Luggage and Literature

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. - St. Augustine

What I Read (January 2017)

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Every month I try to read at least one book from the following categories: nonfiction, devotional, and fiction. And this year I’m participating in the 2017 Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge, so I’m also going to be listing which category my books fulfill. If you want to join in on the fun, you can check out the list of categories here! This is What I Read in January 2017, my brief book recommendations and reviews. Hopefully I’ll provide you with some inspiration for your future reading as well!

Books Finished:

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

After reading a couple of her books previously, I know that I love her writing. This book was fantastic! I couldn’t stop reading it and finished it in about 2 days. The structure of the book is interesting. The reader gets a glimpse of the present lives of the characters, as well as them reflecting back to the ‘day of the barbecue’ when something terrible happened. You don’t find out until close to the end what that terrible thing is and how the characters come to terms with it.

Authority by Nathan Barry

For my law practice (my day job), I’ve thought about putting together e-books on particular topics that are of interest to our clients and prospective clients. This book was really helpful in trying to learn about self-publishing, as well as how to market and distribute the e-books. I received it as a complementary book for attending a webinar on ConvertKit.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

I listened to this one on Audible, usually while driving for work, and have been working on it for a couple of months. It was wonderful! I was surprised repeatedly by turns in the story, which was refreshing after feeling like so many stories are predictable. I would recommend this one, especially on audio book. But be aware that it’s quite a long audio book.

She’s Got Issues: Seriously Good News for Stressed-Out, Secretly Scared Control Freaks Like Us by Nicole Unice

My bible study read this book and finished it in December, but I forgot to add it to What I Read (December 2016), so I’m writing about it here. We all really liked this book. It touches on issues that each of us had, and had ideas for dealing with those issues. The book was easy for us all to talk about as we could relate in different ways to it. And Nicole’s blend of therapist training with the ministry portion made her perspective more authoritative and respectable than what is sometimes found in devotional type of books where the authors have no specific training or education in what they’re writing about.

A Weekend Getaway by Karen Lenfestey

This is a fun, easy read, which I felt like I desperately needed after some of the tough reading I’ve done in the past few months. It’s about a gal who is in her 30s and gave her baby up for adoption in college, and is now coming to terms with it. Her life hasn’t turned out the way she’d hoped, and she’s trying to figure out where she belongs. I enjoyed it, but can’t say it’s a book that has really profound ideas that will stick with me.

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

2017 MMD Reading for Fun Challenge: a book recommended by someone with great taste

I heard about this book in one of Anne Bogel’s (Modern Mrs. Darcy’s) What Should I Read Next podcasts, as well in one of her book recommendation lists. After hearing it described by one of her guests as ‘the book that describes and explains Trump voters’ I almost didn’t listen to it as that seemed very patronizing. But I’ve had good luck before with books I’ve found out about in the podcast so I gave it a shot. Vance’s story is engaging; and the narration is fantastic. The people in his life are complex, and I found my self loving them despite (or because of) their flaws. His descriptions and explanations make perfect sense, and help to understand a culture of poverty that is prevalent in Appalachia, and elsewhere. I really loved this book!

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

My book club read The Paris Wife this month. We all agreed that the story is an interesting one, but the characters are quite disagreeable. The book was a pretty fast read, and really made me interested in learning more about Ernest Hemingway, as well as reading more of Hemingway’s works themselves. After reading the book, I watched a movie on Netflix called Papa about Hemingway’s later life in Cuba.

Submerged: Adventures of America’s Most Elite Underwater Archeology Team by Daniel Lenihan

2017 MMD Reading for Fun Challenge: a book about a topic or subject you already love

On the What Should I Read Next podcast, there was a recent episode where readers suggested books for Anne Bogel to read. One reader suggested this book, which was interesting to me because Mike was reading it at the time and telling me how much he thought that I’d enjoy it. It is a memoir of sorts of Daniel Lenihan who started the underwater archeology unit of the National Parks Service. The descriptions of the dive sites were evocative; and the stories were so fascinating. I mean, this guy dove with scuba rock stars like Sheck Exley, and really knows his stuff. A great read if you’re a scuba diver, but still recommended even if you’re not.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

This book is likely going to be one of my favorite books of 2017…I just know it. I really loved it. It follows a white girl in the 60s in the South who is seeking information about her deceased mother. She finds that information in the home of black sisters, who are beekeepers. The description actually sounds quite weird or dull, but I promise that the story is fantastic.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

The best word I can use to describe this book and this topic is…weird. The general idea behind the book (which I had heard good things about) is that we should only keep things in our home that bring us joy. This makes sense, but beyond that, things got a bit strange. The author talks about the objects that she owns having feelings and emotions that we need to consider. Sorry, but they’re not alive. But as a side note, while watching the Gilmore Girls revival, this book was referenced, and I was happy I knew what they were talking about!

