There is nothing worse than planning an amazing trip, only to get sick during it or immediately after returning home. Traveling to new places can mean new germs, close quarters in places like airplanes and a different routine than what your body is used to. Here are a few things you can do to combat sickness while traveling, especially during cold and flu season!

There is nothing better for your body than getting a good night of sleep! Being well-rested before you travel is important so that you are prepared for your adventures ahead. Once you get to your destination, sleep is still SO necessary! You want to get the most out of the amazing destinations you visit. Getting 8 hours of sleep at night will help you do that by giving you a clear mind and rested body to fully enjoy the places travel to. Did you know that our white blood cells increase in number while we sleep? So when you are sleep deprived, your body's defense mechanism weakens, making you more vulnerable to sickness. Make sure you are getting proper sleep!

HYDRATION! HYDRATION! HYDRATION! Remembering to drink enough water is very important, especially while traveling. Long flights and days packed with adventure can leave you more dehydrated than normal. Remember to drink at least the equivalent of eight 8oz. glasses of water a day! Opt for water instead of sugary drinks during your trip to stay properly hydrated. You can invest in a reusable water bottle with a built-in filter, so wherever you go, you will have clean, filtered water ready to drink.

When traveling it always feels like there is so much to do, but so little time. People tend to pack as much as they can into every waking moment of their trip. Have you ever come back from traveling and thought, "I need a vacation from my vacation"? Avoid the burnout feeling by making a manageable itinerary where you can see everything you want to see while still having room to relax and enjoy. Planning your trip with a Travel Consultant can help you with that! They have the knowledge and resources to help plan your perfect trip.

One of the best things about traveling is trying new food! Many people use vacation as a time to indulge and eat much more food or less healthy food than their body is used to. This can cause stomach issues that you do not want to deal with while on vacation. To combat this, try sticking to a balanced diet while traveling. Be adventurous, but also cautious, when trying new foods in a new area. The CDC also suggests avoiding raw food, street food and bushmeat when traveling.

This one should be a given, but is also important remember! Be diligent with hand washing while traveling. Remember to bring hand sanitizer when you aren't near a sink and sanitizing wipes to disinfect the surfaces around you, especially when flying.

When most people come back from a trip they jump right back into work and their regular daily routine. Allow yourself an extra day or two after you get back to readjust and unwind. This can also be a great time to get some extra sleep and fully unpack before jumping back into things.

​Travel Consultant Christine Hakenjos recently traveled to New Orleans with 9 of her closest girlfriends to celebrate her bachelorette weekend! Bachelorette trips (or long weekend getaways to celebrate the bride’s “last fling before the ring”) are becoming more and more popular with millennials. Christine and her Maid of Honor, Lindsay, planned the most perfect weekend getaway, and we thought it would be fun to share their travels along with giving tips for planning the perfect bachelorette weekend that you can do WHEREVER you may travel!

When planning a bachelorette weekend getaway, it is always a good idea to create SOME sort of itinerary for your guests so that everyone has something to refer to when packing/preparing for their travels. Creating a cute graphic always makes things more fun and adds even more excitement to the upcoming trip!

​We traveled to New Orleans for my bachelorette on Halloween weekend, which also meant it was VooDoo Festival that weekend. For our photoshoot theme, we decided to match the rest of the city this time of year and go with a “witches coven” theme. We started our day with the shoot and it was a fun way to begin our day in NOLA! The photos all turned out AMAZING, and I love that I have such great photos to look back on as a reminder of such an amazing weekend. We then went out on the town from there and received SO many compliments about our theme and how coordinated we all looked. It was so fun! 

​When planning an out of town bachelorette trip (especially with a big group), do your research to find out the best places to eat and drink and make reservations at the restaurants ahead of time! You don’t want to have to wait an hour (or sometimes longer!) for a table big enough for your group because that is only taking time away from your weekend, or even WORSE you may not even get a table to begin with! So planning ahead for the places you KNOW you want to eat and drink at is always a good idea…. ESPECIALLY in New Orleans where eating and drinking is one of the reasons for traveling to such an amazing city!

​Having outfits planned makes packing easy, right?! So one of the days in New Orleans, we all picked an iconic celebrity to dress up as. It was so fun to be out and about in NOLA dressed as people that MOST of the general public knew who we were. 

​Sometimes drinking all day every day on a Bachelorette trip can be quite exhausting, and expensive! Acting as real tourists and booking an exciting tour can be a really good change of pace for your group and will also allow them to learn and see more of the city you are traveling to! Before departing for our weekend in New Orleans, we booked a “Louisiana Airboat Ride & Oak Valley Plantation Home” tour and it was truly one of the best things we did all weekend! It was so fun to do something so unique and different as a group. Getting to experience such beauty and learning about these destinations together was so special! 

