wanderlust Archives | Sunita Girl

California Adventure Part 1 – San Francisco & Petaluma

July 16, 2017

We took a trip to California to visit JT’s family and see what all the fuss about California was about.

For flights we booked a from Orlando (MCO) to LA (LAX) with Virgin America. They had decent rates and comfortable seating. I liked the touch screen monitor each seat had that allowed you to select your own movie or TV show to watch. They had good movies and The Big Bang Theory episodes for free so I was pretty content. They did not have free Wi-Fi though but did have power outlets to charge devices for free.

The screens also let you order food and drinks and even send items to other passengers. The terminal for Virgin America in Orlando was in a decent location in terminal A with a food court close by. The food court had lots of healthy food options. They have Jersey Mike’s which is what I ate, a salad place, and Italian food and a bar place. Note if you’re going to be flying with Virgin there’s a difference between Virgin America and Virgin Atlantic and they aren’t the same check-in place in the airport.

The terminal in LAX was pretty crummy and cold. Of course we ended up delayed there for almost 2 hours waiting for our flight to San Francisco. The only food available nearby was gross Burger King. The LAX airport in general was quite old and dumpy looking in comparison to the Orlando airport. It’s so crappy we had to exit down the plane stairs onto the runway then up 2 flights of stairs with our carry-on luggage when we landed. They didn’t have the overhead walkway. Ugh.

Useful Travel Apps

May 24, 2017

For my last trip I found the following Android apps useful*:

Google Calendar – If it’s not on my calendar it not important to me. I used it for adding reminders for the trip. Also I can schedule flights according to the correct timezone for both departure and landing.

Evernote – I keep my packing checklist here. It’s useful to share the list with my travelling companion to make sure we have the stuff we need.

Go City Card – Kept a QR code version of my multi-pass tickets here. It was easy to retrieve and scan at ticket counters.

Google Play Music – For playing music via Bluetooth in the rental car.

Mexico Cruise Adventure

January 3, 2017

Over Christmas break I ended up going on a 4 night cruise to Cozumel Mexico with JT.
It was sort of a last minute decision but resulted in us getting a BOGO deal with Royal Caribbean.
It was my first trip to a country that the first language is not English although lots of the locals seemed to have basic understanding. I had to try to remember every bit of Espanol I learned in Junior High School.

Day 1

Independence of the Seas

We had to drive down to Ft. Lauderdale, FL and park our car in the covered parking garage. Then a shuttle bus came and took us to the Royal Caribbean Check In station.
Good thing we printed our luggage tags at home before we left because it allowed the porter to collect it from us quickly and start taking it out to our ship.
We each kept an overnight bag with us with the basics in case our luggage was delivered to our room late.

Change of clothes
Pajamas
Sunscreen
Jacket
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Binoculars
Swimsuit
Camera
Sunglasses

After we dropped off our suitcase we went through security. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the TSA airport security. We were able to take 2 sealed bottles of champagne with us 🙂

Then we checked-in with Royal Caribbean and collected our Seapass cards. It’s pretty much the card you need for your room key, port departure and boarding, drink package, and if you link your credit card to it you can use it for onboard purchases. I’d recommend linking a credit card to it so you don’t have to pay a bill at the desk at the end of the cruise. Once the card is linked the purchases are done but be careful not to lose the Seapass card. I got a glittery lanyard and cardholder at the port for mine which was easy to keep with me.

International Travel Tips

December 13, 2015

Here are some of my tips for travelling internationally.

Before your trip:

Do research on your destination. TripAdvisor usually has good reviews for hotels and things to do.
Avoid paying extra fees by getting a credit card with no foreign transaction fees and has an EMV chip.
I have a Chase Sapphire Card that I use for travel. It does have an annual fee though. Another great option is Bank of America’s BankAmericard Travel Rewards which has no annual fees. I may switch over and get one of those eventually.
Verify your passport and required Visas are valid and not near their expiration dates.
Remember to bring your Passport and tickets. Keep scanned copies of your passport and visa on a secured cloud storage medium.
Carry a pen with you.
Keep spare clothes in your carry on luggage in case your checked bag gets separated from you.
Bring entertainment with you. Books, tablet, games, music, etc. Purchase airplane WiFi internet package if needed