have 25 United drink vouchers that expire 1/31/21. I don't want to give these out to any of our travelers as we're already limiting business travel significantly and would rather not encourage a binge drinking session on the few flights we have with United. Does anyone have a United itinerary in the next two months? I'd happily mail out some vouchers to anyone with upcoming itineraries. Hell I'm not even sure if United is offering drink service on their flights right now.
I've flown United a dozen plus times in the last couple months. They're not offering drink service in economy right now.
You’re a lawyer right? Do you just do free lance work or does your firm allow sabbaticals? If they do, that’s sweet. One group in my company did a trial run but it didn’t end up spreading to where I work. Probably cancelled now with covid anyways.
You may wanna just hold on to the passes. I've used free drink vouchers that were a year plus past expiration. All depends on which flight attendant you get and if they care.
I'd take time off, I don't expect any firm to allow sabbaticals for a non-partner (and I never want to be partner). I'm hoping the whole WFH situation makes remote work more palatable to firms going forward. My plan would be to have a part-time/remote offer in hand before going to my current firm with such a proposal, but that may be wishful thinking. Got about 12-13 months to figure it out.
Ah I didn’t notice you said after next Christmas. Although that makes a lot more sense with regards to timing, covid, etc. Hope it works out bc that’d be awesome.
No, it hopefully won't be freelance. I would still work for a firm/company, just part-time. The same thing I'm doing now, same clients, same type of work, just on a reduced scale. For ease of reference, my starting point has always been work 1/2 the time for 1/2 the pay -- cut everything by 50%, and I'd probably agree to forego a bunch of fringe benefits (except health ins). Plenty of firms have part-time lawyers, "of counsel," different arrangements, but not entirely remote. I've explored the freelance stuff, and it's out there, but the pay is (obviously) shit. Mainly just document review for like $20/hour.
I feel like everything I'm doing now is so easy to get a job and be 100% remote. They'd be full time gigs. I wish I had this opportunity before I procreated and ruined all opportunity to be a nomad.
Absolutely. I can do 99% of my job from a computer. I realize traveling in perpetuity isn't realistic, but I want to try the digital nomad life for at least 4-5 years.
Yup. I'd love to be able to hole up in Costa Rica for 3 months, head to Indonesia for a bit, Hop around Portugal. Before Covid hit I was going to do this on the dl. Go to Portugal with my wife for 3-4 weeks and both of us just keep normal hours on the east coast with some vacation time mixed in
Wife and I are going to do this with our son after the pandemic is done. Going to head to the UK for vacation for a couple weeks. Then head to Portugal for a month and work from there. Then do another two weeks of vacation somewhere in Europe, we're thinking Germany, and then head to Vienna to work for another month. I'm fortunate that my company is global and I work on projects in Hong Kong, Brazil, US, Spain etc. all simultaneously so they don't care where I'm based as long as I make the calls with clients that are necessary.
Kind of a tough subject -- he just turned 11, and I'd be surprised if he makes it another year. Trying to give him the best life he can for now, but he's an old man. If he's still kicking, I'll figure something out/delay as necessary. Would never, ever, ever just leave him.
Will your company pay for your lodging? Germany, Vienna, etc. are some expensive countries to do the nomad life. I'm looking at Colombia/S. America first, then Hanoi/Vietnam, then hopefully Indonesia. 3-4 months in each.
I'd love to do an extended WFH period from Hanoi. Plenty of excursion/exploration opportunities plus dirt cheap. Trying to work a couple days from Istanbul was tricky with the 11 hour time difference. Would've been tougher if I had to hop on any calls. The two hour time difference with French Polynesia was nice, but the damn WiFi was shit. Idk if I could've done any Teams calls.
No, but I churn credit cards and traveled for work so much I have enough points that for the stays in UK and Germany we'll just use point stays at hotels. And then with Chase's pay yourself back option with points I've been buying Airbnb gift cards that I shouldn't have to use any cash for the stay in Vienna so all I'll have to pay for lodging for is Portugal.
