Fly Away

Busy families know that it can be challenging to find time in the schedule when everyone is available for a vacation. Between work schedules, school, and extra curricular activities, sometimes one week out of the year is the best you can hope for. But there is an alternative! How about splitting up and taking turns traveling with your kids one on one? No, it doesn’t mean you’re picking a favorite! It means you’re taking advantage of an opportunity to reconnect and get to know your child on a different level; (just make sure everyone gets a turn!) This week we want to talk about the advantages of traveling with your kids one at a time, and how to make that happen!

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It’s no secret that Orlando is home to some of the most incredible theme parks in the world. If you have listened to our show in the past, you already know that Universal Orlando Resort & Walt Disney World Resort are near and dear to our hearts. Today however, we thought it would be fun to talk about life outside of the parks. Universal & Disney each offer their own unique shopping, dining, nightlife, & entertainment districts. Let’s take a closer look at what each one has to offer.

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Tonight we welcome our special guest George. George is one of our podcast’s most loyal listeners and great friend to outlander travel. Recently George joined 8 of us from Outlander Travel and about 400 other travel agents for our annual travel conference on board Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas. Harmony of the Seas is the second largest passenger ship in the world, surpassing her older sisters Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, but surpassed by her newer sister Symphony of the Seas. Harmony of the Seas has 2,747 staterooms, with a wide variety of types, to accommodate (at double occupancy) 5,479 guests.As the third member of the Oasis class, Harmony of the Seas is very similar to her two sister ships. However, there are some design changes and extra amenities that put this ship in a class of her own. For that reason, we thought we would devote an episode to this amazing ship!

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Travel can be one of the most rewarding experiences in our lifetime, whether the goal is to see the world or to visit long-distance friends and family. However, when we travel with people who have some additional needs for support with mobility, with specialized medical equipment, with a sensitivity to smells and sounds, with memory recall or even with food allergies   we may be faced with challenges we don’t anticipate — issues that simply aren’t there when traveling on our own. Your loved one may not be mobile without a wheelchair, or they may have a specific health condition such as Alzheimer’s disease, be on the Autism spectrum or have heart problems; any of these can make vacationing much more complex, regardless of whether you’re traveling by family car, cruise ship, rail or plane. As with any other vacation, preparation is key: plan ahead for some of the most common travel needs so that you and your family will be able to enjoy a hassle-free trip that’s memorable for the right reasons.

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You may have noticed that fall is a great time to travel. The kids are back in school, which means less crowds, and it usually comes with a nice little change in price as well. But there is one thing to consider when planning this travel – hurricane season! It’s been a while since we’ve discussed this subject, and we’ve never been ones to let a little storm rain on our vacation parade, so we wanted to revisit what to expect when hurricanes pop up, and what you can do to better be prepared.

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Walt Disney World has celebrations throughout the year that are worth planning your whole trip around. One of these just ended, but we wanted to talk about how great it was this year so you can think about booking it for next year. Yes, we are talking about Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party! So pull out your best costume and all that left-over Halloween Candy and let’s talk about this event that is a favorite among the Outlander

Agents!

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In the hot Florida sun, nothing quite refreshes like a splash down in a great water park.  Universal Orlando opened Volcano Bay in the summer of 2017.  In its  second year, all of the kinks have been worked out, and it is an amazing experience.  Donna went in June with her children and had a great time experiencing all that Volcano Bay has to offer!

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You know on this podcast we love to talk about the 49th state. It’s awe-inspiring! It’s immense! It’s enormous! By far the largest state – even bigger than Texas! So even though we’ve talked about some great things to do there, we haven’t covered them all. Recently Sandy & Lindsay boarded the Holland America Eurodam for a round trip cruise from Seattle through the inside passage. Here to talk about it with us, as well as why Holland America is uniquely suited to cruise Alaska in style, is Tara Schreiner.  As Sr. Manager, Strategic Accounts, Tara  is responsible for supporting the growth of home-based travel partners. Hailing from Los Angeles, Tara has a diverse background in the travel industry, holding positions everywhere from a motorcycle travel company to tour operators and most recently at Fathom. She has an MBA from Loyola Marymount University and her personal travels have taken her to all 7 Wonders of the World.  We can’t wait to pick her brain about Alaska!

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Recently, Elizabeth and her daughter, Athena, experienced national parks  in Arizona and Utah and they did it without camping! In fact, they went on their trip with one of our favorite travel providers: Adventures by Disney. Their itinerary included: Sedona (Enchantment Resort); Bearizona/Williams, AZ; Grand Canyon (Thunderbird Lodge; Monument Valley (Goulding’s Lodge); and Moab/Arches National Park (Red Rock Lodge).

In this episode we talk to Elizabeth about why she chose to see the parks this way and why you should too!

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The Pacific Northwest corner of the continental USA is an area that is ever changing. As part of the Ring of Fire, there are many volcanic wonders to behold in a constant cycle of devastation and renewal. The diversity of wildlife and plant life could fascinate anyone. There are alpine wonderlands, the only rain forest in the continental USA and beautiful deserts. Outdoor activities dominate here in both summer and winter. There are lots of activities to be done for the outdoor enthusiast. On the more commercial side, craft beer scene is a booming business with so many breweries to try.  That is, of course, one reason we love this area, along with all of the great cultural areas to discover.

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