​In addition to the “being a tourist and booking a tour”, you can also have fun matching t-shirts made ahead of time for your group to wear on the tour or any day throughout your weekend! For New Orleans, I had t-shirts made for the girls from a shop on Etsy that matched the entire theme of the weekend: “Till Death Do Us Party”, and gave it to them as a thank you for their travels. We wore them with jeans the day of the tour and the photos of us as a group were great!

​There is nothing like having a psychic read your tarot cards, especially with your BFFs! This was yet another fun activity we did while in New Orleans. Originally, we had planned for a psychic to come to our house to do our readings, but a tropical storm hit that evening so we ended up going to the French Quarter for ours. We landed at “Voodoo Authentica” after a few insider tips from my family, who are locals to the area. Voodoo Authentica happens to be a true Voodoo shop located in the French Quarter and that is where we had a group reading done by a true Voodoo Priest! The group reading was very insightful and was just another unique activity to do together that you don’t get to do every day.

Going to listen to live music anywhere is always fun, especially when you are in a city where live music is at the center of the culture. To end our amazing weekend in New Orleans, we thought it would be fun to hop around on Frenchmen Street and listen to live jazz at a local bar. We ended up grabbing drinks and small apps at Bamboula’s where they have live music all day and all night. Frenchmen Street is just a short walk from the French Quarter and totally worth the visit! 

Something fun to do as a thank you to everyone that traveled is to make them little goodie bags. In the bags that I gave my friends, I included the matching t-shirts that I gave everyone, but I also gave them each a little reusable skull mug, and a homemade “hangover kit” with makeup wipes, Advil, and gum. To top it off, I hand wrote each of them a thank you card, as I was so appreciative of everyone taking time off work and spending their hard earned $$ to travel and celebrate with me! 

The most important part about your bachelorette weekend is having fun with your friends. Tailor your weekend to what YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS enjoy doing, and it will make some of your best memories together. To take the stress off of yourself, work with a travel consultant to plan the PERFECT weekend getaway! 

World Expo 2020 Dubai is a 6-month long celebration of world culture, collaboration and innovation from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021. You may know this type of event referred to as "The World's Fair". This will be the largest event ever staged in the Arab world, as well as the first World Expo ever held in the region.

Every World Expo has an overall theme that the entire event is focused around. “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” is the theme for Expo 2020. The aim is to build partnerships and inspire ideas that will forge the world of tomorrow. The key pillars, or subthemes, are Opportunity, Mobility, and Sustainability. Each subtheme will have a district to help spread the message to all Expo attendees. Each participating country’s pavilion is housed in one of the three districts.
 
The Opportunity District encourages visitors to realize the important role that they can play in human development through their actions. It will showcase how we can create a better world by providing opportunities to challenge visitors’ thinking on issues related to basic needs of water, food and energy. The programs aim to inspire people to discover solutions to social problems, and act to make these changes.

​Explore the past, present and future in the Mobility District. Witness human progress through physical and digital realms throughout the various pavilions. The pavilions will showcase how people, goods, ideas and data move (and what it all means).

The third and final Sustainability District focuses on reassessing how we can preserve our planet. The Expo is embracing alternative sources of food, water, and clean and renewable energy. Discover the innovative global projects that are creating new paths of sustainability, and pledge to help preserve our plant for future generations.

A major focus for Expo 2020 is sustainability. These are some of the techniques being put into place to achieve the goal of a more sustainable Expo:

• Generating clean energy
• Reducing water consumption
• Promoting natural solutions
• Minimizing the carbon footprint
• Using sustainable building materials
• Reducing waste
• Improving sustainability awareness

Aside from visiting the various pavilions representing 192 countries, there will be a plethora of live performances and entertainment throughout the 6 months. This will include performances from world-famous stars, comedians, local talents and touring attractions. There will also be cultural experiences such as dance routines, acrobatics, poetry slams and roaming entertainers.

Interactive experiences will also be available throughout the expo, perfect for curious children! Participate in make-your-own-robot workshops and exercise-gaming activities or learn about 3D-printed human organs. These fun and educational experiences will make for great family memories.

If you are looking to stimulate your mind, be sure to visit one of the many lectures and presentations from an array of interesting and inquisitive personalities. They did not forget the importance of wellness and an active lifestyle when planning the expo! Join others from around the globe for mindfulness sessions or even participate in extreme sports and virtual reality activities.

​For all the foodies around the world, Expo 2020 is the place to be! With over 200 food outlets representing over 50 different types of cuisine, you will not have to worry about being hungry. See the future of food with modern technology that will change the way we prepare and order food. Experience other cultures by trying delicacies from around the world. They are calling the expo a “foodie’s paradise” because of all the various options to explore. Continuing with their commitment to sustainability, Expo 2020 has developed a Food Ethos to promote sustainability and wellness. This will include locally sourcing ingredients, using organic produce and sustainable packaging, providing options from all dietary needs and offering affordable prices for all to enjoy.

