Here at Amazing Journeys, we’re lucky to have the best jobs in the world—and we think our good fortune is worth sharing. So, when your next journey seems like a distant dream, take a few minutes to explore our WANDERLUST blog—it’s chock-full of engaging tales and helpful tips from our travels around the world.

Weeeeeee…….

Monday, September 24th, 2012

Everyone loves a good roller coaster. Whether its a fast one or one with corkscrews or one with a 200 foot vertical drop…or one that goes from zero to 80 mph in 3.2 seconds , the need for speed takes many turns on a good coaster. Coasters are the lightening rods for fun at Amusement Parks; the featured fun…the thrills that give you chills…and, the reason that 3-hour wait lines were invented. Over 7 million people attend an amusement park every summer and chances are you were one of them.

Amusement Today, a publication that covers the amusement and water park industries recognize the best parks in 25 categories as ranked by “experienced and well-traveled” fans who know their way around the amusement park world.

This year’s winner is Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio! The honor will come as no surprise to diehard amusement park fans who track these things, seeing as this Park has ranked No. 1 in the annual competition since it began 14 years ago.

In other categories, winners include industry giants like Universal Studios and Disney, as well as family run enterprises like Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Ind.

Curiously, though the results were tallied from an international database of fans, according to Amusement Today, not a single non-U.S park landed on the “best” list.

A sampling of 2011 awardees are:

*Best Amusement Park – Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
*Best Waterpark – Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort, New Braunfels, Texas
*Best Children’s Park – Idlewild and SoakZone, Ligonier, Pa.
*Best Marine Life Park – SeaWorld Orlando, Orlando, Fla.
*Best Seaside Park – Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, Calif.
*Best Steel Coaster – Millennium Force at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
*Friendliest Staff – Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Ind.
*Best Halloween Event – Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, Orlando, Fla.
*Best Landscaping – Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Va.
*Best Food – Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pa.
*Best Outdoor Night Show Production – IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth at Walt Disney World’s Epcot, Orlando, Fla.
*Best Water Ride – Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Fla.
*Best Dark Ride – Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Fla.
*Best New Ride of 2011: Amusement Park – New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington, Texas
*Best Indoor Roller Coaster – Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios Orlando, Orlando, Fla.
*Best Funhouse/Walk-Through Attraction – Noah’s Ark at Kennywood, West Mifflin, Pa.

Got an opinion? Here’s your chance to cast a vote. What’s your favorite amusement park and why?

Tags: Amusement Park, Busch Gardens, Cedar Point, Disney, Harry Potter, Journey, Revenge of the Mummy, Roller Coaster, Seaworld, summer, Universal Studios, water park
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Yom Kippur; More Than A Day Off

Monday, September 24th, 2012

As we delve into the pinnacle of Jewish observance with the Day of Atonement soon upon us, for some it is a day of conflict even before it envelopes us with its true meaning.

Yom Kippur falls on a Wednesday this year. Midweek. For those who work in Jewish communal work or with Jewish clientele like Amazing Journeys, taking the day off to pray is a non-issue. For many, however, the necessity of taking a day off can be lost due to the responsibilities of work, the pressures of school, or the non-compliance of a boss or administration recognizing the significance that this day is to our heritage.

Interestingly, the contrast between how society treats Christmas, for example, and how it treats the Jewish High Holy Days is apparent to some. Jewish law requires a halt to work on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana, which are not legal days off. Religious strictures on working are generally looser for Christians on Christmas. Yet Christmas is a legal holiday.

Under federal law, employers in businesses of more than 15 workers must ”reasonably accommodate” religious needs unless they can demonstrate ”undue hardship.” A religious need includes taking a holiday off. An accommodation can include allowing a holiday swap.

This doesn’t mean that other veins comply with the need. The sporting world, for example doesn’t pause their schedule.

Hall of Famer baseball players Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax, both Jewish, were faced with the dilemmas of playing important games during the high holidays. Greenberg was quoted: “The team was fighting for first place, and I was probably the only batter in the lineup who was not in a slump. But in the Jewish religion, it is traditional that one observe the holiday solemnly, with prayer. One should not engage in work or play. And I wasn’t sure what to do.” –

In 1934, Hank Greenberg of the Detroit Tigers decided not to play in a game during a tight pennant race because it fell on Yom Kippur. In 1965, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax missed a World Series game in observance of Yom Kippur.

In some industries, it can be a simple matter of tit for tat. For many Jews, working on Christmas is payback to gentile colleagues who fill in on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana. Other Jews view working on Christmas as a way to fulfill tenets of the faith. Many Jews speak of working on Christmas as obeying an unwritten rule, or upholding a social contract… or just being a mensch.