The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler

2017 MMD Reading for Fun Challenge: a book about books or reading

I picked this one out with a Target gift card that I got for Christmas to read on a weekend where we were expecting an ice storm. It was a perfect read for a cold, icy weekend. The structure of the book is such that it jumps between the 1700s and modern-day, and then links the stories closer together as it goes along. It was a delightful and exciting story. I really enjoyed it.

Confessions of a Prayer Slacker by Diane Moody

As someone who sometimes struggles with making my relationship with God feel like a relationship, rather than whispering into the wind, I can appreciate this book. And it was an easy read that didn’t feel judgmental. If you need a bit of a kick in the pants regarding your prayer life, I’d recommend this one.

The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Jayne Ashford

This book follows Agatha Christie and two other women on their train journey to Baghdad, and their journey toward the life that they want. It was engaging and beautiful and realistic, and I really, really liked it. It reminded me quite a lot of Jennifer Robson’s books, so if you’re a fan of hers I’d guess that you will also like this one.

The Syrian Tragedy by Carsten Stormer

2017 MMD Reading for Growth Challenge: a book of any genre that addresses current events

Through IHG I received two free Kindle Singles, and chose this as one of them. I wanted to better understand what is going on with the current conflict in Syria. It was at times hard to read, and at times somewhat politically preachy. But it was informative and interesting

Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

I’ve been a fan of Freakonomics for years. I’ve read the previous books, listen to the podcast, and even saw Levitt and Dubner speak in Rapid City, South Dakota at one point. Maybe rising to the level of a super fan? I don’t know. Anyway, the latest installment in Freakonomics literature really focuses on how to think about problems in a way that actually allows for novel solutions, rather than in old and tired ways that haven’t yielded results. I thought it was fantastic.

 

Books Abandoned:

None.

Guadeloupe (Part 3)

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Guadeloupe Part 3Mike and I recently returned from Guadeloupe. In Part 1, I covered general information about the island, transportation, getting there, and our accommodations. In Part 2, I covered some of the many fun things to do on the island. In Part 3, I’ll go through a breakdown of the cost of our trip. And in Part 4, I’ll talk about the scuba diving, and the dive operator that we used. So without further ado, a breakdown of the cost of our trip to Guadeloupe.

Flights

To get to Guadeloupe, we flew United Airlines from Omaha to Chicago O’Hare to Boston Logan. We then flew Norwegian Airlines from Boston to Pointe-a-Pitre. Our plans to even go to Guadeloupe in the first place started with a discount fare on Norwegian Airlines. You see, Norwegian recently started running direct flights between the US and Guadeloupe, and the US and Martinique. To advertise these new routes, they had a fare sale on the flights.

The cost of Mike’s flight and mine on Norwegian was $576.00 (or $288.00 per person). And this wasn’t the absolute cheapest fare available, as it included 2 checked bags (one for each of us) and seat selections. We initially planned on checking 2 bags, as well as having our carry-on luggage (scuba gear is heavy and takes up lots of space). As the trip approached, we decided that we would in fact need an additional checked bag, because there were weight restrictions on the carry-on luggage, so I added one for an additional $50. If we hadn’t prepaid this fee, it would have been an additional $50 each way, so it was worth prepaying.

Our United flights were paid for with a stash of United miles. I have a United Airlines credit card for my business, so it’s easy to rack up miles. We only had to pay the taxes out-of-pocket, which were $22.40 for both of us (or $11.20 for each of us). And the routes we selected were Saver level awards, ‘costing’ 50,000 miles total (or 25,000 round trip for each of us). And because of having a total of 3 bags (my card got us each a free checked bag), we did have to pay baggage fees for the extra bag of $35 each way.

Accommodations

We had an overnight stay in Boston before our Norwegian flight to Guadeloupe. Because I have an IHG Rewards credit card, we had an annual free night certificate to use. We opted to use it and stay at the Intercontinental in downtown Boston. So the room cost us nothing (or the $49 credit card annual fee if you want to think about it that way), but was running about $400 per night at the time that we booked. So it really was an incredible redemption no matter how you look at it.

