What a thrill and delight to recently receive an email from a lifelong friend, who forwarded
an older post from this blog along with the message: “I need your help in planning an upcoming
trip.” While that was not the original
intention when I started Travel with Teri B. (who even knew if it would go past the first post?), I know I have a certain expertise
that has been honed for years in planning my own travel; so why not work on others' travels as well?
When it comes to travel planning via the internet, let’s face it: a
great number of people find the process daunting, distracting, confusing and
intimidating. Then there are some
who cannot get enough of it, are completely mesmerized, are obsessive, and
heading towards vision-impairedness from overuse! That last part might be a bit of an exaggeration,
but you get my point.
I find it an invaluable tool, especially AFTER I have determined where to go to get the desired information, and therein lays the
skills part. The process is about how you obtain answers to your questions and solutions to your goals without committing your entire life to it. Shortcuts, if you will, are one’s
best friend when navigating through the haze.
Why does that matter
here? Because if you fall into the first
category above, and you are trying to plan a vacation where time is well managed,
sightseeing is consistent with one’s tastes, travel time from Point A to Point B
is minimized, money is not wasted, etc., etc., then help – i.e., outsourcing
your planning – could very well be the key to keeping your sanity. After all, you want to look back on your entire experience as one of joy and not as one of a pain in the #@*. Some would even opt to stay home rather than figure out how to make the whole process simply a matter of allocating time and some $$.
In this particular instance, the client (a couple traveling with two teenage girls) provided specific details in response to my questions. I was then able to create a personalized travel experience for them, a portion of which follows below. They had already booked round-trip air from LA to Newark, were spending a few days in New York City and then on to Boston. This was the first trip to Boston for the girls who are only a couple of years from college, thus the interest in seeing some campuses. My friend had also expressed an interest in seeing the mansions in Newport, RI, as part of their travels ... NOTE: the links below are not working here but are included as part of the itinerary provided for them; feel free to copy and paste into your browser if desired. They were also provided with a link to the driving route I designed on Google Maps.
In this particular instance, the client (a couple traveling with two teenage girls) provided specific details in response to my questions. I was then able to create a personalized travel experience for them, a portion of which follows below. They had already booked round-trip air from LA to Newark, were spending a few days in New York City and then on to Boston. This was the first trip to Boston for the girls who are only a couple of years from college, thus the interest in seeing some campuses. My friend had also expressed an interest in seeing the mansions in Newport, RI, as part of their travels ... NOTE: the links below are not working here but are included as part of the itinerary provided for them; feel free to copy and paste into your browser if desired. They were also provided with a link to the driving route I designed on Google Maps.
July 2/3/4/5
Boston
A must-have city map for Boston (link below)
Things to do:
First and foremost is The Freedom Trail (http://www.cityofboston.gov/freedomtrail/). Not only will everyone get some U.S. history, but it also encompasses Faneuil Hall which -- now mostly an indoor mall of small shops and eateries! Since you’ll be in Boston over the 4th, what a perfect place to remind everyone of what we are celebrating that day.
First and foremost is The Freedom Trail (http://www.cityofboston.gov/freedomtrail/). Not only will everyone get some U.S. history, but it also encompasses Faneuil Hall which -- now mostly an indoor mall of small shops and eateries! Since you’ll be in Boston over the 4th, what a perfect place to remind everyone of what we are celebrating that day.
Right in the city by the Boston Commons is Emerson College (http://www.emerson.edu/) – a typically
overpriced liberal arts college – but one that is very popular. The
girls could see what going to school in a city would be like.
Newbury Street is where to go for outdoor cafes and cute shops/boutiques.
The John F. Kennedy Center (http://www.jfklibrary.org/) is well worth
visiting from a historical perspective ...
Walk or drive over The Charles River into Cambridge, home to Harvard, M.I.T., and so much more ... I found this article which highlights lots of things to do there … some very useful, some a bit offbeat (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/travel/36-hours-cambridge-mass.html?_r=0)
Walk or drive over The Charles River into Cambridge, home to Harvard, M.I.T., and so much more ... I found this article which highlights lots of things to do there … some very useful, some a bit offbeat (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/travel/36-hours-cambridge-mass.html?_r=0)
July 4th in Boston: What an ideal place to
spend the holiday! Check out event information on the provided link … (http://www.july4th.org/Event_Info/History_and_Heritage/)
July 6 Newport,
RI/New Haven, CT
This being both
summer and a holiday week, hotels in Newport are expensive, already
booked and require a 2-night stay.
Here is my suggestion to optimize the rest of your trip:
Depart Boston
as early as possible on the 6th for the 71-mile drive to Newport (1-1/2 hours)
… there is a
driving path that goes by all the
mansions. http://www.newportmansions.org/
See the
mansions, have lunch somewhere in Newport and then depart in the afternoon for
the
roughly 100 miles to New Haven, CT, and stay for the night.
(http://www.newhavenhotel.com/) Rooms run $150 or so and you can get a sleeper
sofa.
July 7 Departure
Day!
Spend the
morning and part of the day exploring New Haven, especially the campus of Yale
(http://www.yale.edu/newhaven/index.html).
Allow a minimum of 4 hours for the 94-mile
drive to Newark Airport
for your 7:24 p.m. departure, including
returning the car and all the
other pre-flight activities!
Your route bypasses most of the city traffic and it’s a
Sunday,
but you never know!
I love helping others have their own experiences ... and where next is yours going to be???!
