So the airlines are up to it again. Looking for ways to earn back some of their losses due to high fuel prices, the airlines have slowly over the past many months added costs to the price of our ticket. The latest this week is American's announcement – and other airlines are sure to follow – that it will cost $15 to check a bag. Not your second bag, mind you – but your first bag. The second bag charge, which was increased two weeks ago, is $25.

The best way to beat them at their game is to strategically pack so you can fit everything you need in your carry on. (And know a few things about flying the sky high priced skies…) Here's what has worked for me:

1) Pack dark clothes. That way you don't have to pack a new outfit every day – chances are, the dark clothes won't show dirt…If you are a parent, white is definitely out… even if you are going to a Caribbean island.

2) Pack smart – I recently bought a sun dress that in the day can be worn casually with flip flops, but add a wedgie heel at night, and you're ready for an evening at the theater. A few more of these kind of outfits, and I can cut my suitcase contents in half.

3) If you are a parent, buy diapers at your destination. Don't pack them because they take up way too much room – just put enough in your carry on to last the flight, and some extra in an emergency. Don't buy them in a hotel if that's where you are staying, because it may cost you more than the $15 you are saving…instead go to a market on the way to your destination from the airport, if possible.

4) Limit the shoes – all you really need for summer travel are a pair of sandals (get patent leather and they make nice day or night shoes)…a heel if you need one…and a good pair of sneakers for walking or working out.

5) When you book your airline ticket and are making a seat request, ask the attendant which rows board the plane first. Pick a seat in those rows, that way you aren't boarding when all the bins are full, and you are then required to check your baggage – AND PAY – after all the stuffing, smashing, folding, and cajoling of your items to make them fit in your carry on!

These are just a few ideas – if you a re packing for a family of four, some smart packing can save you an extra $60. I welcome any more ideas to share with everyone…

Happy travels..and a safe Memorial Day weekend!

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It's the economy….or so it goes.

Many of us are feeling the pinch in our budgets from the price of gas, food, housing woes…but we still won't give up on the American vacation! In my experience, and according to most polls, people will simply adjust their travel plans rather than give them up entirely when the pocketbook gets thin. Campgrounds are filling up, RV rentals are packed (despite the price of gas, it is still a cheap way to go since it is also your home on wheels)….it all brought back memories of last summer….

My family took TWO camping trips last summer – one to Lake Arrowhead in California and the other to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks in Utah. Quite frankly, even though the kids enjoyed it tremendously, it was a lot of work. Maybe two camping trips in one summer with three kids under 6 was overdoing it…

So I started thinking how I can make sure someone else's summer isn't so laborious – I just didn't want to have to cook and clean as much. Then – all my friends started talking about it, and Sunset Magazine put it on it's May cover: El Capitan in Santa Barbara County.

This is just one example of how you can "step up" your camping experience while still enjoying all the peace and beauty of nature – with even some relaxing moments!! Imagine that moms – you too can have a vacation on a camping trip!!!!

Check out the website – there are safari tents, or cabins you can rent..some with ocean views, but all surrounded by greenery. Their objective is : "The camp is designed to be an antidote to all that is excessive, formal, artificial or contrived." All that with the modern conveniences of home – and massages!! –  if you so choose. (Massages sounded a teensy weensy bit contrived to me, but I'm not one to argue somone doing a glorious number on all the right aching joints in my body!)

Last summer I did really enjoy cooking up new recipes over the camp fire – sauteeing mushrooms in a pan over flames…and my kids got a kick out of toasting their bread over a fire. But with all the wonderful things at El Capitan, I will try that next time. There's plenty to do: hang out on the beach, hike, bike, horseback ride, enjoy Saturday night concerts, and site see in nearby Santa Barbara. It sounds like a nice balance. http://www.elcapitancanyon.com/vision.html

Also- Sunset Magazine's website lists a bunch of rustic retreats like this – I have been to Safari West in the California wine country, and if you can't make it for an overnight experience, bring the kids for a day time jeep tour. It is really fun!   http://www.sunset.com/sunset/travel/article/0,20633,1726038,00.html

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So, if you are a parent who throws parties for your children, you might want to watch my new show on Fine Living Network. It is all about making your life easier when it comes to throwing parties – inspiring ideas from the theme to the party bags.-

http://www.fineliving.com/fine/cool_kids_parties/0,3182,FINE_30976,00.html

You can also vote for it as your favorite show on Fine Living on their home page.