​There is so much waiting for you at Expo 2020! This once-in-a-lifetime experience will broaden your horizons and connect you with people from all around the world. For more information visit: https://www.expo2020dubai.com

In September my husband, my son and I went to Florida for the ultimate Disney vacation, but we didn't just go to Walt Disney World. This year we tried something new and added on three days at Disney's Vero Beach Resort in Vero Beach, Florida. I truthfully can't say enough about this fabulous property! It was the perfect combination of continuing the Disney magic from Walt Disney World, but at a much slower and quieter pace at the beach. For anyone taking a trip to Walt Disney World or Florida in general, this has to be on your list!

Disney's Vero Beach Resort is located about an hour and a half southeast of Orlando. It's a Disney Vacation Club resort, but that doesn't mean you have to be a member to stay there. It's still open to the general public but it's extremely popular with Club members. This resort fills up quickly so the key to getting a room here is to book early. For example, I booked our stay 10 months in advance. 

​We had an Inn - Standard View Room which was massive. It had a kitchenette (which came in handy for washing baby bottles), two queen beds, a balcony, and even though we had a "standard view room" we still had views of the ocean. Can't beat that!
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The property sits on a popular sea turtle nesting beach and they do a fabulous job conserving and protecting the sea turtles. All around the resort they pay homage to sea turtles, and conservationists mark nests on the beach and help the baby sea turtles make it out to the ocean. Unfortunately we never got to see any, but we heard other guests at the resort talk about how they went to the beach early in the morning to watch. 
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Disney's Vero Beach is full of exciting activities all throughout the resort. There's a fabulous Mickey-shaped pool and slide (which my husband and I went down several times) and kiddy pool area as well. They also have a mini-golf course, a spa (I got a 50-minute massage that was heavenly), a bar, restaurants, a gorgeous park area and they even have bonfires at night to make s'mores.

​Each week the resort releases an activities sheet to show various things happening at the resort that you can do for free or have to pay extra money for. This includes wine glass painting, surfing lessons, yoga, tie-dying t-shirts and more. We loved just relaxing at the beach and swimming in the pool so we never got to do the extra activities, but we plan to the next time we come back! 
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The dining at Vero Beach was fantastic! For quick-service they had Wind & Waves Market located right next to the pool where we would get snacks, especially Dole Whips (yes my fellow Disney's fans you heard that right, they have Dole Whips here!) and for breakfast and dinner we would go to Wind & Waves Grill. Reservations are recommended, but not required. My husband and I celebrated our 5-year wedding anniversary during our stay and the Cast Members truly made it a special celebration. Our amazing server at Wind & Waves Grill brought a delicious cake to our table complete with Mickey sprinkles and a beautiful Mickey and Minnie card signed by a few of the Cast Members.
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One of the most special things about our stay was on our last morning where we had a character dining experience at Seagrape. Goofy and Donald went from table to table to meet with each guest and our son was so excited to see them!
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My husband and I fell in love with this resort and we're definitely making it our new tradition to stay here for a few days after every Walt Disney World visit. We can't wait to go back and hear the Cast Member's say "Welcome Home".
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The items you pack in your carry-on can make or break your flight. Our well-traveled staff knows a thing or two about flying, along with the essentials you need to pack for every trip. Some of our travel consultants are here to share their recommendations.
​Keep reading to find out their top picks!

Maggie Groene and Melanie Muchnick always make sure they bring their headphones on every flight! These are necessary for entertainment or drowning out the background noise on the plane. If you're trying to get some sleep while flying, try earplugs to cancel out noise!

Nowadays, your smartphone is an important part of traveling. From mobile boarding passes to getting an Uber after your flight, having a dead phone is not an option. Bring a portable charger so you won't have to worry about what percentage your phone battery is at.

Food and drinks at the airport can be expensive. Think ahead and pack a reusable water bottle and snacks! Doing this can save you the unnecessary expense. Emily Medina likes to make sure she has her reusable water bottle to use at the airport, as well as while she's on her trip. Michelle Busse and Melanie like to bring on-the-go snacks that are easy to pack, such as almonds, Chex Mix or fruit.

The best way to dress on travel days is in layers. You never know what the temperature will be like in the airport or on the plane. The weather may be completely different from where you board to where you land. Be sure to pack a jacket or sweater to stay warm! Emily suggests packing or wearing a scarf that can double as a cozy blanket for when it gets chilly on the plane. What a great tip!

Airports and planes are full of germs! Be sure to bring hand sanitizer every time you travel. This one is a no brainer!

You don't want to just sit and stare off into space for your entire flight. Bring books and magazines to pass the time while flying. Or download games, music, movies or TV shows on your smartphone or tablet to keep you entertained.

Need to get some sleep on your flight? Remember to bring a travel pillow so you can sleep comfortably and feel refreshed when you get to your destination.

We always hope for the best, but sometimes checked luggage gets lost, so Michelle and Emily both recommend bringing extra clothes in your carry on. You'll feel much better knowing that you can survive an extra day or two without your checked luggage.