In Memory of Lou..the best dog

My dog,Lou is dying tonight. He's 16, not in pain...just old. I actually want him to just stop breathing...it's time. But his story is one of love of a friend, a pet and a traveling companion. Lou has been with me through many incarnations. My life as a marketing person in Atlanta, my life in Florida with Post Haste Travel, and his life as part of my immediate family. But h e has many stories. When Lou was just 8 months old I started taking him with me to clients offices. Including Coca Cola headquarters, in Atlanta, to CNN, to Georgia Pacific...and plenty of advertising agencies...he was so well behaved that every one loved having him there. I brought him everywhere. When we went on road trips, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC,he was more than welcomed. As a matter of fact, and this is kinda funny,whenever we went to NYC, on the trip through the NY thruway and NJ turnpike, any time we entered a tunnel, he "ducked"as we entered the tunnels...We stayed at Gramercy Park...which he loved...we went to restaurants where he knew to hide at my feet so no one could see him..same with bars all over the country...since he's a black dog, he knew to hide at my feet,and the bar never asked him to leave.
In Texas we went to lot's of bars and hotels...and no one knew he was there. What a quiet and simple friend. I can't imagine having another travel partner that knows how to act in any situation.
My loss of my partner may not ever be replaced. I have always been one that includes my dog.
I don't know if Ill ever find another partner like this. Lou didn't get to go to Belize with me...he didn't get to go to Paws Up with me...he hasn't been on a cruise with me...but he's always waited patiently at home for me. He always new when i was packing for a trip, and he didn't like it. But he waited. And whenever I made it home, he was thrilled to see me. What is it about dogs that they understand suitcases? And as I sit , waiting for Lou to take his last breath...all I can do is cry for the memories of the best travel partner I've ever had. I don't know that I will get an other dog. I've always had one. But at 53, and having to travel often, if it fair to leave a beloved partner home alone? I don't know.I still have a 3 legged cat...he can stay home, and doesn't really care if we're here or not...but it's not the same.I Will post a photo of by beloved Lou and hope you understand the pain and fear I have about not having a dog in my life. I haven't made any decision yet...and it's not time to do that. If you have a traveling companion, that you love and have storied about...let me know. It will make me feel better. Thank you.

Places I've been

As a child, and through my young adult years, I was lucky enough to travel to different parts of the US and world with my parents and brothers. When we were very young, my mother would load us up in the station wagon and travel the Southeast, stopping at every single tourist trap there was. It was a lot of fun! Lots of “are we there yet?” arguing in the backseat! As I got older, I spent a month in South America with my parents, visiting Columbia, Brazil, Peru, and Chile, with a brief stop in Argentina. (There was a coup happening, and they wouldn’t let us off the plane!) I spent many years as a professional photographer, so my travels gave me an opportunity to add to my portfolios. I also spent a month in Europe with a business partner/friend, traveling through Bavaria, (Germany, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria) driving the back roads and visiting small towns and the large cities. I’ve been to England a number of times, France, Greece, Turkey, Israel and East Africa. Some of this was business, some pleasure. My most pleasurable trips have always been to the mountains. I just hate heat, don’t ever really get cold, and I love to breath the fresh air of the mountains. I loved the Alps and the Rockies, and I do love to ski, although I have not been in way too long. I love wearing warm clothes and sitting by a fire, and the cold is so energizing to me. Then of course, there is Belize. I love Belize because of the diversity of the country. The mountains, rivers, archeology, the birds and animals really speak to me of a great history. Though not much of a beach person, the island of Ambergris Caye has such character and characters that I thoroughly enjoy every stay there. I do not snorkel, dive or even get in the water (very much) but the beauty of the island and the graciousness of the local people make it a fun, relaxing destination. Since being in the travel business, I have learned to appreciate cruising, and do short cruises quite often. Unfortunately, lately, I am so busy I don’t really get a chance to travel to distant destinations very often, although I do get invited to many places. Maybe next year I’ll have some extra time!