Hanoi is exactly where I want to go, love that city. Yea, the time difference is something to take into account. A little concerned about WiFi, exploring some more options.
And.... my gf discovered that she lost her passport about a week ago. Turned over her whole apartment, was hysterically crying. Passport services have been curtailed because of COVID so unless it's a life threatening emergency, looking at 4-6 weeks until she gets a new one Rescheduled to late February, thankfully the hotel was cool about it. Given that's peak season, going to have a fairly substantial change in rate She gets on me all the time about being messy and not knowing where things are, I now have ammunition for the rest of our relationship
I may have posted about this a while back, can't remember. At the very beginning of this year, I promised our 3 year old we'd take her to see snow after Xmas. I didn't plan for a pandemic but she hasn't forgotten. Not flying anywhere so NC is probably our best bet. Thinking of driving to Asheville. We can drive to Beech or Sugar mountain one day for snow, do a Biltmore day, then maybe one more day there doing whatever. We have a full week though between Xmas and New Years so not sure what to do after that. Anyone have any suggestions where to bounce to after that for a few days? Don't want to get too far from home bc I don't want a 12 hour drive home. I wouldn't want to honeymoon in Pigeon Forge but maybe a day or two there?
One thing a little girl might really enjoy that is a little off the beaten path, is Grayson Highlands State Park in southern Virginia. It's probably an hour to 1:30 from the ski resorts, so it could be a good day trip. It has miniature ponies that run wild on top of a mountain, it's pretty neat and you can walk right up to the ponies. Maybe combine that with a bike ride down the Virginia Creeper Trail in Damascus. Obviously there is a ton of hiking you can do in Western, North Carolina/ East Tennessee. I can give some recs if you are interested. I normally suggest avoiding Pigeon Forge/ Gatlinburg, but that is even more important right now. Tennessee is handling this pandemic much worse than Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina. Staying near Gatlinburg to hike for a couple days might not be too bad, but going to Dollywood, go-karts and outlet shopping seems like a really bad idea.
Appreciate all of this. I'm not a hiker and we'll have a 3 yr old with us so a hike or bike ride would be tough. The ponies are a great idea though. Would it be hard to reach them with a 3 yr old? Is it an hour hike up a mountain? Good point on PF. Everything there sounds like a nightmare right now. Any other suggestions for that general area?
You have to walk up hill, maybe 200 yards, right when you get there. It's not that steep. Then you wander around on top of a bald looking for the ponies. They stay in groups of 10- 20ish and graze together. How much you walk is up to you (and the ponies if they are being elusive). You could put in a half mile, or if you really explored maybe 4 to 5 miles. It is at the highest ridgeline in Virginia, so winds can be strong and it can be significantly colder than lower elevations. You probably need an extra layer than what you are wearing when you leave where you are staying. The Creeper Trail is still something to look into. You can rent bikes and they will drive you to the top of trail. You then ride downhill on and old railroad bed (so the grade is never very steep) through the mountains. You coast as much as you peddle. I'm sure you could rent a bike with a child seat attached. You just ride back into town and drop off the bikes. You could drive part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are pull offs for views and short walks to waterfalls and other points of interest. The Cataloochee valley is in the national park on the North Carolina side. There are Elk that have been reintroduced there and some historic buildings you can explore. I've never been in winter and the road to get there is dirt, but at dusk I've had good luck seeing a lot elk. Cades Cove is on the Tennessee side of the national park and is a driving loop with good mountain views, lots of wild life and older churches and cabins you can go in. It might be the most popular thing in the park, so avoid on weekends. The Knoxville Zoo is nice and the children of my friends enjoy it. I can't think of a ton of stuff right now that I would recommend for the winter and during a pandemic, but maybe this can get you started.
