Traveling with the Jones — Sharing Travel Discoveries

Getting from Kansas City to Perth, Australia

by Janis on February 24, 2013

I’m setting out for Perth, Australia in order to meet up with Holland America Line’s Grand World Voyage. The ship departed Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on January 5th, and is sailing around the world on a 115-day journey.

I will join the ship in Fremantle — the port located near Perth — to surprise some client friends who have been aboard for the complete journey.

For 14 days, I hope to get a first-hand taste of this amazing adventure, but first I have to get to Perth, on the far western coast of Australia, 30 hours of air travel away from Kansas City.

I hope you will follow along on my adventure.

Kansas City received about a foot of snow the day before my departure, closing down the airport. Luckily, my American Eagle flight to Chicago was one of the few departing flights on Friday morning.

Once in Chicago, I transferred to the International Terminal (5) to get on my next flight. It is on Cathy Pacific, flying non-stop from Chicago to Hong Kong for nearly 16 hours.

Flying in coach, my knees are close to the seat in front of me, before it is reclined.

While I’m not looking forward to this flight, I’m happy to have an aisle seat, and to be on Cathy Pacific, one of the world’s highest-rated airlines. My iPad is packed with books, games and videos to keep me entertained.

While every seat is full, the plane features a complimentary entertainment system at each seat with more than 300 movies, shows and games. I watch three movies and two television shows during the flight.

After a beverage service that includes alcoholic beverages at no extra charge, we are served two complete meals. Snacks are available in between meals and the flight attendants frequently come through the cabin offering water. Most people sleep, which I find difficult in the tight quarters because I’m 6 feet, 1 inch tall.

I break up the flight by walking around the plane a few times, and standing occasionally in the center galley. The winds are good, so our flight is quicker than it’s scheduled time.

I arrive in Hong Kong on Saturday night, and find the huge and busy airport picture-worthy.

My departure gate to Perth is changed only about 40 minutes before my flight departure, but I find the correct gate. One last flight to go, this one

scheduled for 8 hours. Once again, the flight is faster than scheduled.

About 6:15 am on Sunday morning, I arrive in Perth.

After all of that flying, I’m delighted that my U.S. Global Entry credentials qualify me to use the Australia SmartGate system, allowing me to bypass the immigration line and to be at luggage claim within less than five minutes.

Once I collected my luggage, I headed outside, stopping to find my sunglasses before grabbing a taxi to the Parmelia Hilton hotel in downtown Perth.

I’m tired from 30 hours of air travel, but am thrilled to be in the warm sunshine of Western Australia.

How do you pass the time on long flights? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

Other posts on cruising you may want to check out:

Follow us on Twitter or interact with us on Facebook

{ 3 comments }

5 Best Travel Snacks

by Janis on February 18, 2013

This post is written by Danielle Smith, a student at the University of Arkansas.

Whether you are traveling for work, headed on vacation, or going to visit relatives in the next state over, one thing is for sure: you have to eat. There is nothing worse than having to throw money away by having to eat out every meal while traveling. Give your wallet and your worries a vacation of their own with these delicious travel-ready snacks.

1. Trail Mix: trail mix is a great travel snack that can fulfill all of your snacking needs. Trail mixes are easy to make and come in a variety of combinations.

Do you like to have a sweet when you travel? Make a trail mix with your favorite goodies like M&MS and marshmallows. Looking for a more healthy option? Choose a travel snack with nuts and dried fruit. No matter what mix you choose to make, keep these main ingredients in mind: nuts, seeds, cereals, crackers, pretzels, popcorn, dried fruit, and sweets.

2. Granola Bars: homemade or store bought make the perfect travel snack. They are filling, healthy, and come in many different varieties. They are also easy to store and transport. Check out Pinterest for homemade granola bar recipes.

Photo by Yosarian

3. Fruit or vegetables: a piece of fruit or a Ziploc bag of veggies provides a refreshing travel snack that will make you feel much better than that drive-thru burger or greasy pretzel in the airport. My favorites include: apples, bananas, and grapes for fruit or carrot sticks, grape tomatoes, or celery for veggies. Also consider dried fruit for a sweet, but healthy treat.

4. Cheese: cheese is one of my favorite snacks especially for long car rides. Cheese can be more filling than other snacks and is easily paired with other foods to make a small meal. Try cheese sticks, cheese and crackers, or cheese and summer sausage for a filling snack.