Our bungalow in Guadeloupe was booked through Hotels.com. Hotels.com gives you a free night for every 10 that you book. Our trip to Guadeloupe was 7 nights, and we’d had a few previous stays booked through them, so we now have a free night certificate available with them. The total that we paid through Hotels.com was $512.47  for all seven nights (or $73.21 per night). We had to put a deposit down on the room when we arrived, but this was refunded at checkout. And we also had to pay a cleaning fee of 25 euros, unless we wanted to clean the room ourselves (which we didn’t).

Ground Transportation

Our rental car experience was a total disaster! You can read more about it in Part 1. But essentially, the car ended up costing us $278.84. They also tried to charge us a 30 euro cleaning fee, although this had never been authorized in any of our agreements or conversations, and the car was clean when we returned it. I disputed the cleaning fee through my credit card company, so I’m not including it in the total for the rental car. But to avoid dealing with these shysters, I’d recommend that you do not rent a car from Budget in Guadeloupe.

I’m not including gas while on Guadeloupe in the cost of the trip, as I drive a ton for work while at home, so I figured that it would probably be a wash either way.

We did have to take a taxi from Boston Logan to the hotel and back again. I didn’t keep my receipt from it, but my recollection was that it was about $20 each way. And there are other cheaper options, but we wanted something simple and fast (and it was both).

Scuba Diving

We used Les Heures Saines for our dives while on Guadeloupe. The cost of our ten dives with them was $674.46 (which breaks down to $33.723 per dive per person). The cost is the same whether you bring your own gear or if you rent gear from them. We brought our own, but that was mainly because we were doing quite a few dives, and felt more comfortable with our own. The rental gear looked to be in good shape, and most people opted to rent. But be forewarned that the gear is different from what I’ve typically seen, and is metric.

Food

We had quite a bit of cash while on the island, because the deposit on our bungalow was lower than what we’d initially expected. This is great, but it means that we didn’t use our credit card much for food, and I don’t have a great record for the cost of our food. So I’m going off of my recollection here.

We went to a grocery store and bought food for breakfast in our room every day. We had pastries, the most amazing bread with jam, and granola bars. We also bought some snack food items at the grocery store (granola bars, pastries, snack cakes, pudding snacks) to keep our food budget down. We also had pizzas or baguettes with meat and cheese and chips for lunch most days. Since our bungalow had a kitchen, with a refrigerator, microwave, and toaster oven, it was easy to eat in. I don’t recall the grocery store prices being outrageous (except for the cost of pop which was insane). But you can probably expect to spend about $50 for any meal in a restaurant on the low end. So even though we ate out for most of our dinners, we still saved quite a bit of money.

Since we typically shop at the grocery store when at home, I’m just going to factor the cost of the restaurant meals into our budget, as those really were the most expensive part, as well as quite a bit more than what we spend at home. I figured 6 meals in restaurants at $50 each ($25 per person per meal) at a total of $300.

Other

We don’t typically buy a lot of souvenirs on our travels, just a couple of mementos to remember the trip by. My photographs are more precious to me than the junk that you can find at most souvenir shops. But we did each buy a T-shirt while in Guadeloupe. And I bought a sand and resin turtle that Mike turned into a Christmas ornament (I collect Christmas ornaments from all of the different places that I travel to). And Mike bought a little wooden turtle that he’ll display on his desk at work (he’s got wooden/stone items from the different places that he’s dove at). I’d estimate the cost of our souvenirs to be about $50.

Total

Norwegian flights/baggage: $626.00
United flights/baggage: $92.40
Boston hotel: FREE!
Guadeloupe bungalow: $537.47
Rental Car: $278.84
Taxi in Boston: $40
Scuba diving: $674.46
Dining Out: $300
Souvenirs: $50
Total: $2599.17 (or about $1,299 per person)

Overall, I’m incredibly happy with how the trip turned out. It was a pretty economical way to spend a week on a beautiful Caribbean island. It confirmed for me the benefit of traveling using rewards programs and travel credit cards, especially as it’s considerably cheaper than most dive packages or travel packages booked through a travel agent.

Holiday Gift Guide

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Do you have a traveler or bibliophile in your life? I’ve purchased some super handy travel items (and spotted some others that I want for myself) lately that I think would make great gifts for the traveler in your life. Here are the top twelve items that make up my holiday gift guide.