The topic is often not discussed but is rather part of the social grease that keeps society working smoothly. The practice tends to keep everyone happy and adds an underscore the words ”happy holidays.”

On Yom Kippur, may you, your family, Israel and its people be sealed in the Book of Life for a year of life and peace.

Tags: Amazing Journeys, Day of Atonement, Detroit Tigers, Hank Greenberg, Jewish, Jewish High Holy Days, Jews, Los Angeles Dodgers, Rosh Hashana, Sandy Koufax, Yom Kippur
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Surfer Beware!

Thursday, September 13th, 2012

Have you ever had that feeling that you forgot something? Maybe it was on that to-do list you left behind…or maybe it was from leaving home in such a hurry that you just aren’t sure that you closed the garage door. Remember the scene from the classic movie Home Alone, when Kevin’s parents realize that they left him behind in the rush to make their family flight to Paris? We’ve all had moments like that and it ain’t pretty. Sometimes is an irrational thought process…but sometimes, like Kevin, something very important gets left behind.

If you are a traveler, you have many important things to remember. One thing that can easily be cast aside as an innocent act is to go into the business center of a hotel or a public internet café to check emails, pay bills, stalk facebook or see what your stocks are doing. Well….Surfer Beware!!!

Do not…I repeat DO NOT walk away from any shared computers without logging off. If you just close your window or browser, you never know who is lurking around the corner, ready to belly up to that computer to have a look around the last user’s mailbox for log-in credentials and other sensitive information.

There are other ways travelers may unwittingly put their online security at risk while using shared hotel or internet café computers, and getting a virus in more ways than one is just the beginning. A business center computer that you have no administrative rights over can easily have spyware that records your information as you surf the web and type. That means malware can easily snap screen-shots and record your usernames and passwords.

We leave boxes checked to ‘remember me’ on this computer, which results in a cookie installed that keeps your log-in information going. Beyond spyware and malware, there’s nothing from stopping a criminal from plugging an external keycatcher into the public machine that will later be retrieved with all of your and every other business traveler’s information on it. The biggest online security risk is our own stupidity because we are in a hurry or just clueless.

So, what is the smartest alternative to this at-risk scenario? It’s simple; just follow any one of these simple pieces of advice:

-Use your own mobile device for whatever internet usage you need that would require passwords, social security numbers, or any kind of personal information

-Use a removable flash-drive

– Look at overviews rather than specifics (check out the stock market, but don’t visit your e-trade accounts),

-Get your ducks in a row before you go: Pay your bills in advance (or set up autopay)… wait until you get home to make that purchase on ebay, amazon, or ticketmaster… have copies of your important travel documents (your flight itinerary, hotel confirmation) stored with you in a safe place…. call your credit card companies if you are traveling internationally to alert them of possible charges and avoid potential fraud alerts being implemented.

-If you must use a public computer for personal means, remember Mister Miyagi: “wax on, wax off”….log in, log off!

Tags: facebook, Home Alone, hotel, internet, internet cafe, passwords, Surfer, user name
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Do ya Do ya Do ya Do ya Wanna Dance (and tap your toes…and smile…and sing along)?

Wednesday, August 29th, 2012

Amidst all the stresses of leisure travel, the industry is booming at levels not seen since pre 9/11. Why? Because the tribulations outweigh the trials. (At least they are supposed to.) The thrills of venturing off to another place for “a change of scenery”…a “break in the action”…some “R & R”….”downtime”, or whatever you want to call it, is a natural yearning in the DNA of most people living in the civilized world. As much as we have, we need a break from it from time to time.

So, what does all this have to do with the title of this week’s post? Well….it became a thought, after watching the following youtube video, that travel is so special in so many ways. It really is what you make of it. Things go wrong (lost luggage), there are stresses (rushing to make a flight connection) and there are premature moments of early onset vacation-itis (did I remember to close the garage door)….but in the end, whever you go and whatever you do can be amazing, if that’s what you want to make of it.

This awesome video shows you one man’s journey around the world, making the most of it by meeting thousands of people…by just dancing. Now I invite you to sing along, tap your toes, (just try not to smile)…and dance with us, all around the world: https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pwe-pA6TaZk?rel=0

(…and then for even more smiles, check out the outtakes)

Tags: break in the action, dance, downtime, lost luggage, R & R, You Tube, youtube
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Hotels: Wake Up And Smell The Coffee

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012

I’ve never been to prison, but I can’t help but wonder if convicts get a nicer breakfast than what you find on the breakfast buffets at most American chain hotels these days.

