I lived in Mexico & Guatemala from July 1985 to July 1986. I learned Spanish in Antigua, Guatemala at Centro Linguistico Internacional. I had classes six hours a day one-on-one with my teacher plus I lived with a local family. I learned it so well, I haven’t forgotten it! I do use Spanish regularly, too.

Coincidentally, Peter Greenberg wrote this on his blog, too:

“Families can learn Spanish at the Centro Linguistico Internacional in Antigua, Guatemala. With the Learn Together program, parents and children can sign up for language lessons.

Monday through Friday, each family member receives three hours a day of individual study and at least one hour working with each other to better than Spanish. The program also includes extracurricular activities like soccer matches, bicycle tours, museum tours and much more.

The best part is – these activities are all included in the price of the program. Families can chose from several different types of accommodations, including on-site apartments or living with a Guatemalan family. The price of the program is approximately $225 a week, plus $90 a week for each additional family member.”

I found these 7 Helpful Travel Tips on Lifehack.org. Since air travel can be frustrating, I hope you find the following travel tips from helpful:

1. Don’t travel with gel pens. You could wake up in a pool of ink, as the air pressure changes can cause the ink to burst out. I learned this lesson MANY years ago but thought they changed the technology — and I recently ruined three perfectly good pairs of pants. NEVER again! I have finally learned my lesson!!

2. ALWAYS look at the airline luggage routing tags that the ticket agent is putting on your checked baggage, and look at your claim stubs too. Don’t just assume they are putting the right tag on the right bag.

3. Take note of something interesting about the contents of your bag. It makes it easier to identify if there’s a problem.

4. Travel with Sharpie markers and zip-closure plastic bags. They are great for marking and identifying things quickly.

5. If your flight is cancelled, don’t wait in the long line in front of the ticket agent to get on another plane. Just step aside and call your airline directly from your cell phone. It’s just like cutting in line, but nobody will get mad at you.

6. Bring pre-printed return address labels with you. They’re great for quickly filling out airline luggage tags and other forms.

7. Get a travel pillow that supports your neck. Neck pillows like the Bucky brand are filled with buckwheat hulls and support your neck while you’re trying to sleep on the plane.

US State Department travel warnings do not mean that it’s a place where the government may not be favorably disposed to the United States. Instead, the United States’ State Department issues these warnings because for a variety of reasons it may not be safe to travel in those areas. These reasons include, but are not limited to, natural disasters (like the Myanmar cyclone or the China earthquake) civil unrest, war.

The US State Department keeps an updated list of travel warnings. Here’s some information from their website:

What Are Travel Warnings, Country Specific Information & Travel Alerts?

Travel Warnings
Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department decides, based on all relevant information, to recommend that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. Countries where avoidance of travel is recommended will have Travel Warnings as well as Country Specific Information.

Travel Alerts
Travel Alerts are a means to disseminate information about terrorist threats and other relatively short-term and/or trans-national conditions posing significant risks to the security of American travelers. The TAs are made when there is a specific threat that cannot be countered. In the past, Travel Alerts have been issued to deal with short-term coups, violence by terrorists and anniversary dates of specific terrorist events.

Country Specific Information
Country Specific Information are available for every country of the world. They include such information as location of the U.S. embassy or consulate in the subject country, unusual immigration practices, health conditions, minor political disturbances, unusual currency and entry regulations, crime and security information, and drug penalties. If an unstable condition exists in a country that is not severe enough to warrant a Travel Warning, a description of the condition(s) may be included under an optional section entitled “Safety/Security.”On limited occasions, we also restate in this section any U.S. embassy advice given to official employees. Country Specific Information generally do not include advice, but present information in a factual manner so the traveler can make his or her own decisions concerning travel to a particular country.

Here’s the link to the US State Department Travel Warnings’ page.

Sometimes it’s a good idea to have some local currency before you arrive at your destination. Chances are you’ll need some money in the local currency - for a cab, public transportation or even a meal.

You might say “I’ll get money at an ATM”. Unfortunately, if you’re traveling to a developing country an ATM might not even be available. Or maybe the ATM won’t be compatible with your card (this could happen anywhere). Either way, it’s a good idea to have some local currency on hand even before you leave the USA.

There are some other options (though you might get gouged or taken advantage of):

- Go to a restaurant or a store in the airport, pay your bill in US dollars and ask to get the change in the local currency
- Ask a taxi driver to exchange money for you
- Convert some of your money at one of those money exchange kiosks

There is another way: you can get the local currency before you arrive. That is, you can order currency ahead of time, before you leave on your trip and have it delivered directly to you.

If you’re a US Resident, here’s where I recommend you get local currency: Go to www.BuyTravelMoney.com. The cash can be delivered straight to your doorstep. Rates are competitive and two-day shipping is free on orders of US $750 or more.

We are renting a mid-sized car. Would your Collision Damage Waiver cover driving on gravel and dirt roads?

You’re covered for normal use of the car. Not all roads are paved everywhere, so if in the course of your trip you take gravel and dirt roads, it’s covered by our Collision Damage Waiver.

On the other hand, if you say, “Let’s see what this baby will do!” and drive off road and / or cause damage to the car, then you may have a difficult claim.

No matter what happens, it’s your responsibility to explain what happened to any authorities, the car rental agency & the insurance company.

My family and I have received a lot of favor from ticket counter agents over the years. We’re nice to them because it’s the right thing to do, but it’s shocking how badly we’ve seen others treat them!

Peter Greenberg, the Travel Detective has a video that gives you some good strategies for scoring airline upgrades: (you can view his other videos, too)

Are you cruising to Cozumel?

Here’s a useful tip to save you money on souvenirs at Cozumel’s cruise ship docks:

Don’t buy at the shops near the docks when you come off the ship in the morning. Wait until the afternoon when people are starting to head back to the ship. At that time, you’ll see the vendors putting up their “Big Sale” & “Prices Slashed” signs. They do this every day. You may notice the signs are a little worn, too.