5. Nuts: my family has always been a fan of traveling with nuts (no pun intended). Snacking on peanuts, sunflower seeds, pistachios, or almonds not only provide a great snake, but also help to pass the time. Breaking open sunflower seeds while driving long distance can help you to keep awake and focused.

Other ideas: pretzels and peanut butter, fruit snacks, and beef jerky.

What is your favorite travel snack? Please share your thoughts below in comments.

A native of Stilwell, Kansas, Danielle plans to return to the Kansas City area upon graduation.

Danielle is currently working as a social media intern with VentureTime Travel. When she isn’t working or in classes, Danielle enjoys traveling the world with her fiancée Will.

Learn more about Danielle here.

A Tip From The Jones: We never want to travel without some “briefcase snacks” for emergencies like a delayed flight. We buy in bulk from a warehouse club or from Amazon.

Here’s some of our favorite travel snacks:

KIND Minis Variety Pack

Planters-Nuts On the Go Snack Packs

Popchips 6-Flavor Variety Pack

Kashi Granola Trail Mix Grab ‘N Go Snacks

Other posts involving travel and food that you may enjoy:

Follow us on Twitter or interact with us on Facebook

{ 0 comments }

The Best of Photo Friday

by Janis on February 15, 2013

We believe the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is especially true when is comes to describing travel.

Even the best travel writing cannot convey a destination like a photo can, even when the photo is less than perfect.

While we are not particularly artful nor professional photographers, we take hundreds of photos during our travels. As Mr. Jones likes to say, “it’s easy to delete.”

Occasionally we have shared some of our photos during the past two and a half years as a part of Photo Friday -The Weekly Photo Challenge. Photo Friday is a website where a new photographic challenge is posted each Friday. Participants interpret the challenge and post their photos to their own sites and then submit their links to the Photo Friday site.

These are some of our favorite and/or most popular Photo Friday posts. They are showcased here by region of the world where the photo was taken.

North America

Europe

Asia

South America

Photo Friday: The Andes From My Window

At Sea

Which Photo Friday Photo is your favorite? Please share below in comments.

Follow us on Twitter or interact with us on Facebook

{ 1 comment }

The Dim Sum Lunch at Tamarind Onboard Holland America’s Eurodam

by Janis on February 14, 2013

UPDATE: The Dim Sum lunch is sadly no longer offered on the Eurodam or Nieuw Amsterdam cruise ships.

We welcomed the new year of 2013 at sea on Holland America Line’s Eurodam. The 7-day Western Caribbean cruise offered many terrific food and wine experiences. One of our favorite dinning experiences on the Eurodam was dining in the Asian-inspired Tamarind Restaurant. While the dinner has a $15 per person cover charge, the dim sum lunch — available by reservation only– is complimentary. Take a look:

The Tamarind Restaurant, found mid-ship on the uppermost deck on ms Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam — Holland America Line’s Signature-class ships — offers outstanding views and “cuisine that rivals the top restaurants on land” according to Condé Nast Traveler.

The Dim Sum Lunch is a set menu, but with multiple courses and tastes to delight nearly everyone. This is one easy dining experience — the only decision you have to make is which dessert to order.

The Dim Sum lunch begins with hot & sour soup. We wish we could order up a batch when we are home with a cold.

Next up: an Asian Szechuan Sesame Salad — too many crispy noodles on top, but underneath a nice salad.

Now for the Dim Sum: four kinds of steamed dumplings – chicken, pork, vegetable and shrimp “shu Mai”. The fried pieces include a vegetable spring roll, a salmon roll, shrimp won ton stick and a spicy crab Rangoon. All are served with four dipping sauces and a side of fried rice.

Pace yourself, because you wont want to miss dessert.

The most popular dessert is green tea tiramisu.

Coconut ice cream is a delicious lighter alternative.

If you want to have lunch in the Tamarind Restaurant on the Eurodam or Nieuw Amsterdam, you must reserve early, as soon as you get on board. The best option for making reservations is to head to deck 11 mid-ship and meet the manager in person.

While dinner reservations can be made online before you board, lunch reservations can only be made on board. The restaurant is not open every day for lunch, so openings for lunch go quickly.

Have you dined in the Tamarind Restaurant? What did you think? Please share below in comments.

Other dining and drinking posts that you might enjoy:

Follow us on Twitter or interact with us on Facebook

{ 6 comments }