If you’ve ever had the displeasure of sampling the breakfast buffets at any major hotel chain–including Hampton Inn, Residence Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hilton Garden Inn, Hyatt House, Westin and others–your level of being impressed might be a little bit compromised….even when the breakfast is free.

The free hotel breakfast is a decidedly mixed blessing. Its always nice to go out for a nice breakfast when traveling but the budget conscious may have a hard time treating a family of four to breakfast when there’s a free breakfast at the hotel, no matter how dreadful it may be. But on many occasions, going down to eat the free breakfast feels more like an obligation than a pleasure.

A couple of weeks ago, I stayed at an otherwise excellent Hilton in Paris and encountered one of the more pathetic breakfast buffets I’ve seen in some time. I typically like to eat a leisurely morning breakfast after the sun gets a little warm and on this particular morning my 9am sit down time should not have warranted what I encountered. I don’t eat sausage, but if I did, I wouldn’t have touched any of these little shriveled up dry pieces of elongated tree twigs. The eggs were, well, I just wondered if somewhere in the process of presenting this watery yellow drippy hotplate of gelatin-looking breakfast option, they once were in fact cracked from a shell. I really don’t think they were. The pancakes were hard enough to crack someone’s skull with but innocently I didn’t ascertain its digestability until after it was almost too late. A pair of tongs makes it easy to skip over the fresh-abilty of a pancake, but when you try to cut into it using only a fork…THEN the naked truth came out. You could have laid a square of porcelain tile on my plate and painted it to look like a pancake, and I wouldn’t have known the difference.

Hey, the coffee was good.

Sadly, bad food is par for the course at many breakfast buffets not only in the U.S. but also around the world. Here are a few ways hotels tend to ruin their breakfast buffets.

Not everyone wakes up at the crack of dawn

In places that are very busy, they might replenish the food and beverages frequently, but at places that aren’t very busy they might just set a large quantity of food and drink out at opening time and just leave it there for the next two to four hours.

Beverages are warm, Food is cold!

Some places set the milk and juices out without any way to keep them cold, and have inadequate heating to keep the food warm.

Nothing but sugary, dessert-like breakfast items

OK, I admit it: those breakfast muffins taste pretty damn good, but putting a bowl of those suckers out is more appropriate for Halloween than breakfast. Men’s Health did a piece on the worst foods you can eat for breakfast at hotels, and the least healthy things to eat are items you see everywhere: sausages, waffles, cranberry muffins and fruit flavored yogurts to name a few.

Stale Cereal

I wish hotels bought their cereal from Trader Joe’s but that’s probably a pipe dream. The reality is usually a choice between Cheerios, Wheaties, Raisin Bran, Frosted Flakes and Fruit Loops, often stale, and sometimes with lukewarm milk to boot. Its so funny how Coco Puffs seems to be an international breakfast cereal whether you’re in Chicago, Rio, Ho Chi Minh City or in a lodge in the middle of the Masai Mara.

Wonder Bread (or worse)

Most people don’t actually require a ton of food for breakfast. In fact, I’d be content with just a bagel, if it wasn’t a machine produced product in a factory. But hotels tend to buy the cheapest, blandest bread, English muffins and bagels imaginable and that just adds to the dissapointment of staying at an otherwise very respectable property.

No Variety

This problem is particularly pronounced when you stay in a hotel for several days or weeks. How many days in a row can you eat runny eggs, shriveled up, fatty sausages or very lame, yet highly fattening waffles?

Do you want some coffee with that warm, murky liquid you’re drinking?

Finding a good cup of coffee at a hotel breakfast buffet is often difficult indeed, although this area of importance tends be a lesser worry as many (not all!) hotels have brought in a product worthy of a finicky coffee palate. The bigger question, though, is why in the world does the hotel have a higher quality coffee in the room (that you would have to make in your room with bathroom tap water) than down at the breakfast buffet?

Quantity, Not Quality

Most hotels feel like they need to provide a visual spread of food, but not a lot of variety or freshness. One buffet for two different kinds of eggs. One buffet for three different kinds of fruits. One buffet for all the cereals…etc. I’d rather see a hotel provide a few high quality items that can be maintained fresh and honest, than a dozen mediocre ones.

Bottom line

You get what you pay for, right? But is the “free” breakfast really free? Not really, because hotels build the cost of it into your room rate. Recently I stayed at a small bed and breakfast and as you would expect, this ranked up there as one of the best. What could be better than a freshly made egg with french toast made by a hospitable homeowner in her own living room?

Personally, I’d rather have lower room rates and go out for breakfast. What about you?

Tags: bed & breakfast, bed and breakfast, breakfast, coffee, eggs, Hilton, Hotels, Hyatt, pancakes, Paris
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