Granted, it is not about travel, my specialty…so you can also LOOK FOR MY TRAVEL SHOW "WHAT YOU GET FOR THE MONEY: VACATIONS, WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT" also on Fine Living.

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The airline industry is facing it’s worst financial crisis – some are saying the current financial situation is worse than 9/11! Today’s reported earnings by the airlines clearly demonstrates this.

  The biggest reason is that fuel prices have escalated – some airlines reportedly saw fuel prices go up 50% since last year. Delta spent something like $500 million more on fuel since 2007! And… we don’t t  know when the cost of fuel will slow down or stay level.

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I hope I’m not about to tell you something you already know. If you are on this blog, you probably like to travel and have developed some skill at it.

But I just have to share what is probably one of the most pleasant experiences I have ever had with an airline. Hopefully you can learn something new from this (rare) encounter!

It is April. Pretty late in the season to be buying 5 tickets for a European summer vacation. It took me so long to confirm my dates because I am doing two home exchanges in Europe back to back. (Whew! Finally confirmed!) So I was prepared to spend mucho miles on this trip. I was even prepared to have to buy the tickets since I was doubtful any mileage reward seats were left.

So I jumped on American Airlines’ website…and confirmed what I had suspected. It would cost me 200,000 miles for ONE round trip ticket to Europe. I needed five tickets, and did not have 1,000,000 miles. Not only that, but there were no non-stop flights on the dates I needed to travel – which is an absolute buzz kill considering I am flying with three children.

So my next step is what I hope you all remember: I asked about American’s partner airlines – airlines that align themselves with American and accept American miles. These are usually a mix of domestic and foreign airlines…For instance United and Lufthansa, etc.

Lo and behold – Air Tahiti Nui is a partner of American (who knew???) and had non stop flights to where I was going…and had three mileage seats available. Those three mileage seats only cost me 60,000 each round trip!

It gets even better. I still needed two more seats. So I gave my two youngest kids’ names for the remaining two seats I needed and asked if they give children’s discounts…They do. That one question saved me more than $800.

SO the bottom line is this: Never give up and always try to work the airlines any way possible – asking for partners that fly to your destination. And don’t forget to ask for the children’s discount. I find that foreign airlines have those discounts way more often than our airlines.

Another tip: If you haven’t already seen this month’s Travel and Leisure magazine , it is a special "Europe" issue with some good advise on surviving with the dollar so weak.

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Spring is here…and our thoughts turn to our summer vacation. (But if you are really good, you’ve already booked one!)

This got me thinking about one of my favorite destinations  – for families or singles or friends. And – the good news is that it is a domestic location, so  you won’t be bit by an expensive foreign currency.

I am talking about Moab, Utah. Some know it as the "adventure capital" of the world…but to me, it’s outstanding beauty makes it worth the trip..oh, yeah, and then there are some pretty cool things to do.

The place is ethereal…other worldly..and the best place to witness these qualities are the national parks. AMAZING! Shutterbugs will have a field day. The red rock in incredible formations at Canyonlands Natl Park and Arches National Park. There are more state parks and national parks in the 200 mile radius around MOab than any other area, but a hike through these will take your breath away.

I am writing now because May and June are great times to go – it gets a bit hotter in the July and August months…but September brings the amazing music festival, where organizers hoist a grand piano up in the red rock caves, and the natural acoustics of the carved out canyons and stone is the setting where visitors sit and enjoy some good relaxing music.

Biking, hiking, kayaking in the Colorado River, horseback riding, ATVing, you name it – you can do it! Don’t miss the chuck wagon dinner that is kitschy but fun – especially with kids.

I think the photos speak for themselves. One big tip: If your pocket book can afford it, stay at the Sorrel River Ranch. It is the nicest place in town and has great food and is surrounded by huge red mountains. There aren’t many luxury resorts in Moab, but that is part of the down home charm…the town is very modest also.

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Finally! Jet Blue arrives at Los Angeles International Airport. The low cost airline will begin flying from JFK in New York to LAX in May of this year. Currently, Jet Blue flies into Long Beach or Burbank- both of which are more desirable airports, by the way…but for those travelers who need to get to different areas of Los Angeles, it can be more than an hour commute from Long Beach or Burbank to LA if there is traffic (rush hour!!). And if you are flying to make a connection, now you will be able to go through LAX which has more options than Burbank or Long Beach.