Guest Blogger-Cathie Inman-Clayquot Wilderness Resort

Jan Hammond (Travel Consultant) & I recently had the opportunity to travel to Vancouver and Clayquot Wilderness Resort. The first night, we stayed at The Shangri-La Hotel and dined at Jean-George’s “Market” at the hotel. After spending a wonderful day in Vancouver, we traveled by train from downtown to the airport (thanks to the 2010 Winter Olympics). What an EASY way to get around Vancouver….AND CHEAP! We hopped on a 9-seater Cessna seaplane to Clayoquot Wilderness Resort. It was one of the most exciting and beautiful flights I have ever experienced. We flew over the Vancouver waterway and over the vast wilderness and little towns that makes up Vancouver Island. A great opportunity for a photographer to go wild taking pictures…and I did!We approached the waterway in the Sound where our seaplane touched down into the entrance of Clayoquot, where the staff and owners (and dogs!) were there to greet us at our “new home” for the next few days. We were whisked up to the lodge by horse drawn carriage and welcomed with a glass of champagne with fresh berries. After an amazing meal, we were taken by one of the staff members of to one of 20 guest tents throughout the rainforest, boardwalk and lake. Lavishly appointed by antiques-bed, tables, lamps, propane wood stove, fresh wild flowers picked daily on every table, oil lamps and candles illuminating the white canvas tent with tapestry carpets on the wooden floor. I felt transported into the “late 1800’s” with all the 21st Century amenities…especially ELECTRICITY! Waking up early to the sounds of birds and dogs barking in the distance, we headed up to the lodge for breakfast. After another unforgettable Five-Star food event consisting of smoked salmon benedict and other coastal specialties, we were fitted with our” state of the art” gear for our first adventure activity-harbor seals, black bears and whale watching-guaranteed to see all 3…and we did…lots of them! After a late lunch (can’t miss a meal!), the afternoon was spent getting a massage (included in your package), hitting the sauna and hot tubs at the Spa.Then hors d’oeuveres and cocktails in the beautiful outside living room with a fireplace, where you’ll find a few of the 13+ dogs hanging out on the property,looking for a little attention or to come along on one of the 100’s of activities like horseback riding, hiking up the waterfalls, mountain biking, skeet shooting, archery, kayaking, deep sea fishing, repelling, picnicking, or fly fishing. You can even swim with the salmon!! Clayquot is committed to conserving, respecting and bettering the environment that UNESCO has designated it as a Biosphere Reserve. An amazing and unforgettable adventure of a lifetime that will remain in my “Top Five” favorite travel experiences for a long, long time!

Capital Hotel Little Rock Ar ~ Travel Mart 2010

Travel mart and more...

The week of August 13th - 20th was Virtuoso's annual Travel Mart, held at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. This is the time when 1500 of the world's best travel consultants meet with the world's best travel suppliers...hoteliers, tour operators, cruise lines, and other travel vendors, for 4 days, for 4 minute meetings with each of the 1500 suppliers that attended. Post Haste Travel sent Sylvia Berman, Grace DeVita, Arlene Feen, Cheryl Bechtol, Janet Rubinger, Jan Hammond, Cathie Inman, Barbara Stein and Fran Thorz to meet with the suppliers and attend the various trainings provided by Virtuoso to improve our knowledge and skills as travel advisors. We now know so much more about the great experiences available to you around the world, and have improved our skills for providing you with the best service possible. Even with the grueling 6:30 AM - 6PM daily schedule, we still had time to play, at the many cocktail parties and dinners we were invited to, staying out until 10PM each night. Not much time for sleep, but this opportunity only comes once a year!

We have shared the information we received with everyone else in the office, and Virtuoso's proprietary software, Composer, contains all the information for every Virtuoso supplier in the world, so we all have the information at our fingertips. Make sure to contact your favorite travel consultant when you start thinking about where you want to go on your next vacation. The holidays are coming quickly, and it's a great time to travel with your family, whether on a cruise, or at a resort, or maybe a fun adventure filled trip. We are here and ready to plan everything for you so feel free to give us a call...800-881-7690.