Really appreciate it. The ponies sound like a must for us. She'd love that. Will look into the other suggestions. Thanks again!
Ok, so the crazy ass "vacation" is starting to take shape. Since it's right around the corner I am rolling with it but after this trip there will be a discussion on the amount of in-country travel when we are abroad. Current itinerary is: 12/27: Arrive in SJO and do some exploring; spend the night in San Jose 12/28: Rafting on the Pacuare (Exploradores Outdoors); change hotels, spend the night in San Jose 12/29: Get SUV, drive to Manuel Antonion Park; don't have place to stay yet 12/30: Trapeze class, drive to Jaco, explore during the daylight hours; stay just outside of Jaco 12/31: Drive to Tambor **Does anyone have any experience with the Puntarenas Ferry?**; Bioluminescent tour at Curu Wildlife Refuge; stay in Tambor 1/1: Drive to Monteverde 1/2: Monteverde 1/3: Drive to Arenal area; stay at Tabacon Thermal Resort & Spa (Hyatt) 1/4: Arenal 1/5: Drive to La Fortuna area; stay at Rio Perdido 1/6: Drive to Playa Hermosa area; stay at El Mongroove (Marriott) 1/7: Leave from LIR I am exhausted just writing all of that out.
Does anyone know how long Travelzoo deals stay up on their site before selling out? I'm sure it depends on demand but trying to get a ballpark idea. https://www.travelzoo.com/local-deals/international/getaway/364656/ This is a great deal, but trying to hold off on buying it until my CSR $300 Travel Credit is available for use in a week. I guess I could use the credit on something else but the selling point to my wife was that it would really be $300 instead of $600.
Inspired me to post my itinerary for Oaxaca: 12/26: Arrive in Mazunte/Zipolite 12/27 - 01/11: Surf and beach and do psychedelics, pretend to work a few hours/day 01/11 - 01/18: May go to Tulum, may stay in Mazunte, may fly back early if work gets a little hairy First time I've ever stayed in one place (out of the country) for 2+ weeks.
I swear there is something different about Costa in regards to moving around. Much like Ireland, renting a car and seeing the Country at a relatively quick pace is the ticket.
southside are you still in MX? On the Yucatan? It's still 2 weeks away and I've heard everyone and their brother is going to Tulum for New Years. Some of my friends that have been less than compliant with COVID restrictions have even canceled flights. Thinking I'll just stay in Oaxaca.
I agree. But I am going to give a go and if it plays out how I expect it to, we will have a conversation afterwards about future trips. I actually don't mind it, but definitely not that much. Any advice or guidance? I have only ever ridden a ferry once before so I really don't even know the correct questions to ask about this. I hope you are right. I am excited to be seeing so much of the country but I would prefer limiting it to 2-3 locations or so and enjoying those instead of checking in and checking out every day and driving hours upon hours each day.
I used a transfer company that picked me up at my hostel in San Jose and took me to the ferry departure area. I hopped on the ferry and they had a van waiting for me on the other side to take me to Santa Teresa. It was pretty simple. Not sure how it would work if you're driving a car on it, but it seemed straightforward. It's not some huge ferry terminal or anything. It's central america, so rules are suggestions.
I just like being in places for more than a night. I was in Santa Tereasa for 5 days and never really got bored
just got back yesterday. spent 4 weeks in tulum, 1 week in PDC it was so fucking crowded in tulum I could not wait to leave. I honestly wanted to go home after a couple of weeks. It's not like it was 2 years ago - it's 2-3x the price (like a small plate dish is now $20 USD, cocktails $13-20), taxis are $15 to go 5 minutes. I'm not exaggerating - half our group speaks spanish fluently and the taxi guys straight up said they are all colluding to get the bags because people are paying it. Taking a taxi from town down to the beach road took over an hour each time because traffic is so bad. COVID - mexico is more serious about it than america honestly, and everything is outside. I didn't have much concern comparatively.