Also good news – watch for promotional deals to publicize this new route. Many times when an airline starts flying somewhere new, there is an introductory discount offer to get people to try it. However, this may be an exception since LAX-JFK round trip is a pretty popular route already. Still – keep your eyes open!

The nitty gritty: JetBlue will offer three non stop flights three times a day to JFK and once to Boston from LAX.

Form Burbank  – JetBlue is adding flights to and from Las Vegas and Washington D.C.’s Dulles.

From Long Beach – JetBlue is adding non stops to San Jose, Seattle, and Austin.

Happy Travels!!

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I am writing!!! I found some time to peel away from the home exchange search to actually enter a hopefully informative piece of travel advice.:)

As I mentioned in an earlier entry, I have become addicted to the home exchange search. Looking all over Europe (and sometimes daydreaming in other parts of the world…) for our perfect vacation home has become a hobby. If my husband hasn’t seen me for a chunk of time, he calls up the stairs "Honey – are you home searching again?"

However, my friends…I do have some words of wisdom to part with. Although it is extremely fun, and addicting for some, it is a lot of work. I know I have been rather Pollyanna-ish as to how much fun this is and how exciting, but I don’t want to kid you – it does take a lot of effort.

First, you have to find a family or person willing to trade houses with you the same time you can…then if you are trying to stay in one particular area, that just limits you even more. Not that it is impossible, I am just saying the more flexible you can be, the less work! For instance, I thought this statement on one French family’s home site sums it up: " Last summer we said we wanted to go to New York, and ended up exchanging in Uruguay!!!" That’s because some travelers will email with propositions that you may have never thought of, which can be fun. They were flexible so it worked out.

Don’t get me wrong – we have been offered – great places! Fabulous places! But we have plans to meet friends in other areas, so we are limiting ourselves…but staying hopeful something will work out!

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Some wonderful new things happenin’ in Malibu, CA these days…

Just last week I visited the remodeled Getty Villa  – with my kids! Needless to say, it is gorgeous, and feels very much like you are at an Italian villa when you are there. Focusing mostly on Greek and Roman statues and artifacts…it is not your typical museum. It is a pleasant place to stroll – especially in the Roman gardens, and every exhibit room is not too large to be overwhelming.

The kids room, although very small, was unique to the studies at the museum. Original compared to other museums – There is a dress up area withere the kids imitate Romans a wage a battle with shields and swords. There are also about a dozen Roman vases and bowls that the kids can design based on how they really were designed in history. When I say design – they simply draw with a dry erase marker onto their "antiquity." My 7 year old son and 5 year old daughter spent almost an hour thinking about their designs and executing. You could almost see their wheels turning and the l light bulbs go off as they thought of ideas. My son actually put Greek keys all the way around – without prompting from me, and based on what he had seen in the museum.

Now, I’m not saying my son patiently walked through statues of Hercules and vases with multi-headed snakes in battle without losing interest. Noooo   - he’s a normal kid. But what helped is that the museum also has a "treasure hunt" of sorts for kids where they have to look for certain items in each gallery. Maybe they have to find what is biting the heel of Hercules….or find out what happened to the Roman statues that was discovered at the bottom of the ocean. This game of sorts held their attention and also snuck in some art history!

We spent about 2 1/2 hours there and that was perfect for them. I could have stayed a bit longer to explore things I didn’t drag my kids to, but that’s next time. Considering the museum is easy to get to – only about a mile or two north of Santa Monica in Pacific Palisades on PCH, and it is free- I’ll be back! One must make reservations however, as space is limited. Go to the Getty website – www.getty.edu for more info.

If you are visiting from out of town – there’s a new hotel in Malibu!!! Well – a remodel of sorts, anyway. And by the way, hotels in that part of the world are very rare. Resorts just aren’t dotting the beach there in celeb town -and that quite frankly, is what adds to it’s mystique. www.malibubeachinn.com.

It might make a nice weekend  – the Getty and a hotel on Billionaire’s Beach.

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Just in case there is anyone left over from the gazillions of people who watch the Super Bowl this Sunday, two of my shows are airing at the same time on the Travel Channel.

4PM – Top Ten Fun Food Factories

2PM – Hot Dog Heavens.

I’d like to think that was a strategic programming move on the Travel Channel’s part…..

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