1. Noise cancelling headphones. Mike has this pair of Sony Noise Cancelling Headphones. I’ve used them on flights and can confirm that they work great at blocking out the sound of the airplane engine, crying babies, and other annoying noises. This is one item that I’d love to get, to replace my normal, non-noise cancelling pair. Plus, I think they’re a great value at $29.99.

2. Worldwide Travel Charger Adapter. On our recent trip to Guadeloupe, we had to take adapters to charge our electronic devices. I had a whole bag full if different adapters and had to research ahead of time to determine which ones we needed. This handy little gadget works with all different types of outlets for up to 150 countries, and charges 3 devices simultaneously. It comes in three colors, blue, white, and lime green. I definitely want this item, especially for $15.99.

3. An Amazon Prime subscription. Seriously, I think that Amazon Prime is a wonderful deal. Free 2 day shipping. 1 free borrowed book per month (Kindle Owner’s Lending Library), and 1 free book per month (Kindle First). Free movies and television shows. Free music. And all of that for only $99 per year. This would be an awesome gift for travelers, book lovers, movie lovers, music lovers…pretty much everyone.

4. Portable Luggage Scale. With airlines cracking down on the number and weight of luggage, we’ve found our portable luggage scale to be invaluable to avoid excess baggage fees or repacking luggage in the airport. Especially when we go on scuba diving trips, our luggage can easily be overweight if not distributed property, so this makes packing easy. And it’s small (and lightweight) enough to fit in a carry-on or checked bag so that bags can be repacked for the return trip easily. Plus, they only cost about $7.99-9.99, depending on the brand that you purchase.

5. Packing Cubes. I was skeptical when I initially saw these on other travel bloggers’ lists of necessary items. But the more I thought about how messy luggage can get when you have to repack luggage, and how I hate having clean and dirty clothes mixed together. So I eventually caved in and bought this set of packing cubes. And I love them! They have made packing for a trip so much easier, and made my luggage neater in the process. This set of 6 cubes is $29.99, but if you think you’ll need fewer, there are other sets that are a bit cheaper.

6. External battery charger. I just have a tiny little external battery charger that will add about 1/2 a battery to my smart phone. It works fine for day-to-day use, since that’d be about all I’d need to get back home. But Mike has a bigger external battery charger like this one that is fantastic for traveling. It will charge a couple of different devices at a time, and get them from empty to a full charge. This one is priced at $39.99, which looks like a good value in external battery chargers.

7. Dry Bags. Because we scuba dive, we use these frequently to keep our clothes or other items dry on the dive boats. But I’ve also used mine to keep phone, towel, and kindle clean and dry when going to the beach. So I know that these would come in handy for snorkelers, or anyone who just wants certain items kept clean and dry.

8. Kindle Fire or Kindle Paperwhite. I love my Kindles, both of them. The Kindle Fire is nice, in that you get text to speech, and that you have a small tablet for watching movies or checking e-mail. But it’s a backlit screen, so it’s not great for reading outside. For reading outside, a Kindle Paperwhite is excellent, as the screen is not backlit and it isn’t so tiring for your eyes. The Fire is $33.33; and the Paperwhite is $99.99.


9. Point and shoot camera. I have this Samsung point and shoot digital camera. I really like it. It has about the most functionality that you can get in a point and shoot, takes great pictures, and it will fit in a small purse or in a pocket. After doing some research, and thinking about my needs when it comes to a camera (primarily portability), I decided that a big DSLR camera isn’t really a good fit at present. These range in price from $159.00 to $274.99 depending on the particular color that you want.

10. Amazon gift cards. I read a ton on my Kindle, but especially while on trips. And I love listening to Amazon music, some of which is free with Prime music, but some of which is not. So I am always happy to get an Amazon gift card, so that I can stock up on ebooks and tunes before I leave.

11. Infinity scarf with hidden zippered pouch. I don’t have this item, but really want it. It sounds like it would be perfect for holding cash, credit cards, and a passport, to keep them safe from muggers, without looking like a dopey tourist with a money belt. At $11.00, it’s inexpensive enough to buy in a couple of different colors to wear with different outfits.

12. Airline gift cards or hotel gift cards. I use IHG and United credit cards and love earning points rewards points. If family or friends wanted to purchase gift cards for us for hotels or airlines, we’d definitely get a lot of enjoyment out of it, as those are often the two largest drivers of cost. So I think that hotel and airline gift cards would make an awesome gift!

So there you have it. 12 items that I think would be excellent gift ideas for travelers and book lovers. Hope this holiday gift guide makes your shopping a bit easier.

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