Summer 2010 Newsletter

I've just loaded our newest edition of our Summer 2010 Newsletter on to our www.posthastetravel.com website. This issue is dedicated to booking your holiday travel now. There are great articles from our consultants and clients about where they've been recently. some really great destinations with some really great ideas for travel. Make sure you get a chance to read it!

Norwegian Epic

Well, Sylvia and I are back from our 2 night sailing on the Norwegian Epic. There are some very nice things about the ship and some real problems, as I see it. Let's start with the good...

The food was surprisingly good....there are 21 restaurants on board, 11 that you must pay for, but our first night we ate in the Manhattan Room, which is one of the main dining rooms, and the food was excellent, as was the service. We also ate in the Chinese restaurant, Shanghai, and again the food and service was excellent. Breakfast and lunch are available all over the ship and serve nice breakfast food, hot dogs, hamburgers, salads, etc. The kids daycare area, Recess, is really nicely done. One of the features of the Epic are the single cabins, called Studios, that has its own private lounge area. These are going to be very popular with single travelers...the cabins are quite nice, and are only accessible to those staying in the Studios. The Courtyard Villa and suites are gorgeous. Again these are only accessible to those staying in the Courtyard part of the ship, and it has it's own pool, restaurant, and butlers. These are spacious and beautifully decorated and will be great for families traveling together. The spa is very nice as is the gym. The Ice Bar is small but fun, and the entertainment (we saw Blue Man Group) was fabulous.

Now for the problems...the biggest one being the design, or rather no design, of the "bathrooms" in ALL the cabins. When you walk into the balcony staterooms, there is a toilet"pod" on one side, enclosed only with a frosted glass door, that you can see through, and hear everything. On the other side is the shower "pod" with the same frosted glass door. If you are not traveling with someone you are really really comfortable with, going to the bathroom could be an embarrassing experience. We spoke with some other passengers that asked their room mate to leave the cabin so they could use the toilet privately. Same problem with the shower. There is a curtain that you can pull across that separates the area from the cabin, but does nothing for noise and really doesn't give you any privacy. And when you get out of the shower, you are standing in front of your cabin door, so potentially your traveling companion could come into the cabin and you'd just be standing there soaking wet...also, the sink is inside the cabin, and in the case of the balcony cabins it is just across from the couch or bed, leaving no room for anyone to pass if you are using the sink. Also, the faucet on the sink is very tall and curved, making it impossible to lean forward to wash your face or brush your teeth...you have to stand straight up, and the water splashed all over the place, making a big mess. ALL cabins have a similar "bathroom" layout, although the suites and penthouse toilets and shower "pods" have opaque glass instead of frosted glass enclosures, and the "bathroom" areas are separated from the bedroom areas. Also, the toilet "pods" are quite small, and larger people will have trouble using them...

Next big design problem...there are no pools on board. There are 3 "plunge" type pools that might hold up to 3o people standing up...2 in the main pool area, 1 at the rear of the ship in a semi-private area. These "pools" are 4.5 feet deep and are not suitable for any type of swimming. And there is no kids pool. There are a couple of hot tubs, and a huge water slide, but I can't figure out where teenagers are supposed to go to swim, never mind small children, although there is a cute area for small children to play in fountains. There are "misters" and fountains around the pool area, but that doesn't make up for the lack of any swimming. There is also only one bar on the pool deck and when the ship is full I can see that being a real service problem. The line to check out and return towels was very long, and the ship was only 1/2 full.

I felt very crowded throughout the ship. On decks 5 & 6 where the restaurants, shops and casino are located, you can only walk through the center hallway, and it really was crowded, especially when you have to walk through all the gaming machines the casino has placed right through the middle of the walkway.

All in all, the bathrooms are going to be a huge problem. We will have to be very careful who travels together in these cabins. And I don't understand how they could build a ship with no pools that can actually be used for swimming. There were so many nice things about the ship, but the topic of conversation we heard from everyone was only about the toilets....We will have to be very careful which cabins we will sell to our clients, and will stick to the suites, penthouses, Courtyard villas and Studios. We are very glad we went on board to see these things for ourselves, and our consultants will all get the opportunity to visit for themselves soon.